"Failed to Export PDF"

[wintonp26851908]

Working on a file in InDesign (13.1) and when I try to print it fails, and when I try to export it as a pdf it says "Failed to Export to pdf" with no explanation. I tried turning off downsampling, but that didn't help. Even deleted all of the photos to test doing it that way, but still no luck.

It seems to be a problem with this particular file, not with memory, because when I tested the issue by opening a different, much larger and more complex file, it exported just fine.

Tried packaging it as well, and also got the failed to create pdf error, which seems to make it not package the file, either.

Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

[antoineg15916242]

Hi,

I trashed the preferences.

Still got the "failed to export pdf" message... I need to find a solution.. this is the most aggravating situation ever...

Thanks for your help.

[Derek Cross]

Is the PDF issue occurring with all documents or just with this one?

[antoineg15916242]

Every multiple pages PDF i try to export i get the same message.

One page pdf never give me problems.

My computer is an i7 8th generation with 16gb ram...

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Antoine,

We are sorry to hear about this issue. I understand that every single time you try to Print PDF it gives you the error "Failed to export to PDF". As you have already tried resetting preferences and Print PDF also works fine. I would request if you can try step 2 and step 3 from this help article: Failed to Export to PDF message in InDesign and let us know how it works.

Also, I would request if you can share your system information and a sample file. This will help us reproduce the issue at our end and troubleshoot accordingly.

Regards,

Srishti

[thomasl3337852]

Hello, I just had the same error message when exporting my PDF, and managed to solve it simply by changing a font. In my particular case a font in my system was conflicting with a copy of the same font I had activated in Adobe Fonts. Just in case it helps anyone out there.

[antoineg15916242]

Since no solution was provided, I will provide the solution is found.

I tried exporting 2 pages at a time until i get the "failed to export" message. I then converted the PDF image in the page that wasn't exporting to jpeg. Then i was able to do the entire document once those specific pages were converted to JPEG.

With that said, what can explain that some pdf images in my document are making the export fail and others don't?

[Derek Cross]

Third time of asking: Is the PDF issue occurring with all documents or just with this one?

[antoineg15916242]

I already answered Derek.

It happens with all my documents that have multiple pages. I never ahve issues with single pages export.

[Derek Cross]

So how are you creating these InDesign documents?

[antoineg15916242]

I click "new"..

Then decide the size and specification for my document. Then i do like everyone else, I add pages, my text boxes and images.. I don't do anything fancy.

[Derek Cross]

You stated earlier that you added PDFs to the documents. When you have an InDesign document that doesn't have any PDFs placed in it (just text and Placed images), do you still have  problems exporting these kinds of InDesign documents to PDF?

[antoineg15916242]

I can't tell because all my indesign documents either have pdf or jpeg in them.

I don't know if that can be implemented but instead of having only a "Indesign failed to export" message, maybe if it can point at the page (or pages) that create problem? I think it would save a lot of time to pin point the problem..

[Derek Cross]

The problem might be with the PDFs you're placing in InDesign.  I suggest you create a few test documents without any PDFs to see if you can narrow down what's happening.

I've got to go now, try the tests and let us know how you get on.

[antoineg15916242]

Yes that is what i think too..

I still think being able to tell what page makes the export fail would be a very useful addition.

Thanks for the help and time Derek.

[zacrizy]

This happened to me recently and I was able to figure out which page was giving me issues by exporting each page individually and seeing which one didn't export.

The culprit was a linked PDF that was causing issues for some reason. Converted the PDF to a JPG and relinked it and that worked.

Hope that helps!!

[russelraypc@aol.com]

I had already done that. All 356 pages exported properly individually, but I can't give 356 individual pages to the author/printer. I also tried using Adobe Acrobat Pro to combine all 356 pages into one file. That also failed.

[Laubender]

russelraypc@aol.com  wrote

…I also tried using Adobe Acrobat Pro to combine all 356 pages into one file. That also failed.

Hi russelraypc@aol.com ,

any idea why? Is there an error message with Acrobat Pro DC ?

Regards,
Uwe

[russelraypc@aol.com]

Perhaps I should define "failed." After telling Acrobat Pro to combine all 356 PDFs into one at around 6:30 a.m., Acrobat Pro was still attempting to do so around 6:30 p.m. Twelve hours. That's failed, to me. No message, but I'm sure glad that I have multiple computers to work on, with my two biggest baddest ones sitting side by side.

[Laubender]

Did you try again in smaller chunks? Say, combine 50 files at one time?

What's the file size of all 356 PDFs together?

Regards,
Uwe

[russelraypc@aol.com]

I have not. I don't have time to play around trying to determine what the cutoff point is right now. The publisher says that they can use all 356 PDFs if I upload them to Google Drive. After I have the book uploaded, I'll probably take some time to try to figure out what was wrong. When/if I find something, I'll post in the forums here.

[kate-richterova]

Hello,
I had the same issue, so I exported the pdf section by section, found the issue, corrected it and everything worked just fine. Maybe it would be nice if InDesign could point out the issue for me during the export (at least the page). I can imagine that if you have a large pdf with hundreds of pages it can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Not to mention that I had no idea whether it was my problem or a problem within InDesign.

[Derek Cross]

This is a user-to-user support forum. If you have a suggestion for Adobe, post it at:  Adobe InDesign Feedback

[madisonm59946542]

I had the same issue and none of these solutions were working.... I ended up exporting by page increments until I found which page was corrupt. I deleted the page and I haven't had problems since!

[Srishti Bali]

Hi Madison/ Chelsea,

Thanks for sharing these suggestions here. This might help other users as well. Just in case these steps don't help and the issue is specific to a particular file, you can email your InDesign file to corrupt_indesign_docs@adobe.com and we will take a look at the document.

I must also inform that file recovery can't be guaranteed with a 100% success. We'll surely try our best.

Regards,

Srishti

[chelseahud]

I don't know if this helps anyone else, but my issue came down to a linked pdf that had bad characters in the filename, like # and ( ). Once I changed the filename, it resolved.