Comments on: XMPIe “Missing Plug-In” Issue

By: Tim Porath

Tim Porath — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:00:45 +0000

Hey, I’ve been having the same problem. I was using XMPie and Darwin (trials) on my CS3 install, and when I moved to CS4 without those plugins it’s given me a lot of grief. Since it seemed like exporting to .INX was the best solution I wrote a Javascript that automates most of the process.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zo3uqymwzwz
If anyone would like to help me test and improve it I would love it, it’s working well for me on OS 10.5 but I’d love to know if it works on PC as well
In short it -
1) Asks you to re-save the file (I recommend saving a copy since it will overwrite it during this process)
2) Exports to INX
3) Closes the document
4) Opens the INX version
5) Saves the INX version as an INDD file, overwriting the original with a new, plugin free file
Code is provided as is, so please be careful with it! I highly recommend using it on backups only!
The easiest way to install it is to go to Window/Automation/Scripts, right click on the User folder and Reveal in Finder. Then copy the file into the Scripts Panel folder, and you should see it
-Tim Porath
skooges@gmail.com

By: Philip Haxo

Philip Haxo — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:56:41 +0000

We have had the same issue. The easiest way to strip that content (assuming you aren’t going to make edits and resubmit the file for additional variable content using XMPie) is to export it as an INX file. When you open the file back up in inDesign it will no longer contain the XMPie tagging, and won’t prompt for the missing plugin.

By: David Baldaro

David Baldaro — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:52:48 +0000

Folks, I’ve been chatting with the R&D team on this issue. For all the details check out my blog, http://david.baldaro.me.uk/2009/03/xmpie-and-the-missing-plug-in-issue/

By: Claudia

Claudia — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:39:20 +0000

The option to remove missing plug-in gunk was last seen in CS(1) as far as I can determine from a couple of quick experiments with older versions of InDesign. Apparently it’s time to bring that back!

By: Stephen B

Stephen B — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:30:00 +0000

I’m still on CS3 and would be remaining, but a new project is forcing us to upgrade. I also noticed that some boxes that were “unassigned” were converted to text boxes.

CS 4 should be here soon. If I have time I’ll try the IDML export.

I never noticed the “remove missing plugin” feature, but I would say that xmpie is at fault here.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:56:13 +0000

Timothy,
Thank you for your comment. My understanding is that IDML will be the “transporter” format going forward, used both for backsaving and for repurposing InDesign content for other uses. I’ll be interested to hear whether IDML solves the text frame inset issue; if it does, I’ll recommend that to other users who are going through this.

Of course, this isn’t available to users of CS3…

By: Timothy Perrett

Timothy Perrett — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:55:42 +0000

Claudia,

You are correct in saying that users of CS4 should export to IDML – doing this will ensure that there layout is safe from modification. Comparatively, INX was an internal Adobe format that was designed to make documents backward compatible with previous versions of InDesign – hence, not all layout options being supported in the format… INX was never intended to be full proof.

Im sure their used to be an option in CS1 or CS2 to “remove missing plugin data” – oddly, that now appears to be missing from CS3 + CS4.

Timothy.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:30:04 +0000

Anna,
If you export to InDesign Interchange, then open the Interchange (*.inx) file, that should remove the XMPie “poison.” I should caution you that one other commenter has said that doing this changed the text inset on some text frames. I haven’t seen this happen, but it’s worth mentioning.

And if you’re in CS4 and you experience that text inset issue, maybe try exporting to InDesign Markup (idml), and open that back up.

Please keep me posted

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:11:15 +0000

Interesting to see others with the same problems as I have.
My former colleague had xmpie installed on his computer, and even though he rarely used it, all files are now “infected” with the plugin.
I cannot open up a single file without indesign complaining about the missing plugin. The most annoying part is that I no longer can package my files.
I could install xmpie on my computer too. But then will everyone else down the line have the same problem as I. Does anyone know how to repair the files?

Br,
Anna

By: Claudia

Claudia — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:48:06 +0000

Stephen,
Are you using CS3 or CS4? If you’re using CS4, I’d be interested to see if exporting to InDesign Markup (IDML) would provide a more faithful round-trip. (IDML isn’t available in CS3.)

What does the printer say about their handling of the file? Can they guarantee that they didn’t put any personalization in the file? I’m curious because my customer’s file (which inspired this saga) shouldn’t have had any variable data in it, either. And my own few experiments led me to believe that simply opening, modifying, and resaving didn’t introduce the packaging problem.

This has turned into much more excitement than I’d anticipated… let me know what you hear from the printer.