InDesign export for interactive PDFs and JPGs

Every designer and layout artist will eventually be confronted with the topic of data export. This is crucial to bring your creative works into formats suitable for print or the web. In this tutorial, you will learn how to export documents from InDesign as interactive PDFs and JPGs. This guide will take you step by step through the process and show you how to get the most out of your exported files.

Key insights

• Interactive PDFs allow for the inclusion of videos and buttons.
• Export for print and web occurs through different formats.
• The Preflight feature in InDesign helps with troubleshooting before export.
• JPGs can also be exported directly from InDesign.

Step-by-step guide

Let’s start with exporting your InDesign data. I will explain the process to you step by step below.

To export your brochure or any other document, open InDesign and click on File. There you will find the option Export. This is where the actual data export process begins.

Once you click Export, the export dialog will open. Here you need to select in which format you want to save your document. In this case, we will first focus on the Adobe PDF Interactive, which is best suited for use on the web.

Another important step is to decide which pages should be exported. You have the option to either select only certain pages or export all pages. For this tutorial, you will choose the setting "All".

In the export dialog, you will also find various options such as pages or printer spreads. If you choose printer spreads, each double page will be represented as one page in the PDF. This is particularly useful when working with multi-page documents.

An important setting is the view on export. You can choose the Fit Page option to ensure that the document is easy to read on the screen without the viewer having to scroll constantly. Also activate the options for forms and media to ensure that all interactive elements work.

Now you can set the image compression. Here you have the choice between lossy and lossless formats, as well as selecting the resolution. Depending on your needs, you can also set a title and the language of the document. Ready? Click Export.

After exporting, the Preflight Tool opens, which informs you about potential issues in your document. Make sure there are no errors such as overset text or missing links. This is an essential function to ensure the quality of your export.

Once you have corrected all errors, the Preflight Tool will highlight that everything is now ready. You will receive a clear overview indicating that your PDF is error-free.

If you only want to export an image from your InDesign document as a JPG instead, simply click on the corresponding image, go to File, and select Export. Now you choose the JPEG format.

In the next dialog, you can make the settings for the image: quality, color model, and resolution. Once you have set all your settings, click Export again. You can now view the exported image in the appropriate size and quality in your system.

The PDF and the JPG are now exported. Be sure to compare the file sizes: while the interactive PDF is only about 490 KB, a print-optimized document can be significantly larger. Now you are well equipped to efficiently utilize data export in InDesign!

Summary - InDesign Data Export: Interactive PDFs and JPGs for Beginners

Exporting your InDesign documents to interactive PDFs and JPG files is a key skill for any designer. With the steps outlined here, you are well prepared to optimally bring your works to the web or print. Correctly applying the Preflight feature ensures a high quality of your export files.