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tmikolajczyk
tmikolajczyk
Participating Frequently
January 26, 2024
Question

Invisible annotations in pdf file

  • January 26, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 3838 views

I keep having an issue with InDesign and Acrobat. When I import a marked-up PDF with comments into InDesign, I update the file, delete the imported comments, and export a new PDF.

Why do the note icons from the marked PDF become invisible annotations in the new PDF, which also throw off error messages in the ADA version of said PDF? They also become visible when the PDF is uploaded to the website. 


    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    P
    Pickory
    Legend
    January 30, 2024

    Do you have any exotic PlugIns loaded. PDFStickies, maybe?

    tmikolajczyk
    tmikolajczykAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 30, 2024

    No, I work in a corporate environment, so our IT teams set the parameters for which software/plugins can be used. 

    Luke Jennings3
    Community Expert
    Luke Jennings3Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 31, 2024

    While you are waiting for a real fix, you could try to optimize your pdf in Acrobat to (hopefully) remove the ghost comments- File> Save as other> Optimized pdf, see attached screen shot. There is also an Acrobat preflight fixup that does the same thing.

     

    V
    Community Manager
    Vivek12Community Manager
    Community Manager
    January 29, 2024

    Hi @tmikolajczyk, Thank you for reaching out to us. Please try the solution provided in this similar community thread and share the outcome.

     

    Regards,
    Vivek

    tmikolajczyk
    tmikolajczykAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2024

    Hi Vivek, thanks for your reply, though it's not a graphic issue. I am attaching a annotated PDF that I hope better explains/illustrates what I'm referring to. I work on long-form documents which sometimes have hundreds of reviewer edits so I rely on the "Import PDF Comments" tool to help work through the changes. 
    Here's a rundown of my basic working process:

    1. "Import PDF Comments"
    2. Make edits and changes
    3. Delete Imported PDF Comments
    4. Export a new PDF
    After performing those steps and exporting a new PDF, occasionally, some of the notations appear like the "Note Icons" appear in the PDF (please see attached) this happens even after deleting the PDF comments from the InDesign document.
    Occasionally, the icons remain hidden and only become visible when the PDF is uploaded to an online platforms. 
    When "Check for Accessability" is run in Acrobat, it throws off "Annotation" error messages. When the ghosted icons are identified as errors and visible in the PDF it's impossible to delete them.
    I hope this helps clarifies my issue.

    V
    Community Manager
    Vivek12Community Manager
    Community Manager
    January 29, 2024

    @tmikolajczyk  Please share the respective InDesign file and a screen recording depicting the issue so we can try to reproduce the issue inhouse. 

    Regards,
    Vivek

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