While some of us have upgraded to CS5.5 or perhaps CS6, not everyone has had the opportunity yet. This can be a problem when you need to share files with freelancers or other external resources working with older versions of InDesign. Fortunately, Adobe has an easy way to work around that problem: An InDesign CS6, CS5.5, or CS5 layout can be saved as an IDML (InDesign Markup Language) document, which can be opened by CS4 and higher versions.

There are two ways to create an IDML file from CS6; one of those methods also works in CS5 or CS5.5.

Down-Save an InDesign File

The following option is available only in CS6:

  1. Open a CS6 document and make all desired changes. Save the document in order to retain all changes in the original file.
  2. Select File>Save As.
  3. Name the document, preferably using a different name.
  4. Under Format, select InDesign CS4 or Later (IDML).
  5. Select Save.

If you’re working in CS5 or 5.5, the following instructions are for you (though this method also works in CS6):

  1. Save the layout first to retain all changes.
  2. Select File>Export.
  3. Name the document, preferably using a different name.
  4. Under Format, choose InDesign Markup (IDML).
  5. Select Save.

Try these simple techniques the next time you need to share an InDesign file among users of multiple software versions!

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Posted by: tfpadmin

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