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Abode language questions--opinions needed on if language settings matter

Guest
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Hi, I am considering getting a copy of indesign, which I haven't worked with before.

How important is it that the language settings actually be in a language I fully understand? Are the icons and UI overall pretty intuitive, which would make the language essentially irrelevant? 

 

I hate the subscription software systems. I ain't interested. I've been avoiding them for years by using other software, but I need ID for a class I'm taking (no, the school doesn't have a free or trial version that will work for this). On top of that, I've had issues with the newer versions of some Adobe products crashing my systems and I don't want tyo deal with that, so I'm looking into trying to find an older version of ID on disc that I can use for this. I don't care if there's no customer support for it--I've found most customer support to be largely useless anyways.

Because the disc copies haven't been made in some time, they're harder to find where I am and I may need to consider getting one that seems to have limited language settings and may not be in my native language. Is this a big deal? Will this still be useable?

 

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Based on viewing screen shots from InDesign using other languages, I would say it would be difficult to understand how to use InDesign set to another language. However, if you typed your message yourself, without help of translation software, you should be able to run an English language installation. 

 

I hope when you say "getting a copy" you mean "purchasing a legal copy". Aside from subscribing, the best you will find is a legal version of CS6, which may or may not run on your computer. Read this web page for info on legally purchasing an older copy: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/transfer-product-license.html

Regardless if you like it or not, you will be dealing with customer support to transfer and activate the software. 

 

Finally, if your school is _requiring_ InDesign, I must assume it is a graphic design school. There is no other reason to _require_ InDesign. Most Adobe products are subscription based, with a discount for education usage. (This may vary in your country.)

 

Presumedly, you don't already have a subscription to the Creative Cloud. Is the software crashing your system legitmate copies downloaded directly from Adobe?

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Guest
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Beware, my essay.

I definitely HAVE tried Adobe products directly from the Adobe site, but I’ve had some issues with them. It’s like the program just uses too much RAM or something. The last product I tried was the free trial of PS (which I tried on both my work and personal computers). When the program wasn’t outright crashing or freezing, it was still horribly slow, even when I was working with single layer smaller images, so I’ve since been using paint.net for all my graphic stuff that doesn’t require any vector formatting.

I’m a scientist. I have ZERO education in the areas of graphic design. But I’ve somehow (I guess because I’m the person willing to learn??) ended up working on a massive amount of other things that are very much not labwork. In addition to being the science guy, I am now also the general graphics, technical writing, tech illustration, advert, film/ animation, social media, R&D, applications, and GUI dev guy. And the Guy Who Knows How to Keep the Office Plants Alive. To get the programs I need through an Adobe subscription would cost at least 300 EUR EVERY MONTH. That is INSANE. I’m not doing it. The very thought of doing it makes me want to quit and go farm potatoes for the rest of my life and/or commit murder. Since I’m the only person doing all of this, my office has little incentive to spend a lot just for me to do my job. Jobs. Whatever. I couldn’t even get them to order me a decent monitor to work on and ended up just buying one myself after three years. I’ve been making due with alternative software, since I don’t have anything from Adobe right now, but some of it’s just…not good for certain applications. I write a lot of our technical manuals start to finish, and I’m sure everyone who has ever dealt with MS Word knows the horrors of moving a single image.

Since I’ve been doing so much of it, I figured it would be a good idea to take some classes in graphic design on my own just to get better at it, but the class is requiring a program like ID (no discounted software is offered to students). It listed Scribus as a very cautionary alternative, but the program is just too limited to be useful for what I need. I was looking into buying old (non-subscription) Adobe programs, because I figured it might be worthwhile at this point, and I’m the only person at the office who would need to use it anyways, and I stumbled on the old unused CS5/6 options, which it looks like would run on my system. This seems like it would make a lot more sense, as it has most of what I need and wouldn’t cost thousands of dollars a year and all of my rage. The problem is that the ones I can find available are in other languages. I speak a few languages, but nothing fluently outside of English, which is where my question is coming from. I really don’t want to have to spend a massive amount on these subscriptions, and I don’t want to have to deal with being online constantly to get work done. The free trials could potentially work just to get me through a week of classwork, but I don’t see the point of them if I’m never going to use the programs after the class. I want to just get a program and stick with it and be able to use it whenever and however I need.

I don’t find going through customer service for setup, I just have never gotten much help with any CS when it comes to actually solving problems after that, so ongoing support isn’t super important to me.

