PDF and Word to InDesign 2026
InDesign 2026 is our reference: the rules the converter follows were measured in it, and every change is checked against its schema.
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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. |
What we check on every change
- The package passes the schema InDesign 2026 generates.
- Every word of the source is still there.
- A translation tool reads one segment for each paragraph.
- On a release, real InDesign opens the files and we count errors, missing fonts, missing glyphs and overset text, on Windows and on a Mac. It also makes a PDF, and we look for text set in its stand-in font.
Windows and Mac, side by side
The same 233 files on build 21.6 on both systems. Comparing the words of every line, 16 of 39,231 differed, 15 of them among the 2,916 right-to-left lines. By position, 0.1% of right-to-left lines stand more than a few points away, and no line in any other script.
Things only real InDesign taught us
A file can pass every schema and still go wrong on opening. A few of the things we measured in InDesign 2026 and built the converter around:
- Anything InDesign cannot set in a story hides everything after it, so a line must fit its frame and a row must fit its page.
- A row never splits between frames and stops at its maximum height, 600 pt unless stated.
- InDesign takes no glyph from another font, so a character its font lacks is an empty box.
- It breaks a word only after a hyphen, which stays on the line, so a label that fits without the hyphen can vanish with it.
- A word in a turned cell has as many lines as the cell is wide. InDesign grows no column for one more, so the row runs long instead.
What we are working on next
- Very full pages: InDesign sets some text a little longer than Word does. Open the Preflight panel before hand-off, and if it lists overset, extend the frame or thread another.
- Rare scripts: text in a script few fonts hold can come out in a stand-in font, so read the font list. A document with letters no font we can name holds is refused with the reason on screen.
- Chakma can close InDesign 2025 and 2026, a bug in InDesign itself.
Questions
Do I need the newest version?
No. The same file opens in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, as the table shows.
How do you open InDesign automatically?
With InDesign's own scripting, on our own licensed copies. We use it to check our files, not to make them: the IDML is written by our converter.
Do you use InDesign to produce the file?
No. InDesign never touches your document. It only opens our test files, which are public documents.
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.
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