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

[Jan Prague]

58 minutes ago, fde101 said:

Glad if that is working for you (I used it for a long time too) but for people newly looking for software, Aperture has been discontinued for some time and is no longer an option for people trying to switch. 

I have some older catalogues and nice presets there, but I barely use it anymore. It was good back then thanks to connection to iPhoto and to cloud services. I hate switching through different systems. Photos are good enough for everything, the only missing thing is batch processing which – if introduced – would solve all my troubles...

As for Affinity Photo – I love the implementation into photos, cloud and iPad version. In Affinity Designer, the iPad app is very good. If iPad app for Publisher comes one day, my life will be all sunshine

[Moon12]

Thanks for this answer. yes switching is cost and time intensive. I try for the moment photoline32 which is qute good but the layout is a bit rough. For the indesign matter - which is really important, i try now viva designer. What i like on affinity is the layout and the congruency. Unfortunately i have lots of files in indesign 6 which i have to use again and again. I tested the possibility with opening the PDF files, and this was astonishing good. In my case, it is not only the price, but the Adobe monthly payment is not an option as it feels unhonest and unfair as they use their monopolistic condition. if you compare the prices, its only good for a superuser or company to use adobe, but not for a normal layouter or designer.

[Jan Prague]

35 minutes ago, Moon12 said:

if you compare the prices, its only good for a superuser or company to use adobe, but not for a normal layouter or designer.

That's true. But so far there were no option. Affinity software costs just a month worth of Adobe CC subscription (complete package). I have already switched some minor repeating projects into Designer and so far so good. Few struggles with bleeding settings from Illustrator. I look forward to trying Publisher more.

[Moon12]

Thanks. Yes it is an good idea to go on with publisher and the other programs. for this price i suggest it anyway to buy it for some purposes. Good luck!

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@Jan Prague @Moon12

It's not just the total spend (sending Adobe $50+ every month indefinitely) that is of concern. The other major concern is that you lose control of all of your own work product once you decide to drop the subscription.

If you drop your subscription, for whatever reason, the Adobe apps that remain installed on your computer prevent you from editing, printing and exporting your own work product. Your files become read-only files. 

The only solution to this major problem is to proactively save all of your Adobe produced work as a PDF (which can be opened and edited with many 3rd party apps, including the Affinity suite), or to be willing to resubscribe to the Adobe suite for a month just to regain access to your old work product.

This is perhaps the most onerous part of having to rent one's tools from Adobe, rather than owning a permanent license to one's tools.

[fde101]

6 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

proactively save all of your Adobe produced work as a PDF

Might want to go for IDML too...  that doesn't lose quite as much data and can be imported by a few other programs, such as QuarkXPress, and we hope eventually Affinity Publisher (though no telling when just yet).

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@fde101

Yes. Where InDesign files are concerned, saving a copy as an IDML file in addition to a PDF would be smart (hoping, anticipating, that Serif will eventually add an IDML import feature into Publisher).

[Moon12]

Yes. This is the workaround. Thanks for all your thoughts on this!

[nomi02118]

I know this isn't the ideal solution fr all and has been mentioned elswhere.

I have recently taken most of my idesign templates I use for various clients , exported them as PDF and opened them in Publisher, including multi page documents, and it did a VERY good job reformatting them to Publisher. Most needed zero after the fact tweaking. Fonts were correct, as were all the text and paragraph attributes.  

 

So I too would like indesign import/export functionality but I am finding it less crucial than I thought as I wait for Publisher to get an official release and start it's road as a viable Indiesgn replacement. 

[Moon12]

Yes, this is a good option. Unfortunately, the pictures do not have the path of the pictures. If it is a booklet, and not too old to find the pictures, it will be a good choice, because the transformation of text out of the PDF is quite good.

[Amalou]

Yes please!! If it's at all possible to open .indd files would be awesome. I just tested Affinity Publisher Beta, opening a PDF that I had originally created in InDesign and it kept all the fonts, formatting and pictures as my InDesign file. This isn't ideal, as I would need to save every InDesign file to a PDF, however, at least it is an option. I'm quite impressed so far with the Beta version. Looks very easy to use and everything is easy to find. I'll be excited to move over to Affinity Designer and Publisher, however, I'm not quite ready to give up my Adobe Photoshop. I'll give it another 12 months while learning Affinity Designer. I think the main problem with Adobe, is they haven't catered for the people who used Creative Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Acrobat Pro. It's very disappointing that we have to pay for 'All Apps' per month subscription. I have a feeling Affinity will take a large amount of 'print design' creatives from Adobe ;)

[Moon12]

Yes, true. As Adobe won the battle against Quark in older times, now Affinity can succeed in this DTP battlefield.

Affinity-Photo works good meanwhile and is working for all my DTP needs - except:

1. I miss the path for using old photoshop plugins and

2. the ability to open EPS files!

