PDF and Word to InDesign 2021
You do not have to be on the current InDesign. We run the same files through InDesign 2021 as through 2026, and here is what that shows.
Upload a document6,000 free characters when you sign up. The InDesign file costs nothing on top of the document. See prices See real files
Versions we open the files in
The same 233 files, 1,115 pages in all, opened by script in real InDesign: documents in more than 80 languages, two long documents translated into 24 languages, and our sample scans. In each we look for errors, missing fonts, missing glyphs and text hidden in overset, and what a run turns up is what we work on next. In this set all 233 came out with the same number of pages on each version. Your own file can differ, so check it in the Preflight panel before hand-off.
| Version | Build | System | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| InDesign 2021 | 16.3 | Windows | Right-to-left and Indian text can stand elsewhere than on the newer versions. |
| InDesign 2022 | 17.2 | Windows | Sets four Noto faces in Myriad Pro: 15 files in Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic script or Canadian syllabics. |
| InDesign 2024 | 19.5 | Windows | Reports Cambria Bold and Italic as unavailable in any document, and prints them. |
| InDesign 2025 | 20.3 | Windows | Reports Cambria Bold and Italic as unavailable in any document, and prints them. May close while setting some Chakma lines, a bug in InDesign itself. |
| InDesign 2026 | 21.6 | Windows | May close while setting some Chakma lines, a bug in InDesign itself. |
| InDesign 2026 | 21.6 | Mac | May close while setting some Chakma lines, a bug in InDesign itself. |
Why an old version is worth testing
Plenty of studios keep a licence and a set of plug-ins that work and see no reason to move, and an agency often has to deliver in whatever version its client runs. A file that only opens properly in the newest release is no use to them.
IDML is what makes this possible: the same file opens in every version we run. An INDD saved by a newer InDesign does not open in an older one, so if a colleague on 2026 sends you an INDD, ask for the IDML.
How we test on 2021
- InDesign 2021 runs on a Windows machine that exists only for this. A script opens each file in a window, as a person would, because opened without one InDesign reports some fonts as present and then sets their text in its stand-in.
- For each file it reports pages, errors, missing fonts, missing glyphs and any story left overset. It also makes a PDF, in which we look for text set in the stand-in font.
- The files are the same ones we run on every other version, so a difference between versions comes from the version, not the file.
What the last run found on 2021
Build 16.3 on Windows, with the same 233 files and 1,115 pages as every other version. In this set all 233 opened, with the same number of pages as on 2026. Your own file can differ, so check it in the Preflight panel before hand-off.
We test Chakma apart from the 233 files, because it can close InDesign 2025 and 2026. It does not close this version, but part of the text can stay overset, so check Chakma pages in the Preflight panel and by eye.
Where 2021 sets text differently
It composes some scripts differently from the current version, and this is the real difference an older copy makes. Compared with InDesign 2026 on Windows, these are the shares of lines standing more than a few points away:
| Text | Lines set elsewhere than on 2026 |
|---|---|
| Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and others | 0.18% |
| Chinese, Japanese, Korean | 0% |
| Thai, Lao, Myanmar, Khmer | 2.8% |
| Indian scripts | 6% |
| Right to left | 12% |
If a document in one of the last three stays on 2021 to the end, there is nothing to do. If it moves to a newer version, or came from one, read the pages again after opening.
What differs on 2021
- We write nothing version specific: the file you download is the same for every version.
- Fonts are found the same way: install them, and the file names each by the name InDesign knows it by.
- Office fonts such as Arial Narrow are named in the form InDesign on Windows expects, and we tested that on this version too.
Working on 2021 day to day
- Install the fonts from the list you see after the download, and close InDesign first if it is running, so it picks them up.
- Open the IDML. It comes up as a new untitled document, so save it as INDD before you start.
- Check Type > Find Font, and open the Preflight panel for anything overset.
- When you hand it on, export IDML again if the next person may be on another version.
Questions
Will InDesign 2021 warn me that the file is from a newer version?
The file holds nothing that needs a newer one. If a font is missing you get the usual missing fonts dialog.
Does anything look different on 2021?
Right-to-left and Indian text can stand elsewhere than on the newer versions, so read those pages again if a file moves between them.
What about versions older than 2021?
We do not test them, so we make no promise. Try one document before relying on it.
Try it on a file you would otherwise rebuild
Upload the PDF, the Word file or the scan. Download the copy for InDesign, and the translation too if you ordered one, and open them in your version.
Upload a document