Opening Pagemaker files in Adobe InDesign
We have a caller tonight that is having problems opening Pagemaker files, from OS 9, in InDesign.
InDesign CS 2 should open Pagemaker files from 6.x -7.x. If you have InDesign CS (not version 2), and you have a version of Pagemaker between 6.0 and 6.5, you may have to update to InDesign CS 2 to open those files.
Other things you might try include standard operating procedures:
Open a document as a copy:
A. Start InDesign & choose File > Open.
B. Select Copy & find your file.
C. Select your file & click Open.
Recreate InDesign preference files.
Important: Close InDesign before recreating the preference files or InDesign may have problems.
InDesign stores information for plug-ins, features, & itself in its preference files: the InDesign SavedData & InDesign Defaults files. A damaged preference file may prevent files from opening. Recreating the preference files restores their default information.
To re-create the InDesign preference files in Mac OS X:
1. Quit InDesign.
2. Choose File > Find.
3. Do one of the following:
– In Mac OS X v.10.3.x and 10.4.x, type “InDesign SavedData” (including the quotation marks) in the text field, and then click Search.
– In Mac OS X v.10.2.x, type “InDesign SavedData” (including the quotation marks) in the Contents Includes text box, and then click Search.
– In Mac OS X v.10.1.x, click the hard disk icon at the top left of the Sherlock window, type ” InDesign Saveddata” (including the quotation marks) in the box, and then click the magnifying glass icon.
4. Select the InDesign SavedData file, & rename it (for example, to “backup SavedData”) so that you may restore it later if needed.
5. Start InDesign. InDesign re-creates the preference file upon startup. If the problem happens again, repeat this process on the InDesign Defaults file.
Increase the amount of space available on the startup disk.
InDesign uses temporary files to store and retrieve data; it writes these temporary files to the startup disk. As a guideline from Adobe, free space on the startup disk should equal three to five times the size of the document (including linked images) or ten percent of the disk capacity, whichever is greater. You can free space on the startup disk by deleting unnecessary files or by storing files on separate partitions or disks.
To check the amount of free space on the startup disk:
1. Select the startup disk icon on the desktop.
2. Choose File > Get Info > General Information.
3. Note the Capacity and the Available Space for the disk.
Open the document on another computer.
Work around! By using another system, you may avoid the cause of your problems. Because InDesign documents are openable on Windows or Macs, you might even try opening the document in InDesign for Windows.
Visit the Adobe User-to-User forums, or use Google to search for an answer.
Other people may have experienced problems with a document and posted a solution. Adobe’s User-to-User forums are at: http://www.adobe.com/support/forums/ .
February 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
My issue is with Adobe inDesign establishing itself as the default on our system. When we installed inDesign on our mac it ran fine in os 10.4.11 along with Adobe Pagemaker 7, (our workhorse) in Classic. Somewhere along the line (probably through an inDesign update mole) inDesign has become the default. Now, whenever we want to open any PageMaker file, we need to select PageMaker in the ”OPEN WITH” file drop-down menu. Otherwise Pagemaker files open in inDesign. If you manage to click the Pagemaker icon or file instead of just highlighting it, inDesign swings into action and then needs to be dealt a swift FORCE QUIT before we can move on. A more than annoying regular occurrence. Actually we do all of our book publishing and page layouts in PageMaker7 which has suited our needs just fine for years. We use inDesign (our Edsel?) to print proofs etc (since Pagemaker is no longer welcome by most printer drivers. How can we end InDesign’s default reign of terror? Thanks.