adobe indesign 18.1 preview not showing in mac os 12.6 finder preview pane

[albertof72196494]

Suddenly my mac os 12.6 preview pane does not show previews of the InDesign icon or the document

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Kevin Stohlmeyer,

Thanks for correcting me. Yes, we definitely don't want to suggest any third-party software to our customers. I am also investigating this issue with different files to find the pattern of the issue.

I am requesting InDesign files from multiple customers experiencing the issue for better investigation.

I will share the updates on this post soon.

Thanks,

Harshika

[atomicvibe]

There are a few suggestions in that thread.

One is to preview InDesign files in Bridge, which a few of us has confired does work.

Another is to ensure the "Always Save Preview Images with Documents" box is checked when saving InDesign files. Mine defaults to being checked.

Another is to ensure the "Always Save Preview Images with Documents" box under InDesign Preferences > File Handling is checked. Several of us in this thread have confirmed that it is, indeed, checked (and mine defaults to being checked).

And finally, another suggestion seems to be to purchase 3rd party software — INDD Preview for Mac —  for viewing InDesign previews, which seems absurd, since being able to view InDesign previews directly within the Mac OS Finder is functionality we should not only inherently have, but functionality most of us HAD at one point and now have lost due to the recent InDesign and/or Mac OS updates.

Additionally, I rarely use Bridge, so having to launch Bridge just to preview InDesign files is also absurd, when I used to be able to do this directly from the Finder.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

@atomicvibe correct that there are several solutions outlined in there, all of which have also been expressed in this post - preference settings, updating OS, using Bridge, etc. My point was we shouldn't point users to purchasing software to resolve an issue that the update broke.

[atomicvibe]

Absolutely agree with you. I think what happened was that you and I were replying to this suggestion at the same time.

[ingridc79556058]

Same problem. I think it started happening when Adobe InDesign updated to 18.1. I work on mac OS 12.6.2

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @ingridc79556058,

We are sorry for the trouble. Would you mind sharing the file with us so that we can investigate on our end? If yes, please upload the file to a shared location such as Creative Cloud or Dropbox and share the URL with me over a private message. 

We will try our best to investigate.

Thanks,

Harshika

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi All,

Thank you for sharing the files. I have logged a bug with the engineering team so that they can investigate it on their end. I will update you as soon as I hear any updates from the team and also if we require any more information.

Please continue to share the impacted files with me so that we can continue to investigate and attach them to the bug.

We will try our best to help.

Thanks,

Harshika

<Marking as correct only to highlight the status of the issue>

[SidG16]

Hi All, 

As I can see this issue is occuring for some of the Mac users, and not all of them. It could be the issue persists for old documents and they are not getting saved propely. Also they could have been saved without any preview at the time of creation, and the issue got highlighted now due to "Preview Not Saved" Dialogue.

Kindly follow these steps and update me on your findings : (Kindly reply on this post only for better tracking)

1. Open your document, which is showing the "Preview not saved" issue.

2. No need to mention this but still, just double check on the "Always Save Preview" preference, and get it enabled.

3. Make a slight change in your document, so that asterik "*" appears beside your document name. You will see something like this

Now we can say that the document has been dirtied. (This is an important step, without this preview saving wont happen)

4. Now re-save your file again, so that the asterik "*" sign disappears. Now your document has been saved.

5. Re-check if the Preview appears now. The File preview should be visible.

Still, if the File Preview is not visible, kindly attach your file here, with a screenshot.

Thanks,

Siddhant Gupta

InDesign Team

[ingridc79556058]

Hello, Thanks for the instructions. I had done a dirty save earlier, and now I followed your instructions again but I still don't get to see a file preview. I will provide a Creative Cloud link in a private message. 

[atomicvibe]

Hi @SidG16 I followed your instructions, but they failed to correct the issue.

[SidG16]

@atomicvibe Kindly share 3 files of which you are not able to generate a preview. Also share the file which is generating a low resolution preview.

