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Known Participant
Aug 18, 2026 5:58 AM UTC
Answered

I'm planning to develop a track changes plugin similar to Word.

I want to develop a plugin similar to Word's Track Changes feature. Looking for clear guidance on where to start.

It should include the following functionalities:

  1. Building a Plugin Panel:
    The panel interface should roughly look like this:
    a. dropdownlists to view changes from version XXX to version YYY.
    b. An "Add" button to create a new version.
    c. An "Accept All Changes" button.
    d. A toggle to enable/disable Track Changes.
    e. A "Deletion Show State" toggle: Toggles the display of deleted text between a small red dot and strikethrough text.

  2. Deletion Tracking:
    When text is deleted in real-time, a small red dot marker should be generated. Clicking the "Deletion Show State" button on the panel should toggle the visibility of the deleted text, displaying it with a strikethrough effect. (Note: This should be a custom visual effect, not InDesign's built-in strikethrough formatting.)

  3. Insertion Tracking:
    Newly added text should be displayed with an underline. (Note: Just like the deletions, this should be a simulated visual effect rather than the actual underline character formatting.)

I have some experience with JavaScript, but I found that it alone cannot achieve the desired results, as I want to build a true plugin for text tracking. However, I am unsure which learning path I should take.

Should I learn UXP?
Or CEP?
Or would learning C++ and the InDesign Plugin SDK be sufficient?

Any guidance would be appreciated!

    leo.r
    leo.rCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Aug 18, 2026 7:19 AM UTC

    -Do not learn CEP. CEP is dead.

    -If you can afford to allocate the time to learning C++, InDesign SDK, and the required development tools (Xcode/Visual Studio), as well as numerous other aspects required to successfully build an InDesign plug-in, then by all means do that. It’s the most complex and time-demanding option but then you’ll be able to do anything you want.

    15 replies

    Legend
    Aug 19, 2026 2:46 PM UTC

    Hi, I am interested to know in what way EditMarks is not stable. Might be able to fix it :-)

    P.

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    Known Participant
    Aug 20, 2026 5:28 AM UTC

    There's a chance the system might freeze when handling a large number of double-byte text files, such as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese etc.

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    Legend
    Aug 20, 2026 5:36 AM UTC

    What version of InDesign?

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    leo.r
    Community Expert
    leo.rCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Aug 18, 2026 7:19 AM UTC

    -Do not learn CEP. CEP is dead.

    -If you can afford to allocate the time to learning C++, InDesign SDK, and the required development tools (Xcode/Visual Studio), as well as numerous other aspects required to successfully build an InDesign plug-in, then by all means do that. It’s the most complex and time-demanding option but then you’ll be able to do anything you want.

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    Known Participant
    Aug 18, 2026 1:36 PM UTC

    Then C++ and the InDesign Plugin SDK are definitely my next steps. Thank you so much!

    Could you point me to any up-to-date reference documentation to help me get started?

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    Community Expert
    Aug 18, 2026 6:39 AM UTC

    inDesign already has a Tracked Changes

    https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/indesign/desktop/collaborate-and-review/track-changes-and-review/track-text-changes.html

     

    Is there something it doesn’t do that you need specifically?

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    Known Participant
    Aug 18, 2026 1:25 PM UTC

    I need more than just the track changes feature in the Story Editor; I need track changes to be visible on the regular page as well. Some of my requirements are already shown in the post.

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    Community Expert
    Aug 18, 2026 1:53 PM UTC

    Interesting and thanks for the additional detail. 

    There are things out there already
    https://ctrlsoftware.com/home/products/ctrlchanges/

    https://www.kerntiff.co.uk/products-4-indesign/editmarks

     

    good luck with it - I’d imagine a plugin would be best. But way beyond me.

    The closest thing I can come up with out of the box is I’d dock the Story Editor to the side - and you can use the track changes panel.

     

     

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