*** From the Archives ***
This article is from July 4, 2006, and is no longer current.
Wrong (Long Decimal) Measurements in InDesign’s Palettes
Hida from Canada writes:
The program shows every number I input with 15 digit decimal. For example if I want to create a page with custom size like: 15.6″ x 9.5″, after I input the numbers in the new document palette, right away they change to something like this:
15.5999599959996 in x 9.5000500050005 in.
Congratulations on your purchase of an Intel-based Macintosh! How did I know? Because just about everyone who has an MacTel machine has this problem in InDesign CS2. Adobe knows about this bug, but they have not promised any fix anytime soon. In fact, full Universal Binary support isn’t expected until CS3, which will ship sometime in the second quarter of 2007.
We’ve heard that changing the measurement system to points or picas (instead of inches, cm, or mm) should fix the problem. However, we don’t have a MacTel machine handy. Can anyone else confirm this?
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On the InDesign listserv, Caleb Clauset (he’s posted a few well-researched comments here) said that the problem occurs with “all noninteger (not whole) numbers in _any_ of its measurement [units]”. Also that neither the 4.03 update nor the recently-released OS X 10.4.7 update fixes the issue.
An intel bug? Okay, but how come this also happens in illustrator CS1 on a G5? I use millimeters and the general thought is it’s because the program uses inches an recalculates everything… Is that right?
Yes it is, we have the same problem since CS1 with millimeters in non English version of InDesign. Very annoying when a square is W 4,999 mm – L 5,001 and you can’t do nothing to fix it. Despite my various reports and screenshots sent to the InDesign dev team…
My findings agree with Caleb’s. I think the problem is an interaction between InDesign and Rosetta, the PowerPC emulator. The good news is that it appears to be strictly a UI issue. If you save such a document, and open it on a PwerPC Mac or Windows machine, all the dimensions are “correct.”
I work in picas on MacTel machine and same problem in CS2 InDesign. Awful! It really bugs me.
this is more than annoying… when dealing with precise folds or trims on an job, having the measurements aribitrarily changed is a serious production consideration. I have a MacBook Pro, and CS2 4.04. What gives, Adobe?
Great news ! The latest tests with InDesign CS2 (4.0.4) and Mac OS 10.4.8 (not yet available, still at beta stage) show that this issue is now solved. We just need to wait 10.4.8 to become available. This comment is posted on September 21st, 2006
And it was not Adobe’s fault, but Apple’s Rosetta!
Just installed the 10.4.8 update (now available) and it is fixed.
[…] We’re happy to report that the Mac OS 10.4.8 update apparently fixes the terrible measurements problem Mac Intel/MacTel users have been experiencing with InDesign. Branislav Milic first reported this on his French InDesign site a couple of weeks ago (based on the prerelease beta of the Apple Mac OS update), but now that 10.4.8 has been released, we are hearing that others are finding this successful, too. […]
I installd the 10.4.8 update on 2 iMacs and it did not fix the problem for me.
Suggestions anyone?
It is very frustrating. 10.4.8 appears to fix the measurements problem in some cases, but not in others. It may have to do with which measurement system you use. Can you try picas vs. milimeters vs. inches? Does it happen when you type an integer, such as “10 mm” or when you type a decimal number such as “10.25 mm”?
I only use inches…not picas or mm.
Frustrating beyond belief!
hello, Long Decimal Measurements in InDesign?s Palettes. (example 15.5999599959996).
Can any one HELP to fix this problem pls.
I know for a fact that InDesign CS doesn’t have that problem. Right after posting my original question, I called Adobe and they were well aware of this problem and said it is because of Rosetta and we can’t expect any change until mid 2007. However I tried millimeter as well just to avoid seeing the crazy numbers and actually after a while you get accustomed to use them. Try calculating all your measurements on calculator and put the result in. Don’t worry about those digits because they do not cause any printing problem. I sent PDF’s out of InDesign, to printers and never had any problem, however I understand how frustrating it is to see this problem for the first time…