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Michael22172634qdes
Participant
Sep 28, 2026 8:55 PM UTC
Question

Bug / Limitation: Swatch Panel Group/Folder Hierarchy Inverts and Flips Order on .ase / .indd Import

Description of Issue:
When managing large-scale brand guidelines containing dozens of colors nested inside multiple Color Groups (folders), importing swatches via standard methods (Import .ase or Load Swatches from .indd) completely breaks the user's intended layout order and folder hierarchy.

Steps We Tried That Failed / Had Major Limitations:

  1. Direct .ase or Layout File Import: Importing the master palette causes the internal sequence of the Swatches panel to reverse entirely. The top color folder stacks at the bottom, and the bottom color folder pushes to the top. Individual swatches inside the groups are also flipped upside-down due to sequential bottom-up reading during import.
  2. Batch Moving Color Groups to Correct Order (Option 1 Failure): Highlighting multiple inverted Color Groups simultaneously and dragging them to snap the order back causes InDesign to completely collapse the folders. It dumps all individual swatches into a massive, disorganized vertical list, losing all structural category grouping.
  3. Manual Re-ordering: Attempting to drag swatches one by one to fix the list manually triggers aggressive panel auto-scrolling. The viewport randomly jumps and shifts violently when the cursor nears the top/bottom boundary, causing swatches to be dropped into the wrong categories.

Requested Fix:
Please update the Swatch panel import behavior so that it honors the true visual top-to-bottom order of Color Groups and nested swatches exactly as they exist in the source file. Furthermore, allow multiple Color Groups to be moved simultaneously without breaking or dissolving their internal folders.

PS: Please look into fixing that random jumping behavior when shifting color chip positioning. I know it happens because InDesign tries to "auto-scroll" when your cursor gets close to the top or bottom edges of the panel, causing the whole list to violently shift and make you drop the swatch in the wrong place. Maybe give the option to turn on or off this “auto-scroll” feature?  Thank you

    7 replies

    Michael22172634qdesAuthor
    Participant
    Sep 30, 2026 8:52 PM UTC

    Hi Abhishek,

    I ran the exact clean test you suggested, and I have successfully isolated the core issue. It is a consistent, repeatable bug in how InDesign imports nested swatches inside Color Groups.

    Here are the exact results of the clean test:

    1. I created a brand-new, blank document.
    2. I built several Color Groups (folders) and carefully created new swatches inside them, moving in a precise top-to-bottom order.
    3. I highlighted the clean swatches list from top to bottom and exported it as a brand-new .ase file.
    4. I opened a second, completely blank document and loaded that new .ase file.

    The Bug Result:
    While the master Color Groups (folders) themselves imported in the correct top-to-bottom sequence, every single individual color chip nested inside those folders imported in a completely reversed, upside-down order (the top color landed at the bottom, and the bottom color landed at the top of the folder).

    Because these files contain confidential brand assets and proprietary corporate data, I cannot post them publicly here on the forum.

    I have packaged a clean copy of the source .indd file and the exported .ase file, along with my exact system specs, and I am sending them to you right now via private DM. I look forward to your team's feedback once you can test the file structure live!

    Best regards,
    Michael"

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      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Oct 1, 2026 2:08 PM UTC

      Hi ​@Michael22172634qdes,

       

      Thanks for sharing the sample files. I’ve just tested them on my end. To make sure I’m following the exact same workflow and comparing the swatch order correctly, could you please share a short screen recording showing the Swatches panel in the original INDD file with the Color Groups expanded, followed by the process of selecting and exporting the swatches as an ASE file, then loading that ASE into a new blank InDesign document, and finally expanding the imported Color Groups to show how the individual swatch order differs from the original? This will help me confirm that I’m testing the exact same workflow before taking this further with the team.

       

      Thanks again for helping us investigate this.

      ^

      Abhishek

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      graphics_4075
      graphics_4075
      Inspiring
      Sep 29, 2026 3:34 PM UTC

      I can confirm I have and still do experience the first one when uploading my Pantone .ase file from previous versions. Every single time it has uploaded every individual swatch, and then at the very bottom is the folder completely empty rather than having all colors nested inside of it. 

       

      I have never experienced the other 2 issues related to ordering the swatches and am able to reorder my swatches, individually or as a group, perfectly fine on 21.8. The automated scrolling is a bit aggressive but I believe is as intended. It jumps large amounts if, like in my case, you have thousands of swatches, and then fine tune scrolling can be done with the mouse wheel. Or you can hold shift + mouse wheel for a longer scroll to avoid using the “autoscroll”

       

      Also, you must move swatches under the folder, not the folder above the swatches or the folder will not nest the swatches and stay where it is on the list. 

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      Cheers
      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Sep 28, 2026 9:36 PM UTC

      Hello ​@Michael22172634qdes 

       

      I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I tried to replicate this behavior on my end, but could not. Would you mind sharing more details, like the versions of the OS/InDesign installed, along with a brief screen recording of your workflow and the problem, so we can investigate further?

       

      Looking forward to hearing from you.
      Anubhav

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      Michael22172634qdesAuthor
      Participant
      Sep 29, 2026 9:55 PM UTC

      Hi Anubhav,

      Thank you for looking into this. The issue becomes prominent when dealing with an extensive brand system containing multiple distinct 'Color Groups' (folders) and dozens of swatches (Process CMYK, Spot Pantone, and RGB variations) exported/imported simultaneously.

      To help your team replicate the exact behavior, here are my system specifications:

      • InDesign Version: [Insert your InDesign version, e.g., 2024 v19.4 or 2025 v20.0]
      • Operating System: [Insert your OS, e.g., macOS Sonoma 14.5 or Windows 11]

      The Exact Replication Steps:

      1. Create a master document with 6+ separate Color Groups (folders), each containing 4 to 8 unique swatches ordered logically from top-to-bottom.
      2. Select all swatches/folders inside the panel simultaneously and export them as an .ase file (or attempt to use 'Load Swatches' to pull the .indd file directly into a legacy document).
      3. Open a separate, existing document and load that color palette.
      4. Upon import, the entire layer stack of Color Groups is completely inverted (the first folder lands at the bottom, and the last folder lands at the top). Furthermore, if you attempt to select all the inverted folders at once to drag them back into place, InDesign dissolves the Color Groups entirely and dumps the individual swatches into a single, scrambled list.
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      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Sep 30, 2026 9:28 AM UTC

      Hi ​@Michael22172634qdes,

       

      Thanks for sharing the detailed reproduction steps. I tested the workflow with multiple Color Groups and swatches, including exporting/loading an ASE file, but I haven't been able to reproduce the reversed hierarchy or groups being flattened when reordering them.

      Could you please share your actual InDesign version/build and OS version? The version information in your previous reply appears to still contain placeholders.

      It would also be very helpful if you could share the source INDD file and the exported ASE file that consistently reproduce the issue, along with a short screen recording showing the Swatches panel before export and immediately after import. If the files are confidential, you can share them with me privately via DM using a cloud/file-sharing link.

      As an additional test, please create a new blank InDesign document, recreate a smaller set of Color Groups, export them as ASE, and load the ASE into another new document. Please let us know whether the order is still reversed there.

      You can also try resetting InDesign preferences and testing the same workflow again:
      https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/desktop/troubleshoot/settings-interface-and-feature-issues/preferences-support-file-locations.html

      Once we have the sample files and exact environment details, we should be able to narrow down what is different between your setup and our tests.

       

      ^

      Abhishek

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