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Adobe InDesign: Bugs

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  1. Version of Adobe InDesign, InCopy or InDesign Server
  2. Steps to reproduce the issues
  3. Expected result
  4. Actual result
  5. Test file, screenshot, video or GIF capturing the issue (optional)
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695 results found

  1. Searching for fonts by Japanese name in the context taskbar is not reflected.

    Windows 10/11
    InDesign Ver. 20.0

    This is a trouble when searching for a font by keyboard input of the font name on the context taskbar and selecting from those listed.
    When searching by Kanji, Japanese, etc., the search is not reflected as a search list and returns to the font before the search was entered.
    If the font name is alphanumeric, it is normal, but if the font name is not alphanumeric, it cannot be searched.

    Original text (Japanese):

    コンテキストタスクバーでフォント名をキーボード入力して検索し、リストアップされるものから選ぶ場合のトラブルです。
    漢字や日本語などで検索をかけると、検索一覧として反映できず、検索入力する前のフォントに戻ります。
    英数字名のフォントであれば正常ですが、英数字名以外のフォント名が検索できない、という状態になっています。

    7 votes

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  2. Adobe Fonts wont load

    Hello,

    While creating a document I was trying to discover a new font. I clicked Fonts > Find More and where a list of adobe fonts usually pops up, I got nothing. I tried creating a new text box, signing in and out of adobe, and closing / opening the document.

    Attached please find a screen grab of the issue.

    I'd love an assist if possible.

    7 votes

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    1 comment  ·  Others  ·  Admin →
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  3. Crashes when changing font, copying text and saving as another file type

    I have been tryin to open one of my 'old' Indesign files (2017). At the time I used Cross-References plugin DTP tools. I no longer use it. It keeps populating a notification that the plugin is missing, but it still opens the INDD document. I have tried saving the document—
    1) as an IDML document and that does not work.
    2) I have also tried saving as a new document but the issue remains the same.
    3) I have tried copying the text from it to a new INDD document, it crashes every time and I have sent crash reports.…

    2 votes

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    We have released InDesign 2025(v20.2.0.036) with many stability fixes. We recommend you upgrade to the latest version (if you’re not already on it) as it is more robust.

    If you still face this issue even after updating, please submit the crash report to us. (Guidelines to submit crash are available at (https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/submit-crash-reports.html )

    Also, please send the following information to santalwa@adobe.com :

    • Reproducible Steps – What were you doing when InDesign crashed?
    • Video recording of the crash
    • Is(Are) the issue related to a specific document(s)/asset(s)? If yes, could you provide us with the document(s)/asset(s)? Please package the entire document (To package the document, choose File → Package…)

    Adobe InDesign Team

  4. Fonts say they are activating but never activate

    Indesign 14.0.1 : When you click to activate a font it changes icon to "activating" but it never actually activates. this is happening across all 60 plus computers at my organistaion.

    7 votes

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    1 comment  ·  Others  ·  Admin →
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  5. URGENT: Add an "Empty Output" Option for Text Variables

    Currently, InDesign text variables (e.g., Running Headers) always display the last non-empty value when the source is empty. While this behavior can be useful in some workflows, it causes major problems in others. In publishing and educational workflows, having an “empty” variable output display the previous value is unacceptable.

    We urgently need a way to explicitly tell InDesign: “If the source is empty, display nothing (truly empty).”

    Proposed Solutions:
    - Introduce a new special character (e.g., “Null Variable Marker”) that, when placed in the source text, forces the variable to render as empty.
    - Alternatively, provide an option in…

    1 vote

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    1 comment  ·  Others  ·  Admin →
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  6. Sporadic, haphazard emboldening of footer font on document pages

    Adobe InDesign v17.0.1
    2020 Mac Mini, Apple M1 chip, 16 GB memory
    macOS: Big Sur, V11.5.2

    I have a multipage document with a folio and page number in the footer. The footer text is a regular weight Helvetica Neue LT Std (OT) font, and the folios (page numbers) are bold; the bold is nested into the paragraph style for the footers with a GREP designation. The footer text boxes are NOT active on the pages but are linked to the parent pages. Expected result: all footers match the font weight of the footer in the parent page to which…

    1 vote

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    0 comments  ·  Document/Pages  ·  Admin →
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  7. Activated Fonts Don't Load

    I created a graphic with Minion Pro Bold font but when I reopen the file to do more work a pop up window says I need to activate the Bold. Only when I shut down the software and reopen it after activating does the Bold font appear as originally designed. This happens over and over and seems like an unprofessional bug in the software.

    4 votes

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  8. Printing Documents with VFs directly from InDesign is broken, need to export to PDF first

    Hello support team!
    We at Dalton Maag noticed that we couldn't print documents containing variable fonts directly from InDesign 16.3 on macOS Big Sur. Export to a PostScript file produces a broken file. The document needs to be exported to PDF first. We found this issue on our client font but managed to reproduce it with Source Serif VF from https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-serif/releases/tag/4.004R.

    I sent the following files to Josh Hadley at Adobe:

    • A ZIP containing test documents, a broken exported PostScript file and a correctly exported PDF file
    • An AVI showing how we tested
    • A JPG showing…
    2 votes

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  9. Text Variables using Running Headers don't show up in Table Header Rows when table is threaded across multiple pages

    I have a table running across multiple pages. In the Header row I want to have a Text Variable using Running Header to pull the text using a particular paragraph style. The text variable doesn't show up. If I unthread the table so it's just a single frame, it appears.

    My workaround is to unthread to one frame, convert the text variable to text, then rethread. It works if I do this at the end, but defeats the purpose of using them if customer wants last minute edits.

