"the IDML file conversion service is temporarily unavailable"

[gilj47283909]

I'm setting up some remote colleagues with an Adobe-based work station but for various reasons they're on PC whereas my team is on Mac. Our company only has CC 2014 for PC and we're on CC 2017, so there's a version mismatch. When the team opens our files they get the "the IDML file conversion service is temporarily unavailable" message. Is this a corporate firewall issue? Is there a way to do the conversion without passing files through to Creative Cloud? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated as I'm only in this office for a  few days helping people get up and running. Thanks!

[gilj47283909]

A little more detail: It fails immediately (the progress doesn't get past a flicker at 0%) so it's rejecting outright. That makes me think it's a firewall issue.

Here are the messages. I'm logged into CC with the same Adobe log-in that I'm using for the forum here so it should work. Thanks again for any assistance...

[BobLevine]

You can export them yourself to IDML, but why don’ t you just update everyone to CC2018?

Your workflow is a disaster in waiting.

[gilj47283909]

Haha thanks for the warning. "...why don't you just update..." If only it were that easy. Corporate procurement is a complex beast.

To be fair, this isn't a daily workflow. This is just so the remote team is independent and needs to access files from archival jobs to use them on their own projects. We wouldn't try to pass work back and forth this way constantly.

And I can convert them myself but with timezone issues it's a loss of productivity. I'm trying to anticipate their needs and save down a bunch of jobs but there are potentially thousands of old jobs they'd need to access and I can't do all of them.

[BobLevine]

What the hell is there to procure? There’s nothing to buy.

You’ve already got a subscription. Just install the software.

[gilj47283909]

Ok, great, point taken. Let's assume that I'm working on that with IT.

In the meantime, is there a solution to the current problem? Thanks

[BobLevine]

Beyond saving as IDML manually, no.

[gilj47283909]

Thanks. Am I correct in assuming that this is a firewall issue? Reason I ask is if I can get IT to open up a connection between these machines and CC would that fix it? Otherwise what's the point of having this built in conversion option?

[BobLevine]

I really don’t know what the issue is. I just tried it here and it works fine.

As for IT; get them to install the proper version of InDesign on all the machines!

[gilj47283909]

Thanks. I'm in communication with them about this now for a long-term solution. Hoping for a short-term fix as well. This is enterprise security stuff so they have their own processes for installing software.

If anyone else has dealt with this before happy to hear about your experiences.

[Test Screen Name]

Some background. Each new release of InDesign has always made a new format that older versions cannot open. In the past that was the end of the game: only the creator can fix it and only by using the latest version, making IDML.

Thus has not really changed. But Adobe recently created a web service for CC subscribers to do this conversion on demand. Some thought will show this must be a web device, it cannot be in the old software itself!

So...if you can’t connect to the service and others find it is working, your suggestion that it’s a firewall issue is likely. Before fixing it check you corporate security policies; they might forbid sending out your company data, so these may be deep waters.

[gilj47283909]

Thanks for the reply (and the likely confirmation that I'm right.) I've put the question out to IT. If they're comfortable with opening up a connection for this purpose then they'll do it. If they're not comfortable, then they won't. I leave the decision in their hands. The alternative is that the team sends files to another team to save down to IDML (which isn't the end of the world) and that eventually we all get on the same version.

Thanks!

[BobLevine]

No! That is not the alternative.

The alternative is finding IT people that stop treating every single computer installation as identical. I've seen this attitude more times than I can count. If you want this fixed, start going over people's heads until you get to someone that will listen.

[adamh88]

Hi Bob,

What are some of the possible repercussions of converting to IDML? I agree that you should always use the most up to date version but I'm in the same boat as the OP.

[BobLevine]

Text may reflow and any new features will be lost or badly mangled.

The further back you go (IDML will go all the way back to CS4) the worse it is.

[Laubender]

Hi Adam,

it's not that "you should always use the most up to date version". Sometimes that's counter productive.

You (also) should have installed the most up to date version 🙂

I think, it's more about:

You should be on the same version with your colleagues when doing a project together.

FWIW: See into this script by Peter Kahrel

Free script Batch convert/export InDesign documents | Peter Kahrel

Regards,
Uwe

[gilj47283909]

Undoubtedly quirky things will happen but other than fonts needing to be reassigned sometimes we haven't encountered any major snafus so far in our IDML workflow. The remote team I initially posted about has been accessing them regularly (I set aside time to save down as many of their potential files as possible) and they haven't come across any major issues. But of course it may just be that our projects are fairly basic and you may encounter problems that we haven't.

[Test Screen Name]

Don't forget, you can also have multiple versions installed. A clean solution is to agree a version to be used across an entire project, enterprise wide.

[BobLevine]

Worth noting is that CC2018 requires 10.11 at a minimum on a Mac.

[gilj47283909]

Thanks. At the very least we're up to date on that!

[gilj47283909]

Guys, I appreciate your enthusiasm for doing the right thing from the ground up but if you've ever worked in a highly corporate environment you know that sometimes you kluge together the best possible solution out of what's doable. I'll continue to advocate for getting everyone on the same system (as I've been doing from before posting this thread) but I'll need a passable workaround in the meantime, and sadly that will likely be emailing INDD files around and asking people to save them down on an ad hoc basis.

A little disappointed that Adobe doesn't have a built-in fix for this. It must be possible for CC 2018 to convert from CC 2014 without going to the cloud. It's not like we're talking about an ancient version here. But hey...

[BobLevine]

The only thing the cloud version is does is upload the file, save it as IDML and then download that.

Your IT people don’t seem to care enough about helping you. Everything you need is available.

None of this is not on Adobe…it’s on your IT personnel and they are the ones you should be disappointed in.

[gilj47283909]

That's a conversation for another forum.

Regarding Adobe, my only point is that they are an enterprise solution for firms with strict security protocols. Having something self-contained would be beneficial. Anyway, no need to belabour the point. I think I'm up to speed now. Thanks all for the brutally honest feedback.

[SanyamTalwar]

The IDML file conversion service is now available.

[gilj47283909]

Sorry, not sure what you mean? The thread is specifically about users whose corporate firewalls prevent the service from being used because the file can't be sent out. The "temporarily unavailable" message is a somewhat incorrect error that comes back in those situations. Are you saying that the service is now available off-line for users like that? Thanks