PDF (adobe.com)

Open InDesign documents



In general, you open document and template files the same way you do in other programs. When you open an InDesign template, it opens as a new, untitled document by default. In Windows, document files use the extension .indd, template files use the extension .indt, library files use the extension .indl, and book files use the extension .indb.

You can also use the File > Open command to open files from InDesign 1.x and later (including Asian-language versions), InDesign Interchange (.inx) files, InDesign Markup (.idml) files, Adobe PageMaker 6.0 and later, QuarkXPress 3.3 and 4.1, and QuarkXPress Passport 4.1. In addition, other software vendors may make plug‑in software that lets you open other file formats.

To view additional information about an InDesign document, hold down Ctrl+Shift and choose Help > About InDesign (Windows) or hold down Command+Shift (Mac OS) and choose InDesign > About InDesign.

Use the Open command

  1. Choose File > Open and select one or more documents.

  2. Do one of the following, and then click Open:

    • Select Normal (Windows) or Open Normal (Mac OS) to open the original document or a copy of a template.

    • Select Original (Windows) or Open Original (Mac OS) to open an original document or template.

    • Select Copy (Windows) or Open Copy (Mac OS) to open a copy of a document or template.

  3. If a warning message appears telling you that the color settings in the document are different from the color settings in the application, click OK in the Embedded Profile Mismatch dialog box. When the Profile or Policy Mismatch dialog box appears, select an option, and click OK.

    Note: Warning messages are off by default, but you can show warnings if you change the default settings in the Color Settings dialog box (Edit > Color Settings.)

  4. If a warning message appears telling you that the document contains missing fonts, do one of the following:

    • Click OK. InDesign will automatically format the text with a substitute.

    • Click Find Font to search for and list fonts used throughout your document.

      For more information on finding missing fonts, see Find and change fonts.

  5. If a warning message appears telling you that the document contains missing or modified links, do one of the following:

    • Click Fix Links Automatically to let InDesign locate the missing files or give you an opportunity to locate them.

    • Click Don’t Fix to defer fixing the links until later. You can then fix the links yourself at any time using the Links panel.

Open recent document

 Choose File > Open Recent, and select one of the documents you saved recently.

To specify how many recent documents are displayed, choose Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows), or InDesign > Preferences > File Handling, and then specify a number for Number Of Recent Items To Display.

Choosing word lists when opening documents

When opening a document, you may see an alert message asking if you want to use the word list in the document or an exception word list in the user dictionary. An exception word list includes words that were added to the User Dictionary while the document was worked on. If you know which exception word list you use, click its button. If you’re not sure, click either button, choose Edit > Spelling > Dictionary to inspect the word lists, and then, if necessary, choose Edit > Preferences > Dictionary (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Dictionary (Mac OS) to reset the word list used for composition.