Why convert IDML to INX?
INX (InDesign Interchange) was the XML-based layout exchange format introduced in InDesign CS2 (2005) and used through CS3. Adobe replaced it with IDML starting in InDesign CS4 (2008). Current InDesign versions have no INX export option, and INX predates many InDesign features that IDML was built to carry - a modern IDML layout may reference styles, effects, or structures that INX has no equivalent for.
How to convert IDML to INX
Adobe InDesign APP
Open the .idml in InDesign, save as .indd, and export to PDF for distribution - IDML is already the correct interchange format and INX is obsolete; no current InDesign version writes .inx files.
Programs that convert IDML
About these formats
.IDML
Adobe InDesign Markup Language
An IDML file is an Adobe InDesign page layout saved in InDesign Markup Language, an open XML-based interchange format introduced in 2008. Open it in Adobe InDesign (File → Open, then save…
Open .IDML details →
.INX
Adobe InDesign Interchange File
An INX file is a legacy XML export from Adobe InDesign, produced by InDesign CS2 through CS4 (2005-2010) as a backward-compatibility format. Current InDesign (CS5 and all Creative Cloud…
Open .INX details →Quality & what to watch
- Adobe dropped INX export with InDesign CS4 in 2008; no current InDesign version can write
.inxfiles. - INX predates many InDesign features; even if export were possible, modern layouts may reference objects that INX has no equivalent for.
- If you have an old
.inxarchive from CS3, InDesign CS4-CS6 can open it and export it to IDML for use in current versions.