    2 votes

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  10. Adobe Fonts messes with installed/added fonts

    Indesign 2022 and 2024, Windows 10.
    Steps to reproduce:
    1. With "Adobe Fonts" not activated in the Cloud client, add fonts to Indesign's \Fonts folder and start. Good example font: Roboto. The is a truetype font from Google.
    2. Use any of the added fonts in a document and save. Close the document
    3. Activate Adobe Fonts in the cloud client and restart Indesign. In case any of the added fonts is also available on Adobe Fonts, they're overridden by the cloud font, as the symbol in the font list…

    1 vote

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    0 comments  ·  Document/Pages  ·  Admin →
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  11. Running Header Variable (First in Page)

    Missing TextVariable values (First on Page) in Running Heads

    Adobe Indesign 13.1 version.
    MacOs 10.13.4

    1 vote

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    1 comment  ·  Others  ·  Admin →
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  12. Opening a file with missing fonts freezes InDesign

    Opening a file that has missing fonts freezes InDesign for a minute or so. Every document with missing fonts does this. If I manually activate the font and then try opening the same document again, there is no freeze.

    InDesign 17.2.1, macOS Monterey (latest)
    My coworker is on Catalina and has the same freeze too.

    9 votes

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    Fix for this issue is now available in the latest release of InDesign 2022 - that is, InDesign 17.4 version.

    Please update to this version to get the fix.

    --

    Adobe InDesign team

  13. Fonts only showing in drop down, cannot type them directly in

    InDesign 18.5

    Issue:
    Highlight text
    Click on the font Window (mine is displayed on right)
    begin to type in installed or adobe font, font does not populate

    When I type in a font, I expect to be able to populate it

    Wen I try to finish typing the font in the searchbar, it doesn't let me type in the next letter and just gives me a different font. Some fonts don't show up or do once and never again, yet are in font dropdown. This includes both installed OTC and installed Adobe fonts.

    screenshot 1:…

    2 votes

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  14. [INDD 2020 and 2021] Document fonts folder does not work with fonts for placed SVGs

    Provide a font file with the Document fonts folder for a placed SVG graphic where the font is not embedded.
    RESULT: InDesign will not use the font for rendering text with the placed SVG graphic.

    ALSO: Even if the font is installed for ALL USERS in the system on Windows 10 InDesign will not package the font that is needed with the placed SVG graphic.

    One cannot be sure what fonts are needed with placed SVG graphics. When InDesign documents are saved, closed and re-opened, Preflight and Type > Find Fonts… will not show them.

    The only…

    2 votes

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  15. Font outlined when exporting to pdf

    When I export to pdf and open the document in Acrobat, I have no issues with fonts. But, if I want to open the file in Illustrator (we have a special procedure to add the pdf file to one drawing in iIllustrator), I get this alert: To preserve appearance, some text has been outlined. When I checked the Background tasks in InDesign, it gives me the following alert - image attached.
    We have the copyrights on fonts. Glyphs are mentioned in the alert, but not all of them are outlined. Using CC 2018 13.1

    2 votes

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    0 comments  ·  PDF Export  ·  Admin →
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  16. ZWJ removed from text variable or TOC "Title"

    Currently using InDesign CC 2021 [ same issue in previous version/s]

    I am working on a SINHALA document and has running headers based on paragraph styles. The ZWJ in the "p-style text" gets omitted in the running header output:
    ක්‍රියා -> ක්රියා

    b:
    The same issue occurs when "ක්‍රියා" is placed TOC" Title block outputs "ක්රියා"

    2 votes

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    0 comments  ·  Book/TOC  ·  Admin →
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  17. Font list on wrong side of scree

    Hi all. I have no idea what happened. I have Indesign 15.0.2 x64.
    I have been working in Indesign daily and this morning, all of the sudden things seem all jacked.

    Mainly, which I cannot figure out, the font list for years has been on the left hand side of the screen when working with the text tool. Today it is on the right side of the tool bar. I reset to my preferred workspace, nada. I selected Essentials Classic and same.

    What happened and how do I put it back? Essentials Classic should not have a different layout. InDesign…

    1 vote

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  18. Font display issue with certain fonts in images from clipboard (18.1 x64)

    We use a charting service called Macrobond, and copy images from that software to insert in InDesign. The following buggy behavior is observed:

    When using certain fonts in the chart, the pasted image in InDesign displays those fonts in miniscule sizes. That does not happen with other fonts fonts.

    I suspect the issue stems from different ways in which InDesign handles the various fonts based on whether they are included or third-party (or perhaps depending if they are installed locally on the PC or is fetched from the Adobe library).

    In this example the first…

    1 vote

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  19. Adobe Fonts Not Activating

    Seems like InDesign is having a hard time connecting to the Adobe Font Library, when I try to activate fonts it is never successful and shows an error, same happens when I go onto the web page to activate.

    InDesign 15.0.3
    Font: Eurostile
    macOS Mojave 10.14.6

    2 votes

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  20. Segoe UI Emoji font visual issue in Indesign Export PDF

    I have used some smiley glyphs in my InDesign layout with the "Segoe UI Emoji" font. The smiley glyphs appear in black and white in both the InDesign Glyphs panel and my layout. However, in the exported PDF, they appear in yellow.

    Since I am working on a black-and-white layout, this is causing an issue. I am using the latest versions of InDesign 2024 and 2025. I suspect this could be an application bug. Could someone please check and confirm?

    1 vote

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    0 comments  ·  PDF Export  ·  Admin →
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