[albertof72196494]

I followed the instructions and still do not see the preview.

[albertof72196494]

I just created a test IND file. To see if a new file would indeed show the preview and appears to do so! There must be an issue with much older files or even recent files created before OSX13.1 that although have been resaved with preview fail do show them. I can't guarentee that this issue is resolved since there shouldn't be an issue with older files showing previews. All Illustrator and Acrobat files show the previews and it appears to be an IND issue.

[atomicvibe]

It's definitely an InDesign issue only, though for me, it's very random. I am using InDesign 18.1.0.51 on a Mac running OS 13.1, and most of the InDesign files, stored both locally on this Mac and also on extral drives fail to show a Preview image.

Additionally, it doesn't matter whether or not the InDesign file was newly created, or created with a previous version on InDesign. This issue transcends InDesign versions.

However, what is interesting to note is that some of my InDesign files — both older files created with previous versions of InDesign and newer files created with18.1.0.51 alike — actually do show a Preview image, but it's an extremely low-resolution image — despite my InDesign Preview Size settings set to Extra Large 1024x1024.

So whether or not a preview fails to display, or a very low-resolution preview is diplayed, it all seems very random and inconsistent. I can't seem to find the pattern here.

[albertof72196494]

I stand corrected, I just created another IND file and it does not show the preview! It is annoying but not critical but should be looked into by Adobe

[albertof72196494]

Just wanted to show how if individual IND files are selcted, the preview is blank. Selecting multiple files provides the generic Id graphic, but not the actual file previews.

[josephryan7]

Adding myself to the list of people experiencing this issue. I've tried all the steps to no avail. Mac OS 13.1 (22C65), InD 18.1

[edie.m.w.]

Thank you! This worked!! I did notice that on some of the older files (i.e., saved before the 18.1 update) saving the file brings up the "save as" window and replaces the older version.

[Bryson277306440mv0]

Hello, I am trying to import my file from After Effects to blender, But when I click "Export composition datat to json" and save the After Effects file to my desktop some code just pops up. I then go to unzip one to zip my file and it says "Preview not saved"

[Laubender]

Hi together,

I have similar issues on my German Windows 10 system.

And I can recreate the issue in the following way:

In the File Explorer ( Window's "Finder" ) just select an InDesign  document where previews are stored inside.

All's well, you can walk through all previewing pages of the document.

Now switch to a document where no previews are stored inside. Of course nothing's showing up as preview.

Go back to the document you just previewed. Surprise: No preview of the document!

Third document is showing a preview of four pages:

Second document has no preview stored inside. So, no preview is showing:

And here comes the bug. From this moment on I cannot see any previews from any of my InDesign documents; just like someone unchecked a button for previewing InDesign documents:

Attached all the three InDesign documents. One without any preview information stored inside. Watchout, and do not try to preview it if you dare! Plus a video showing the issue in InDesign's Open document dialog window.

Maybe it's the same on the Mac?

At least on my Windows 10 machine I can definitely recreate that bug.

In the Open document dialog it could be safe to test this, because the next time you open the dialog it's back to "normal". Until you come accross a document where no preview is stored inside.

Hope, this helps…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Laubender,

Thanks for sharing the video and the screenshots. They are helpful. I have attached your video to the current bug logged for this issue. Could you please also share the InDesign file with me so that I can escalate them to the team for investigation?

The team is trying to investigate the situation and assist you and our customers.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Laubender]

Well, the InDesign files are actually also attached to my reply; together with the video.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Yes. Downloaded the files and attached it to the bug. 

Thank you so much for your help.

Thanks,

Harshika

[maserati123]

I woudl like to add my name to this long and tedious list, previews are not showing, latest Adobe software, latest mac software using an Apple M1 Max with a Apple studio display( so all standard stuff)

Come on Adobe!... its a fault get it sorted asap...

[garyc80618614]

I believe this might be a font issue. When I create an indd doc with just an image, I can see the preview. As soon as I add text in any font except Minion, I see the "Preview was not saved..." message.