Comments on Tips & Techniques: How to fix a corrupt InDesign file

International 92 page brochure due at the printer ...

2011-11-24T08:51:04.416-06:00

International 92 page brochure due at the printer in the morning, corrupted at 11pm... Literally the eleventh hour. This solution worked a treat. It took a while for the file to rebuild but it got there and I am more relieved than drunkard's bladder! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

i have an inflated size problem. everything has be...

2011-11-21T15:06:15.170-06:00

i have an inflated size problem. everything has been fine as i've been doing the layout for a novel. up until a few days ago. it's always remained under 5mb. but after a save recently, the file size inflated to over 45mb! i have saved as so many times. no help. i have tried your solutions here and it's still the same size. i have no idea what is going on and no one seems to know. just thought i'd see if you have a solution. i am in cs5. thanks.

Thank you sir for solution...

2011-11-12T06:42:22.604-06:00

Thank you sir for solution...

Hooray! This 2-year-old tip still works in CS5. I ...

2011-11-10T12:45:24.726-06:00

Hooray! This 2-year-old tip still works in CS5. I rarely have a file crash, so did not recall what to do. Thanks to a search, your solution popped up and worked for me. THANK YOU!!

thank you sooooo much. you're a genius! worked...

2011-10-18T07:15:48.592-05:00

thank you sooooo much. you're a genius! worked well on CS4
thanks!!!!

Another happy customer. Could not find .inx in CS5...

2011-09-27T16:34:04.924-05:00

Another happy customer. Could not find .inx in CS5 but tried IDML and it worked too! Great!!!!!

Thank you for this post. I have always given-up my...

2011-09-15T09:24:16.591-05:00

Thank you for this post. I have always given-up my corrupted InD files as lost. This advice gave me hope in humanity and averted a major catastrophy. I don't think my co-workers appreciate the gravity of this fix. Now we don't have to rebuild and re-edit a 110 page document.

Much obliged sir.

YOU WIN!

2011-09-07T00:58:13.616-05:00

YOU WIN!

Oh my dear Jesus. Thank you so much for posting th...

2011-07-10T18:52:32.511-05:00

Oh my dear Jesus. Thank you so much for posting this and saving my a$$. Live long and prosper!

Mr. Gilbert, you are an Adobe God! Before doing a ...

2011-06-28T11:09:02.198-05:00

Mr. Gilbert, you are an Adobe God! Before doing a general internet search about my crashing file, I called Abode themselves and they could not give me the help I needed even when I provided them information from my crash report. I am a professional graphic designer (have been for many years) and I am sending you the highest praise for posting this amazing solution to a problem that could have cost me a job and put my client in a bad position. I can not thank you enough. With your knowledge I am sure you are a huge success and I wish you continued good fortune.

I figured out how to open a damaged, UNOPENABLE In...

2011-06-14T15:09:23.441-05:00

I figured out how to open a damaged, UNOPENABLE InDesign CS4 file that crashed every time I tried to open it. Clue was in the crash report... 'color picker panel'... I CLOSED ALL MY PANELS. File opened. The problem turned out to be a placed PSD that was flipped, rotated and scaled non-proportionally. What does this have to do with panels? Who cares! It worked! So try CLOSING YOUR PANELS before opening a problem INDD file. -GrayMatter

@anonymous: I don't know of anything you can d...

2011-05-06T21:15:05.041-05:00

@anonymous: I don't know of anything you can do at this point, sorry.

I was working on an indesign file and saveed it se...

2011-05-06T21:05:35.462-05:00

I was working on an indesign file and saveed it several times. During the last save, indesign crashed. When I went to the folder the file was saved in, it was gone. Only the lock file was there. And when I open indesign it says it can't locate the damaged file, and offers options to postpone recovery. Is there anything I can do if the file is missing? I looked in the recovery folder and there are recovery files in there.

@Kathryn: Doesn't sound good :(

2011-04-07T07:32:02.762-05:00

@Kathryn: Doesn't sound good :(

What if my design type is now listed as 'ERR f...

2011-04-06T21:33:44.811-05:00

What if my design type is now listed as 'ERR file' and has 0 mb or changed to 'text document' with 1 mb? Is it totally lost? It didn't even save a .Bak file. :(

This worked beautifully. I was so frustrated by th...

2011-03-29T02:58:11.229-05:00

This worked beautifully.
I was so frustrated by these damaged files.

Thanks a tonnes!

WHY might a file be corrupt? The inx worked GREAT...

2010-10-04T08:13:48.228-05:00

WHY might a file be corrupt? The inx worked GREAT but how can I avoid a corrupt file in the future? Thanks. Laura

That works great - thanks. I've spent months ...

2010-10-01T14:07:10.474-05:00

That works great - thanks. I've spent months trying to sorth this out, and it turned out that the template I was basing everything on was corrupt.

Your advice solved the problem permamently.

Thanks

Thanx MAN! I tried to beat this fcuking problem fo...

2010-09-10T06:08:38.275-05:00

Thanx MAN! I tried to beat this fcuking problem for TWO years(!).

--- L.Kupka

@Fida: Once you've exported to inx/idml and re...

2010-07-15T09:45:30.379-05:00

@Fida: Once you've exported to inx/idml and reopened the file, usually whatever caused the file to be damaged will be repaired, in my experience. But it's always a good idea to save archive versions of complex files that are a work in progress, so that you can return to a known good copy if something goes wrong.

Thanks a lot! I was desperate and there were you w...

2010-07-15T02:24:54.672-05:00

Thanks a lot!
I was desperate and there were you with that great solution. I owe you one, thankyou!

Thank you Soooo much!! it opend! but question, do...

2010-07-12T00:43:22.237-05:00

Thank you Soooo much!! it opend!

but question, does this mean that i need to fix some things int he file so that it will not get damaged again??

for example i thought it might be the type that i used has an issue...so shd i change the type now?

Thanks Again!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! :oD

2010-05-06T08:00:43.610-05:00

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! :oD

Regarding an "unopenable file". Carefull...

2010-03-31T13:10:16.125-05:00

Regarding an "unopenable file". Carefully read the solution under the heading "The Markzware solution". This workflow often repairs unopenable files.

what about an unopenable file, i have a magazine t...

2010-03-31T10:52:20.495-05:00

what about an unopenable file, i have a magazine type document due in a few weeks and im screwed if I cant fix it. I cant even open in design once I tried opening the file the first time...