Skip to main content
New Participant
August 22, 2025
Question

Feedback on Adobe InDesign Usability and Improvement Suggestions

  • August 22, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 377 views

Dear Adobe Team,

 

I am writing to share some concerns regarding the current user experience with Adobe InDesign. As a long-time user and avid supporter of the software, I truly appreciate its capabilities and have relied on it extensively for my work. However, I’ve recently encountered persistent issues that have made it quite challenging to use.
One of the most frustrating problems is with linked files. Despite the files being properly linked and accessible, InDesign consistently shows false "missing link" warnings. This issue disrupts my workflow and requires unnecessary time and effort to resolve repeatedly.
Additionally, I’ve experienced significant difficulties when working with layered files, particularly when trying to expand or manage grouped layers. The process feels unnecessarily slow and unresponsive, making it hard to work efficiently.
I understand that software development is complex, and I’m unsure if these issues are due to a lack of recent updates or other underlying factors. That said, I genuinely love InDesign and believe it has the potential to be even more powerful and user-friendly.
I would like to kindly ask if there are plans to address these issues in future updates. I believe many users, including myself, would greatly appreciate improvements in these areas to make the software more intuitive and reliable.

Thank you for taking the time to read my feedback. I remain a loyal user and look forward to seeing InDesign continue to evolve and improve.

3 replies

New Participant
September 27, 2025

Hi

 

Can the adobe development team look into a way to add a feature that someone cannot remove your watermark. With otherwords if they try to crop out the wayermark, it get automatically been placed with in the new cropping lines?

 

Regards

 

Neels

BobLevine
Braniac
September 27, 2025

Good luck with that. If you don't want your work stolen or used without your permission, don't put it on the internet.

 

If you're serious about this post it here: Adobe InDesign

 

And since this has absolutely nothing to do with the original topic, I'm locking this.

Braniac
August 22, 2025

Your issues aren't common - I've used InDesign for a long time and never have these issues and if it was widespread I'd definitely heard of it by now - that being said - new things and updates can cause issues that are unforeseen. 

 

Can you start by telling us your OS and your Version of InDesign? 

And if you are working remotely via VPN or server or through a cloud service like Dropbox or other. 

 

And if you can please specify steps to reproduce the problem . 

 

For now the best I can recommends is some of the usual steps to fix

 

If a document is not behaving well then try 

File>Export 

Choose IDML

Open the IDML in InDesign
Save the file as a new InDesign file with a new name
See if the issue persists.

 

-----------

Try resetting your preferences:

InDesign 19.3 and newer go to Preferences > General > and click on "Reset Preferences on Quit" and then quit and restart.

Or
Windows: Start InDesign, and then press Shift+Ctrl+Alt. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files.
macOS: While pressing Shift+Option+Command+Control, start InDesign. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files.
A dialog will appear asking to delete the InDesign Preferences, select 'Yes' on this dialog.



More in-depth cleanse of preferences

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

 

 

Participating Frequently
August 22, 2025

So IDML files are like a safety, right? I had a crash just now & had to open a COPY if my document idml file.
Opening the IDML still crashed my indesign.

I have the same issue with LINKS GOING "MISSING". You're not alone @mengl1923310 

i generally avoid layers....because it adds a layer of complexity to my file, which i don't need. I experience too many crashes already.

I've been tempted to advise my boss to trial Quark.... really i hope these problems will be resolved.

Braniac
August 22, 2025

As I said there's others things to try besides the IDML.

 

And it would really help to get the answers to everything I already asked. Without knowing specifics then it's impossible to know how to help. 

leo.r
Braniac
August 22, 2025

As far as I understand, you experience two particular issues: existing links appearing as missing and difficulties when working with layered files.

 

I recommend you to create two separate posts on the forum that describe each of the two issues in detail. Please make sure to include your InDesign and operating system versions. This will help understand and address your issues in the most efficient way possible.