Adobe indesign exporting an open document to pdf

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    • InDesign won't save to pdf
    InDesign won't save to pdf /t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-won-t-save-to-pdf/td-p/11220202 Jun 18, 2020 Jun 18, 2020

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    My Indesign document won't export to pdf. I've tried several times and each time Indesign closed itself before the pdf was ready. I turned restarted the computer and Indesign asked me if I wanted to recover the document (which I had saved in Onedrive). I recovered the document, saved it under another name and tried again, but still no good. This time however Indesign didn't shut itself down. What on earth is happening? This has never occurred before and I've been using it successfully for several years.

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    1 Correct answer

    Participant , Jun 18, 2020 Jun 18, 2020 boots_n_patches • Participant , Jun 18, 2020 Jun 18, 2020

    the following might help others who wish to assist you:

    1. state the exact version of indesign
    2. state your operating system and the exact version of it
    3. when did you last successfully export-to-pdf? have there been any os-updates or program-updates since that time?
    4. the last time you successfully exported to pdf … was the *.indd file located on ms-onedrive or locally (on your physical computer) ?
    5. did you try saving the *.indd file as an *.idml file … and then exporting to *.pdf file?
    6. there's alternative o
    1 1 Upvote 2 Replies 2 Participant , /t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-won-t-save-to-pdf/m-p/11220542#M191106 Jun 18, 2020 Jun 18, 2020

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    the following might help others who wish to assist you:

    1. state the exact version of indesign
    2. state your operating system and the exact version of it
    3. when did you last successfully export-to-pdf? have there been any os-updates or program-updates since that time?
    4. the last time you successfully exported to pdf … was the *.indd file located on ms-onedrive or locally (on your physical computer) ?
    5. did you try saving the *.indd file as an *.idml file … and then exporting to *.pdf file?
    6. there's alternative offsite storage systems online … have you tried any others?

    additionally … have you cleared your *.indd program preferences? others on this forum may suggest performing this step.

    try creating new *.indd file, single page, and one small text element … use the following parameters:

    • disable facing page … disable master-text-frame
    • 8.5" x 11"
    • margins and bleeds set at 0.0"

    highlight your text with mouse-cursor:

    • choose "arial-regular" for font (18pt) … make sure text-frame is slightly larger than your word "hello"
    • choose 100% black color only
    • choose "none" for character styles … and "basic paragraph" for paragraph styles

    save this new *.indd file to local-drive (on your physical computer) . export to pdf … successful? close document and quit program … initiate program and open same local document … export to pdf … successful?

    now, open local *.indd file and save file to ms-onedrive (off-site storage) . export to pdf … successful? close document and quit program … initiate program and open same ms-onedrive document … export to pdf … successful?

    if successful, try adding more elements that will adequately fit on the single page … save *.indd file to ms-onedrive … export to pdf … successful? if successful, add second page and try same routine … successful? now, include a text-thread from the first page to the second page. yep … by now, you know the routine.

    if successful in above scenarios … it's time to open your official document. the file is located locally … open the *.indd file and delete all pages, except the first page … delete all text elements from that first page … save *.indd file locally using filename "test01.indd" … export to pdf … successful? close document and quit program … initiate program and open same local document … export to pdf … successful?

    now, open local "test01.indd" file and save to ms-onedrive (off-site storage) … export to pdf … successful? close document and quit program … initiate program and open same off-site document … export to pdf … successful?

    1.) personally … i'd always work locally … copying file to ms-onedrive only when imperative. if your environment mandates you store files offsite … copy the file locally and export to ms-onedrive at end of file-work or shift-end.

    2.) personally … i'd work only with commercial open-type fonts. google-fonts are fun … but pose inherent risks in using them (security risk … unstable … etc.) . yes … fonts can be a vector for exploits 'n attacks.

    3.) understand your images … only large enough to fit at 100% dimensionally … *.tif or *.png format … cmyk gamut if printing to press.

    4.) lots of things can be done, and are done, with indesign … imo, maybe some of those cool features are not robust enough, or particularly suitable, for ms-onedrive activities?

    well … that's about all i got … peace out.