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Analyzing an Indesign file

New Here ,
Mar 26, 2008 Mar 26, 2008

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I'm trying to figure out a way to have my website allow the user to upload an Indesign file (I'm fine requiring CS,CS2,CS3,whatever) and then have the server read the file and determine the linked files and present the user with forms to attach those linked files.

I'm fine with the first and third parts, but how on Earth would someone examine an Indesign file and extract this piece from it? I'd have to imagine its feasible - Adobe would provide some interoperability between their systems, right?
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New Here ,
Apr 10, 2008 Apr 10, 2008

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Really? Nobody has any idea? Wow.

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Guest
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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Have a look on the Adobe site for details of the .indd Indesign file format. It's not widely documented; there might be some useful info in the .inx SDK documentation (the file format used by later Indesign versions to export data to be read in earlier versions.)

From a quick look in a .indd file using a text editor, it looks like the resource info is stored as XMP metadata (XML packets) within the file.

Adobe provide an XMP SDK: most of it is written in C++ but it included a limited subset of Java classes. Might be a useful starting point. CF8 contains some XMP metadata manipulation tools but they're specifically for PDF (via CFPDF's iText).

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/xmp/

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LEGEND ,
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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too lazy to download a copy of indesign and play around with it?

this is what i could locate in one .indd file i created:

<?xpacket begin="" id="W6M1MpCehiHzreSzNTczkc0d"?>
<x:xmpmeta xmlns:x="adobe:ns:meta/" x:xmptk="Adobe XMP Core 4.0-c006
1.236519, Wed Jun 14 2006 08:31:24">
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf=" http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
<rdf:Description rdf:about=""
xmlns:xapMM=" http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/"
xmlns:stMfs=" http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ManifestItem#"
xmlns:stRef=" http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ResourceRef#">

<xapMM:InstanceID>99b5dd84-07a6-11dd-995d-d46ba47c85f2</xapMM:InstanceID>

<xapMM:DocumentID>adobe:docid:indd:1e560e9e-07a5-11dd-8b4e-e74ec5270167</xapMM:DocumentID>
<xapMM:RenditionClass>default</xapMM:RenditionClass>
<xapMM:Manifest>
<rdf:Bag>
<rdf:li rdf:parseType="Resource">
<stMfs:linkForm>ReferenceStream</stMfs:linkForm>
<stMfs:reference rdf:parseType="Resource">

<stRef:lastURL>file:///D:/My%20Work/Sabai-dee.com/NGO%20Directory/PRINTED%20DIRECTORY/Scan10009.JPG</stRef:lastURL>
</stMfs:reference>
<xapMM:placedXResolution>300.00</xapMM:placedXResolution>
<xapMM:placedYResolution>300.00</xapMM:placedYResolution>

<xapMM:placedResolutionUnit>Inches</xapMM:placedResolutionUnit>
</rdf:li>
<rdf:li rdf:parseType="Resource">
<stMfs:linkForm>ReferenceStream</stMfs:linkForm>
<stMfs:reference rdf:parseType="Resource">

<stRef:lastURL>file:///D:/My%20Work/Sabai-dee.com/NGO%20Directory/la-map.gif</stRef:lastURL>
</stMfs:reference>
<xapMM:placedXResolution>72.00</xapMM:placedXResolution>
<xapMM:placedYResolution>72.00</xapMM:placedYResolution>

<xapMM:placedResolutionUnit>Inches</xapMM:placedResolutionUnit>
</rdf:li>
</rdf:Bag>
</xapMM:Manifest>
</rdf:Description>

several thing you can get from above:

1) it uses Adobe XMP. more info a nd lots of resources here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/

2)as you can see above, i have placed a .gif and a .jpg file into the
document.
what you can't see is that i have also place a .tif image in it. no
entry for the .tf image was created above. this makes me believe that a
lot depends on what type of file is linked into the indesign document,
and you may not be able to get all linked files from the .indd file.

download a trial copy of indesign and play with it to see what linked
content you can extract and what you can't.

hth

Azadi Saryev
Sabai-dee.com
http://www.sabai-dee.com/

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LEGEND ,
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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New Here ,
Apr 11, 2008 Apr 11, 2008

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Its not so much that I don't know how to get the data out of it, as much as I'm working with a fleet of designers who upload .indd files and tend to forget to include their linked content - by analyzing their uploads with your methods I'll be able to make a smooth process that'll stop files from being forgotten.

Thanks so much for the great responses!!

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