'Clean-up' .indd?

[HrishikeshKokate]

Hello!

I've been using InDesign for some time now, and here's a strange thing I've noticed. I've been using 'embed images' feature for almost all of my documents now. I didn't have a very big document yet, so, that works for me. I understand that embedding images increases the file size by a huge extent, and to some extent, I understand that. The problem is, when I make a copy of the file, open it, delete all the images from it and save it, the file size doesn't decrease. It's even worse when I embed more images to it, it adds up to that base file size. So, are the deleted images still there or something? How can I reduce file sizes?

[HrishikeshKokate]

Funny how brain works. I just posted it here and it struck me that I can try saving the file as .indt and open it and save again. It did work. It's probably not a perfect solution and maybe, someone would like to educate me why InDesign does't delete unused data from the file right away.

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

You need to use file>save as to "clean" it up. That will clear everything out.

And embedding images in a large file can and often will lead to a corrupt document that will be unrecoverable. Stop doing that immediately.

[HrishikeshKokate]

Oh, a simple trick. Thanks for the info.

I had an idea that embedding images is not recommended, but, unrecoverable documents, I had not idea about. I'll take care in future. Thanks! 

[Geоrge]

https://creativepro.com/files/kahrel/indesign/unembed_images.html