Adobe InDesign: Bugs
When filing a new bug, please provide:
- Version of Adobe InDesign, InCopy or InDesign Server
- Steps to reproduce the issues
- Expected result
- Actual result
- Test file, screenshot, video or GIF capturing the issue (optional)
- or
423 results found
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Before tag and after untag frame with different behavior
If you tag a frame object (XML), this object does not behave the same after untagging as before tagging. In other words: tagging is not fully reversible. You can see a difference in the layer panel and in the exported PDF tag structure (Tagged PDF)
How can this behavior be reproduced?
- Create a new InDesign document.
- Draw a placeholder (empty) graphic frame
- Assign any XML tag to the frame
- Remove the XML tag
- Export a tagged PDF
What is the difference between the object before tagging and after untagging?
The layer panel shows a different status.
The frame before tagging is not assigned a tag in the tag structure of the PDF during PDF export. A tag is assigned to the object in the PDF structure after tagging and untagging. (see attached screenshots)
What should be the correct behavior?
Both states of the frames - i.e. without tagging and after untagging - should result in the same result in the layer panel and in the tag export for PDF.
Why is this relevant?
This causes a problem if these objects appear in the tag structure of the exported PDF. They are (empty) graphic frames, but InDesign assigns a Figure tag to them and they also have no alternative text. When checking the PDF for accessibility, an error is reported.
These two states of the same object cannot be distinguished via ExtendScript. If an InDesign document is saved using IDML, these objects are converted back into “normal” graphic frames.
InDesign, Platform
InDesign 2024, 2025
macOS MonterayDiscussion
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/rectangle-vs-graphic-frame/td-p/15039102
If you tag a frame object (XML), this object does not behave the same after untagging as before tagging. In other words: tagging is not fully reversible. You can see a difference in the layer panel and in the exported PDF tag structure (Tagged PDF)
How can this behavior be reproduced?
- Create a new InDesign document.
- Draw a placeholder (empty) graphic frame
- Assign any XML tag to the frame
- Remove the XML tag
- Export a tagged PDF
What is the difference between the object before tagging and after untagging?
The layer panel shows a different status.
The frame before…
1 vote -
pen tool
When modifying a container box by adding points with the pen tool, the points wont select individually and the pen changes to the hand tool and will only select the object in the container. At first I thought it might be my Wacom, but the mouse also will not select points as (option pen) or using the point selection tool.
At the same time when trying to clip an object set to transparency, so an object below can be seen so I can clip around it. The object becomes opaque making the task impossible.
I am running a the latest updates available an my OS is current with Mojave's latest update.
Indesign has become unusably slow and I spend 5 times more time watching the beachball of death than getting anything done. My clients don't care, they only know I'm not getting their work done. After 25+ years as a hardcore Adobe Fan, I'm beginning to lose faith, and have had to look at other software for solutions for my company.
Currently there are almost 1400 serious bugs listed for the current release of Indesign alone listed on the Adobe site. With a constant stream of updates adding more bugs before addressing the existing issues. If this is considered acceptable by Adobe for the sake of my clients and business I must look for other solutions. I'm not a new user. Far from it, and serious bugs making Adobe products unusable for days, and weeks on end has become the norm and not the exception.
I don't need you programs to "Wipe my Butt" for me, I just need them to work like they used to. When the cloud goes down. Everyone goes down. More care is necessary before a new release.
Sorry for the harsh words, but in '94 I was an original Beta Tester for PS3 and still have my original copy. I love Adobe!!! Please don't force me to go back to CS6.
Thanks,
RichWhen modifying a container box by adding points with the pen tool, the points wont select individually and the pen changes to the hand tool and will only select the object in the container. At first I thought it might be my Wacom, but the mouse also will not select points as (option pen) or using the point selection tool.
At the same time when trying to clip an object set to transparency, so an object below can be seen so I can clip around it. The object becomes opaque making the task impossible.
I am running a the latest…
1 vote -
IDS 2021 (16.x Windows) Locks up when loading indd file with missing font in paragraph style
InDesign Server 2021 Windows Edition (16.x)
We had several indd files that had a Paragraph Style listing a font that was not actually used anywhere in the document (no text in the file was using that font.). In other words, the Style said it used "font a", but there was never ANY text actually using "font a" in the file. "Font A" is a non-system font that was installed on the desktop. If you load the indd file in InDesign Desktop, no errors occur, and Preflight says there are no errors, as expected.
