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Participant
August 7, 2026
Question

Opening OLD PageMaker files

  • August 7, 2026
  • 7 replies
  • 35 views

Hi, I do have some old files are using PageMaker 6.5. I try to use InDesign 2022 to open it, seems not working. May I know How to open it and save it as PDF

    7 replies

    Scott Falkner
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    I agree that $10 per file is reasonable. That’s less than I charged about a year ago to convert about a dozen QuarkXPress files. I don’t even remember how I did it.

    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    I’m one of those still running CS6.

    How many files do you have to convert?

    Converting directly to PDF may not be the best choice, by the way, since there will be things like missing links to deal with.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    The OP says about 100 files.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    You’re going to need InDesign CS6 or earlier as Dave mentioned. There are still quite a few people running it so you do have some hope here but with that many files you are going to have to pay someone, I suspect.

    Dave Creamer of IDEAS
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    I believe InDesign CS 6 was the last version to open PageMaker files. 

    Not sure why they couldn’t separate the PM-to-ID conversion to a standalone app.


    You can check with Markzware to see if they can do it.

    https://markzware.com/support/file-conversion-service/

    I also came across this service but haven’t used it:

    https://www.fiverr.com/graphicsmanhb/convert-your-old-pagemaker-file-to-indesign

    David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
    Participant
    August 7, 2026

    Thanks for your help. But I think these options can not help us in our case. This guy’s price is so high which is 10$ for one file we have more than ~100 files if I am not mistaken. Markzware, I think it doesn’t work with PageMaker files

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 7, 2026

    Markzware says they can convert more file formats on their page without listing which ones. But they would be much more expensive than the person on fiverrr anyway. 10$ per file sounds pretty reasonable. But also you have to consider that every single one of those files will need some type adjustments before publishing them again.