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This article is from June 16, 2011, and is no longer current.

Possible Problems with 7.5.1 Update for InDesign CS5.5

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We’re hearing a number of reports that there may be some significant problems with third-party plug-ins after you update InDesign CS5.5 to version 7.5.1.

Apparently, a number of plug-ins that worked in CS5 that “magically” kept working in CS5.5 suddenly stop working in this update. For example, some font management plug-ins (for auto-activation) seem to break pretty badly.

There’s a discussion of this at the Adobe forums here. We will keep you updated as news comes in. But in general, if InDesign breaks horribly after you update, you’re going to need to get a new version of the plug-in from the developer. (Some companies already have true 5.5/7.5.1-safe plug-ins available.)

David Blatner is the co-founder of the Creative Publishing Network, InDesign Magazine, CreativePro Magazine, and the author or co-author of 15 books, including Real World InDesign. His InDesign videos at LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) are among the most watched InDesign training in the world.
You can find more about David at 63p.com

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  • I should have been clear that any plug-ins that were specifically updated for 7.5 will work fine in 7.5.1. The 7.5.1 update just stops those that were not updated for 7.5 from working… in other words, the ones that kept working in 7.5 shouldn’t have.

  • Harbs says:

    Just to be doubly clear:

    The fact that CS5 plugins break after the update is not a bug. It’s intended behavior. The fact that they did work before is the bug…

    Our plugins are all fully compatible with CS5.5. :-)
    (They are a free upgrade from CS5 to CS5.5 as well.)

  • Phil Frank says:

    I’m missing my Blatner Tools right about now and wondering if there’s a good way to go back to 7.5.0. I haven’t yet seen any reports of what’s fixed in 7.5.1; I haven’t been having any issues. If I could get back to 7.5.0 I could get my keyboard shortcuts back.

    But Harbs did warn me at PePCon that this was going to happen, so I guess it’s my own fault for upgrading.

  • @Phil: Have you tried re-downloading the newest version at blatnertools.com? If you reinstall, I think it should work. If not, we need to get on them asap about that!

  • Richard Groff says:

    Oh, how freakin’ lovely! If this is only a .5 upgrade, why shouldn’t plug-ins that work with 5 work with 5.5? What is in Adobe’s interest to now change that? I’m getting so tired (and broke) from upgrading everything every 6 months!

  • @Richard: I understand the frustrating, but I don’t know of any plug-in developers who charged for the 7.0 to 7.5 upgrade. When Adobe makes significant changes to InDesign, it can cause changes internally, and plug-in developers often have to make changes to keep up.

    What I’m frustrated about is that Adobe didn’t explain what the 7.5.1 update was about. In fact, last time I looked, there wasn’t even a “readme” tech note on their site that says what the update does. That’s bad of them.

  • Harbs says:

    @Richard

    There have been changes in the InDesign API in CS5.5. Admittedly few of them, which is why most CS5 plugins work.

    However, ones that don’t work can break InDesign in weird and undefined ways.

    I think you’d be quite disturbed if your documents suddenly went up in smoke… ;-)

  • Jan Macuch says:

    Phil:
    Mac version of Blatner Tools compatible with the updated 5.5 is now on the website. We expect the windows one to be tehre tomorrow.

    Any installer you see was updated later than 6/10 will work well.

    Richard:
    No worries, DTP Tools never charged for an upgrade and we do not plan to ever charge for a compatibility with a higher InDesign version.

    Thanks,

    Jan Macuch

  • Phil Frank says:

    @David: I’ve tried reinstalling, and there’s nothing there when I reload ID 5.5. And it was working fine before I ran the 7.5.1 update. I appreciate any influence you can bring to bear.

  • Richard Groff says:

    Hmmm! Even a search for “7.5.1” on the Adobe website brings up nothing. And, sure enough, the plug-ins I truly need on a day-to-day basis DON’T WORK ANYMORE!

  • Phil Frank says:

    @Jan: That’s good news! I’ll look tomorrow for the Windows version.

  • Jeremy says:

    Going off-topic a bit, as an InDesign user I would urge developers/promoters of plug-ins to explain in more explicit terms what happens to their plug-ins when newer versions of InDesign are released. How much, if anything, does it cost to upgrade the plug-in if and when it works with the newer version of InDesign? — that sort of thing.

    I say it because I’m almost allergic to plug-ins. More of this sort of information would help to cure my allergy. (I have one plug-in for CS4, which is absolutely brilliant, however.)

