Document presets are missing in Indesign 19, 2024 version

[Image27159536nro3]

Hi,

Two days ago Indesign updated to version 2024 (v.19). The software reset all the settings but I was able to restore my settings (workspace, shortcuts, etc) except for the document presets.

Documents presets are all missing! I also searched in the library folder for previous versions but couldn't find them.

I hope someone can help me to fix this. Thx!

<Title renamed by moderator>

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Image27159536nro3,

We understand how frustrating it could be for you. Would you mind sharing the version 18 preferences folder file with me, as mentioned in this post: https://adobe.ly/3PV77Zs? Please also share the details of your operating system. Could you please also share how you were able to restore the preferences?

We will try our best to investigate further. 

Thanks,

Harshika

[defaultvz56gwzg41g8]

Can load my 2023 prefs. I don't think any of us have time to mess around with this! I'm also going bakc to 2023 until it's fixed.

[Pamela310706668is7]

I don't think you do understand how frustrating it is when your software developers apparantly do not know how we use InDesign and how important it is to import settings. We have books to publish  and deadlines to make and an inhouse compositor who cannot work without those settings. 

[Mike Witherell]

Here is an excerpt from "InDesign-2023-30-Presets.pdf" available for download from my website:

Document Presets

File > Document Presets > Define… New… To skip the New Document dialog, press Shift as you select a preset from the Document Preset menu. These can be saved, loaded, edited, and shared. They can be anywhere on your hard drive, and they have a .dcst filename extension. If not saved by clicking the Save button, document presets are lost when you reset/trash or migrate preferences.

Similarly, in the File > New Document window, you can click the Save Document Preset button (top right) allowing you to name the preset and click the Save Preset blue button. Thereafter, your new document preset is available in the Saved tab of the New Document dialog window. Go to the File > Document Presets dialog box to either save or load named presets. This is when they become .dcst files which can be saved anywhere.

Suggestion: make a new Document Presets folder for these document presets under the Version 18.0/en_US folder where the other presets are stored, like this:

[macOS] Users/UserName/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version 18.0/en_US/ Document Presets [winOS] Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\Version 18.0\en_US\ Document Presets

Suggestion: Use this Document Presets folder to store custom-made document presets; and back up the whole Version 18.0\en_US folder and subfolders with your presets.

[TTodd]

Same here!! Total panic. I've dropped InDesign 2024 and went back to 2023 until this is fixed.

[Mike Witherell]

Did you read the above?

[TTodd]

Yes, when I try to load the .prst file, I get an error that InDesign 2024 cannot find the printer drivers. ??  Too much troubleshooting. I'll just stick with the previous version until this is fixed.

[Mike Witherell]

The above was about Document Presets. Here is my notes on Print Presets (another manually saved preset/preference):

Excerpted from "InDesign-2023-30-Presets.pdf" available for download from my website:

File > Print, adjust print settings, and click Save Preset. The preset is saved in the InDesign Defaults file only. Another way: File > Print Presets > Define... and then New; and then click Save. Use the default name, Saved Print Presets, and then click Save to return to the Print Presets dialog box. Click OK again. If not manually saved with these steps, they are lost when you reset preferences or install a new version. Print presets are saved as .prst filename extensions.

Suggestion: make a new Print Presets folder for these print presets under the Version 19.0/en_US folder, along with other presets folders there:

[macOS] Users/UserName/Library/Preferences/Adobe InDesign/Version 19.0/en_US/Presets\Print Presets
[Win 10/11] Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\Version 19.0\en_US\Print Presets

Suggestion: Use this new Print Presets folder to store all your custom-made print presets; and back up the whole Version 19.0/en_US folder and subfolders of your various presets.

The implication here is you would manually copy these to your new version localization folder.

However, at the moment, everyone is reporting that nothing is working right respecting many aspects of preferences, and this is appearing to be a v19 bug, ... so this might be affecting you.

[Mike Witherell]

By the way, preference syncing went away around v15. Preference migration is the new thing, and it appears to continue to be highly incomplete, just like syncing was. I continue to wonder: why not have a system that protects all ~30 presets within InDesign?

[Daro1500]

Same frustrations here...   Why ???

Fonts recently added: gone...  Favorites: gone....

