Exporting from InDesign to Issuu-Ready PDFs

• Adding hyperlinks
• InDesign export settings
• Troubleshooting

Optimizing your PDF for web before you publish it to Issuu will ensure the highest possible image quality and the most error free rendering of vector objects — in other words, the best presentation for your readers. Please take following points into consideration when preparing your content for exporting:

• Image PPI (pixels per inch) should be 300, both for color and grayscale images
• Complex vector objects must be simplified or flattened (as bitmap)
• InDesign effects such as drop-shadows, glow, special strokes, or transparency may not be fully supported

Adding hyperlinks

There are two ways of adding hyperlinks to your content:

• The easiest way is to use the Issuu Link Editor after you have published your content. Please see the help articles under Adding Links to my publication, for tips on how to use our Link Editor tool.
• You can also add hyperlinks using your favourite creation software (InDesign, QuarkExpress, etc), by including them directly in the working file

InDesign export settings

Below are the suggested guidelines depending on your content and InDesign version:

If you are using InDesign to create your content, you can download Issuu Export Preset and add it to your presets, to ensure during the export process that your PDF is Issuu-ready.

You should follow the steps below to set up the preset:

1. Select File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define
2. Select New... and set Preset Name to Issuu Export Preset and Compatibility: Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5)
3. General settings

• Optimize for Fast Web View:  Enabled
• Create Tagged PDF:  Enabled
• Export Layers:  Visible layers
• Include Hyperlinks:  Enabled

4. Compression settings

• Set Color, Grayscale and Monochrome images to Bicubic Downsampling to 300 pixels per inch for images over 300 pixels per inch.
• Compress Text and Line Art:  Enabled

5. Save your new Issuu Export Preset and use it to save content as PDF
6. Publish to Issuu (You can select your content as Unlisted and publish if you are not ready to publish)

Troubleshooting

To manage pages and spreads, read this article from InDesign.