Text in tables not aligned after exporting to PDF

[Kindra21954255ukh9]

Hello,

I am creating some word search puzzles using Tables. I have all the letters centered vertically and horizontally in the cells using styles. Everthing looks perfect in indesign but once exported to PDF the last 1-2 rows of every table are shifted to the left/right side. I used a monospaced font to make sure everything looks even but these last rows are not cooperating. Please see photo below:

Photo below this is the same as above but with strokes around the cells so it's easier to see. Top row everything is centered. As it moves down it moves more and more to the side. Again, this is only how it looks AFTER exporting. In Indesign every is aligned perfectly.

I tried adding diagonal strokes to the cells just to see what happens when exported and then everything was magically aligned... See pic below:

So... then I tried keeping the diagonals in the cells but setting the stoke weight to 0pt aaaand everything is misaligned again.

I found a super crappy way to make it export correctly is by outlining all of the text. But I have 100 of these puzzles created and once outlined I can no longer easily edit them. Obviously this is a bug and not a feature. There must be some way to make this work. I attached an indesign file with 1 puzzle if you need to look at it. Please help!

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

 

Interesting. I'm seeing the same issue. It seems like that each row is just a hairline shifted to the right cumulatively until the near the end where it snaps back to where it should be. I see nothng in the file that would do that.

I did however notice that doesn't happen if you use certain PDF export presets, e.g the "High Quality" PDF preset doesn't but the "Press Quality" does it, and there's really no difference between the two. I tried different levels of compatibility and compliance and it was all over the place.

Also, if I copy JUST the table into a new document, it behaves properly. I also created a brand new table in a new document with the same dimiensions and specs as yours and it works fine. Saving as IDML and reopening had no effect.

Gremlins.

[Kindra21954255ukh9]

Jeez, it's so inconsistent! For now, I duplicated the file and saved a version with the text outlined just so I could get it printed correctly. I'll probably come back to it another day and try to figure it out. Thanks for taking a look, Brad! I appreciate it!

[BobLevine]

Have you tried a different font?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Kindra21954255ukh9 

Looks like @BobLevine is right - I don't have your font installed - so it has been substituted:

Your table with white letters is on top of the exported PDF - covers almost prefectly - with just faint lines around.

4000% zoom:

And here is a full page:

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

I did. Still happened no matter what font, but as said, inconsistently depending on what PDF preset was used

In any case, I exported the file as EPS and opened it in illustrator and it was perfect. All the text rows had the exact same starting X coordinate, which would be the case on a monospaced font. However, the same file saved as PDF opened in Illustrator, only the first row started at the proper X coordinate and then each row was off by approximately .118 pt untill it snapped back to the proper X coordinate.

[Flo_8580]

Interesting, we got a slightly similar problem with our word search puzzles. In our case the letters shift ever so slightly up, until the last three colums, which restart at the normal height. Everything looks fine in InDesign, but when we export the pages for printing the shift happens.

Our puzzle editor supplies us with Illustrator PDFs, which we place in InDesign. Just like you found out, when we convert the text to outlines in Illustrator and resave the PDF, the text behaves correctly. This type of puzzle doesn't come up as often, so we put up with this procedure.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Flo_8580

You mean contents of the linked PDF changes during export??

[Flo_8580]

Correct. If you want to have a go, check these files:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z4zk0q5uer20bwpyokpgr/Puzzle-Test.zip?rlkey=pp7bdf9dfubkd339a863slglf...

Interestingly enough, this only happens when exporting to PDF, not when saving as JPGs.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @F Schmid,

Could you check if this happens with new files/files using a different font as well? Also, could you share screenshots of difference between the 2 versions along with the export settings used, so I can try to replicate this on my end?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Flo_8580 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anubhav M,

check my first post above for screenshots. I ran some tests in the meantime:

• First, replacing the font in Illustrator, which worked fine, no more text shifting, even without converting to outlines.
• Then, i just opened the original PDF (with the old font) in Illustrator and simply re-saved it (Save As). This also worked fine. So the problem isn't related to the font at all, but the way the original Illustrator PDF was created. This probably comes down to version differences, because our editor is still on CS6, if the metadata is to be believed.

I should have explored this problem more apparently, converting text to outlines was unnecessary. Just re-saving the PDF in a modern standard did the trick. Lesson learnt and sorry for wasting everyones time.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Flo_8580

Thanks for the update. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

[...]

Our puzzle editor supplies us with Illustrator PDFs,

[...]

By @Flo_8580

Just for clarification - are those PDFs CREATED in Illustrator - or exported from some application that "spits out" PDFs?

Same as when someone exports XLS file from Google Sheets - and this XLS file "pretends" to be up to the standard - but requires to be resaved in Excel.

[Flo_8580]

I can't say for sure, as we get them from an external contractor. The puzzles are probably created by some specialized application, then imported into and touched up by hand in Illustrator. And finally exported as Illustrator PDF. The metadata of the PDFs we are receiving says "Adobe Illustrator CS6 (Windows)", so i'm sure the last part of the creation process involves Illustrator.

We get other types of puzzles from the same contractor, like crosswords for example, and never had problems with them. Only with these word search puzzles. Which led me to reply to this topic in the first place.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Flo_8580

Do you have a lot of them to process? 

[Flo_8580]

About 60 puzzles (of different types) per week, spread between two 32-page magazines. But the "process" is usually just loading them into their respective placeholder boxes and that's it.

These special word puzzles, which exhibit this problem, only appear in about one of three magazines, and only one per magazine, so the effort is neglible.

[Laubender]

Hi @Kindra21954255ukh9 ,

thank you for providing your InDesign document WORDSEARCH MISALIGNMENT.indd.

Substituted missing fonts in the table with Frutiger Next Pro Condensed.

Still the export to PDF misaligned the characters like that:

The trick to use diagonal lines in the cell did not work as far as I can see.

With diagonal lines I see a different misalignment than before:

Exported with default presets PDF/X-1a and also PDF/X-4. Same results: shifting type.

InDesign 2025 v20.3 on macOS.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender]

Now I tested EPS as export format. That worked:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender]

What also worked with PDF/X-4 export was if I checked option "Tagged":

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[A2D2]

Hi there @Kindra21954255ukh9 , which version of InDesign are you using?

I see @Laubender reproduces the issue with a recent version of InDesign. However, apart from font substitution, are any minor changes made to the text to force recomposition e.g. adding and deleting a space in order to force realignment?

I experenced a quirk of InDesign (as detailed here) but turns out I was using CS6 and the problem did not occur in recent versions of InDesign. 

Your post caught my attention because, in addition to previous experience, I am getting issues with alignment of an Arabic font I have been experimenting with. Sometimes, as you say, it looks fine in InDesign but after exporting to PDF I see there are some misalignments. In my latest case the issue seems to arise from fully justifified paragraphs.

[Laubender]

Hi @A2D2 ,

my solution was to check feature "Tagged" in the PDF Export dialog with a PDF/X-4 preset.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

What it all comes down to is: this is a bug. It's not an expected result based on the file, so it's an anomaly that needs to be addressed, especially so since it's not a consistent result. You might want to add it to the inDesign bugs list

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs