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katiek30747283
katiek30747283
Inspiring
April 10, 2019
Answered

Open InDesign file created in MAC on Windows OS {Renamed}

  • April 10, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 5277 views

If someone in another department has the Mac version of InDesign, and I get the Windows version, will I be able to open something that they made and vice versa?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Dov Isaacs

    Assuming you use OpenType (either OpenType CFF or OpenType TrueType) fonts and use the common file suffixes for your files (.jpg, .tif, .psd, .pdf, .indd, .eps, etc.), you should be fine assuming you either “package” the InDesign document and its assets or access them from a common server. Also note that your MacOS and Windows copies of InDesign must be the same version to work without issues.

              - Dov

    2 replies

    Krotovatov
    Krotovatov
    Participant
    March 7, 2020

    HI! If InDesign is installed on Windows of layout designer, and InCopy is installed on Mac of editor, will this work?

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 7, 2020

    I answered you in the InCopy forum. In the future please do not hijack other discussions. Start a new one.

    I'm going to lock this one.

    Dov Isaacs
    Dov IsaacsCorrect answer
    Legend
    April 10, 2019

    Assuming you use OpenType (either OpenType CFF or OpenType TrueType) fonts and use the common file suffixes for your files (.jpg, .tif, .psd, .pdf, .indd, .eps, etc.), you should be fine assuming you either “package” the InDesign document and its assets or access them from a common server. Also note that your MacOS and Windows copies of InDesign must be the same version to work without issues.

              - Dov

    - Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    katiek30747283
    katiek30747283Author
    Inspiring
    April 10, 2019

    Awesome. Thank you!

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2019

    Hi katiek30747283 ,

    also important is file naming.

    Especially for placed and linked contents.

    There are characters like a slash that is allowed with file names on Mac OS X but will not work well on Windows.

    Also note that transferring files from Mac to PC that are included in a zip file and unpacked on Windows can yield surprising results with altered file names if e.g. there are umlauts like ä ö ü in the name.

    So best share files with a cloud service. Not zipped.

    But also here we see some specialities. A character like the pipe | is not supported e.g. with Dropbox if you share from Mac to Windows.

    Means, files with that pipe character are not synched to Windows. However they are synched on Macs.

    Regards,
    Uwe

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