  • Steve Werner says:

    Chris Kitchener, the InDesign product manager, passed on the fixes in 7.5.1. The ReadMe should be posted on http://www.adobe.com later today:

    ? ?Mac: Swedish: Cannot perform a line break with Return key on the keyboard?
    ? ?CS5.5: CS5 plug-ins can be loaded in CS5.5?
    ? ?CS5.5: Background PDF export fails for certain files if preflight is enabled.?
    ? ?Assignment file locking failures allow multiple users to edit same content resulting in data loss?
    ? ?Can?t change XSLT location during relinking of XML?
    ? ?Excel-specific import prefs are not retained when placing Excel file into a graphic frame?

  • Jan Macuch says:

    Jeremy:

    When a new version of InDesign comes out, we, plug-in developers,are waiting for the development kit update (which when we’re lucky comes out early enough for us to prepare the plug-ins before the release). Then we invest some more development time – few hours if we’re lucky, month or more if not to make the plug-in compatible. Sometimes it is just a cosmetic change in code, like the 5.5, sometimes it is a major rewrite. Our company (DTP Tools) never charges for this kind of an update and we hope that the fact we do not hold our customers hostage will increase the sales to justify our investment :)

    Best regards,

    Jan

  • I see the release notes have finally gone up here.

  • Lindsey Thomas Martin says:

    [1] Word from Woodwing is that Smart Styles for 5.o will work with 5.5 for a while and then cause problems. Update for 5.5 has been delayed until end of July.

    [2] As I noted some weeks ago, the threading bug where the thread skips frames when there are footnote references near top or bottom of frame is stil there in 5.5. Not fixed, apparently, in this update.

    [3] Also, the crash on copy and paste from Acrobat (10) is back. No mention in the notes that this was fixed.

    Makes me wonder if the team working on 5.5 was using a fork that didn’t get all the fixes in 5.0.

    LTM

  • Jamie McKee says:

    @Lindsey-

    Can you explain some more about #2? I’ve run across this a few times and thought it was just a random glitch. But now that you mention it also, there must be more to it. I’d like to track it down, as I’m in a position to get it fixed for CS-Next. Feel free to contact directly at jmckee at me dot com. Thanks!

  • Mads Daniel says:

    My problem is regarding Universal Type Server/Client font activation. Either the version 2.1.3 or the new version 3 is working.

    Really don’t get it – Why is a large company as Extensis not getting BETA software for test before rollout to the public….

  • Jan Macuch says:

    Phil, Windows version of Blatner Tools for 5.5.1 is now up on the website too.

  • Phil Frank says:

    @Jan: Thanks, I got it. I really appreciate your speedy response.

  • Giampaolo says:

    A few minutes ago I try the new version of Blatner Tools, but it doesn’t work in CS5.5 (7.5.1). It’s OK for version CS3 and for version CS5. I have tried with the repair option and also with the remove option and then re-installing it, but not to do). A strange thing: on the website the download size is 18792 KB, but the file downloaded is only 10434 Kb (the same size of the previous version!). Suggestions?

  • Jan Macuch says:

    We’ve found out what Giampaolo’s problem was with the link. If anyone else has a problem of the downloaded file being considerably smaller than the size stated under the link, you need to clean your browser cache or use these direct links:

    MAC http://www.dtptools.com/blatnertools/Blatner_Tools_1.0.zip

    WIN http://www.dtptools.com/blatnertools/Blatner_Tools_1.0.msi

  • Paul Chadha says:

    Both PDF2ID and ID2Office will not operate with ID 7.5.1. We’re working on an update which we hope to release in a few weeks. In the meantime, the best option is to use ID CS5.5 (v7.5).

  • Alan Gilbertson says:

    It wasn’t just that CS5 plug-ins “magically worked.” The full problem statement is, “CS5 plug-ins can be loaded in CS5.5, leading to code conflicts and instability .” (Emphasis mine.)

  • Derek Watson says:

    FontAgent Pro breaks too, luckily their support managed to get me up and running with an updated plugin.

  • BT Franklin says:

    I import information that has been exported from a FileMakerPro database. Have been doing the same routine for months and months now. Indesign is version 7.5, not 7.5.1 as far as I can tell. When placing the file in the past, all the formatting is automatically done. Starting today, the import seems to have broken for no apparent reason. I’m not really up to speed on this whole process as it was set up by another individual no longer with the company. Any suggestions? If more information is necessary to troubleshoot, would be glad to provide. Current OS is 10.5.8

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