These open only in good quality with photoshop.

I would pay extra for a plugin which opens EPS files in good quality and for a plugin which opens idml-files.

 

[Oval]

14 hours ago, Moon12 said:

now Affinity can succeed in this DTP battlefield

    

[MikeW]

57 minutes ago, Oval said:

    

Moon would need to, as I am sure Serif has, define success. But whatever the definition, it certainly will not be like Adobe/Quark in the 2000s.

[Oval]

17 hours ago, MikeW said:

it certainly will not be like Adobe/Quark in the 2000s

And APu certainly will not succeed if it will not (be) launch(ed).

[mscwebmaster]

Darn it. Being able to open InDesign files is critical for me. I was hoping to say "Bye Felicia" to Adobe on May 18. My plan renews on May 19. I'm stuck for at least another year. I'll be keeping an eye out, though.

[Jan Prague]

On 4/20/2019 at 12:38 AM, MikeW said:

Moon would need to, as I am sure Serif has, define success. But whatever the definition, it certainly will not be like Adobe/Quark in the 2000s.

I don't think it should necessarily be such a battle. I believe Serif can deliver decent alternative for semi-pro and amateur tools capable of pro-level results. For a fraction of costs in comparison to Adobe monopoly.

Every now and then people are asking me what SW they should use for personal level editing of photos and documents. Not much alternatives there...

[Seneca]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:17 AM, Moon12 said:

As Adobe won the battle against Quark in older times,

It was Quark that lost the battle. They didn't even turn up for the fight. Their product support was so awful that people left in droves.

Now things are different of course.

[mscwebmaster]

Maybe the piss-poor product support is endemic to the industry, because Adobe's support is a nightmare. I can't even entertain the though of Publisher until I KNOW that I KNOW that I can open an OLD IDD file and adequately export an IDD file. And I need to be able to create interactive links in Publisher that I can export to a PDF. And, I need to know by May 18, when my Adobe subscription expires. Or, I'm stuck with Adobe for another year. 

[mscwebmaster]

And Affinity pushes support to a forum. That never goes badly when you're on a deadline. 

[AdrianB]

1 hour ago, Seneca said:

It was Quark that lost the battle. They didn't even turn up for the fight. Their product support was so awful that people left in droves.

Now things are different of course.

Yeah, these days it's Adobe that people are trying to get away from, and that should concern them. If people are actively trying to find alternatives and the only thing keeping the customers are lock-in and/or lack of alternatives, they're in a bad spot even if revenue still keep coming, for now.

In fact, if I hade a dime for every time I see someone actively trying to get away from Adobe I would be… able to afford Creative Cloud! 

[Saw912]

Being able to open InDesign and Quark files easily would be great. I know I can open pdf files in Publisher and that is an option, but I simpler fix would be great.

I currently own my copies of AdobeCS and Quark, but I know I am living on borrowed time with Mac converting to 64-bit and not supporting 32-bit. I just downloaded Publisher today and so far it looks like a good option. It's a new journey for me because I have been using Adobe and Quark since the very beginning. But the cost of a monthly subscription for Adobe is crazy!

[MikeW]

2 hours ago, Saw912 said:

I currently own my copies of AdobeCS and Quark, but I know I am living on borrowed time with Mac converting to 64-bit and not supporting 32-bit.

The past couple versions of QXP are 64-bit only.

As regards QXP files, I doubt Serif will ever support its native file format and there isn't an exchange format out of QXP with the exception of tagged text and I wouldn't hold my breath that Serif will support it. Serif will likely only support ID's IDML format. 

[mb6391]

Yes it would be nice to open *.indd files but in my book that's not going to happen especially with a first release and possibly/probably never. The best anyone can hope for is an import of *idml files which isn't a bad compromise. So for now AP is really just for occasional use and certainly at this stage not ready for the professional market especially where a client uses InDesign.

In my opinion to ask them (the client) to supply an idml file is a no go at this stage so it's either continue to cough up those monthly 'rip off' fees for CC or carry on with CS6. I'm reminded just how long it took Adobe to overhaul Quark as those early day InDesign programs simply didn't make much impact. Adobe persevered whereas Quark sat back on their laurels.

So we're looking at a few years down the line sadly before AP becomes mainstream. Maybe though Affinity are not after the InDesign market as Adobe would be a big nut to crack.

[AdrianB]

Since support for IDML is coming, but not .indd, I looked into the possibility to export all my old .indd files to IDML. This is generally useful for future-proofing anyway, since I won't be able to run my old version of InDesign (CS5) forever.

I'm happy to report that this script was really good, it did everything I was hoping for. There was some trial and error and some issues (I have to delete batch_convert.txt for every run) to get there but eventually I got it to search folders and subfolders for any .indd file and export it as IDML, and it worked.