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

[Fixx]

4 hours ago, Whitedog said:

I was using a zoom level of 225%

Would not 200 % be close enough? It is available readily CMD 2.

[dominik]

5 hours ago, Whitedog said:

But unlike InDesign, it does not allow for custom zoom levels.

Hello @Whitedog,

in the Navigator panel you can type in any zoom level you want.

Also, if you switch to the Zoom Tool you can type in any value into the box labeled 'Zoom'.

d.

[Whitedog]

13 hours ago, dominik said:

Hello @Whitedog,

in the Navigator panel you can type in any zoom level you want.

Also, if you switch to the Zoom Tool you can type in any value into the box labeled 'Zoom'.

d.

Thanks. I guess it pays to know where to look. I suppose it's too soon to expect an Affinity Publisher Workbook.

[Whitedog]

4 hours ago, Fixx said:

Would not 200 % be close enough? It is available readily CMD 2.

No. Close enough isn't good enough.

[dominik]

8 minutes ago, Whitedog said:

I guess it's too soon to expect an Affinity Publisher Workbook.

 

Dan C. recently posted that they are working on a Publisher Workbook. See here:

d.

[garrettm30]

On 2/29/2020 at 9:35 PM, Whitedog said:

I started using aPub on my large document and, for the most part, it works fine. But unlike InDesign, it does not allow for custom zoom levels. As I am visually impaired this is a real problem for me. I was using a zoom level of 225% in InDesign. But there appears to be no way to duplicate this in aPub. In InDesign, the zoom level is a field in the tool-bar. I looked for it in aPub, but it does not appear to exist.

Do you mean you are looking for a way to zoom to a specific percentage? If so, click the zoom tool, and then the context toolbar will give you this (where you can add input any number you want):

[Eddie Aguirre]

On 2/26/2020 at 2:45 PM, MikeW said:

In conjunction with what Adrian wrote, and if you are using a Mac, there is a standalone application from Markzware that can export idml files without ID installed.

Yes, thanks, Mike. IDMarkz can convert InDesign files (INDD) to IDML, without InDesign present. It is a macOS only product (currently). But if you have InDesign files that you need to open, and don't have an InDesign license, IDMarkz gets the job done. I've discussed with my team, and we've gone ahead and reduced the price on both the subscription and perpetual products by $50, starting immediately (now $99 and $149). 

Opening INDD files in Publisher could be completely automated, double click the InDesign file in the Finder, and within seconds you can be editing in Publisher.

Here's a link to a video showing the Open in Affinity Publisher feature in action (https://markzware.com/idmarkz/open-in-affinity-publisher/).

If you have any questions or would like a file converted by IDMarkz for testing, please feel free to reach out to me.

[MikeW]

3 minutes ago, Eddie Aguirre said:

Yes, thanks, Mike. IDMarkz can convert InDesign files (INDD) to IDML, without InDesign present. It is a macOS only product (currently). But if you have InDesign files that you need to open, and don't have an InDesign license, IDMarkz gets the job done. I've discussed with my team, and we've gone ahead and reduced the price on both the subscription and perpetual products by $50, starting immediately (now $99 and $149). 

Opening INDD files in Publisher could be completely automated, double click the InDesign file in the Finder, and within seconds you can be editing in Publisher.

Here's a link to a video showing the Open in Affinity Publisher feature in action (https://markzware.com/idmarkz/open-in-affinity-publisher/).

If you have any questions or would like a file converted by IDMarkz for testing, please feel free to reach out to me.

Excellent, Eddie. Hopefully a Win version is coming really soon ... 🤣

[3Dshark]

On 9/17/2018 at 10:40 AM, 3Dshark said:

+1 for importing INX / INDD files

The ability to import Quark files is one of the reasons many of us made the jump to InDesign. I really don't fancy having to recreate all of my old documents if I'm going to be switching.

Looking forward to making a bit more time seeing what AP can do

Just wanted to say thank you to the Affinity Team for continuing to listen to your user base. I'm sure adding the InDesign important wasn't a walk in the park, but the finished functionality is worth the wait.

[3Dshark]

On 3/2/2020 at 7:23 PM, Eddie Aguirre said:

Yes, thanks, Mike. IDMarkz can convert InDesign files (INDD) to IDML, without InDesign present. It is a macOS only product (currently). But if you have InDesign files that you need to open, and don't have an InDesign license, IDMarkz gets the job done. I've discussed with my team, and we've gone ahead and reduced the price on both the subscription and perpetual products by $50, starting immediately (now $99 and $149). 

Opening INDD files in Publisher could be completely automated, double click the InDesign file in the Finder, and within seconds you can be editing in Publisher.

Here's a link to a video showing the Open in Affinity Publisher feature in action (https://markzware.com/idmarkz/open-in-affinity-publisher/).

If you have any questions or would like a file converted by IDMarkz for testing, please feel free to reach out to me.

I've used IDMarkz and it's predecessors for years now. Great products!

[Patrick Connor]

I would recommend that those people who are interested in this thread see this generous offer by @Eddie Aguirre

 

[RM f/g]

The new edition of Vivadesigner can read both idml and indd files and can save as idml files. Even the free version can do this.

Maybe worth having a try.

[Petar Petrenko]

I just wonder why Adobe doesn't use IDML as standard InDesign file type instead of INDD?

[ashf]

30 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

I just wonder why Adobe doesn't use IDML as standard InDesign file type instead of INDD?

I suppose IDML is simplified version of indd that doesn't have all functionality indd has for interoperability.
Like XML file pro video editing apps have for transferring a project from one app to another but does not have all functionality that native file format has.
 

