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[IDML Implemented] How can I open Indesign (indd and idml) Files in Publisher?


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I do not understand the persistent moaning about Indesign files.

Export to pdf & archive. For text, click in text & export to Word if that is the problem. Perform "Package” for all non-text.

Ask a friend how you to batch (or automate) this, in case you want to do that with ‘many’ files.

If this is not sufficient, simply use... Indesign.

I do not understand the need for opening Indesign files. Nobody sends Indesign files to someone else. An Indesign-file is only in use as long as your job has not been finalised.

So what is the problem ?

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@ChrisBorry

It seems obvious to me.... Export to another format loses a lot of info. "simply use .... Indesign" is the problem... If you rent your own files (through the subscription model) then those files are useless if you stop paying. The subscription model is expensive for many people (perhaps you are rich enough to not worry). Others would like to simply stop paying for InDesign without thinking first about exporting all their files to another unsatisfactory intermediate format in case they will need them. (P.S. currently we do not import word files either)

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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On the start of page 12 of this topic, I offered some work arround about dealing with PDF files created from INDD files. It might be helpful.

All the latest releases of Designer, Photo and Publisher (retail and beta) on MacOS and Windows.
15” Dell Inspiron 7559 i7 Windows 10 x64 Pro Intel Core i7-6700HQ (3.50 GHz, 6M) 16 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600 MHz (8GBx2) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4 GB GDDR5 500 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD UHD (3840 x 2160) Truelife LED - Backlit Touch Display
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What exactly is it that you will loose if you export to pdf ? What reason do you have to open an old Indesign file ? You have the graphic content on your computer, you can export the text to rtf if you have no possible way to open a word file, which by the way Indesign will import for you whether or not you have MsWord, so I don’t even understand your remark about Word.

I fail to understand the problem. You want to quit Indesign. If you have files in use that aren’t finished, once they are finished there’s no need for opening the file for the rest of your life.

Please explain to me where I’m wrong. 

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55 minutes ago, Oval said:

Which evolution?! Should have been launched since 2015 …

Well, I only knew they're working on this last year. I think they're doing a great job, since it's not easy to assemble so many functions in an app so efficient like this. I'm sure they're taking the time they need. But, if you're not happy with their schedule, there are a lot of options out there... 

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4 hours ago, AleMello said:

there are a lot of options out there

What news!

 

4 hours ago, AleMello said:

they're taking the time they need

Hopefully not the same procedure with IDML:

“Due in 2015, this publishing thoroughbred will share the precision, speed, quality, and designer-led finesse found in other Affinity titles.”

2015b.gif.7a4df843b56f266413d78f92a22ba617.gifappear.gif.753047d5026a0a6f84692daf6b9fe96d.gif2015a.gif.640ddfa8aab69b8cd27ce0ba7204a441.gif

“Due in 2016, this publishing thoroughbred will share the precision, speed, quality, and designer-led finesse found in other Affinity titles.”

 

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38 minutes ago, ChrisBorry said:

I do not understand the persistent moaning about Indesign files.

...
I do not understand the need for opening Indesign files. Nobody sends Indesign files to someone else. An Indesign-file is only in use as long as your job has not been finalised.

So what is the problem ?

The problem is I (and I believe a lot of people) have thousands of files of work built using InDesign. Most of them I need to update frequently or use as a base to new jobs. Been able to open or import an Indesign file would save time and work, since I wouldn't need to rebuild all. 

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On 2/8/2019 at 1:21 PM, Simon K said:

... Maybe it's not too much to hope they add ID <-> Affinity as well. And maybe even QX <-> Affinity. ...

I pretty much doubt that, since the Affinity file format is a proprietary official unspecified file format (there are no specs or deeper infos about it), so they would have to reverse engineer it via hex editors etc. in order to find something out about it's overall format construction.

Generally all proprietary and vendor cannibalized file formats are difficult to handle and no good base at all for a software file exchange. Also there are some file formats which are really complex in their overall structure/composition which in turn leads to the side effect that these aren't well handled by different third party software.

