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Bill Doerr
Participant
February 15, 2019
Answered

ID files are not opening

  • February 15, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 452 views

Please HELP!   

InDesign files — some, not all — are not opening.

Error message says: “You may not have permission or the document may be open already”.

Many InDesign files are working just fine; others do not open and the error message appears.

I have a number of InDesign files and need to access them for my business.  Am unnerved over this recent issue.

BACKGROUND INFO:
I am using Indesign CS5.5 -- longtime user and fan.
I’m on a MacBook Pro and my OS is  Mojave 10.14.2 which has been running for some time now without this issue.
I have ‘read / write’ permission for the problematic InDesign files.

I have reset the Indesign permissions settings — no effect either way.

There are no InDesign ‘lock’ files are in the same folder as an InDesign file I tried to open.

The InDesign files were created and have remained on my hard drive — they’re are not copies.

If an ID upgrade would fix this issue, I’ll gladly buy it. But am not sure if that’s the best option to resolve this serious problem.

I'm not a power user of InDesign -- but use it extensively in my consulting practice and it's been wonderful.  Until now.

This is a 10/10 issue on ’serious’ scale and imperative to resolve as my business (and, clients) depend on being able to access these files.

Thank you in advance for any assistance or guidance.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bill Silbert

As Bob says CS5.5 is not supported on Mojave. In fact it is not supported on any Mac OS later than Yosemite. The fact that you've been running it under Mojave up until now though begs the question as to whether you've recently updated your Mojave from its original version. If so, then this is, most likely, the reason as to why this is happening now. With an unsupported version of the software it is only a matter of time before that software will cease to function correctly, if at all. If you don't want to make the investment in a Creative Cloud subscription then you might want to think about buying an older Mac off of ebay and installing 5.5. Then you can keep using the older version indefinately.

2 replies

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 15, 2019

As Bob says CS5.5 is not supported on Mojave. In fact it is not supported on any Mac OS later than Yosemite. The fact that you've been running it under Mojave up until now though begs the question as to whether you've recently updated your Mojave from its original version. If so, then this is, most likely, the reason as to why this is happening now. With an unsupported version of the software it is only a matter of time before that software will cease to function correctly, if at all. If you don't want to make the investment in a Creative Cloud subscription then you might want to think about buying an older Mac off of ebay and installing 5.5. Then you can keep using the older version indefinately.

    B
    Bill DoerrAuthor
    Participant
    February 15, 2019

    Thanks, Bill.  I didn't know Mojave OS doesn't support CS5.5.  If I upgrade to CC ID subscription and the upgrade doesn't solve problem, is it possible to go 'back' to CS5.5 on the same Mac or not?  TIA.  Bill

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 15, 2019

    You can install multiple versions of InDesign on your Mac so I wouldn't uninstall the old version if you install a trial version of CC. Just make sure that when installing the new version you uncheck the option to "Import previous preferences and settings" in the Advanced Options that will appear during the install. After the install double-clicking on the job's icon will open the file in the most recent version that you have installed but you can open documents in the earlier version from within the program (File>Open). Any documents created in a later version of InDesign will need to be exported from the later program as an IDML file in order to open those with the earlier version.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 15, 2019

    CS5.5 is not supported under Mojave. It’s almost impossible to eliminate that as the reason for this.

    If these files are on a network drive, I would move them to the local harddrive.

    Beyond that, I’ve got nothing but the suggestion to download the CC2019 trial and see if that can open them.

    B
    Bill DoerrAuthor
    Participant
    February 15, 2019

    Thanks, Bob.  I see the Mojave OS is likely what's happened here.  The files aren't on a network server (soon but not yet) but the upgrade is probably long overdue.  Good suggestion.  Thank you.

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