How to get Indesign file (.indd) into Scribus?

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animatoring

How can an indesign .indd file be imported into Scribus?

Nermander

I don't think you can, yet. Because Adobe has not published the specifications of the file format it must be reverse engineered.

a.l.e

as nermander says, you cannot.

but with 1.5.x you can import / open IDML and IDMS files, which are exchange formats from indesign.

afaik, you can then import most of an indesign file into scribus... but you have to be able to first open your file with indesign to create those export files.

mnawij

Just ran across this application and I remembered this post.  It does cost, but is a lot less $$$ than purchasing InDesign and is a stand alone application for Mac OS X.  It will convert ID files into IDML.

http://markzware.com/products/markztools2/

mnawij

j722

Any news on this topic?

I have some indesign files that i want to get into scribus.
Its pretty simple files, lines and a few boxes, maximum 4 pages.

a.l.e

hi j722

what kind of news are you waiting for?

scribus 1.5 can read your indesign files, if you can convert them to the adobe IDML format.
mnawij gave you also a link to a program that can convert the ID files in IDML, if you don't have indesign.

there won't be much that will change in the future about this (except that the IDML will probably be improved to better import those files into scribus).

ciao
a.l.e

j722

Am I wrong in that scribus is in version 1.4.8?
So a version 1.5 ??

a.l.e

1.4.8 is the current stable version.
1.5.4 is the latest release of the development branch.
so, yes, 1.5 is a thing.

people starting with scribus should get the stable version.
if you need features that are only in the development version, you're welcome to try it out.
for most things it's ok to use it in production. (and because of the long cycle leading to the next stable 1.6, it might be the only way for you to achieve your goals with scribus...)

just be careful about two (main) things:

- files that have been saved with 1.5 cannot be opened with 1.4 anymore (so, do your tests with a copy of your documents... and there is no way back...)
- features that were already in 1.4 should work well in 1.5, too. if you're using new features, you should test if they work well for you, before using them in production.