If you remove the file from the desktop, and then open the indd file in InDesign desktop, you still get no errors and no preflight errors, even though the font is defined in the Paragraph style.
If you then use COM to control InDesign Server (windows edition), and tell it to load the indd file. InDesign Server will lock up. No errors are shown on the console or event log, IDS just LOCKS UP..
If you package the indd project and tell it to include document fonts, it will not include the font defined in the Paragraph style unless text using that font is actually in the document.
I don't think InDesign Server should LOCK UP in this circumstance.We had this happen with some 60+ indd files, and it took a lot of trial & error to determine what actually CAUSED the lockup.
To reproduce:
1) Use InDesign Desktop to create an InDesign document.
2) Define a Paragraph style using a font that is NOT installed on the InDesign Server.
3) Define a text frame using that Paragraph style. Do not actually put ANY text in the frame.
4) Save the InDesign document.
5) Use COM to bind to an instance of InDesign server APPLICATION object (called "app" in this example.
6) Use the APPLICATION instance to open the indd file in OpenCopy mode ((InDesignServer.Document)app.Open(<filename>, InDesignServer.idOpenOptions.idOpenCopy)
InDesign server will never come back. It locks up.If you edit the indd file and change the Paragraph style to be a font that is actually installed on IDS, then the open returns an instance of the DOCUMENT COM object as expected.
InDesign Server 2021 Windows Edition (16.x)
We had several indd files that had a Paragraph Style listing a font that was not actually used anywhere in the document (no text in the file was using that font.). In other words, the Style said it used "font a", but there was never ANY text actually using "font a" in the file. "Font A" is a non-system font that was installed on the desktop. If you load the indd file in InDesign Desktop, no errors occur, and Preflight says there are no errors, as expected.
If you remove the file from…1 vote
7107 results found
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Multiple Share for Review Issues
I work with a team of 6 designers and we are all experiencing regular and multiple different issues with Share for Review – we are all using the latest version 2021 and are needing to try multiple things each time with varied results to get Share for Review to work – these include:
1. Restarting Indesign
2. Logging and in about of Adobe CC
3. Trashing preferences
4. Saving a file CopyThs is extremely frustrating, wasting a lot of time and energy and money – I am sincerely hoping you are aware of all of these issues and are working hard to resolve it. Its a real shame as this feature is incredible when working properly. We rely heavily on this feature now so hopefully will be sorted soon ;)
One issue not shown in the screenshots is the blank screen we get sometimes when clicking the Share for Review feature.
I work with a team of 6 designers and we are all experiencing regular and multiple different issues with Share for Review – we are all using the latest version 2021 and are needing to try multiple things each time with varied results to get Share for Review to work – these include:
1. Restarting Indesign
2. Logging and in about of Adobe CC
3. Trashing preferences
4. Saving a file CopyThs is extremely frustrating, wasting a lot of time and energy and money – I am sincerely hoping you are aware of all of these issues and are…
10 votes -
cc libraries unresponsive
CC Library Panel becomes unresponsive/renders weirdly. Have to quit out and restart. MANY. TIMES. PER. DAY...
10 votes -
automatic resizing of text frames doesn't work properly with text variables
I have a text frame containing just a single text-variable. The text frame is set to horizontal size adjustment. If the varibale is shorter than the text frame then the frame is resized properly. If the variable is longer the text is being squeezed together. The frame stays as big as it was before.
10 votes -
Background Tasks Panel - Missing Progress Bars
Since InDesign 15.1, the progress bars are missing from the Background Tasks panel. Luckily, the percentages are still there but the bars are needed for quick progress reference.
10 votesThe issue has been fixed in the latest release of InDesign – InDesign 2021. The fix was also available in the previous version of InDesign – InDesign 2020 (v 15.1.2).
Please update to these newer versions of InDesign to get the fix.—
Adobe InDesign team -
page range for publishment in 'share for review' is set by last print/export job
When sharing for review, the published document can be limited to a certain page range, because it takes that setting from the last print/export job. The only workaround is to first reset that range in the print/export window. Then publish for review to see all of the pages.
Being able to select what pages to share (or not) would be a nice feature in the 'share for review' interface. This way, I would not have to make versions, separating artwork ready for review, and artwork that is not.
