Invisible text in PDF from linked files outside of frame

[arnoldb55615845]

For work I am making a lot of different manuals. These manuals show a label for every part that is being used. These parts are all in one Illustrator file so that we can update it easily if something changes. In the manuals they are linked inside of a frame to only show the part that is needed for that step in the manual. Recently we have run into a problem where the exported PDF's still show the hidden text (other part names) that is outside of the frame and thus not visible. But in Adobe Acrobat you can still select it and it will show up if you search for certain parts.

I have found two people with the same problem before on forums, but the problem was never actually solved. I tried the solutions provided in those threads, but they solved nothing. Exporting without layers also doesn't solve it.

Other forum posts with comparable problems:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/exporting-to-a-pdf-without-hidden-layers/td-p/10...

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/31423573-hidden-content...

[Derek Cross]

You'll have problems doing that successfully with some PDF readers and viewing it on some devices, such as Tablets and Smartphones. Have a look at InDesign's Publish Online facility instead, which is based on HTML5 and such documents can be viewed on any device with such a browser and is online.

[arnoldb55615845]

The question is more in how I can export from InDesign to PDF without having that invisible hidden text. Reading my intitial post back now I think I might not have been that clear.

[Derek Cross]

You can have Layer(s) that you want hidden and not to appear in your PDF turned off in the InDesign Layers panel.

[arnoldb55615845]

Since it's a linked document, it's all on the same layer. I basically just want to export the content that is shown within a frame and everything outside of the frame should not be included in the PDF.

I also can't change each object to non-printing because several parts of that linked document are shown in the same document and it would become a impossibly long task.

[Laubender]

Hi @arnoldb55615845 ,

could you share a very simple sample?

I think, that your case is a bit different to the one you linked to.

It should be possible to export PDF files from Illustrator and remove all the contents outside the exported areas using Acrobat Pro. But I need a sample to test my idea…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )