Adobe InDesign cannot open the file...

“Cannot open the file “*****.INDD”. Adobe InDesign may not support the file format, a plug-in that supports the file format may be missing, or the file may be open in another application.”

Good news- Solution below!

That was the message a customers file was giving us. They thought their Adobe file is corrupt; and it might still be. But what does this rather broad Adobe InDesign dialog message mean?

From a few Google searches, I see, oddly enough, that many will get this Adobe InDesign error message when trying to open a version of QuarkXPress higher than v4.11; which Adobe cannot handle. (Markzware Q2ID can of course convert all versions of QuarkXPress right into Adobe InDesign.)

Yet this message also seems to come up at other un-appropriate times; like the file is really damaged. For instance in this thread, titled, “Indd file created in France will not open in the US” we see the same exact Adobe error message as above… So what is going on?

SOLUTION FOUND!
Then the solution appeared; which I figured as much, for the file is not recognized even by FlightCheck. We find the answers here in this useful thread:  Read more... (314 words, 1 image, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

It is nearly impossible to make a truly standard, yet open (i.e., allowing many and any customers in) design-to-print workflow; but their are standard tools, tips and tactics to make things flow properly. Here was a great post on the PrintPlanet forum asking for preflight, prepress and general workflow help. It reads:

Basic Workflow Standardization
“I am a print shop manager in an in-plant. One of my biggest problems is fonts. Most of the documents I get are from Word or uneducated Publisher users. Some other problems are users creating a two-color jobs in CMYK and black text not being pure black. Currently we handle everything we get on an individual basis, but it is getting completely out of hand. I need to start putting in place some systems to handle some of these problems

Is there a easy way to convert documents to pdf with the correct specifications before I get them? For example is there a pdf print driver that I can put on my web site or push out to everyone on my network that it will create a pdf to my specifications so I do not have to worry about fonts or poor resolution? If so how much does something like that cost?  Read more... (373 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

David Creamer has reviewed Markzware’s document conversion tool, Q2ID v4 in the current issue of “Layers Magazine.”

FROM QUARK TO INDESIGN IN A SNAP

The main focus of Q2ID v4 is to support InDesign CS4 and QuarkXPress 8 files. One important thing that’s changed in this version is the updated conversion notes PDF, which now lists most of the conversion issues you might encounter. Another change is that you can use either the InDesign Open menu or the new Markzware menu. Quark files with multiple layouts can be converted individually or all at once; multiple Quark files can be converted, too.

This version appears to fix most of the issues I noted in the last version, including keeping the proper based-on settings, better translations of Quark’s transparency effects into InDesign (with one major exception noted below), and better layer translation between programs.  Read more... (333 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Bekijk Markzware’s video over QuarkXPress naar Adobe InDesign (Q2ID v4) conversion tool:

Text:

Hallo ik ben Arnold Roosch van Markzware, de makers van conversie en controlesoftware voor de grafische industrie. En welkom bij deze video over onze Q2ID Quark to InDesign conversie-tool.

Ik zal u nu laten zien hoe gemakkelijk het is een QuarkXpress document naar InDesign te converteren door gebruik te maken van onze Q2ID conversie-tool.

Dus dit is het originele QuarkXpress document, we zullen het later nogmaals openen om te zien hoe accuraat de conversie is geweest.

Laten we Adobe InDesign openen, hou in gedachten dat Q2ID werkt als een plug-in voor CS3 of CS4 het is beschikbaar voor macintosh en Windows en echt heel gemakkelijk te installeren.

Zoals u kunt zien is er een markzware pull-down menu toegevoegd aan de menu bar deze leid u gemakkelijk naar Q2ID functie. Selecteer, converteer QuarkXpress document en kies daarna een QuarkXpress project dat zal worden geconverteerd naar InDesign in enkele secondes.

Markzware Q2ID opent Quark documenten gemaakt in versie 3 tot en met versie 8.
Het hele document word opnieuw opgebouwd, inclusief lay-out, font-stylen, illustraties eigenlijk alles wat er in het document zit. Zoals u kunt zien zal dit gereedschap u veel tijd en geld schelen  Read more... (323 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

The October 24th edition of MacUser, UK edition, had starting on page 62 an article titled, “23 Essential Add Ons” and in the section called “QuarkXPress + InDesign” we found that they not only choose, but highlighted Markzware’s Q2ID plug-in. They had this to say about Q2ID or the popular QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign conversion tool;

“…You get a document that looks almost identical to its XPress equivalent.”
and
“Q2ID does what it claims: it lets you import any XPress document into InDesign.”

Q2ID is available for Mac or Win and costs only 199 per copy. Site licenses are available upon request.

Dave Matthews heads up the prepress department at Progressive Printing, a Martinsburg, WV commercial printing facility. Long plagued by Microsoft Publisher files submitted by a typical (in the commercial art print poster world) customer base that’s ill-equipped and uneducated in the process of preparing digital content for print, Matthews discovered Markzware’s PUB2ID plug-in.  It should be noted that this plug-in also works for printable greeting card, printable business cards, printing posters, printable greeting cards, print postcard printing jobs, etc.
Markzware (the originators of FlightCheck) followed up with Matthews some months later to find out how the application had helped solve some of the conversion problems he’d been facing when dealing with Microsoft Publisher files regarding print art poster and art poster printing, and he was gracious to share his thoughts:

Markzware: When was the company founded?

Matthews: 1995.

Markzware: Is Progressive Printing’s clientele mostly local to the Martinsburg area? Or does your client base extend beyond the local market?

Matthews: About 60% of our clients are in the Martinsburg area. The other 40% is all over the US.  Read more... (787 words, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)

BY TAMI STODGHILLPRESS RELATIONS, XCHANGE UK You know the story, as many of you are living it – day in and day out. Your client presents you with their document, and it’s up to you to replicate it within the application of their choice — or your choice. It sounds simple, but in reality it’s generally a nightmare of tedious reformatting, and after hours of that, your next client’s project arrives. Often enough to make you reconsider your choice of applications on some days, but before you hang up your mouse, take a minute to look at what might become the most important tools in your design tool chest.

ID2Q (Adobe® InDesign® to QuarkXPress®) is an XTensions module for QuarkXPress® and Q2ID (QuarkXPress to InDesign) is a Plug-in for Adobe InDesign that provides a swift and efficient way to transform one application’s elements into the other application’s elements. That’s right…an entirely new document in a snap! No more reformatting and lost time — the conversion is a simple menu selection.  Read more... (583 words, 22 images, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)