InDesign does not save previews even if proper preferences set - Mac and Windows 11

[Beanthere22]

InDesign has stopped saving previews even when the preferences are set to do so. Mac and Windows. Just shows a message about how to set the preferences - but they are already set.

[Barb Binder]

On a Mac, press and hold the spacebar to see the preview or right click > Get Info. 

Remember that Bridge will always show previews as you navigate, Mac or Windows. 

~Barb

[Bill Silbert]

I tested InDesign 18.1 on a Mac with Monterey12.6.2 for the problem you mentioned. I had no problem viewing the Previews in Bridge. The previews generated through Preferences>File Handling>Always Save Previews with Documents are primarily designed to be seen in Adobe Bridge. An InDesign file will not show a Preview image within a document folder or on the desktop unless you hold down the spacebar while clicking on the icon. Have you tried to view the Previews you've saved in Bridge?

[leo.r]

An InDesign file will not show a Preview image within a document folder or on the desktop unless you hold down the spacebar while clicking on the icon. 

By @Bill Silbert

If the current version of InDesign is installed, you should see the file preview in the Finder on Mac without having to hold down the spacebar (for example, if you enable the Preview pane in the Finder). InDesign 2023 includes a QuickLook plug-in that enables this. Does work for me here on Ventura. (I think it should be the same on Windows but not sure).

[Beanthere22]

Take a look at these screenshots. The two shots (new and old) are from Windows Explorer on a Windows 11 machine. The "old" screenshot is an InDesign file from a previous version of InDesign. You will note that it is showing a preview of the document in the WE preview pane. The "new" file is a new verson InDesign file. As you can see it is just showing the instructions for setting the preferences in the WE preview pane. Not using Bridge. Obviously the old way was better.

The Mac file shows that on the Mac it gets much worse. Apparently the new software changes all InDesign preview icons to reflect the new version of the software, then just displays the annoying instructions in the preview. Even holding the spacebar. You can see that the file shown was created in 2017 but the preview says it si a 2023 document. How is that helpful? I should not have to open another application (Bridge) just to get a feature that was working fine in the past in my basic file structure previews.

Time for Adobe to take a look at how they screwed things up and fix the previews.

[Bill Silbert]

My apologies in regard to not needing to hold the spacebar when viewing the file in the Preview Pane. I almost never use the column view so I had not realized that the InDesign files would show the Preview in that view. That being said, however, I did find that using InDesign 18.1 on Monterey 12.6.2 does show the InDesign Preview when viewing in column view. It sounds like this may be a problem that occurred when either 18.2 or 18.2.1 was released. Hopefully, as Bob mentioned, it will be fixed with 18.3.

[leo.r]

My apologies in regard to not needing to hold the spacebar when viewing the file in the Preview Pane. I almost never use the column view so I had not realized that the InDesign files would show the Preview in that view. 

By @Bill Silbert

I also never use the column view - but you can see the file preview in the List view, too, by enabling the Preview pane. This option is, however, easy to miss and I think that many users will never discover it. It's not in the default toolbar set in the Finder so users have to carefully explore the Finder's View menu to find the Show Preview option. I suspect very few people do. I myself only discovered it by a chance when I hit the Cmd-Shift-P shortcut accidentally.

It's quite a useful option and I think Apple should do a better job of making its availability more obvious to the user.

[BobLevine]

This is supposed to be fixed, I think, in 18.3 which is rolling out now but has not hit the US, yet.