 

 

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☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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14 minutes ago, AleMello said:

The problem is I (and I believe a lot of people) have thousands of files of work built using InDesign. Most of them I need to update frequently or use as a base to new jobs. Been able to open or import an Indesign file would save time and work, since I wouldn't need to rebuild all. 

I do not understand “updating an Indesign-file”. Please send me a pdf of a Indesign-file that you update now and then. I do not understand how you can have thousands of files. Say you make one publication a week, you have made one every week for the last 20 years. 

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13 minutes ago, ChrisBorry said:

I do not understand “updating an Indesign-file”. Please send me a pdf of a Indesign-file that you update now and then. I do not understand how you can have thousands of files. Say you make one publication a week, you have made one every week for the last 20 years. 

I have manuals I have been updating since 1989. They have moved through a couple layout engines, but I wouldn't want to do an update to a 600+ page manual starting out with a PDF. Would you?

I am frequently moving ID files to QXP or Viva Designer Pro via IDML. It's a solid, good method.

One a week? Really? Even back when I had a relatively small agency with 4 layout people, we did do thousands of publications from ads to technical manuals. Even now that I am semi-retired (or just tired), I've needed to pump out several books a week at times. It all adds up. For a shop busier than I am, they add up real quickly.

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27 minutes ago, MikeW said:

I have manuals I have been updating since 1989. They have moved through a couple layout engines, but I wouldn't want to do an update to a 600+ page manual starting out with a PDF. Would you?

I am frequently moving ID files to QXP or Viva Designer Pro via IDML. It's a solid, good method.

One a week? Really? Even back when I had a relatively small agency with 4 layout people, we did do thousands of publications from ads to technical manuals. Even now that I am semi-retired (or just tired), I've needed to pump out several books a week at times. It all adds up. For a shop busier than I am, they add up real quickly.

OK. So you probably started with Pagemaker. :)

But serious now. Those 1000+ files are dated, archived & in pdf.

The manual you still update, will have to be packaged & the text exported to one of the formats Indesign supports. It’s not ideal but not unfeasible. And starting all over that book might be what it needs since being updated from 1989.

But we’re not talking about the 1000’s of publications some people claim.

But even IF you can input Ind in Aff ,since you are a pro, you will still have to check page by page if it went exactly as expected. 

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56 minutes ago, ChrisBorry said:

OK. So you probably started with Pagemaker. :)

But serious now. Those 1000+ files are dated, archived & in pdf.

The manual you still update, will have to be packaged & the text exported to one of the formats Indesign supports. It’s not ideal but not unfeasible. And starting all over that book might be what it needs since being updated from 1989.

But we’re not talking about the 1000’s of publications some people claim.

But even IF you can input Ind in Aff ,since you are a pro, you will still have to check page by page if it went exactly as expected. 

Nope. The first job I had was a writing and the layout of a software manual and I used Xerox Ventura Publisher. Until PDF became a thing in the mid- to late 1990s, the jobs were directly output to Postscript and imaged from the PS. We used a wide variety of applications, PM & QXP in addition to VP.

The manual I wrote about was output from VP to its internal tagged text format, VP's tags converted to QXP tagged text format and simply imported into Q.

INDD files can be batched converted to IDML and brought into one of the (currently) two applications that support the format. The text doesn't need exported to anything if IDML is used and an application that can import IDML. Image links are maintained, styles come in fine, etc.

Even going from INDD files to a later version of ID, text flow always needs checked as Adobe is constantly making changes to its text engine. So yes, even with an IDML import that is "perfect," one needs to check reflow and other issues that can/will arise. It's still faster than beginning all over again.

You are correct in that I likely haven't even recycled 5% of past jobs. Most/many were one and done jobs. Ads, data sheets, etc., are often recycled from one season to the next with few changes. While it isn't a big deal to base a new ad on a PDF, it's still faster to begin with original, or imported, native files. And that's where, if moving from one layout application to a new one, IDML comes into play. In newer versions of ID, packaging includes an IDML by default, it makes for an easier transition. 

