I am frequently getting this message when opening files in Indesign:
I have the latest version (20.2), the computer is a new M2 max, and these are all files I have created myself. They are stored locally. I have tried exporting as IDML and resaving, but the proble keeps coming back.
Is InDesign really corrupting my files or is this a false message which can be ignored?
Prompt investigation of this would be apreciated please Adobe.
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I have now replaced the entire family (I still have the original invoice from Linotype from 2014).
I have trashed the preferences.
It's still happening.
By @Terence5F91
But if you open my file - or replace all fonts in your file - you don't get this error?
No idea.
That's something else to try, although I suspect it will be ok though. I use that font family quite frequently.
By @Terence5F91
I think the only way to "fix" this word file would be to re-save it in WORD - native application - to RTF and then try to import it into InDesign.
Unfortunately, this might result in some objects / texts lose their formatting or even disappear completely - so you would've to double check.
Probably a bad idea, as I'm relying on importing the style sheets the author has used for formatting. Some of these files are over 200 pages long.But I suppose It's worth trying to see how much (if any) formatting is lost doing it this way.
By @Terence5F91
In 99.99% cases - you won't lose anything.
I'm only talking about a situation, when DOCX file has been created in some extremely bad application - or some objects has been created using 3rd party solutions - like when you use MathType to create equations - they'll import as images.
DOCX is a proprietary format, own by Microsoft - so every company, including Adobe, can only try to reverse engineer it.
If your "word" file is RTF - you should be perfectly fine.
Update: Importing as RTF causes InDesign to hang.
By @Linda5FB4
Maybe give InDesign some extra time to chew and digest 😉
20 minutes?
By @Linda5FB4
And still chewing?
Yes, it's possible that it crashed internally - without crashing - or your document is so complex / convoluted...
If you can't share it privately - can you at least describe its contents? Or post some screenshots?
Simple text shouldn't take so long...
Are there any complicated "graphs" - a lot of shapes grouped / anchored in each other? Or very big images?
What is the size of the DOCX / RTF file?
Does your file have embedded links or a lot of pasted (not linked) graphic content? How large is the .indd file?
By @Peter Spier
We are now "past" the INDD file 😉 and focused on the source "word" file.
No. Not at all.
The example is 2.8 MB. The largest one is only 7 MB.
The author put a lot of x-refs in there which are not wanted and which I removed.
By @Linda5FB4
So InDesign is choking on a plain text?
Is it possible, that those files has been generated by some sort of a medical application / device - directly from the x-ray machine?
And if you import some other DOCX / RTF file - that you would make in WORD yourself - it will import OK and work fine with your fonts?
I really don't think so!
Yes to the second question.
By @Terence5F91
Then it looks llike something is very wrong with this/those specific WORD files?
There is a way to avoid problems with your client - you can do a few Find/Change operations in WORD and scramble text - replace "a" -> "r", "p"->"b", etc.
And then you can share it with me privately. I wouldn't / won't share your file with anyone anyway.
In case of images - maybe if you try to remove / replace them with some placeholders before sending this file to me - you'll find a culprit?
That's actually good idea. I'll see if I can find some time.
How do I share them privately by the way?Preview
By @Terence5F91
Please click my nickname.
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