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Image27159536nro3
Participant
October 11, 2023
Question

Document presets are missing in Indesign 19, 2024 version

  • October 11, 2023
  • 12 replies
  • 7119 views

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>

    12 replies

    Mike Witherell
    Community Expert
    Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 14, 2023

    Both Document Presets and Preflight Profiles are alike in that you have to take the time to save them somewhere. In my "InDesign 2024 the 30 Presets" report guide, I suggest to save them to subfolders you make under the en_US folder where all other preferences go to live. Under that folder you would make both a "Document Presets" folder and/or a "Preflight Profiles" folder. InDesign will not make these automatically. But if you do, the migrate feature sees these things and migrates them forward to your next year's version of InDesign (if you choose to migrate settings).

    Mike Witherell
    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 14, 2023

    Thanks, @Mike Witherell  Very helpful.

    F
    framstudiotest
    Known Participant
    December 13, 2023

    So does anybody know if I can get them back? I have 2 Time Machine backups but it appears that when files are deleted from your drive they are also deleted from backup. Apparently this type of backup only stores old versions of files you still have.

     

    I'm just back after 6 1/2 weeks of sick leave and the first things I did was to update a lot of applications. All of my preflight presets are gone from InDesign and I have a book to send off to printing.

    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 13, 2023

    I'm afraid that you're going to have to rebuild them. If you don't have a backup, no one else will because you no doubt customized it. Consult with your printer about what to be included.

    F
    framstudiotest
    Known Participant
    December 13, 2023

    OK, thank you! I was afraid of that. I have sort of given up asking printers about anything as they generally answer in a completely different terminology from Adobe's software settings. At least here in Norway where they will have their own traditional terminology using vocabulary from before digital desktop publishing. Oh well. I'll figure it out. It's just that these settings have evolved over time and been tweaked whenever something has gone wrong or almost gone wrong in printing. So for a few years now I have felt secure just using my presets. Now the nerves will be back.

    Mike Witherell
    Community Expert
    Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 31, 2023

    Preferences and Presets, Styles, Automations

    Migrate

    Don't

    Migrate After

    1. Open Recent List

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    2. Workspace Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    3. Menu Customizations

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    4. Document Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    5. New Page Sizes

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    6. Autocorrect Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    7. InDesign Shortcut Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    8. Stroke Styles

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    9. Word Doc Import Options Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    10. RTF File Import Options Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    11. Glyph Sets Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    12. Animation Motion Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    13. Find/Change Text Queries Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    14. Find/Change GREP Queries Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    15. Find/Change Glyph Queries Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    16. Find/Change Object Queries Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    17. Find/Change Color Queries Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    18. Transparency Flattener Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    19. Print Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    20. Color Settings File (if in PS & synced)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    21. File Info > Import/Export Metadata §

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    22. Preflight Presets

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    23. Scripts Panel

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    24. Export to Adobe PDF Presets ‡

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    25. CC Libraries

    No

    No

    No

    26. Custom Style Mapping ^

    No

    No

    No

    27. Adobe Swatch Exchange

    No

    No

    No

    28. ToC Style Presets*

    No

    No

    No

    29. Trapping Presets*

    No

    No

    No

    30. XML Structure Tag Presets

    No

    No

    No

    Edit > Preferences

    Yes

    No

    Yes

    § ... Application Support or AppData > Roaming > Adobe > XMP > Metadata Template
    ‡ external to InDesign, ^ copy/paste frames using Style Mapping, * document to document load only

     

     

     
    Mike Witherell
      Barb Binder
      Community Expert
      Barb BinderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 1, 2023

      Wow! That's a great list, Mike. 

       

      ~Barb

      ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
        Mike Witherell
        Community Expert
        Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 1, 2023

        Mike Witherell
          Mike Witherell
          Community Expert
          Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 31, 2023

          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.

          Mike Witherell
          Steve Werner
          Community Expert
          Steve WernerCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 31, 2023

          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.

            Mike Witherell
            Community Expert
            Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            October 24, 2023

            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
              daring_ninja98A2
              daring_ninja98A2
              Participant
              October 23, 2023

              You could try reinstalling InDesign 18 and then export presets.

                S
                stefanp910592
                Participating Frequently
                October 24, 2023

                This solution worked a treat for me!

                Mike Witherell
                Community Expert
                Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                October 24, 2023

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

                Mike Witherell
                taylerm8040798
                taylerm8040798
                Participant
                October 20, 2023

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

                  D
                  Daro1500
                  Participating Frequently
                  October 19, 2023

                  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...

                    J
                    JGoahead
                    Participating Frequently
                    October 30, 2023

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

                      Steve Werner
                      Community Expert
                      Steve WernerCommunity Expert
                      Community Expert
                      October 30, 2023

                      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.

                        Mike Witherell
                        Community Expert
                        Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
                        Community Expert
                        October 17, 2023

                        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?

                        Mike Witherell
                          T
                          TTodd
                          Participant
                          October 16, 2023

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

                            Mike Witherell
                            Community Expert
                            Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
                            Community Expert
                            October 17, 2023

                            Did you read the above?

                            Mike Witherell
                              T
                              TTodd
                              Participant
                              October 17, 2023

                              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.

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