Supported file formats for InDesign

What's covered

These tables list the file formats that Adobe InDesign supports for various functions.

For more information on settings and option when opening, importing, exporting, and saving files, see Adobe InDesign Online Help.

File > Open

Extension Filename Version Comments
indp Package for InDesign    
idap Package for InDesign    
indd InDesign document CC and earlier  
indl InDesign library CC and earlier  
indt InDesign template CC and earlier  
indb InDesign book CC and earlier  
inx InDesign interchange CS4 and earlier  
idml InDesign Markup Language CC and earlier  
qxd
QuarkXPress Passport 4.1.x save newer versions in Quark to these accepted versions
qxt
QuarkXPress 3.3 - 4.1.x save newer versions in Quark to these accepted versions
joboptions Adobe PDF Creation Settings Files    

File > New

Extension

Filename

Version

Comments

indd

InDesign document

CC

 

indl

InDesign Library

CC

 

indb

InDesign Book

CC

 

File > Save As

Extension

File name

Version

Comments

indd

InDesign document

CC

 

indt

InDesign template

CC

 

idml

InDesign CS4 or later

CC

 

 

File > Export formats

Extension Filename Version Comments
article Adobe Experience Manager Mobile Article    
pdf Adobe PDF (Interactive)
PDF 1.3 - 1.7  
pdf Adobe PDF (Print) PDF 1.3 - 1.7  
eps Encapsulated PostScript PS level 2 - 3  
epub EPUB (Fixed Layout)    
epub EPUB (Reflowable)    
fla Flash CS6 Professional CS6  
swf Shockwave Flash 10.x For Flash Player
html HTML    
idml InDesign Markup Language CC  
jpg JPEG    
png PNG    
xml Extensible Markup Language    

Note: For backwards compatibility to InDesign CS4 export to InDesign Markup Language (idml). For backwards compatibility to InDesign CS3, open the .IDML in CS4 and export as InDesign CS3 Interchange (inx).



File > Place formats (Import in graphics and text files)

Extension Filename Version Comments
tiff Tagged Image File Format    
gif Graphic Interchange Format    
jpg, jpeg Joint Photographic Experts Group    
bmp Bitmap    
eps Encapsulated PostScript    
dcs Desktop Color Separation    
idms InDesign Snippet
   
wmf MS Windows Metafile    
emf MS Windows Enhanced Metafile    
pcx PC Paintbrush File format    
png Portable Network Graphic    
sct Scitec CT    
ai Adobe Illustrator    
psd Adobe Photoshop    
pdf Portable Document Format   since ID CS3 support of multipage PDF files
indd InDesign document    
txt Text documents    
doc, docx Microsoft Word document    
xls, xlsx Microsoft Excel documents    
rtf Rich Text Format    
swf Shockwave File    
flv, f4v Flash Video    
mp4 MPEG-4 Video   H.264 encoding
avi Audio Video Interface    
mov QuickTime Video   H.264 encoding
mp3 MPEG Audio Layer    


Save for InCopy

Edit> InCopy> Export, or options from Link or Assignment panels.

Extension

Filename

Version

Comments

icma

Assignment file

CC

is .inca in ID CS3

icml

Content file, Exported file

CC

is .incx in ID CS3

icap

Package for InCopy

CC

is .incp in ID CS3

idap

Package for InDesign

CC

is .indp in ID CS3



Other

Extension

Filename

Version

Comments

xml

Extensible Markup Language

 

File > Import XML

N/A

Buzzword Document

 

File > Place from Buzzword

epub

Open Publication Structure eBook

 

File > Export for > EPUB

html

Hypertext Markup Language

 

File > Export for > Dreamweaver

 

 Adobe

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