'Last export format' not being remembered

[flaming1]

To quote Adobe: "Now every document will remember its last export format."

In our experience this has not been working at all. As far as we can tell, InDesign simply remembers the last exported format and applies that to whatever the next document you work on is. This is the behaviour InDesign has always had… and a frustrating behaviour it is too!

This is not what we understood the feature to be. The feature appeared to be promoted as the last export setting of an individual document being remembered by that document and travelling with it. So if I, or anyone else, open that same document in a months time I can export it and it will export with exactly the same settings as it did previously. If this could work it would be very useful.

Or are we misunderstanding what this feature is supposed to do?

[flaming1]

Is the feature working for anyone?

[Migintosh]

I just made 3 test documents and saved them. I opened each one, exported each in a different format (EPS, Epub and Print PDF), and then saved. When I opened each one and exported again, the format I chose for that document stuck with that document. That's how I understand the feature, and that's what I get.

[flaming1]

Thanks Migintosh. It's good to know that this is what is supposed to happen – now I just need to try and troubleshoot why it isn't working for anyone in our studio.

I'll post back if we make any headway on identifying what is going wrong.

[flaming1]

OK, I think I've worked out what the problem is. We were reading last export 'format' thinking it meant the complete settings.

After testing a whole bunch of files and formats it turns out that InDesign only remembers the 'type' of file format that was exported. It doesn't remember any of the export settings that went along with that. So essentially it's pretty pointless.

For example, it doesn't remember whether an EPS was exported as CMYK or RGB, it doesn't remember what the compression value of a PDF was, or any of the other settings – the detail stuff that is actually useful, and that you might forget over time.

So when a co-worker picks up another studio member's file a month later, they will still have no way of knowing what settings were used when the file was exported last time.

Hopefully Adobe can think about adding this in a future update. Please?

[Migintosh]

flaming1  wrote

…it doesn't remember whether an EPS was exported as CMYK or RGB, it doesn't remember what the compression value of a PDF was, or any of the other settings

Mine remembers all of that. I think something is wrong with your system. Have you tried replacing your preferences?

[flaming1]

Thank you again Migintosh – rookie mistake on my part not checking that. Resetting preferences fixed it.

Appreciate you coming back to help.

Cheers

Steve

[flaming1]

Sorry to report that it has already stopped functioning on my Mac.

It has reverted to just remembering what the last export setting was... very frustrating.

I will post again if I can work out what is going on.

[flaming1]

Further to my last post, to clarify, the functionality on our Macs is that it only remembers the format of the last file exported.

So I just exported an InDesign file as a JPEG, and then when I returned to a file I worked on an hour ago, that I last exported as a PDF, the 'remembered' last export format is JPEG.

So NOTHING is being remembered across individual files at all.

It's a real shame as remembering the last export settings travelling with each individual file is a really great idea.

[flaming1]

This feels very similar now to the disappearing layer dots in the layers panel. The missing layers dots could be fixed by deleting the 'InDesign SavedData' file.

The main difference is that when the layer dots were 'fixed', the fix lasted for a day or two, or sometimes longer. The 'Remember last export format' fix only lasts for a couple of file saves before it is gone!

That one required a fix from Adobe, so I suspect this one does too, please Adobe.

[flaming1]

Is this ever going to be fixed Adobe?

[stevej61370215]

Years have passed and we still don't have this functionality working.

Has anyone ever solved why it might not work for some people?

I'd love to have it work – as outlined 6 years ago.

[leo.r]

Years have passed and we still don't have this functionality working.

Has anyone ever solved why it might not work for some people?

I'd love to have it work – as outlined 6 years ago.

By @stevej61370215

All I know is it works for me as expected.

What are your InDesign and operating system versions?

Also, try these general troubleshooting steps:

https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

Also, is it possible that you're closing files without saving after exporting? In this case, the last export format may not be saved.

[stevej61370215]

Thanks @leo.r. InDesign 20.5 and MacOS Ventura 13.7.6, but this has never worked through all the versions of InDesign since the feature was released.

Yes I save the file after exporting, but still it does not remember. Sometimes if it is a PNG or JPG it will stick with the file for a while, but never for a PDF export. In general, I find that it remembers the export format of the last file that was saved, and applies that to the next file that is opened. If it ever does remember that a file was last saved as a PDF, then it doesn't remember any of the settings of that PDF and doesn't even distinguish whether it was a Print PDF or Interactive PDF.

As an example – a job I was working on earlier this morning required me to only export page 1 as a PDF. Just now I opened a file I haven't worked on since last Friday and when I went to export a PDF it tried to export just page 1! So, it clearly is capable of remembering things… just not the ones it is supposed to remember!

It's a shame because it is a really good idea to save these settings with a file. I remain hopeful that maybe one day it will just start working for me 🙂