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Can't open my InDesign file after changing format to idml.

New Here ,
Jul 22, 2022 Jul 22, 2022

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I was working on a project for work and when I tried saving it today it was not allowing me to save the file as an .indd file so I thought saving it on an older .idml file would allow me to open it later. Now it's saying "Adobe InDesign may not support the file format, a plug-in that supports the file format may be missing, or the file may be open in another application." I really need to get this file back because it was the only one saved and had all the changes for over a weeks worth of work. 

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How to , Import and export

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Community Expert , Jul 27, 2022 Jul 27, 2022

If you can download the PDF you can do a few things.

Recosoft makes a plugin that can convert, but I don't know that it will be perfect, and I believe all styles are lost, but it would be a lot better than starting from scratch. https://www.recosoft.com/products/pdf2id/

You should be able to export the text from the PDF to Word format  from Acrobat, then place that into a new file. You can place the pages of the PDF in the new file on a background layer to use as a template to see what it used t

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Community Expert ,
Jul 22, 2022 Jul 22, 2022

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Are you sure you are opening the file in the same version you saved from? Even if hte answer is no the file should open, as that is the reason for using IDML format. Can you share the file so other users can try to open it?

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Community Expert ,
Jul 22, 2022 Jul 22, 2022

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Is the file actually showing the .idml suffix at the end of the file name? How did you try opening it? An idml should not be opened by double-clicking on it. Rather it should be opened through File>Open when InDesign is active. If none of these thoughts are relevant then it sounds like a corrupt file that, as Scott Faulkner said, you might want to upload through pastebin or whatever means is available to you.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 23, 2022 Jul 23, 2022

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Are you working on Windows or Mac?

Can you let us know please as there are recovery options on both.

 

Windows

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/recover-lost-or-deleted-files-7bf065bf-f1ea-0a78-c1cf-7d...

 

Mac (a little more difficult without Time Machine)

https://www.howtogeek.com/361816/how-to-recover-deleted-files-on-mac/

 

Your IDML file should open fine in most versions of InDesign.

 

As you say - you're missing a plugin? That's odd as IDML should strip out plugins.

 

There might be more going on

 

Try resetting your preferences:
The easiest way to reset everything is to delete the InDesign preferences: as soon as InDesign starts to boot hold down Shift, Alt, Ctrl (and Apple/Cmd if working on a Macintosh). A dialog will appear asking to delete the InDesign Preferences, select 'Yes' on this dialog.
Further info and instructions here if needed:
https://helpx.adobe.com/in/indesign/kb/indesign-preferences-support-file-locations.html

 

--------

Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the
Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

 

 

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New Here ,
Jul 24, 2022 Jul 24, 2022

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I tried opening it on both Mac and Windows after resetting preferences and everything. I don't know how the file got corrupted but I think that is what's going on. It is my fault for not saving multiple backups of the file but it was saving normally until it stopped and my work was almost done on the InDesign file. I don't know how to attach it on this thread because it won't allow me but I really need for it to open.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 24, 2022 Jul 24, 2022

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If you can't get it open, you may want to consider this service: https://markzware.com/products/file-recovery-service/

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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Put it on a file share service like dropbox and post a link here (or send a link to one of us in a privave message if you don't want to share with the world).

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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No luck here either. Opening the .idml in Notepad it looks incomplete to me.

 

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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There is a very old windows-only tool at http://kasyan.ho.ua/indesign/all/indd_recovery.html that might work. I believe the metyhod is still valid even though it was written for CS3. There is also a link on that page to a script to export idml without opening the file which you can also try.

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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Ya I tried these and I think the file just may be beyond repair. I also seem to think that when it was corrupted and saved as an idml that it wiped all the work to the file and it is now just a corrupted blank file. Thank you all for the help

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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Heres a folder with the idml but I feel like the idml file I have now is beyond repair and its so hard to digest because I'll have to restart the whole thing.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/7uzknv63ek8e39cxhlmnf/h?dl=0&rlkey=25h0getfe2ilqb8e0phizfyfy

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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It looks for all the world like the IDML export failed. You can look at them in Notepad, or your favorite raw text viewer, and see that there's no real content inside. Also, they have sizes like "124 bytes" which means that, sadly, your attempt to export IDML failed, and you are going to have to start from scratch to recreate that week's worth of work.

 

I've been in your shoes before, and in the past I've actually force-quit InDesign in an effort to get something salvageable from the InDesign Recovery folder (where ID saves work-in-progress to recover after a crash). I know I'm giving you suggestions on how to close the barn door after the horses are long gone, but if you change your working methods aomewhat, you're less likely to wind up in this situation in the future. 

 

(Honestly, it's the fact that I've been in your shoes more than once in my past that as taught me to over-save files and reversion them. So, any job I'd worked on for a week might have 28 different backup versions, because I have done a new Save As every few hours or so. It's wasteful of HD space, if you're not using something like Time Machine or Shadow Files, but HD space is cheap, and I think you'll find that you've made your money back on your HD upgrade if this technique saves you even once from needing to recreate a week's worth of work.)

 

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New Here ,
Jul 26, 2022 Jul 26, 2022

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OK, so I was able to actually find the progress on my file and it has been saved and now is only available in the published section of Adobe Creative Cloud files. Is there any way I can make that file editable? Because currently I am only able to view it and then I'm assuming since it has been published on the cloud that its new format is a PDF and would make the file messy trying to go back and finish up the edits to the document and creating a new one but just copying all the edits would be alot simpler. Sorry just was wondering if that was an option or if the file is now only viewable.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 27, 2022 Jul 27, 2022

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If you can download the PDF you can do a few things.

Recosoft makes a plugin that can convert, but I don't know that it will be perfect, and I believe all styles are lost, but it would be a lot better than starting from scratch. https://www.recosoft.com/products/pdf2id/

You should be able to export the text from the PDF to Word format  from Acrobat, then place that into a new file. You can place the pages of the PDF in the new file on a background layer to use as a template to see what it used to look like.

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