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InDesign Backwards Compatibility in CS5 an MAJOR issue

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
May 18, 2010
23 replies
160901 views

I am a print designer who works in InDesign. I bought CS3 Design Premium in late summer of 2008. Shortly thereafter CS4 came out, but after just having forked out a big chunk of change, I decided against upgrading to CS4 right away. Recently I considered upgrading but then heard CS5 was coming out so I decided to postpone the upgrade and wait for the new software. I've just checked out the trial version of CS5 InDesign and after speaking with Adobe Support have come to the conclusion that I can't upgrade to CS5. Why? BACKWARDS compatibility to CS3. The previously offered export features that supplied a path for backwards compatibility via an .inx file are gone.

I design freelance for a lot of different customers and once the design is complete, I have to deliver the InDesign file along with all associated fonts ad images to my clients. Most of my clients are still on CS3. If I upgrade to CS5 I will instantly not be able to work for 2/3 of my clients, as I will have no means by which to save a file backwards to CS3. I was informed by Adobe support that I would need to buy CS4 and CS5, as I could save my CS5 file in the IDML format and open it in CS4 and then I could save the file from CS4 as an INX file and open that is CS3. ARE THEY INSANE??? First off that requires keeping 3 version of InDesign up and running on my machine all of the time and secondly, why should I have to buy CS4 when I'm paying an additional fee to upgrade to CS5 because I didn't upgrade from CS4? This is so screwed up that it has to be an oversight---please tell me there is a patch in the works!!!

PS- I've never posted to a forum before, so if I have broken any rules of forum etiquette or offended in any way, I offer my apologies now and if I (and the Adobe Support staff I spoke to) have overlooked something, please enlighten me!

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer BobLevine

I know it will get better as things progress--It's just been difficult getting started and I unfortunately timed my initial software purchase badly. Maybe I can fix it this time if I can get both CS4 & CS5. But is the commercial, rather than retail, product even available on Amazon?

Just semantics, Cynthia.

Retail, commercial. Same thing.

Upgrades are exactly the same as their full commercial/retail counterparts except for the price.

Adobe also has student and academic pricing.

The link I supplied you with is for the Mac CS3 to CS4 Design Premium upgrade and assumes that you have one of the CS3 suites.

Bob

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Peter Spier

Community Expert

There si no reason you can't continue to use your CS3 installation and also install CS5. Choose the version to suit the client.

Back-saving is at best a crapshoot as far as text reflowing, and you risk a lot of file damage if you inadvertently use a new feature. It just isn't a good workflow.

BobLevine

Community Expert

InDesign has NEVER allowed more than one version backsave via INX. Beginning with CS5 you can save back to CS4 using IDML but this is horrible workflow anyway.

Saving back means lost or badly mangled features and reflowing text and going back two versions makes even worse. If you absolutely have to work with people in CS3 then you'll need to work with that version whether or not you decide to upgrade.

I currently have CS3, CS4 and CS5 installed just in case. And I'll repeat what I've said over and over again. I support Adobe 100% in the way this is handled. Major new feature make it nearly impossible to keep compatibility from one version to another.

Finally, if you buy CS4 now (Amazon still has some stock) you may be eligible for a free upgrade to CS5. But using that when you know the end result must be a CS3 file is not a very efficient way to work.

Bob

C

Cynthia Ryan GraphicAuthor

Participating Frequently

I am all for working with better workflow practices and I understand that saving files backwards is less than ideal but Adobe needs to look at the real world uses of their software as well. I have to work with firms that aren't upgrading now--especially with the economy we are now in--and most of the items I design for them are ads-- one page- nothing too complex--really nothing fancy. I obviously wouldn't save a book or a very complex document backwards in this way, but simple things have translated just fine in the past. In the real world we hit situations like this.

I bought my software 21 months ago and in this time Adobe has expected me to upgrade twice--I haven't even finished expensing the initial cost of the software on my books yet. Upgrading that often just can't happen in a small firm--it's prohibitively expensive for a one man shop.

So now from what I understand, to do this properly, I am supposed to buy the upgrade and keep both versions running on my machine and track with every client which version of the software I need to be working in. What happens when I have to add an employee? I will have to buy the CS3 version of the software in addition to the CS5 Suite because otherwise we can't work on the same files. I'm finding this frustrating.

Your suggestion of buying CS4 from Amazon is a good one. I will look into that further.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

And once again Bob misses the point. It's NOT being suggested that WE don't want to upgrade or haven't upgraded, but that we'd like a feature that would allow us to save the documents we've created in CS5 down to CS3 without having to jump through hoops. After all, if I've paid the money buy CS5 then I'd like to actually work in that version of the software to take advantage of it's new features that allow me to edit my document in a more convenient way. I'd rather not have to work in an older version of the program just because I'm working with a client or printer that hasn't upgraded yet. That hurts my productivity. So you see… Adobe wouldn't be adding this feature to support people who haven't upgraded, they're adding it to support those who have. Because if I hadn't upgraded I wouldn't need the back-save feature in the first place.

As to the point of "sacrifice new features"… the back-saving feature would be a "new feature". An analogy would be: what if Adobe never included the ability to export directly to PDF (yes, I know that'd be lame), so instead you had to write out the file as a .ps and then use Acrobat Distiller to convert the file to PDF? Then users complain that Adobe should make it so you could export a pdf right out of InDesign. Would you then accuse people of not wanting to pony up money for Acrobat Professional? Who cares? It's just another feature that someone is requesting. Maybe it's not one that you'd find useful, but others apparently would.

So the bottom line is… this is an open forum. You stated that you're fine with the way Adobe has implemented things and that's cool for you. But please don't tell the rest of us that we shouldn't want a feature that we'd find useful.

Meh all this "Bob is wrong, I'm right" and "Bob's right and everyone else is wrong!!"

This is futile arguing.

Bottom line is Adobe don't have and never have allowed backsaving more than one version.

Bob is correct, if you want this you have to upgrade on the first day and have each version of InDesign to allow backsaving of this nature.

That's just what you have to do.

Of course that's not totally everyone's cup of tea, and they'd rather a feature that allows saving back or else allow any prior version of InDesign to open any future version of InDesign documents.

There is one major flaw in all this. If Company A buys Adobe CS5 suite and then Company B asks them to design some material and supply the artwork for said files. Then they supply InDesign files to the client. Well the Company A may not know of or realise that InDesign does not allow saving back more than one version, or indeed what an IDML file is. And Company B only has CS3.

If you fast forward the above scenario by 54 months - we're now on CS8 - some companies not upgraded since CS5 or perhaps an individual that was happy with Cs5 and had no cause to upgrade any further (like me on InDesign CS5 but using PS CS2 and Illy CS2)

If the above is the case, then Adobe needs to make it clearer that files cannot be saved back more than one version.

Well I think Adobe needs to start working on Backward Compatibility.

And that's why I filled out the wishlist.

If you want this feature then go to the Wishlist page https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

This page now has 7 pages of responses, has everyone filled out the wishlist????

This topic is going nowhere if you all are just going to bait each other.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

You've echoed the sentiments of many. It's really bad support from Adobe regarding backward compatibility in InDesign.

But even if you did have CS4 and wanted to go back to CS2, you'd have to open your INX file in InDesign CS3 and export again to INX (there was a double downsave trick of editing the INX file)

But regardless, Adobe has only ever allowed one version back compatibility for InDesign.

Frustrating.

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