Mixing MacWindows Environments | Adobe InDesign CS3 Bible

Mixing Mac/Windows Environments

As a cross-platform application, InDesign appeals strongly to all sorts of users who find that they deal with "the other side." This includes corporate users whose various divisions have standardized on different platforms, service bureaus whose clients use different machines, and independent publishers or layout artists who deal with a range of clients.

InDesign differences

InDesign can read document files from either platform. However, the Windows version may not recognize a Mac-generated file as an InDesign file unless you do one of two things:

Add the file extension .indd for documents or .indt for templates to the Mac-generated file's name . InDesign does this automatically, so unless a Mac user removed the filename extension, most files will have it.
For cases when the document does not have its identifying filename extension, select the All Files in the File of Type pop-up menu in the Open dialog box (File ‚ Open, or Ctrl+O).

On the Mac, you'll typically not be able to double-click a PC-generated InDesign document (it'll have the PC icon rather than the InDesign icon); instead, you'll need to open it from the InDesign Open dialog box (File ‚ Open, or z +O).

Which elements transfer

The following elements may be transferred across platforms, with any limits noted:

Color , tint, and gradient swatches are retained. They may also be imported across platforms. For swatch libraries copied from the Mac to Windows, be sure to add the filename extension .ai.
Although color profile files cannot be exchanged across the two platforms, both the Mac and Windows InDesign versions retain color-profile information from the other platform's files. And if both platforms have color profiles for the same device (monitor, scanner, printer, and so on), InDesign will apply the correct color profiles. If a color profile is not available on the new platform, you can apply a new profile or ignore the issue. (If you ignore this issue, the correct profile will be in place when you bring the document back to the original platform.) If you print with a missing profile, InDesign will substitute the default profile based on the type of color model used (RGB or CMYK).
Style sheets are retained. They may also be imported across platforms.
Hyphenation and spelling exceptions are retained. These files use a filename extension on both the Mac and in Windows: .not for hyphenation additions, .udc for spelling additions.
Document preferences are retained, but the InDesign Defaults file cannot be shared across platforms.
Plug-ins must be present on both platforms if you're moving documents that use specific plug-ins' features. You'll need versions specific to each platform, because these are essentially miniprograms that must be written to work on the Mac or Windows; these files are not interchangeable across platforms.

Which elements don't transfer

Adobe has removed most barriers between Mac and Windows in InDesign. Only the following elements cannot be moved across platforms:

Shortcut sets
Color profiles
The InDesign Defaults preferences file
Scripts other than those using JavaScript

Platform differences

There are also some general differences between Windows and Macintosh themselves that will add a few bumps along the road to cross-platform exchange.

Filenames

The most noticeable difference between Windows and Macintosh is the file-naming convention, which has diminished since the advent of Mac OS X.

Macintosh files follow these rules:

Names are limited to 255 characters (to 31 characters for Mac OS 9 applications).
Any character may be used except for colons (:). Colons are used by the Macintosh system software internally to separate the folder name (which is not visible on-screen) from the filename.
Filenames typically have a file extension of up to four characters, which is often added by newer programs such as InDesign CS to identify the file type. A period separates the filename from the extension: Filename.ext. Mac OS X hides these file extensions from view, unless you select the Always Show File Extensions in the Finder Preferences pane (choose Finder ‚ Preferences) to make Mac OS X display them. Mac OS 9 files typically did not have file extensions, so documents, graphics, and other materials created under Mac OS 9 programs usually won't have file extensions.
Case does not matter. "FILE," "file," and "File" are all considered to be the same name. If you have a file named "FILE" and create or copy a file named "file," "FILE" will be overwritten.

Windows files follow these rules:

Names are limited to 250 characters.
Names must also have a file extension of up to four characters, which is almost always added automatically by programs to identify the file type. A period separates the filename from the extension: Filename.ext. Windows hides these file extensions from view, unless you use the View option in View ‚ Options in a drive or folder window to make Windows display them.
Names may use any characters except for most punctuation. Pipes (), colons (:), periods (.), asterisks (*), double quotes ("), less-than symbols (<), greater-than symbols (>), question marks (?), slashes (/), and backslashes (\) are all used by Windows to separate parts of paths (file locations, such as drives and folders) or to structure commands. A period may be used as the separator between a filename and an extension.
Case does not matter. "FILE," "file," and "File" are all considered to be the same name. If you have a file named "FILE" and create or copy a file named "file," "FILE" will be overwritten.

