Adobe InDesign

This configurator drives Adobe InDesign. It is a processor that allows saving an InDesign job to PDF, or relink all images to an InDesign file. In addition it supports executing a custom JavaScript in InDesign, which allows automating most of the application's functionality from within Switch.

The InDesign configurator supports incoming job folders in addition to individual files. In case of a job folder, the configurator expects that the folder contains a single InDesign file on its topmost level, and that all resources referred to from within the InDesign file reside in the job folder or in one of its (nested) subfolders. The "Package..." function in InDesign's File menu produces a folder that conforms to these requirements.

Refer to Version requirements for third-party applications for more information on the third-party application required by this configurator.

Keywords

Keywords can be used with the search function above the elements pane.

The keywords for the Adobe InDesign configurator are:

creative
PDF
PostScript
EPS

Detecting the application

This configurator implements the following mechanisms to detect the presence of the corresponding third-party application. See Detecting third-party applications for more information.

Detection mechanism	Comments
Automatic detection at startup	Uses information registered with the operating system when the application is installed
Searching from the elements pane	Not provided
Manually locating the executable	Not provided

Connections

This configurator allows only a single outgoing connection.

Properties

Property	Description
Name	The name of the flow element displayed in the canvas
Open	The method used to open the incoming file; i.e. one of the following options: Automatic: opens the incoming file in InDesign without further instructions Use script: executes a user-provided Javascript to open the incoming file in a customized manner; see JavaScript for applications for more information
Command	The command to be performed; i.e. one of the following options: None: does nothing (other than what's specified for opening and saving the file) Use script: executes a user-provided Javascript on the file for customized processing; see JavaScript for applications for more information
Save as	The method or format to save the job; i.e. one of the following options: InDesign: saves the job in the native InDesign format; in case of an incoming job folder the complete job folder is copied and the original InDesign file is replaced by the new version Adobe PDF: saves the job as a PDF file; the configurator shows an extra property to specify the desired Adobe PDF preset PostScript: prints the job to a PostScript file; the configurator shows an extra property to specify the desired InDesign print preset (see creating InDesign print presets below) Use script: executes a user-provided Javascript to save the job in a customized manner; see JavaScript for applications for more information JPEG: generate a distinct output file for each page in the document. If JPEG is chosen, you can also set the Quality and Format of the JPEG output, and the Make job folder option.If Make job folder is set to yes, all of the output files are stored inside a job folder (even if there is only one output file) and this job folder is injected into the outgoing connection as a single entity. If set to no, each file is injected into the outgoing connections as a separate job. In both cases, the filenames are under control of Adobe InDesign
Re-link all graphics	If set to yes, the configurator instructs Adobe InDesign to re-link all graphics before processing or outputting the InDesign job
Use fonts in package	If set to yes, fonts included in a processed Adobe InDesign package are used while processing or outputting the InDesign job
Fail jobs with unavailable fonts	If set to yes, the configurator fails any jobs that use one or more fonts which can't be found/activated; i.e. these jobs are moved to the problem jobs folder If set to no, the configurator doesn’t test for unavailable fonts
Fail jobs with unavailable images	If set to yes, the configurator fails any jobs that use one or more images which can't be found; i.e. these jobs are moved to the problem jobs folder If set to no, the configurator doesn’t test for unavailable images

Creating InDesign print presets

The "Save as PostScript" option requires a print preset created from within Adobe InDesign. Choose the following Adobe InDesign menu item to display the dialog for creating print presents:

File -> Print Presets -> Define…

The target printer in the print preset must be set to “PostScript File” (i.e. the topmost option in the drop-down list that also lists the printers on the system).

If it is set to an actual printer Adobe InDesign will attempt to print the job to that printer, interfering with the configurator’s operation.