Select File > Export and select Adobe PDF (Print) as the format.
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Resolve export failures in Adobe InDesign by adjusting downsampling settings or pre-processing images in Photoshop or Acrobat.
PDF export errors in InDesign often occur during downsampling, especially when high‑resolution images are scaled down in the layout. After choosing File > Export > Adobe PDF (Print), the export may fail partway through with a PDF export failed or damaged file message. Because scaling increases effective resolution, such as a 600‑dpi image becoming 1200 dpi at 50%, InDesign can run out of memory while processing multiple images during export.
InDesign ran out of memory
InDesign runs out of memory when attempting to downsample multiple high-resolution images during PDF export. PDF exports succeed because InDesign bypasses the memory-intensive downsampling step, and Acrobat handles downsampling more efficiently during the optimization process.
Choose a location and select Save.
In the Export Adobe PDF dialog box, select Compression in the left panel.
Change the downsampling option to Do Not Downsample for Color Images, Grayscale Images, and Monochrome Images.
Deselect Preserve InDesign Editing Capabilities to further reduce the memory load during the initial save.
Select Export to create the PDF without downsampling.
Open the resulting PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
Open Acrobat and select File > Save As Other > Optimized PDF (only available in Acrobat Pro).
In the PDF Optimizer dialog box, select Images in the left panel.
Set your desired downsampling options for Color, Grayscale, and Monochrome images.
Select OK and name your optimized file.
Select Save.
Placed Images have high resolution
If you prefer to address the problem at the source and maintain smaller file sizes throughout your workflow, pre-processing images in Photoshop prevents export issues entirely:
Placed images have unnecessarily high resolution for their final output size in the layout, requiring InDesign to process excessive image data. Your PDF exports without memory errors because each image is already optimized to its final output resolution.
Launch InDesign and select Window > Links open the Links panel.
Select each image to check the Actual PPI and Effective PPI values in the Link Info section.
Identify images where the resolution significantly exceeds your project requirements. For high-quality print, your goal is for both Actual and Effective PPI to be 300 dpi.
Right-click the image link and select Edit Original to open it in Photoshop.
In Photoshop, select Image > Image Size.
Ensure Resample is turned on in the Image Size dialog box.
Calculate the appropriate resolution by measuring the image's final size in your InDesign layout and multiplying it by your target output resolution (typically 300 dpi for print).
Enter the calculated dimensions in the Width and Height fields, ensuring the resolution matches your target.
Select OK, then save and close the image.
Return to InDesign and the link updates automatically. If you don’t view the change, select the Update Link icon in the Links panel if prompted.
Repeat for other high-resolution images in your document.
Tip
For documents containing many images, processing them in Photoshop before placing them in InDesign also improves overall InDesign performance and reduces document file size.
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