Switching Indesign Files Into Affinity Publisher

[Nails]

Just bought Affinity Publisher because I'm hoping it's the answer to the problem of losing all my Adobe CS6 software once I upgrade to Mac Catalina or Big Sur. And I don't want to pay a fortune to rent Adobe CC. I was aware that Indesign files could be turned into pdfs and imported but this seemed a clunky way to get the files into Publisher. Then I heard that the new version of Publisher can just open Indesign flies. Great news. Tried to open them but Publisher does not recognise them.

Am I missing something? Was my information wrong? Please help.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Nails

[Joachim_L]

Welcome to the Affinity forums @Nails!

Affinity Publisher is able to open IDML (open XML) and not INDD (locked format). Additionally markzware.com has a tool for Mac to convert from INDD to IDML.

[jmwellborn]

@Nails  If you only need to convert your existing files from InDesign, then you can do what I did for several books created with InDesign.  Takes a little time but worth it in the long run.  Save and store  all of your INDD files to IDML before you upgrade your OS.   @joachim is correct about the Markzware tool.  If you are going to continue to work with people wishing to provide you with INDD files, then $99.00 for the conversion software is a very good option. That is, unless you can persuade your customers to convert their files to IDML before sending them to you.   The IDML files, by the way, OPEN (not Place) very well in Publisher.  

[Joachim_L]

In the following thread is a batch converter script.

 

[Nails]

Thanks for your replies. I should read the blurbs more carefully. Anyway, all is well. I use Adobe CS6. Indesign provides for export to IDML. 

I'm an author and to be nice to the publishers I create my own book templates. I converted one of my manuscript files to IDML and opened it in Publisher. On a brief inspection it seems to present quite well. Will be interesting to see if has the same characteristics as the original IDD file. I'm a fan of Indesign and know it quite well but Adobe have just priced themselves out of the market.  Now comes the onerous task of learning new software. Got a feeling it will be worth the effort.

[Fixx]

Many of us keep using Mojave as long as possible to keep CS6 alive. 

[Nails]

Hi Fixx

That is my Plan B.

[Gary Zenker]

I have 20 years worth of Indesign files on the PC. I can;t invest the time to export them all in advance of stopping use of InDesign. So there is no way to open the files directly from the native InDesign files?

[Komatös]

53 minutes ago, Gary Zenker said:

I have 20 years worth of Indesign files on the PC. I can;t invest the time to export them all in advance of stopping use of InDesign. So there is no way to open the files directly from the native InDesign files?

No, the .indd files cannot be opened directly, as the document format is proprietary, and not or not fully documented by Adobe.

Perhaps you can run the script mentioned above during dinner.
 

[Eddie Aguirre]

On 12/20/2021 at 9:40 AM, Gary Zenker said:

I have 20 years worth of Indesign files on the PC. I can;t invest the time to export them all in advance of stopping use of InDesign. So there is no way to open the files directly from the native InDesign files?

Gary, that's the exact reason we (Markzware) developed IDMarkz (macOS and Windows). It's a stand-alone application that will convert INDD files to IDML, which can then be opened in Affinity Publisher (or other 3rd party applications). IDMarkz SE for Windows can also be configured to automatically convert, and open files dropped on it in Affinity Publisher in one step.

IDMarkz is sold as both a macOS and Windows application. And can be purchased with a perpetual (forever) or subscription (annual) license. It's not free, but for $149, you can have peace of mind knowing that you can quickly convert any of your existing InDesign files to Affinity Publisher.

Use Promo Code IDMSE for 15% off through January 2022.

IDMarkz SE for Windows product page
IDMarkz for macOS product page
Comparison page