Save documents



Saving a document saves the current layout, references to source files, which page is currently displayed, and the zoom level. Protect your work by saving often. You can save a file as any of the following:

  • A regular document.

  • A copy of the document, which creates a duplicate of the document under a different name, leaving the original document active.

  • A template, which normally opens as an untitled document. A template can contain settings, text, and graphics that you preset as a starting point for other documents.

    Saving a document also updates the metadata (or file information) that is part of the InDesign document. This metadata includes a thumbnail preview, fonts used in the document, color swatches, and all metadata in the File Info dialog box, all of which enable efficient searching. For example, you might want to search for all documents that use a particular color.

    You can view this metadata in Bridge and in the Advanced area of the File Info dialog box. You can control whether to update the preview when you save by using a preference setting. The other metadata (fonts, colors, and links) are updated whenever you save a document.

    The Save, Save As, and Save a Copy commands store documents in the InDesign file format. For information about storing documents in other file formats, see the Index.

    If you’re saving a document in order to bring it to a prepress service provider for final output, InDesign can automatically collect all necessary files, such as linked graphics and fonts, in one folder. (See Package files.)

 Do one of the following:

  • To save a document under a new name, choose File > Save As, specify a location and filename, and click Save. The newly named file becomes the active document. Using the Save As command might reduce the file size.

  • To save an existing document under the same name, choose File > Save.

  • To save all open documents to their existing locations and filenames, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+S (Mac OS).

  • To save a copy of a document under a new name, choose File > Save a Copy, specify a location and filename, and click Save. The saved copy does not become the active document.

Important: To avoid problems, avoid reserved characters that have special meanings in some operating systems. For example, avoid filenames with spaces, tabs, or initial periods, or filenames that use these characters: / \ : ; * ? < > , $ %. Similarly, avoid using characters with accents (such as ü, ñ, or é), even when using a non-English version of InDesign. Problems may occur if the file is opened in a different platform.
If you have frequently work with several documents open at the same time and want to save them all at once, use a keyboard shortcut. Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, choose Views, Navigation from the Product Area menu, and select Save All in the Commands list. You can then edit or add a shortcut. You can use Quick Apply to specify Save All command.

Include previews in saved documents

Thumbnail previews of documents and templates provide easy identification of those files in Adobe Bridge and in Version Cue file dialog boxes. A preview is created when you save a document or template. A document preview includes a JPEG image of only the first spread; a template preview includes a JPEG image of each page in the template. You can control the size of the preview to suit your needs. For example, Extra Large 1024x1024 enables you to quickly scan the contents of a page at high-resolution before you open the file.

You can enable the option in Preferences or in the Save As dialog box. Because previews increase both file size and the time it takes to save the document, you may prefer to enable the option on demand using the Save As dialog box.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To include a preview every time you save a document, choose Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > File Handling (Mac OS).

    • To include a preview for a specific document, choose File > Save As.

  2. Select Always Save Preview Images With Documents.
  3. If you are setting the preview using the Preferences dialog box, choose an option from the Preview Size menu.
    Note: Selecting the preview option in the Save As dialog box also selects the option in the Preferences dialog box, and uses the default Preview Size setting.

Save an InDesign Markup (IDML) document

In some cases you may want to save an InDesign in interchange markup format. It’s especially useful to save in this format when you open a QuarkXPress or PageMaker publication in InDesign, when you open a document created in a previous version of InDesign, or when you’re experiencing problems with your document, such as not being able to delete color swatches.

  1. Choose File > Export.
  2. From the File Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS) menu, choose InDesign Markup (IDML).
  3. Click Save.

You can open the saved IDML file in InDesign CS4 but not in any previous version of InDesign. To save a file for use in InDesign CS3, choose the InDesign CS3 Interchange (INX) option.

For information on using IDML for development purposes, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_indesignmarkup_cs4_en.

Save backwards to the previous InDesign version

To open an InDesign CS4 document in InDesign CS3, do two things. First, in InDesign CS4, export the document to the InDesign CS3 Interchange (INX) format.

Second, make sure that the computer running InDesign CS3 is updated with the appropriate plug-ins so that it can open the exported INX file. The person running InDesign CS3 can obtain the compatibility plug-ins by choosing Help > Updates and following the prompts. Plug-ins can also be installed from the Adobe website: Choose Support > Updates in the Adobe website, and go to the InDesign Downloads page.

Opening a document in a previous version of InDesign is also referred to as “saving down.”

Note: Content created using features specific to InDesign CS4 may be modified or omitted when you open the document in InDesign CS3.
  1. Choose File > Export.
  2. From the File Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS) menu, choose InDesign CS3 Interchange.
  3. Click Save.

You can open the .inx file in InDesign CS3 to convert it to an untitled InDesign document.

Note: To open the InDesign CS4 document in InDesign CS2, open the exported INX file in InDesign CS3, export to INX again, and then open the exported file in InDesign CS2. Make sure that all versions have been updated.