10 votesThe fix is now available in the latest InDesign update, 15.1.1
Please update to the latest version to get the fix.
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Adobe InDesign team -
Publish online- Safari issues
Using ID 15.0.3
Using embed code on my protfolio page.
Videos cause rescaling of the page, videos are 1280x720 mp4s and have not been scaled on their pages
Videos also do not play on page load, you must click play on them.
None of these issues are present when using chrome.
10 votes -
Use Auto-Sizing and Text Wrap Frame on causes application crash
Environment: InDesign 2020 (15.0.2 Japanese version) + macOS (confirmed with 10.15.3 and 10.14.6)
- create and connect two text frames
- set Auto-Sizing "Height and Width" on Text Frame Options
- Insert text into two frames full
- overlay graphic frames with Text Wrap settings ON
- move the graphic frame appropriately (drawing is not normal at this point)
- close documents with Command + W
During this operation, you will usually be asked to confirm the save, but suddenly InDesign will end and the application will crash.
Also, if you try while overwriting with Command + S without Command + W, you may not be able to save eventually.This problem does not occur on Windows version.
As a comparison, the same operation was performed with the English (North America) edition on macOS, but no problem occurred.
Therefore, it is highly possible that the problem is unique to the Japanese edition.Original trouble posted Adobe Community.
(There is a other post about User Voice, but this is a different issue.)
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/indesign2020%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%8D%E5%85%B7%E5%90%88%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF/m-p/10935672InDesign file is prepared separately.
https://adobe.ly/3agg1u8Environment: InDesign 2020 (15.0.2 Japanese version) + macOS (confirmed with 10.15.3 and 10.14.6)
- create and connect two text frames
- set Auto-Sizing "Height and Width" on Text Frame Options
- Insert text into two frames full
- overlay graphic frames with Text Wrap settings ON
- move the graphic frame appropriately (drawing is not normal at this point)
- close documents with Command + W
During this operation, you will usually be asked to confirm the save, but suddenly InDesign will end and the application will crash.
Also, if you try while overwriting with Command + S without Command + W, you may not be…10 votesHi
Based on internal investigation and customer comments, we have concluded that the issue got fixed in InDesign 15.0.2 and that issue happens with InDesign 15.0.1 version only.Please start a new thread in case you see the issue happen with InDesign 15.0.2
Thanks
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InDesign and Acrobat accessibility conflict
Adobe InDesign version: 2019 CC
We are currently trying to establish the best workflow in creating fully accessible PDF's for screen readers and I believe we have come across a bug in the communication between InDesign and Acrobat.
Quick summary:
H1 elements on multiple lines read as separate elements unless assigned manually in Acrobat
The Structure and Article order does not transfer to the PDFTo explain the issue clearly I have numbered the images in the process order.
- Image: 1 InDesign Accessibility setup.png
- I have setup ‘paragraph styles’ and used the correct ‘Export Tagging’ tags for each style.
- I have added the content I want to be read in Articles and put them in the correct order
- I have created tags and assigned all the content correctly
- I have reordered the ‘Structure’ to be in the reading order too
Please note - the order of the ‘Structure’ and or ‘Articles’ does not transfer to Acrobat (after selecting the correct export settings.
Image: 2 Interactive PDF with options selected.png
This image shows I have selected Interactive PDF and selected:
‘Create tagged PDF’
‘Use structure for Tab Order’Image: 3 Initial PDF review - incorrect content order.png
You can see the reading order does not match either the ‘Article’ or ‘Structure’ order from InDesign which I have set up.
You can also see that the elements are ‘Spans’ not H1, H2 and P tags.
Image: 4 Initial PDF review - Tag number ordering incorrect.png
You can see the screen readers reading order by the numbers shown on this image which again does not match the order I set up in InDesign.5 Initial PDF review - tag h1 splitting.png
The tag order doesn’t match the structure setup in InDesign
Also there is another bug when reading H1 tags on multiple lines.
You can see how the H1 tag is broken by 4 lines. This has been tested and you have to swipe 4 times to listen to the full H1 header.
- 6 Initial PDF review - tag h1 splitting - fix by order assigning.png In Acrobat I have then gone into the reading order and manually set the main header to a H1 tag. This then groups the text in the tag order window and fixes the issue of it being multilines. You can then also see the tag has changed from Span to H1.