Have they any idea of the loss of time people experience because of this?  NOT funny...

[JGoahead]

New Acrobat - nigthmare!
New In Design - nightmare!
Why Adobe hates users of Adobe software?

[Steve Werner]

Nightmares happen to people who don't learn their applications.

@Mike Witherell's explanations of the way presets work is right on. You just need to pay attention.

Adobe does not hate its users.

[maxglitz]

NO! I've been using Adobe products for decades now. There's "pay attention" and there's having something sprung on you that wrecks your work flow while you spend time in forums trying to figure out something that worked flawlessly before a major change like this. It's a huge waste of time for busy people who DO make an effort to stay up on the software. I'd rather be designing something than spending hours buried in searches for how-tos for things I've known HOW TO do for quite a while. This appears to be change for change's sake and no advantage to it.

[taylerm8040798]

Same here! I've reverted back to 2023 (18.5) until this is fixed.

[daring_ninja98A2]

You could try reinstalling InDesign 18 and then export presets.

[stefanp910592]

This solution worked a treat for me!

[Mike Witherell]

For the benefit of others, could you detail the steps you took?

[daring_ninja98A2]

From the Creative Cloud app click on the elipsis (...) next to the open button for the InDessign app. Choose the option "other versions." A dialogue box will appear that lets you install a previous version (the new version will also stay installed on the computer). Close the 2024 (19.0) InDesign before opening the previous version. Then go to File/Print Presets/Define... You can select all your presets at once (click the first and then shift+click the last). Then simply select "Save..." and save your presets somewhere. You can now uninstall the older version of InDesign (it will ask if you want to remove all preferences, choose not to, just in case). Open the newest version of InDesign and navigate to the same Print Presets dialogue box and choose "Load..." Now you can load the presets you just saved from the previous version. It's a pain, but at least it works. 🙂

[stefanp910592]

Thank you. You beat me to it. That's exactly what I did.

[Head Capital]

Thank you very much for this! Excellent walk through and worked perfectly 🙂

[Mike Witherell]

So just to re-iterate: This is how InDesign has always worked. About half the possible presets are lost because InDesign leaves it to the user to manually back them up. In saying "this is how InDesign has always worked", I am not saying I am satisfied with it. But it isn't just this version upgrade that us users have had to know these hard-to-see corners for manually rounding up presets.

I will say it again: InDesign automatically saves presets for some things, but many others are manual. A few are not possible at all. A welcome improvement would be to have them all backup and save in the same way, and all of them be migratable to the next version. I count 30 (~) places in InDesign that have presets!

[Mike Witherell]

I just completed an experiment. I upgraded one laptop from 2023 to 2024 in a careful and controlled way.

I made examples of all 30 presets/preferences. Then I compared behavior:

1. Allow migration of settings upon major version upgrade

2. Don't allow migration of settings

3. Edit menu > Migrate Local Settings

Previously I had always avoided migrating settings based on the huge volume of user complaints on this forum. To my surprise, InDesign successfully migrated 24 of 30 presets both under condition test 1 and 3, and also preserved all my preferences and recent files lists. Everything appears to work fine. Even custom Scripts were carried forward. As expected, condition 2 installed a new version of InDesign with really nothing brought forward. I was delighted with this comparison test. I learned that it can work.

Now it begs the question: What is going on with the notable number of users reporting problems with migrating preferences and presets? It leaves me scratching my head in wonderment.

[Steve Werner]

I'm with you, Mike. I have migrated presets many times and can't remember having any failures. I usually choose to NOT migrate preferences. I'd rather set those up manually in case I want to change anything, I can do it manually.

[Barb Binder]

I finally got around to moving mine over yesterday because a student reached out with a question, and while I was digging in the folders looking up the answer, I figured I should just take care of it. (I'm answering questions on v 19, but still using v 18.5 for layout.)

Keeping in mind that I only care about a few preferences categories (custom find/change query list, job-specific Word import presets, workspaces and scripts), I just follow the steps I've listed here:

https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-how-to-copy-your-presets-after-an-update/

No issues at all. 

Mike, I don't even know what your list of 30 presets contains. I'll guess custom keyboard shortcuts and maybe paper presets, and you mentioned recent files and Preferences, what else?

~Barb