Generally I will always use the same application until a job is finished. It would be rare for me to move a current project from one layout application to a new one during a job. I write rare but I have done it once or twice. And it is almost as rare that I will move a past job to a new layout application. I'll just keep using the original application unless the client expresses otherwise (which has happened many times since CC). But again, IDML comes to the rescue for these circumstances as well.

Mike

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3 hours ago, ChrisBorry said:

I do not understand “updating an Indesign-file”. Please send me a pdf of a Indesign-file that you update now and then. I do not understand how you can have thousands of files. Say you make one publication a week, you have made one every week for the last 20 years. 

Well, not thousands, today. But dozens. Newsletters, magazines, reports... Files I've been use year after year, changing here and there, but based on a structure (text styles, master pages, color palettes for instance) that I would have to rebuild.

The point is: I don't have time to rebuild all those files. I'm still using Adobe CS5 (I don't wanna pay per month to use Indesign). 
If I have a way to import/convert/use indeed files in Publisher it would save me a lot of time. And sleep.

Do that using a PDF file is the same of doing that from zero. I know how to do that, I can do that, but I don't want to do that, if I have another way.

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4 hours ago, ChrisBorry said:

I do not understand the persistent moaning about Indesign files.

Export to pdf & archive. For text, click in text & export to Word if that is the problem. Perform "Package” for all non-text.

Ask a friend how you to batch (or automate) this, in case you want to do that with ‘many’ files.

If this is not sufficient, simply use... Indesign.

I do not understand the need for opening Indesign files. Nobody sends Indesign files to someone else. An Indesign-file is only in use as long as your job has not been finalised.

So what is the problem ?

I don't understand why you are moaning about our needs. 
The problem isn't text or linked files. The problem is text styles, color palletes, hifenization exceptions and a lot of things you can't get from PDF. And you're wrong: sometimes I receive indd files. And I don't want to use Indesign anymore.
If you don't have this problem, lucky you. But, please, if this is not a problem to you, just watch.

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4 minutes ago, AleMello said:

point is: I don't have time to rebuild all those files. I'm still using Adobe CS5 (I don't wanna pay per month to use Indesign). 

Well to be on the safe side, partition your HD and install CS5. I still use CS5.5 on Mac/Mojave, but partitioned HighSierra and installed CS5.5 again.

What the situation is with Windows, I have no idea.

I hope this will be my last post on this subject as I keep repeating myself, and every respons to my solutions keep saying the same thing.

Everybody says: I used Indesign for ages, I have thousands of files that I keep using, I don’t like Adobe’s subscription. So, Affinity should solve my problem, because I don’t want to do anything about it. You expect more compatibility from Aff than from an Adobe upgrade. 

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12 hours ago, ChrisBorry said:

What exactly is it that you will loose if you export to pdf ? What reason do you have to open an old Indesign file ? You have the graphic content on your computer, you can export the text to rtf if you have no possible way to open a word file, which by the way Indesign will import for you whether or not you have MsWord, so I don’t even understand your remark about Word.

I fail to understand the problem. You want to quit Indesign. If you have files in use that aren’t finished, once they are finished there’s no need for opening the file for the rest of your life.

Please explain to me where I’m wrong. 

Everyone has different needs here. If you run a publication and need to change ads every week/month/year, the file is never “finished” as you say. I have 1000’s of files, some old advertisers that may return.  On the other hand I do not disagree with you because in the past I have had to start over with new software without the ease of opening a PDF with publisher, which in my works works great. I use CS4 though and can just make a PDF. Users of CC would have to sign up and pay for a month just to open one ad they need. THAT is painful. Or make PDFs or idml’s of 1000’s of files while still licensed in CC. Ouch. It’s the never ever plan.  I know adobe would NEVER do this but they should SELL software (not rent) which allows batching the transfer of CC files to PDF or idml.  Perhaps markzware? Truly with CC you are handcuffed.  Or an InDesign “elements” would be awesome. 

