Indesign document preview in Finder

[Sprucetree]

I view Photoshop, Illustrator, PDF etc files within the Apple OS Finder. Whenever you select these file icons in 'column view' you are given a preview of what the content of the document looks like.

However, when I select an Indesign file icon all I see is a blown-up Indesign icon. Is there a preference somewhere that I have to select so that a preview is generated?

[BobLevine]

Whether you like it or not, Adobe has provided a solution. That you don’t want to use it is on you, not Adobe.

[darrylz]

Scenario: just started my mac, and I see a folder open with 3 indd files I want to quicklook. I want to select it and hit space to quick look.

What steps would I use for bridge to display same indd file without drag/drop?

[rob day]

What steps would I use for bridge to display same indd file without drag/drop?

Sounds like you've never used Bridge? Bridge is a lightweight version of Lightroom—they are both asset management apps.

It has workspaces like other CC apps, which can be saved. Here I have the Preview tab open along with my Favorites tab, which works the same as OSX, so the navigation is similar to Finder. All I have to do is navigate to the folder and click on an ID file to view it in the Preview pane and look at the pages. If you want full size previews, set InDesign's File Handling preference to All Pages and Extra Large 1024.

[paulm2148713]

Interesting, Adobe Acrobat seems to be capable of displaying a preview outside of Bridge

[BobLevine]

PDF is not a proprietary format.

[paulm2148713]

Not anymore, true. But Adobe enabled PDF thumbnail preview initially. Anyway, ID Util seems to work perfectly.

[rcostain]

QuickLook has been integrated into Mac OS for several years. It's nothing new. It shouldn't be an issue for Adobe to create decent previews like it does for PSD, PDF, AI and other file formats.

[Steve Werner]

Adobe already creates previews in Adobe Bridge. The third party products are inexpensive. Don't hold your breath waiting for Adobe to do it.

You can make a feature request here:

Feature Requests/Bugs

[awn2be]

Why bother making a request...  you said it yourself, "Don't hold your breath".

[1st Street Sam]

that download link contains a virus

[Steve Werner]

If you're trying to download the free trial for Art View 2, I'm not seeing any virus notification. It's a Zip file for a Macintosh. Are you trying to use it in Windows?

You should contact Code Line tech support if you're on a Mac.

[BobLevine]

No previews on Windows either.

[rob day]

Thumbnails are too small in Bridge.

There's Window>Preview.

[Pijnacker01]

We here at Markzware have ID Util. ID Util is a FREE standalone macOS application that allows you to view InDesign previews, styled story content, linked images, and used fonts. You can also export the previews and styled stories to standard formats. Use ID Util to ensure that files are opened in the proper version of InDesign.

It will also provide you, as an option, the ability to add Preview support to the Finder on Mac OS. We learned that not all wanted that. Some love it, some rather see that a-typical InDesign file icon. Try it out, totally free, here;

https://markzware.com/products/id-util-macos/

[MoonriverHH]

There is another 3rd party product: inddPreview provides macOS with preview images of InDesign files to show up in Finder and Quick Look. Since the latest release it also supports InDesign snippets and InCopy documents. It’s available on the Mac App Store.

inddPreview – Quick Look for InDesign® documents · Software by Jenny C. Hofer

PS: I totally agree with those saying that it’s not the responsibility of Apple to support a proprietary file format like InDesign documents. Apple provides the Quick Look feature and supports a lot of public file formats as well as their own proprietary files (Pages, Numbers etc.). It would be up to Adobe to provide a Quick Look plugin for their own file formats (like e.g. Microsoft does for Word etc.), because they know their formats best (of course). But Adobe goes its own way with Bridge. And this is why I decided to write »my own 3rd party solution« already in 2008 ...

[Steve Werner]

Nice write-up about inddPreview in InDesignSecrets.com as well:

https://indesignsecrets.com/preview-indesign-snippets-and-incopy-documents-with-inddpreview.php

[janemig]

Surely we're not the only people who find it completely ridiculous that Adobe has a preview for Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat but not for InDesign. Why should you have to open Bridge—which I NEVER use—in order to view a thumbnail preview in InDesign?

[BobLevine]

It’s not Adobe, it’s Apple. Take it up with them!

[Brycesteiner]

@BobLevine - Why do you keep defending Adobe? Apple wrote the ability for any third party developer to use Quicklook. It works well. By your logic Apple has written them for the other developers' programs. Is that correct? Affinity's Designer and Photo files preview just fine like most other formats do. It has nothing to do with Apple when Indesign is a proprietary format, as I'm sure you would agree. So, please stop spouting off your ignorance.

[Steve Werner]

I consider it a low priority because inexpensive utilities can do the job. If you want it, ask for it at the User Voice website and let's see how many people think it's worth a vote. Put your vote where your mouth is.

[BobLevine]

Let's reopen a dead thread to beat a horse that's even deader.

All of the choices are already covered and so, before I start returning your insults, I'll just lock this thread.

[Steve Werner]

Here's the place to send your InDesign feature requests:

Feature Requests/Bugs