have converted idml file to Affinity apub file and it seems to be "Missing" all of its .tiff files

[malch]

Hi there,

I'm a long-time user of InDesign, am trying out Affinity Publisher, and I'm wondering if there's a better way for me to import InDesign idml files into Affinity Publisher.

I've written a book, about 300 pages long, that's full of photos and graphics as well as text. When I imported the InDesign idml file into Affinity, a lot of it was left behind—all the text is there, it seems, and some of the graphics, but none of the .tiff files—I'm left with a book full of red question marks.

If there were an easy way to relink all the photos in the Resource Manager window I'd do it, but Relink doesn't know where the actual missing file is, and Replace doesn't know either. Neither does Show in Finder.

Have I missed something? Is there a way to import an idml file so that the whole document, and all of it's parts and pieces, shows up?

Thanks for any advice,

Malcolm

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Affinity forums, @malch.

Were the files physically embedded in the IDML, or linked from it?

If you look in the Resource Manager, are the files listed? If they are listed, and show as Missing, does the Resource Manager show the correct file locations for them, and do the files actually exist in that location or are they truly missing?

 

[malch]

Walt—so nice of you to reply.

In Resource Manager, almost all the files are listed as Missing, but also listed as Linked. If I click on one of the files listed, Show in Finder doesn't work. So yes, it's pretty clear that Affinity Publisher doesn't know where the files are. I don't blame it. I've worked (in InDesign) for five years on this book, and all the photos are in five years' worth of folders within folders on my hard drive (in Documents).

Should I 'embed' all these files, in InDesign, and then export sn IDML copy? I don't believe I've embedded files before. It's something I do to myself at 10pm, that's my only experience.

I should say, in case it's not obvious, that I'm not a trained graphic designer, or book writer for that matter. This book of mine is a pandemic project that got out of control. I now want to print a few copies for family and friends and be done with it. But I want to keep a copy as well, in something other than Adobe InDesign. In my retirement, it's something I just can't afford ID any more.

Regards, Malcolm

[werfox]

Hi @malch,

if you still have access to InDesign, I’d do a collection (via File > Package) so all linked images are copied to one folder (called Links then; depending on the data amount be aware of required diskspace). Besides an idml is saved and if you import that file in APub, all linked images should appear. If not, the paths link to the afore mentioned Links folder so a re-linking should not be a problem.

Best regards

 

[malch]

I will give this a try when I get home. If this works, it will be nothing short of wonderful!

Thanks so much for the help,

Malcolm

[walt.farrell]

@malch: Rather than embedding them, packaging them as @werfox suggested is probably a better approach.

[thomaso]

10 hours ago, malch said:

In Resource Manager, almost all the files are listed as Missing, but also listed as Linked. If I click on one of the files listed, Show in Finder doesn't work. So yes, it's pretty clear that Affinity Publisher doesn't know where the files are.

No, this is not clear because the file path may be stored anyway, independently of the image. So, if a resource is embedded it can have a file path, whereas if it's linked it must have a file path. Accordingly the Resource Manager would know the file path of a missing resource if it's linked … and display the path below the resource list if the entry gets selected.