 

Note:  I am trying InDesign CC this week. It’s no faster than CS4. I think it’s a bit slower. 2013 i7 3.5 ghz imac. My main job for InDesign is designing ads and a magazine but perhaps the most complex thing I do is a city map. Yes, in InDesign.  People said use illustrator. Tried it. NO THANKS.  worst software ever.  I mean EVERRRRRR as in illustrator 88 to cs4.  Not one ounce of intuitive.  Of course I’m use to InDesign.  Nodes in both software is hell though. Probably much improved by now or even Cs5 to CC.  Publisher on the other hand seemed pretty good with nodes and what I need to do a map.  One thing missing was the ability to place text perfectly on the center and as part of a line for streets with names. So I do them separately.  InDesign did this but not well enough.  

So that’s my need for InDesign and publisher. No job is ever really finished because they are periodicals. 

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13 hours ago, ChrisBorry said:

 

I do not understand “updating an Indesign-file”. Please send me a pdf of a Indesign-file that you update now and then. I do not understand how you can have thousands of files. Say you make one publication a week, you have made one every week for the last 20 years. 

More than one ad a week here. I do 6 publications. 2 weekly, 2 monthly, 2 yearly.  Sometime I even  go back in mac classic OS 9 and retrieve very old ads that I know worked well. I have never counted but I may have designed tens of thousands of ads since 1985.  (Obviously not all in InDesign) but truly the majority in the last 15 years. Maybe I’m not your average publisher. 

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For the very very Last Time:

  1. CS5.5 works in the latest Mac/Mojave.
  2. Partition your disk and install High Sierra to be on the safe side.
  3. Try to install CS5.5

I have illustrator but still I do all my illustrator-work in Indesign. For me that works. So for your needs, you wouldn’t need the whole package. (However Adobe seems to coerce one into renting the whole lot.)

If you absolutely need to go to CC, look out for education version. (Adopt a kid in the neighbourhood, it’s cheaper. Or take a temporary job as volunteer to teach in primary school )

In general, going back to 1985 isn’t fair. Even simple text files from that period loose their formatting when eventually opened.

I do not understand how a pro can get stuck with CS4.

best regards,

Over and Out

cb

 

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14 minutes ago, ChrisBorry said:

For the very very Last Time:

  1. CS5.5 works in the latest Mac/Mojave.
  2. Partition your disk and install High Sierra to be on the safe side.
  3. Try to install CS5.5

I have illustrator but still I do all my illustrator-work in Indesign. For me that works. So for your needs, you wouldn’t need the whole package. (However Adobe seems to coerce one into renting the whole lot.)

If you absolutely need to go to CC, look out for education version. (Adopt a kid in the neighbourhood, it’s cheaper. Or take a temporary job as volunteer to teach in primary school )

In general, going back to 1985 isn’t fair. Even simple text files from that period loose their formatting when eventually opened.

I do not understand how a pro can get stuck with CS4.

best regards,

Over and Out

cb

 

CS 4 has a (relatively) simple workflow. I know a pro who uses it regularly—because it's familiar. He also has CS 6 for more complex issues, like handling more recent RAW files. But CS 4 does most of what he needs to do. And he's in no hurry to upgrade his OS, despite my warnings about security issues. I wouldn't put him on Mojave in any case. Too many problems. Real substantive changes, like APSF.

So, yes, pros get stuck in ruts, just like anyone else. Change is challenging and for some people it represents totally unnecessary hassles, not to mention expense. I use CS 4 to run my  Epson scanner software, which has not been updated for 64 bit apps, like Photoshop beyond CS 4. But I also have CS 6 and Photoshop CC, with Lightroom in Adobe's photography package. InDesign, however, has not been discounted, which is why Publisher is appealing.

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PS. For the city map.

That is clearly an Illustrator job you do in Indesign. I too have a city map, and I too work with it in Indesign.

I just completed following test:

  1. In your Indesign file: Select All /Copy/ Open illustrator / paste / all elements to new Illustrator file
  2. SAVE AS  that illustrator file to SVG (not svg compressed) or EPS
  3. These files I open on iPad in Affinity Designer and I have all elements in layers like in illustrator. Aff Des is a fine app, buy it !
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