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dickcooper28
dickcooper28
Participant
March 5, 2023
Question

Value of new InDesign version

  • March 5, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 1413 views

I own a copy of InDesign 5.5 that I bought outright 13 years ago. I haven't used it for the last several years but I now need to work with it again for a publishing project every three months. Have there been enough changes and improvements over the years to make subscribing to the last version worth my money?

 

5 replies

D
Community Expert
DaveJCummingsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 6, 2023

Oh I'd say so. All the additions of the past decade are invaluable to me

Derek Cross
Community Expert
Derek CrossCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 6, 2023

You can download the trial version of InDesign and try it for seven days to see if you like the changes new features. If you only use InDesign occasionally, you can pay a bit more and subscribe to use it just for the months you need it.

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 6, 2023

Hi @dickcooper28:

 

If you are looking for a list of what has been added since CS5.5:

https://indd.adobe.com/view/0fe50e63-71b1-4db5-91c1-c8f6c4738df2

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    March 5, 2023

    Depends on what you will be doing. 

     

    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    March 5, 2023

    One or two, yes.

     

    To start with, you may have trouble getting 5.5 to run — reliably or at all — on anything beyond a Windows 7 system that is blocked from any kind of updates. (Or Mac equivalent; not sur what MacOS version 5.5 is last stable on.)

     

    It's still basically the same tool, but the updates and improvements are almost too long to summarize, much less list.

     

    If your needs are basic, you might be able to use Affinity Publisher instead; it's around $50, standalone, and does a decent job with InDesign files. It does not have many/any of the more advanced features, though.

     

    dickcooper28
    dickcooper28Author
    Participant
    March 5, 2023
    Thanks, it works with Windows 11 but it is a system frozen in 2000 with no
    updates. It interconnects with Bridge in my Adobe Creative Suites account
    and I am able to build a document without any problem. What I guess I am
    trying to weigh is whether InDesign has improved enough in 13 years to
    justify the added expense of a monthly subscription.
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    March 5, 2023

    For one publishing project 4 times a year, probably not. The long term problem will be stability with any outside resource. You can only freeze updates so long before many things stop working properly. (By the way "frozen at 2000 with Win 11" doesn't make sense.)

     

    If you need to exchange files with anyone else (who isn't also using a ancient version of ID), you may run into problems, even using IDML as a transfer format. And Windows has a way of changing its settings and doing (or just demanding) updates no matter what you do. A lot of the stability will require the platform to remain acceptable to 5.5, not just keeping that version of ID stable.

     

    But, bottom line, it works for you, it does everything you need it to do, and you can keep both the system and InDesign operating — I'd say you're good. If you want to keep doing what I assume is a fairly basic project, and want to avoid the obsolescence problems (which WILL creep out and bite you, be assured), and want to avoid the expense of a current subscription... look into Affinity Publisher as an alternative.

     

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