 

 

 

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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I hope the essay makes you feel better, but it doesn't change reality. You could always use other software.

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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I would recommend that you download InDdesign for evaluation for the trial time. So you can have a look better than we are able to describe it.

When you use InDesign for a class you are as far as I know enabled to get a price reduced EDU version. For that you have contact an Adobe Reprenstative in your country.

 

With a CC Subscription you have access to all available installer languages. Text languages are a different thing. You need to download and install the languages of your desire. A bunch of languages is installed, but sometimes tools for that language are only installed if the installer is used for that language extra. E.g. German is included in all Western Languages, but the DUDEN spell checker and hyphenation dictionary, which is superior to Proximity or Hunspell is only installed with the German installer. Or if you need Arabic or Hebrew you need to install one of them to get the RTL functionality with one of Adobe's World Composer.

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Advisor ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Can you be a litle more specific about what language you are talking about? 

You can set your Creative Cloud preferences to the language you prefer (Preferences > Apps > Language drop down) so the UI will be in that language. Or are you talking about the program being able to handle a specific language? 

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Advisor ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Also, if you have a LinkedIn Learning sub, I have this course, much of still which is relevant. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/indesign-multilingual-publishing-strategies/introduction?u=2125562

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Guest
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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I don't think the version I'm considering is cloud based. I'm just wondering how much of the interface/ menus really need to be "read".

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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None of the software in the Creative Cloud is "cloud based"--you install it on your computer.

 

IMO, you need to be able to read the dialog boxes. 

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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I also hate the subscription model of software distribution, but I live in the real world, too. The reality is that Adobe programs are not intuitive and you need to be able to understand the dialogs, so you will want a language you can read.

Another reality is that there probably are NO copies of older Adobe software available in any language at this point that are actually legitimate and registerable/activateable, in any language. There are plenty of counterfeits, though. No legitimate reseller has had stock to sell for nearly twenty years, and purchasing a "used" copy and license transfer is doubtful.

I don't know what the costs are for european subscriptions, but 300 euros/month seems pretty high. In the US a full annual subscription is about $55/month paid monthly or $600 if paid anually for ALL programs. Month-to-month plans are about 50% higher, but still far below what you quoted.

As to your performance issues, I would guess they are related to your system specifications, which you have not provided, and what else you might be running concurrently. Adobe programs do require significant system resources.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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but I need ID for a class I'm taking (no, the school doesn't have a free or trial version that will work for this)....To get the programs I need through an Adobe subscription would cost at least 300 EUR EVERY MONTH.

 

If you are enrolled in a university this is the current student pricing for the 20+ Adobe apps—US $20

 

Screen Shot 6.png

 

A non student can get ID for US $21. ID plus Photoshop for $31, or all apps for $55

 

Screen Shot 7.png

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Community Expert ,
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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This is from the Adobe website:

<snip>

Creative Cloud for Individual “All Apps” Plans

  • Previously £70.80* (€69.99 excl VAT) will be £74.39* (€73.49 excl VAT), per month
  • NO price change for anyone on a prepaid annual plan

</snip>

I believe that comes to about $78 US. Of course, other countries may add tax, but I thought the point of the euro was that it was constant throughout the participating countries. 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Guest
Jun 09, 2022 Jun 09, 2022

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Alright, people are missing the point. I was asking about the language, that's it. I am aware of all this other stuff and have already considered it.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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We're trying to keep you from wasting your money "buying" software you won't be able to use...

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Guest
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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Yeah, if people could stop saying "buying" as if you're assuming I'm going to be pirating the software, that would be great. -___-

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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I don't think anyone is presuming you will be intentionally pirating the software. We're just pointing out that the opportunities for obtaining legitimate non-subscription adobe products are scarcer than hens' teeth and that the cost of a subscrition should be far less than you mentioned above. Posts here from users who "bought" "non-subscrition" copies and had problems trying to install, activate, or use them are hardly rare. I'm just hoping you don't waste money doing something similar since the cost is clearly an issue for you.

And again, there are also concerns about hardware and OS compastibilties with various versions, if you are able to find something.

No old version of Indesign will install on current Mac OS versions. You may be able to install on Windows -- lots of us still run CS6 or even CS5 on Windows 10, or you can try running a virtual machine with an older OS, but there are no patch downloads on the Adobe servers any longer, so if you can't find archived copies of the patched software elsewhere you will be using programs only one step above beta release with known bugs, some of which are serious.

