I have not figured out why it's happening but I have figured out a workaround that helped me out and is much quicker than exporting/reimporting.

I've found that the only layer affected on my pdf are the bottom-most one.  If I switch out the layer that's moving when I PDF with a new layer, it too will be moved and the other layer will now be unaffected.  What I did was create a small box filled with the same color as the background (luckily the catalog I'm working on has a white background) and dropped it to the lowest layer.  That way when I PDF even if that small box is moved around, you'll never notice.  Fixed it 100% of the time for me.

Hope this helps!

Got same problem at random files. Could‘t understand the reason and system of this error, except that the transfer whole of objects into a new file does not solve the problem. But in my case the problem solves by group "moving" objects with any other and exports are no longer displaced. In any case, it would be damn interesting to know what the root of the problem. Such surprises were typical for CorelDRAW5...

Hello, Kristin!

Not that I can solve your problem with that, but I'd like to know what exact version of inDesign CS5 on what OS platform you are using. Latest version is 7.0.4. At least to the public.

In the past I had issues with images shifting minor amounts when exported to PDF. With minor I mean about 0.05 to 0.1 mm. Not annoying when images standing alone but with adjacent page elements that was a big deal with a customer. Outputting to PostScript and then distilling to PDF was the solution then.

Uwe

I just started having this same problem with a file I recived from a new client. The blank square on the layer affected fix works but it's not enough for me. I'm making a 92 page magazine and having this problem when it's going in the press is very scary!

So I tried to make a completely new file/master from scratch and copyed the elements I needed from the old file without the 'paste remember layers' selected. And It worked perfectly untill I had done most of the magazine and this **** problem started happening on pdf export again! ARRGH! This is sooo frustrating. I need an answer/good fix to this ASAP! I have worked with Indesign in 6 years and this is the first time I have ever had this problem.

HELP!

@dbdee – What is your PDF export profile? PDF/X-1a related? Do you flatten  transparencies due to using PDF v 1.3 for output?

If so try to export via PDF/X-4, if your printers permit it.
If they will not accept PDF/X-4, try the PostScript-then-distill-to-pdf route.

Occasionally we had the same problems and a PDF/X-4 output was the solution.
Or PostScript-to-distiller, if you dare ;-)

Uwe

Since you cannot know in advance if the problem rears its ugly head I'd prefer PDF/X-4 output.
Or PostScript to distiller.

With that in mind you should be on the save side…

Uwe

Thank you for commenting, DrRomano.
Very interesting. Could you provide a small test sample (IDML) for downloading?

Could you test in InDesign CS5.5?

Uwe

Interesting the different solutions that work, or don't work, for the same problem.

We had this issue a while ago and while we never managed to establish what the trigger was for the behavior, the solution for us was to make sure that the setting for Output with Convert to Destination, was Document CMYK. When Document RGB was selected the element/s moved.

It seemed to be entirely random as to when it happened and what element was affected. And as others have said, it wasn't possible to make the issue happen consistently, so it was impossible to thoroughly troubleshoot it.

Just ran into this problem today. Got an email from my account rep at the printer asking to confirm image and text postitions on certain pages. Took a look at the PDF and sure enough, some text and image frames had moved. It seems like everything moved a set distance either left or right, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind which objects moved and if they moved right or left. That'll teach me to send a PDF to press without looking at it first. Been working with InDesign over 7 years and I've never seen anything as bizarre as this. No software changes or updates lately. I moved all of the objects back to where they were supposed to be, re-exported with the same settings as before (they were still saved) and it worked just fine. Saved INDD after export, nothing moved. I'm completely baffled - but this is a really scary problem.