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Participating Frequently
June 7, 2025
Question

My mac mini M2 running MacOS Sequoia 15.5 won't voice read text in Adobe Indesign

  • June 7, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 781 views

My mac mini M2 running MacOS Sequoia 15.5 won't voice read text I've typed into an Indesign document. All it says is "Adobe stock 2025" whether I have the cursor in the text box or have text highlighted to be voice read. How do I get my Mac mini M2 running MacOS Sequoia 15.5 to voice read the text I've typed with a True Type font in Indesign. I've  retyped in Indesign using an Open Type and the same thing happens.

    5 replies

    Legend
    June 17, 2025

    You could run the enclosed script, or take it as starting point.

     

    To get a list of voices, I used the terminal command "say -v \?"
    Unfortunately some of the entries caused errors, only Apple knows why.

    Eventually replace the voices with others that work better for you.

    When done, remove the top 4 say … tests.

     

    Copy the script into AppleScript editor.

    Compile and run to verify the syntax / ensure there are no copy-paste errors.

    Save as "Speak.applescript"

    Put the file either into the script folder that you reach via menu Utilities >> Scripts panel >> Show in Finder.

    Alternatively I used the application scripts menu.

    This menu is optional, you first have to enable it in the AppleScript editor preferences.

    That should give you a script icon in the right part of the menu bar.

    Switch to InDesign.

    The menu below that icon has entries to open the application specific folder, thus first switch to InDesign.

    Copy your script file into that folder.

     

    I went thru some hoops for selected text frames and text columns (encountered with selections in the text editor window).

    Simple text selection and table cell selections work better.

     

    property nVoice : "Grandpa (Englisch (UK))"
    property tVoice : "Eddy (Englisch (UK))"
    property iVoice : "Reed (Englisch (UK))"
    -- error voice, system language is German here
    property eVoice : "Grandpa (Deutsch (Deutschland))"
    
    say "Notice" using nVoice
    say "Text" using tVoice
    say "Information" using iVoice
    say "Ein ganz böser Fehler" using eVoice
    
    tell application id "com.adobe.indesign"
    	try
    		if number of items of selection is 0 then
    			say "Empty selection" using nVoice
    			return
    		end if
    		
    		repeat with sel in selection
    			log class of sel
    			log (exists text 1 of sel)
    			
    			if class of sel is text frame then
    				set t to paragraph 1 of sel
    				say "text frame starting with" using nVoice
    				say t using tVoice
    			else if class of sel is text column then
    				set t to paragraph 1 of sel
    				say "text column starting with" using nVoice
    				say t using tVoice
    			else if exists text of sel then
    				repeat with tx in every text of sel
    					set t to contents of tx
    					say t using tVoice
    				end repeat
    			else
    				set c to (class of sel)
    				set t to "A " & c
    				say t using nVoice
    				try
    					if exists image 1 of sel then
    						set fp to file path of item link of image 1 of sel
    						tell application "System Events"
    							set fn to name of disk item fp
    						end tell
    						say ("with image file " & fn) using iVoice
    					end if
    				end try
    			end if
    		end repeat
    	on error err number errno
    		if err = "" then
    			say "Error " & errno
    		else
    			say err using eVoice
    		end if
    	end try
    end tell

     

    Dimp88Author
    Participating Frequently
    June 17, 2025

    I ordered the prerelease Adobe Indesign v 20.4 and installed it. But no change at all to text in an Indesign document created with v 20.4 being voice read by a Mac mini M2 running OS Sequoia 15.5.  What I hear when I press the play button to voice read highlighted text in an Adobe Indesign v 20.4 document is  "No Errors. Adobe 2025. Adobe Stock."   I don't know if this is a Mac OS problem or a Adobe Indesign problem. Does anyone have this same issue? And are their any known fixes for this problem?

    Community Expert
    June 17, 2025

    Could be a problem with either Adobe or Apple. What you can do to identify is use the same version of InDesign in another version of macOS and see what happens. In the meawhile I see your other post where an Adobe employee has already replied. I would suggest you to continue feedback on that same thread as there is nothing much fellow users can do if this is actually an Adobe problem.

    -Manan

    -Manan
    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    June 9, 2025

    Hi @Dimp88,

     

    Thanks for sharing the details. I'm currently checking this with the product team and will keep you posted as soon as I hear back.

    In the meantime, could you please confirm the version of InDesign you're using? You can find it by going to InDesign > About InDesign. This will help us look into the issue more accurately.

     

    Looking forward to your update.
    Abhishek

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    June 9, 2025

    Hi @Dimp88,

     

    Thanks so much for your patience. I checked with the product team, and they've recommended testing this in the latest InDesign 20.4 pre-release build, where the issue should be resolved.

    If you don't have access to the pre-release program yet, you can join by following the steps in the links below:
    https://adobe.ly/4dUiAnV
    https://adobe.ly/4kSLOFL

    If the issue still persists after installing the 20.4 build, please try resetting your preferences using the steps here:
    https://adobe.ly/4dYbY7W

    Additionally, it might help to turn off the Contextual Toolbar by going to Window > Contextual Toolbar and checking if that makes a difference.

     

    Let me know how it goes once you've had a chance to test it.

    Abhishek

    Dimp88Author
    Participating Frequently
    June 15, 2025

    Thanks Abhishek,

    But unchecking the Contextual Toolbar didn't fix the problem of my Mac Mini M2 running  O.S Seqouia 15.5 not voice reading the text of documents created in Adobe Indesign 13.1.  All my Mac voice says when I highlight text in an Indesign document for it to voice read is " No Errors, Adobe 2025, Adobe Stock."  I applied for the prerelease of Indesign 14 to see if the problem has been fix.  

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 8, 2025

    You'll probably need to address it with Apple.

     

    But regardless, what specific menu are you using to read text in InDesign? I'm not closely familiar with this option.

    John T Smith
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 7, 2025

    You need to ask program questions in the forum for the program you are using
    To ask in the forum for your program please start at https://community.adobe.com/
    Moving from Using the Community (which is about the forums) to the Indesign forum