file format or plug-in error when opening file from Dropbox

[MagentaX]

Not a problem, but a fix.

Like many people, I work from Dropbox. I sync my files between my office mac and my home mac. Today, when I wanted to open a file at home I got this error message:

"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."

Which is weird, because I don't have plug-ins installed at work that I don't have installed at home. The file was not opened at work and it was definitely an InDesign file.

I tried opening as a copy, I reinstalled ID, I threw away my prefs, nothing worked. Then I saw that the Dropbox icon next to the file wasn't the regular green checkmark, but a grey cloud. I remembered reading something about Dropbox implementing Smart Sync by showing a file in your dropbox folder, but not actually storing it on your HD. So I right clicked and checked Smart Sync/Local. After that I could open de file, no problem.

I hope this saves some people the headache I had today.

tldr: don't use Dropbox Smart Sync

[Michael Bullo]

Thanks for posting this.

[Steve Werner]

There's nothing wrong with the Dropbox feature: It's you have to be aware of what it does. It's perfect when you want to keep archival files that you will rarely need to open. But you need to keep them in case you do. I'm glad you figure it out!