As I said initially, I don't like the subscription model any more than you do. I'm retired now, and what little production work I still do for old clients I still do in CS6, but I'm able to do that ONLY because I have a 20-year old perpetual license, the downloaded installers, AND the archived fully patched final release that allowed me to copy the newer files over after installing on my new system last year.

Frankly, you sound like someone who is smart enough to know when you are banging your head against a brick wall. If you can't afford (or your comapany won't pay) for up-to-date subcription based inDesign I think you are far better off looking at some of the other alternatives. I used Serif Page Plus briefly about 30 years ago and I believe it is superceded by Scribus, which is free. It isn't quite as feature-rich as InDesign, but it probably has all the tools you need for the work you are doing.

 

(Link modified by the Moderator ^VS)

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Guest
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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I haven't used Mac systems in 20 years, and I have a few systems with old WinOS on them, so I'm not concerned about compatibility if I'm using an older CS version. If I were going to switch to using Adobe products, I would want to be using more than just ID just to cut down on compatibility issues and cut down the time I need to mess around with different UIs, which is why I was considering something like CS with multiple programs.

The subscriptions seem to be targeting people who mainly need one or two programs. I'm not that target audience. On most days, I use at least 5 different relevant programs, and I am constantly switching between them. I would need around ten different Adobe programs, if not more, to cover what I usually work on and regalrdless of if the cost per month is 300 or 150 (which I assume would be some student price that I can't get access to anyways), it's still unreasonably high for me. From what I understand, the CS copy that I could get is legal and could be transferred to me, I just don't know if it would be worthwhile. It may be cheaper than a subscription in the long run, but it's still far from what I would consider easily affordable.

 

When people add comments like "I hope when you say 'getting a copy' you mean 'purchasing a legal copy'", there is an assumption that I might be pirating software. Maybe it's not intended to come across that way, but it it does. It also has nothing to do with the question I asked, it's not helpful. I also tried to make it clear that I was in no way interested in a subscription, and that student pricing was not a thing for me, and people seem to be ignoring that as well. I'm not someone who pirates software, but I must say that after posting here, I seriously understand the appeal. It must at least save the headache of dealing with stuff like this.

 

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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> The subscriptions seem to be targeting people who mainly need one or two programs. I'm not that target audience. On most days, I use at least 5 different relevant programs, and I am constantly switching between them. I would need around ten different Adobe programs, if not more, to cover what I usually work on and regalrdless of if the cost per month is 300 or 150

I think you misunderstand the pricing. You can get ALL of the programs in a single bundle for about $500 for the whole year for a regular price subscription. I TOTALLY understand your aversion to subscription software, but long-term this is the direction all software is moving and if you really need the capabilities of the Adobe programs this is a comparable cost to the old perpetual license model with regular updates (no additional cost for ugrades on subscription) and is a reasonable cost of doing business in a business environment, which you seem to have.

It sounds more like you need to convince your bosses that there is enough value in using the software to justify the expense, and if you don't feel there is you should stop wasting your time looking for ways to get it on the cheap.

I believe someone else mentioned the possibility of a license transfer. I don't know if Adobe is still doing those, but you need to be aware that such transfers were for the ENTIRE license chain, so one could not, say, transfer just a license for CS5 if that license was accociated with an upgrade chain from a previous version and on to CS6, something most users seemed not to be aware of.

You complain we are ignoring the question of language. I think you are ignoring that regardless of language there are no "new" perpetual licenses for Adobe products on offer from any legitimate source. I see offers for "used" versions, including serial numbers, on sites like eBay but they don't mention the required license transfer form so they may or may not authenticate and activate, and as I said before, you will not have access to program updates unless you find a user willing to share an archive. Your views may be different, but I think this is a foolish way to spend your money.

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Guest
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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Alright, this is clearly just not the best place to go to get a straight answer. I don't see a way to remove the post or close the issue, so I'm hoping that just marking something as correct will close this.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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>>Alright, this is clearly just not the best place to go to get a straight answer. 

Your language question was answered (at least, in my opinion) in the first post. It was your other comments that contained inaccurate (and somewhat long-winded) statements that extended the conversation.

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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New Here ,
Jun 10, 2022 Jun 10, 2022

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I do agree with  Argus24796926o4o0

Chan Zubiair

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