The same thing needs to be done for the other multi layered heading tags.
I hope this is clear enough to understand.
Adobe InDesign version: 2019 CC
We are currently trying to establish the best workflow in creating fully accessible PDF's for screen readers and I believe we have come across a bug in the communication between InDesign and Acrobat.
Quick summary:
H1 elements on multiple lines read as separate elements unless assigned manually in Acrobat
The Structure and Article order does not transfer to the PDFTo explain the issue clearly I have numbered the images in the process order.
- Image: 1 InDesign Accessibility setup.png
- I have setup ‘paragraph styles’ and used the correct ‘Export Tagging’ tags for each style.
- I…
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6 Initial PDF review - tag h1 splitting - fix by order assigning.png 649 KB -
5 Initial PDF review - tag h1 splitting.png 635 KB -
4 Initial PDF review - Tag number ordering incorrect.png 653 KB -
3 Initial PDF review - incorrect content order.png 659 KB -
2 Interactive PDF with options selected.png 62 KB -
1 InDesign Accessibility setup.png 772 KB
10 votesThe issue is fixed in the latest release of InDesign – version 16.0
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Adobe InDesign team -
Indents Break Burmese Type
Applying an indent to Burmese type in InDesign makes the text render incorrectly. Please see the example in the attached file.
InDesign 15.0.1 x64
10 votesThe issue has been fixed in the latest release of InDesign – InDesign 2021.
Please update to this new version of InDesign to get the fix.—
Adobe InDesign team -
Data Merge multiple records not working properly at all
Data Merge is very buggy on latest update, makes tool useless:
1/ repeating same record over (with multiple records)
2/ records are not imported in order of source document
3/ preview and results do not match (alignment, records, etc)tested with both txt and csv
10 votes -
ICML export doesn't preserve the paragraph styles of endnotes.
- Adobe InDesign 14.0.2
- Export a story containing endnotes as ICML
- Endnotes should be styled properly
- Endnotes lose the applied paragraph style
- UserVoice will not allow me to attach an IDML or INDD file. I can email it if needed.
What this means is that anyone using InCopy will lose the paragraph styling of their endnotes.
10 votesThanks for reporting the issue. We are looking into it
-InDesign Team
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Unequal inset values in an Object Style don't display in a text frame if corners are rounded
If you use an object style with unequal inset spacing and apply it to a text frame, the unequal spacing is ignore and made uniform.
Steps to recreate:
1. Create an Object Style
2. Go to 'Text Frame General Options' for that style
3. Set unequal values for 'Inset Spacing'
4. Go to 'Stroke & Corner Cptions'
5. In 'Corner Options' set 'Rounded'
6. Create a Text Frame
7. Fill Text Frame with placeholder text
8. Apply Object Style to Text FrameResult: unequal inset spacing is ignored.
If you apply unequal inset spacing manually there are no problems — unless you apply a corner rounding greater than 6mm, at which point unequal spacing is ignored.
I've attached an InDesign file which demonstrates all of this.
As an addendum to this: object styles seem quite buggy generally. For example, if you set an initial paragraph style and select 'apply next' then later edit the paragraph style, the text frame doesn't always display the changes.
If you use an object style with unequal inset spacing and apply it to a text frame, the unequal spacing is ignore and made uniform.
Steps to recreate:
1. Create an Object Style
2. Go to 'Text Frame General Options' for that style
3. Set unequal values for 'Inset Spacing'
4. Go to 'Stroke & Corner Cptions'
5. In 'Corner Options' set 'Rounded'
6. Create a Text Frame
7. Fill Text Frame with placeholder text
8. Apply Object Style to Text FrameResult: unequal inset spacing is ignored.
If you apply unequal inset spacing manually there are no problems —…
10 votesIt is not possible to have unequal inset spacing and corners other than none as they can’t go together.
It is designed this way.—
InDesign team -
Crash when working with book TOC
I have a book with 10 chapters. I created a TOC earlier and left it for a few months while working on the chapters. When I try to update the TOC, the program crashes. I've tried the create new TOC files. Same result.
Same issue on both desktop and laptop.10 votesThanks, we were able to reproduce the issue and looking into it.
