How to edit INDD files without InDesign ?

April 7, 2012 12:24 AM

How to edit INDD files without InDesign ?

Hello - I want to update my CV and I found _amazing_ templates here: http://graphicriver.net/category/print-templates/stationery/resumes

My problem is, I am not a designer of any sort and don't have the Adobe CS suite (all these resumes come as INDD files). Is there any way I can take these files and convert them into something I can edit ?

Is there any way I can hire somebody to open these files and convert in a more "open" format? Also - the designs are 5$... it would feel strange to pay somebody 50$ just to use them :(

Also - I thought of downloading a trial version of CS from the Adobe website, but it says it only works on 64-bit Intel processors. I have a 64 bit AMD x2, but my Win7 is 32 bit so I think it wouldn't work anyway...

Any help appreciated! Thanks!

posted by madeinitaly to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

There are ways to do this, and it usually involves saving a PDF from InDesign and converting that to Word, which is what I assume you mean by open. You can Google it.

However, I know from experience that you will lose much of the template's editability--this kind of thing only works really well when you have a completed InDesign document and don't need to make extensive changes in Word after conversion. You will be able to edit the document, to an extent, but if it's a complicated layout you'll almost certainly have to fight with Word to get back in shape, parts of the text probably won't flow right, and you may lose the ability to add or rearrange sections cleanly and easily--which is the point of a template, after all.

If you hire someone knowledgeable about Word and InDesign to convert and clean these up, I suspect it really will be an honest $50 of work between the five of them. Have you considered simply taking these as inspiration and making something similar from scratch? I'd be willing to bet that would be less work and less of a technical challenge than what you're proposing.
posted by pullayup at 12:49 AM on April 7, 2012

I was going to suggest you download the trial version of Indesign for the job... would be worth it in my opinion... especially if you want to keep your budget super low. Going back and forth with a designer to put your content in and tweak it until satisfaction will cost you more than 50$, and then the output will still be a PDF you can't edit anymore.
So i say at least give the trial a try, if it does install on your computer, then your problem is solved for 0$ :-)
posted by PardonMyFrench at 1:17 AM on April 7, 2012

You would be much better off editing the templates as INDD files. Converting to any other format risks losing the layout and formatting that caught your eye in the first place.

You should be able to install the InDesign trial. There are only certain applications in the CS that require a 64-bit OS, and I don't believe InDesign is one of them. Your AMD processor is also Intel-compatible, so no worries there.
posted by roomwithaview at 1:18 AM on April 7, 2012

Is there any way I can take these files and convert them into something I can edit ?

No. Seriously, this can not be done, you need Indesign to edit these files.

Best you could do is download the free page layout program Scribus, and recreate the look from the template.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:07 AM on April 7, 2012

There is pretty much no way to do this without InDesign. Although I don't know anything about your profession or field, I would advise staying away from fancy templated resumes, as every recruiter I've ever talked does not like them.
posted by radioamy at 8:55 AM on April 7, 2012