When you bring Mac InDesign files and any associated graphics to Windows, you'll have to translate the Mac names into names that are legal on Windows. Similarly, you'll need to make Windows filenames Mac-legal when going the other direction. This rule applies not only to the InDesign document but also to any associated files, such as graphics.

If you rename these files, either before transferring or while transferring, you'll find that, within the InDesign document itself, the original names are still used. When InDesign tries to open these files, it will look for them by their original names.

The simplest way to ensure that you won't have problems with transferred files looking for incompatible names is to use a naming convention that satisfies both Windows and Mac standards. That means you should:

Keep file names to 250 characters.
Always include the file extension. Use .indd for documents, .indt for templates, .indl for libraries, .ai for swatch libraries, .not for hyphenation exceptions, and .udc for spelling exceptions. Typical extensions for cross-platform graphics are .tif or .tiff for TIFF, .jpg for JPEG, .eps for Encapsulated PostScript, .ai for Adobe Illustrator, .pct for PICT, .pcx for PC Paintbrush, .bmp and .rle for Microsoft bitmap, .gif for Graphics Interchange Format, .wmf for Windows metafile, and .psd for Adobe Photoshop. Microsoft Word files typically have the file extensions .doc, text-only (ASCII) files the extension .txt, and Microsoft Excel files the extension .xls.
Don't use the pipe (), colon (:), period (.), asterisk (*), double quote ("), less-than symbol (<), greater-than symbol (>), question mark (?), slash (/), or backslash (\) characters.

Font differences

Although the major typeface vendors like Adobe Systems and Bitstream offer their typefaces for both Windows and Macintosh users, these typefaces are not always the same on both platforms. Cross-platform differences are especially common among typefaces created a few years ago, when multiplatform compatibility was not a goal for most users or vendors .

Differences occur in four areas:

The internal font name ‚ the one used by the printer and type scalers like Extensis Suitcase, DiamondSoft FontReserve, and Adobe Type Manager ‚ is not quite the same for the Mac and Windows version of a typeface. This discrepancy will result in an alert box listing the fonts used in the document that are not on your computer. The solution is to use the Find/Replace dialog box (covered in Chapter 15) to replace all instances of the unrecognized font name with the correct one for the current platform.
Even if typefaces use the same internal names, the font files' tracking, kerning, and other character-width information may be different on the two platforms, possibly resulting in text reflow . The solution is to check the ends of all your stories to make sure text did not get shorter or longer.
Symbols do not always translate properly. Even when created by the same vendors, the character maps for each font file differ across platforms because Windows and the Macintosh use different character maps. This problem is complicated by the fact that some vendors didn't stick to the standard character maps for any platform or didn't implement all symbols in all their typefaces. The solution is to proofread your documents, note the symbols that are incorrect, and then use the Find/Change dialog box to replace them with the correct symbol. (Highlight the incorrect symbol and use the copy and paste commands to put it in the Text field of the Find/Change dialog box rather than trying to figure out the right keypad code in Windows or the right keyboard shortcut on the Mac.) If you use OpenType fonts, you'll find far fewer issues with symbol translation than with PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts.

Ligatures are supported only on the Mac (Windows doesn't support ligatures at all). Windows InDesign will use just the regular fi, fl, ffi, and ffl letter combinations, and Mac InDesign will substitute the ligatures (fi, fl, ffi, and ffl) if you bring the file back to the Mac.

Tip ‚

To minimize font problems, use a program like Macromedia's Fontographer or Pyrus FontLab to translate your TrueType and PostScript files from Mac to Windows format or vice versa. (Fontographer and FontLab are available in both Mac and Windows versions.) This will ensure that the internal font names, width information, and symbols are the same on both platforms. The companion Web site ( www.INDDcentral.com ) includes links to these and other utilities.

Cross-Reference ‚

See Chapters 38 and 40 for more information on fonts, and Chapter 41 for more information on special characters.

Transfer methods

Moving files between Macs and Windows PCs is easier now than ever before, thanks to built-in support of Windows formats and networking in Mac OS X, the use of TCP/IP networking by both the Mac and Windows, and a selection of products on both platforms that let each machine read the other's disks (floppies, removable disks like Zip disks, and even hard drives).

Cross-Reference ‚

Chapter 38 covers these disk-reading products in detail.