-Aman
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Invisible character
Apply all Auto Edits inserts an invisible character before which then interferes with Find and Replace. When pasted into a GREP search, it looks like ~I, but can't be found. It can be manually removed, but this is not helpful, as I need to be able to perform a comprehensive Find/Replace.
10 votesThanks for reporting.
We will review the issue-InDesign Team
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Unable to Import PDF Comments from Acrobat 2019 Shared Review
PDFs with shared Reviews running off the Adobe Document Cloud are not able to import comments into InDesign.
Since Acrobat 2019, we are no longer able to use our own review server. There's now a big blue button to share the review using the Adobe Document Cloud. While this simplifies using Shared Reviews, the review PDF is now hosted and maintained by Adobe. Then, there is no longer a way to import the comments into InDesign.
To import a PDF's Shared Review Comments, InDesign requires access to the copy of the PDF containing the comments. With Acrobat 2019, this copy has been moved to the Adobe Document Cloud and is inaccessible even by the originating user. If the user attempts to save a local copy, he is told that the copy will be saved WITHOUT comments.
PDFs with shared Reviews running off the Adobe Document Cloud are not able to import comments into InDesign.
Since Acrobat 2019, we are no longer able to use our own review server. There's now a big blue button to share the review using the Adobe Document Cloud. While this simplifies using Shared Reviews, the review PDF is now hosted and maintained by Adobe. Then, there is no longer a way to import the comments into InDesign.
To import a PDF's Shared Review Comments, InDesign requires access to the copy of the PDF containing the comments. With Acrobat 2019, this copy…
10 votes -
Text cursor disappears - Mojave and InDesign CC 13.1
After upgrading to Mac OSX Mojave (10.14), using InDesign CC 13.1 ME, the text cursor disappears. All other cursors appear as expected. This happens both with the standard Text tool, and the ME Text tool.
10 votesHi,
Please share a sample document at amaarora@adobe.com with which the issue is reproducible along with a small video showing the steps.Thanks
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Drop CAP Extends to the Next Paragraph
When a paragraph using a drop initial has fewer lines than what is indicated in the drop initial dialog, the following paragraph indents for as many lines as is missing in the previous drop initial paragraph, even if the following paragraph has space between it and the preceding drop initial paragraph.
The attached example shows a 1 line paragraph with drop a initial set up as 2 lines. The next paragraph indents.
I think it very odd that the drop initial formatting goes beyond the paragraph to which it is applied. Took me a bit to figure out where the mystery indent was coming from in the paragraph after the drop initial paragraph.
When a paragraph using a drop initial has fewer lines than what is indicated in the drop initial dialog, the following paragraph indents for as many lines as is missing in the previous drop initial paragraph, even if the following paragraph has space between it and the preceding drop initial paragraph.
The attached example shows a 1 line paragraph with drop a initial set up as 2 lines. The next paragraph indents.
I think it very odd that the drop initial formatting goes beyond the paragraph to which it is applied. Took me a bit to figure out where the…
10 votes -
InDesign Publish Online Not Clickable on Windows in Chrome or Firefox
Working in: Adobe InDesign CC 2018
We recently published a guide online using Adobe Publish online. The clickable elements (buttons, interactive elements) are not clickable on touchscreen PCs in Chrome or Firefox, but the touchscreen works (not as clean, but works). This issue is not present when the PC users are in safari or internet explorer. All content was created and published on a Mac, and no macs have had an issue.
The content is private, but I can send the guide to anyone from Adobe on a person-person basis.
10 votesThis issue has been fixed in the recent versions of InDesign.
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Adobe InDesign team
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Transparency Bug
BUG
Periodically, transparency function stops working. Objects previously displayed as transparent no longer render that way. Usually restarting indesign fixes it.Indesign CC2018
Mac iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
3.5 GHz Intel Core i7
24 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M 2048 MB
Plug in - suitcase fusion Version 19.1.0 (7201)10 votes -
InDesign CC Server 2018.1 crashes when applying masterSpread to a page
InDesign CC Server 2018.1 crashes when applying masterSpread to a page.
The code attached in file "Script.txt" crashes when executing "item.appliedMaster = masterSpread;".
The file "File.indd" is on which I execute the script.
I works properly in InDesign CS6 and InDesign CC 2018.1.
I've been searching on Internet and I couldn't find any issue similar to mine.
I think it is a bug but maybe I'm missing something prior to execute that sentence.
Thanks.10 votes
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