What's the difference between InDesign and InDesign Pro

Question

Hello Community, I was wonderign if somebody could elaborate on the difference between InDesign and InDesign Pro, and I can't seem to find anything on it. This would be for Teams or Enterprise, not individual.

Joel Cherney · Accepted Answer

Like the other regulars ("Adobe Community Experts" who are not Adobe employees) who have also posted in your thread, I had never heard of "InDesign Pro." However, since you mentioned volume licensing, I was able to find a reference to this on CDW. That led me to look for something that was just an Adobe "Pro Edition," which led me here. It looks like the "Pro" designation might mean "easy management interface for your IT department to deploy stuff" as well as "unlimited access to Adobe Stock."

These are just guesses, though. I feel like we might need an Adobe employee in here to help us out with this one, as it looks like the kind of thing where you might need to be an enterprise customer to even be allowed to ask what it is! I've filled out the form, though, so maybe I'll be able to get someone at volume licensing to tell me what the Pro designation means, or perhaps they can tell someone else at Adobe so that we can get a brief summary from Official Sources that we can share with you.

James Gifford—NitroPress · Answer

There is no such distinction. InDesign is one version for either the Windows or Mac platform. There is also a server version that can be used to share workflows, but I'm not sure of its status. But there is not, say, a "light" version or an "extra features" version — just the one. (There are several licensing options, including a Student one and an Enterprise one, but again, they're all for the same app.)

InDesign is built on a somewhat aging core and has some limitations with shared and cloud files, but recent updates have made it much better with things like Dropbox, SharePoint and Teams folders. It does not integrate in any sense with any collaboration or office platform. Workflows and files must, for the most part, be shared by user cooperation.

ETA: Maybe unnecessary, but if you're seeking InDesign as a solution from an MS/Word/Teams perspective, be aware that it is not just a fancy or variant version of Word. Despite superficial similarities, it is a completely different kind of tool requiring a different approach and mindset. I'm throwing this in because we see many new users who are tangled up in just that mess... halfway through a project and unable to get results because they tried to apply Word methods, shortcuts and approach.

It's a very powerful and capable publication tool for almost every need... but it is not just another "word processor with some fancy stuff."

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