How to preview InDesign files, when working on multiple INDD documents, by using Markzware’s ID Util for macOS application:

If you are an InDesign file user, you may know that opening an Adobe INDD document can launch the wrong application version. An application can make it easy to access a certain version of the design, even if you have a number of InDesign designs on your computer.

Headquartered in the United States, Markzware continues to bring graphic arts, printing, and publishing solutions to companies worldwide. Markzware’s ID Util for macOS is a free application, available at the Mac App Store, which can ensure that files are opened in the proper InDesign version.

ID Util gives you a fast way to view and export Adobe InDesign previews, which can improve production time. Learn more about this useful application, by watching this demonstration video:

How to Preview InDesign Files When Working on Multiple INDD Documents

Markzware ID Util for macOS enables users to view InDesign CS2-CC 2018, InCopy and IDML file previews, plus export these files to JPEG, PNG or PDF. This application is a big help, when you want to compare various versions of the design.

How to Preview InDesign Files When Working on Multiple INDD Documents, with ID Util
• Install Markzware’s ID Util for macOS.
• Select the InDesign, IDML, or InCopy file in Finder.
• To preview the selected file, click the spacebar. See document previews from your Finder window, with a tap of the spacebar. To view thumbnail previews in your Finder window, turn on thumbnail previews in ID Util’s preferences. This is a quick method to find a particular file, when you can’t remember the name of the file.
• Zoom Previews: When you are viewing a document preview, you can use the slider or zoom segments, at the bottom of the Preview Window. To view the preview in more detail, zoom in. To see thumbnails of multiple pages at once, zoom out.
• The top section of the Welcome Window is the active Drag and Drop area. By dragging files into this area it will turn blue, if ID Util recognizes the file type. When you drop, a preview will be generated.

Preview InDesign Files Page by Page When Working on
Multiple INDD Documents, Using Markzware ID Util for macOS:

• View Page Previews for InDesign, IDML, and InCopy files. By default, Adobe InDesign will save the first two page previews at medium resolution. You can modify your InDesign preferences to save all page previews at high resolution for better preview support. Preview without having Adobe software installed on your system. Export the previews as PNG, JPG or PDF files, for customers or colleagues who don’t have InDesign. View the file version (for example, InDesign CC 2018) and the page print size.
• View Stories: Allow users to view and export the story content from the InDesign document. Initially the story content will be shown in a single window as plain text.
• View Styled Stories: View and export styled stories (RTF format). The stories would then mirror the styles found in the previewed InDesign document. Export options include TXT (for plain text), RTF (for styled text), and HTML.
• Batch Previews: Markzware ID Util can preview more than a single file at a time. Using the drag and drop feature, you can drag several files at once and each file will be previewed in its own window. Using the File>Open menu item or Command-O, you can either Command-Click or Shift-Click to select multiple files to be previewed. Each file will be previewed in its own window. Batch previewing several files may hide the Welcome Window behind all of the preview windows. To bring the Welcome Window back to the front, use Command-Semicolon.
• Copy Previews to the Clipboard: Select a preview by clicking on it. This will highlight the preview. Press Command-C to copy the selected preview to the Clipboard. Now, you can paste the preview graphic into other applications.
• Generate High Resolution InDesign previews (with the appropriate InDesign version active): Click the “Resave HD” button below the file version section in ID Util’s Preview Window. ID Util will attempt to start up the appropriate version of InDesign and create high resolution previews (1024 x 1024 pixels) for all pages in your InDesign document. Standard InDesign preferences frequently cause text to show as gray lines, but often after running Resave HD, text is quite legible.
• Know the version of your InDesign files. When you preview InDesign files, the version of the file is displayed after the name of the document in the Preview Window Title. For IDML and InCopy files, you will see the name of your file followed by either IDML or InCopy in the Preview Window title.
• Below the drag and drop area in the top section of the Welcome Window is the Open Files button. Clicking on the Open Files button brings up a standard Open window, where you select the files you want to preview.

Preview InDesign Files in Markzware ID Util‘s Preview Window,
When Working on Multiple INDD Documents:

The Preview Window in Markzware ID Util
There are several features in the Preview Window. The center displays a preview of your selected file. Below the preview is info on the file page size. This only applies to InDesign and IDML files, as InCopy files do not have a page size. Zoom controls are at the bottom of the Preview Window. You can use the slider or click on one of the preset values to zoom in or out of the preview. There are also hot keys for the preset zoom values.

The file name is at the top left of the Preview Window (so you know which file you are previewing. The InDesign file version is at the top right of the Preview Window. (For IDML files, this section will show IDML. For InCopy files, this section will show InCopy.) Export (just below the top left of the Preview Window) allows you to export PNG, JPG, or PDFs of your previews. Print (to the right of the Export section) allows you to print a hard copy of your previews or print a PDF.

Resave HD (below the file version section) allows you to generate high resolution previews. This feature requires an appropriate version of InDesign to be installed and active on your computer and only works for InDesign files.

Keyboard Shortcuts You Can Use with ID Util

With a convenient display of the InDesign version number, ID Util lets you see the version in which a file was created. If the InDesign version that matches a file is found, Markzware‘s ID Util will open the file in the same version.

“Nice flexible preview features!”
– Jamie McKee (mackeycomposition.com), book designer & typesetter
Source: InDesign Magazine Issue 90, InReview: ID Util

Benefits of ID Util
• easily preview Adobe InDesign, IDML, and InCopy files with a simple click of the spacebar.
• be compatible with a variety of Adobe InDesign, IDML and InCopy file versions.
• preview INDD, IDML and INCL files, without needing Adobe software installed on your system.
• pay nothing to download and do file previews.
• export InDesign, IDML and InCopy previews as PNG, JPG or PDF.
• see what version of InDesign the file was created in.

Features in ID Util
• Preview Adobe InDesign, IDML and InCopy files
• Export Previews as PNG, JPG or PDF.
• View Styled Stories from InDesign Files.
• View Previews of Linked Images.
• View Used Fonts List.
• View InDesign Document Version.
• Print INDD Document Previews.
• Resave InDesign Document with High Resolution Previews of All Pages (with InDesign installed).

Markzware ID Util for macOS supports multiple Adobe InDesign versions. For example, it can launch InDesign CS6 instead of InDesign CC, when you double-click an InDesign CS6 document icon.

Preview InDesign Files When Working on
Multiple INDD Documents, via Markzware ID Util:

ID Util for macOS supports InDesign, IDML, and InCopy versions for Adobe:
• CC 2018
• CC 2017
• CC 2015
• CC 2014
• CC
• CS6
• CS5.5
• CS5
• CS4
• CS3
• CS2

If you have InDesign on your system, you can generate high resolution previews of your documents through Markzware‘s ID Util for macOS. You’ll then be able to read the text in ID Util’s preview window.

With ID Util, you can open a previewed InDesign file in the version in which it was last saved. When you double-click an INDD file, ID Util helps you to ensure that it opens in the appropriate InDesign version.

Get ID Util for macOS for Free
You can access ID Util on the Mac App Store and download it for free. See more Adobe compatible solutions for the macOS platform on the Markzware Products page.

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How to Preview InDesign Files on macOS via Markzware’s ID Util

This video shows you how to use Markzware ID Util to preview Adobe InDesign (INDD) documents.

How to Preview InDesign Files When Working on Multiple INDD Documents