[Petar Petrenko]

1 minute ago, ashf said:

I suppose IDML is simplified version of indd that doesn't have all functionality indd has for interoperability.
Like XML file pro video editing apps have for transferring a project from one app to another but does not have all functionality that native file format has.
 

But, if you safe your document in IDML and open it later, it will have the same operability as you save it in INDD.

[ashf]

Just now, Petar Petrenko said:

But, if you safe your document in IDML and open it later, it will have the same operability as you save it in INDD.

Right.
Not sure why but possibly it's difficult to implement all functionality to IDML that indd can.
Or intentionally doing it to block competitors.

[Petar Petrenko]

1 minute ago, ashf said:

Right.
Not sure why but possibly it's difficult to implement all functionality to IDML that indd can.
Or intentionally doing it to block competitors.

In that case they could make IDML's code, a little bit more complicated.

[ashf]

14 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

In that case they could make IDML's code, a little bit more complicated.

Like ODF that LibreOffice use,  Adobe should make IDML a standard public format for page layout apps as editable one unlike PDF.

[woefi]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:45 PM, ashf said:

Like ODF that LibreOffice use,  Adobe should make IDML a standard public format for page layout apps as editable one unlike PDF.

As I understand, IDML is a documented standard (not sure if there are any licensing issues, tho). The official documentation is downloadable at adobe: https://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/indesign/sdk/cs6/idml/idml-specification.pdf

It is pretty straight forward XML, and thus easy to read plain-text. I'm not a programmer, but I understand the basic structure and could tweak a doc in my texteditor... 

 

So the main difficulty for 3rd party developers like Affinity lies in the function set of their programs. Everytime adobe implements a new feature which affinity does not yet have itself, they have to "interpret" it with their own tools. Which is difficult and error-prone. 

Affinity already does a great job for my CS5 files, although sometimes lazy bugs occur, like converting mm to pixels (corner radius or shape). Cant speak about shiny new features of CC (2017...2019)

 

I think the main difference of IDML to INDD is easy to see in the Finder: The IDML is way smaller because it has no embedded thumbnails of the placed images and maybe other metadata to quickly relocate images and fonts. Unlike IDML, INDD is a binary format not plain text.

 

fun fact: It's a also good method to clean your documents if you notice strange bugs in decade-old and often re-used documents. (just export as IDML and reopen in ID)

[ernst.w]

Thanks for IDML too. Just struggling a litte bit.

[wonderings]

On 4/29/2020 at 2:45 PM, ashf said:

Like ODF that LibreOffice use,  Adobe should make IDML a standard public format for page layout apps as editable one unlike PDF.

Why would Adobe want to make things easier for people to take files they worked on Indesign and go with other software like Publisher?

The simple fact is IDML support, back and forth between Publisher and Indesign will never be perfect. They are programs with different features, some things are going to get messed up. Personally I would only use Publisher IDML support if I was migrating from Indesign to Publisher in my workflow. I would then have to check over files and correct the little/big issues that come up. Trying to go back and forth collaborating with Indesign and Publisher users is not going to work and only going to create problems. 

[ashf]

25 minutes ago, wonderings said:

Why would Adobe want to make things easier for people to take files they worked on Indesign and go with other software like Publisher?

I know I just told something that never happen. a sarcasm how selfish Adobe is .
Even though indd, psd or ai are the standard format like MS Office in early 00's.

CGI industry was the same but anti-Autodesk federation changed the situation by creating industry standard format and finally Autodesk joined too.

[wonderings]

9 minutes ago, ashf said:

I know I just told something that never happen. a sarcasm how selfish Adobe is .
Even though indd, psd or ai are the standard format like MS Office in early 00's.

CGI industry was the same but anti-Autodesk federation changed the situation by creating industry standard format and finally Autodesk joined too.

indd, psd, and ai are standards because Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are standards. They are widely used by the majority of professionals. It makes life easier having a standard in apps. Not to say there is no room for new software like what Affinity is doing. The hope though would be if there is a change it is a change to another company like Adobe, so Publisher, Designer, and Photos would be the new standard. Life is much easier when everyone uses the same programs. 

[Whitedog]

On 5/11/2020 at 10:53 AM, wonderings said:

indd, psd, and ai are standards because Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are standards. They are widely used by the majority of professionals. It makes life easier having a standard in apps. Not to say there is no room for new software like what Affinity is doing. The hope though would be if there is a change it is a change to another company like Adobe, so Publisher, Designer, and Photos would be the new standard. Life is much easier when everyone uses the same programs. 

Standardization makes life easier for service bureaus, printers, etc. But lack of competition leads to high prices—such as what Quark XPress used to be and Adobe is now. Competition has its advantages, like lowering prices. This happened to Apple with Aperture. It started out at $500, with not trial period. Then Adobe released the beta version of Lightroom, and most of us never looked back. When Lightroom 1 came out it was priced at $300, cutting Aperture off at the knees. Later it went down to $150, an even better deal. Now Adobe is offering LightroomCC and PhotoshopCC as a package for $10 a month.

Unfortunately, there is not yet a discount price for InDesign. So when Publisher got IDML to work, I exported the large document I was working on in InDesign to IDML format and imported it to Publisher. The only thing I lost was the custom dictionary.

As for printing from Publisher, Designer and Photo, PDF is the standard output format for pretty much everything, whether you're using an Adobe product or something else.

[dcrosby]

Standardization is cool. Open standards are better. So mp3, obj, html, jpg, png, css, apache, Linux etc. are great and have probably moved the creative industry forward more than any proprietary formats.