Indesign is broken?

[Marcy McGuire]

Version 15.1.3

Issues: 

Import options don't work correctly. I check import footnotes and endnotes but they don't 

Also I have it set up to keep formatting but it doesn't so italics and bolding is lost. Yes I have a GREP for it.

Keep options on one file didn't work correctly, some started on a new frame others did page breaks that were not set.

When I have to force quit it opens the file with the essentials and not my long docs workspace.

.idml didn't help

I've replaced my prefs, no help.

Can't upgrade with my current OS, so not a suggestion.

Would reinstalling the program work? It's a last resort since I have so much customization. A bit at wits end since every file seems to have a different issue and I have a lot of book projects ongoing.

TIA

[BobLevine]

Can you upgrade the O/S?

[Marcy McGuire]

Only if I buy a new Mac, not a reality for me.

[BobLevine]

How old is it? What O/S is it running?

I'm asking because if you've uncovered a bug it will never be fixed.

[Marcy McGuire]

I'm a couple of years away from retirement, so I really don't want to spend the $$ for a new mac.

[BobLevine]

Well, if you'll indulge me here. You could install Bootcamp and Windows 10. That would allow you to run the most current version of all Creative Cloud applications.

[Marcy McGuire]

Windows, yikes! Has it improved the user experience? I've been a mac user my entire 30 year career.

[Mike Witherell]

Yikes! Yes, it has improved since 30 years ago. But since you have held out this long, you should stay the loyal course!

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

The difference between a (decently built) Win11 box and a Mac, particularly for cross-platform software of Adobe's level, is the logo on the box.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

What are you importing from? I'd say that has more to do with the issue than platform, OS, version etc. especially if it's been working until now.

[BobLevine]

The OP didn't say it worked until now which is why I was curious about the lack of upgrade path.

[Marcy McGuire]

The issues are fairly new. When the import problems first started I thought it could be operator error on my part but it's not, I've been very careful on how I import the doc files.

[BobLevine]

Have the clients changed the way they're creating the files? Are these truly Word files created from Word or converted from some other application? Have you tried opening them in Word and cleaning them up there before bringing them into InDesign?

[Marcy McGuire]

The first time it started I did open the file in Office 365 on line Word. I couldn't get the footnotes to import. When I looked at them in word the appeared in a sidebar and not with the text.

[BobLevine]

What does "on line Word" mean?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

The last several versions of word are cloud-based, although some local apps are available. Hate 'me all, which is why I stay with Word 2016.

[BobLevine]

There are cloud-based versions but Office 365 is installed locally the same way Creative Cloud applications are. For $99/year you get 6 accounts. Each gets 5 installs and 1 TB of OneDrive storage. It's a bargain.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It's more complicated and messy than that, and they keep changing the specs and features, trying mightily to pull everyone into the cloud-based system. (I am currently using it at gunpoint as a contractor and have only redoubled my loathing for it all. Not one of the apps has actually been improved in years, they just keep tacking on "co working" crap and useless connectivity features. Rant off, but it's not helping in the Word-to-ID arena.)

[Marcy McGuire]

They have an on-line version, cloud based I suppose you'd call it.

[Marcy McGuire]

doc or docx files from my clients.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Since you're not aware Windows has changed in the past few decades, you may not be aware that Word has changed even more, with a slate of major changes in just the last few years.

There could be any number of issues with the Word files, and their formats, that you haven't encountered before.

What version(s) of Word do you have to open these docs with?

[Marcy McGuire]

I usually don't open them unless I encounter an issue I then use the on line version of word, as I don't have it on my mac.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Okay. For the record, 95% of all problems in this area lie with Word, not InDesign (and that's not just partisanship speaking).

Word 365 is a supermodern version of Word, the online/web version extremely so. It's probably not handling the foot and end notes in a way that's standard enough for ID to manage.

If you don't have a version of Word installed, I'd recommend you pick up a cheap older copy, whatever was the last fully-installed version for Mac. It will give you access to many things that are useful in getting Word documents to work well in ID, especially if you're provided with the usual sloppy structure and formatting most Word users take for granted.

In any case, what you want are older-version, reliable Word files. You can try saving to earlier versions in Word 365, I believe; try that and save, if not to Word 2010-14, then at least to Word 2016. And saving to the really old format (.doc, or Word 97) may be even more reliable.

My experience is that Word docs are endlesly problematic at best (nowhere more so than in end notes, and often footnotes), and best practice is to clean them up as much as possible in Word before importing them to ID and trying to fix faults there.

[Marcy McGuire]

Thank you for your insights. What version would you advise?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

The versions are not in step between Windows and Mac (deliberately, so that there is no confusion between platforms and versions). The last fully-installed, non-subscription, mostly crud-free version for Windows was Office 2016; I am not at all sure what the equivalent for Mac is.