Scaling Multilingual DTP – Maintenance / Recovery: When and How to Clean Up InDesign Files with IDML

 

0. Why This Article Exists

Recovery as Part of Scaling

The Scaling Multilingual DTP series has covered the parts that are easier to systematize:

  • pre-export for translation (IDML export from books)

  • automation before/after translation (style reloads, relinking)

  • final QA (PDF required-string checks)

  • “escape hatches” when the layout pressure becomes too high (bulk image scaling)

This final article is different. It is not about adding another layer of automation.
It is about protecting what you have already built.

When you scale a workflow, you eventually hit a different kind of problem:
files that become unstable, inconsistent, or unpredictable—often after years of edits, template reuse, or a major InDesign update.

IDML cleanup is not a magic wand.
Especially in multilingual production, you may see unexpected line breaks or subtle reflow changes after an IDML round trip. That is exactly why this is a strategic decision, not a routine step.

Scaling is not about “never breaking.”
It is about having a reliable way back when things break.

1. IDML Cleanup Is Not a Routine Task

IDML cleanup is best treated as a maintenance / recovery tool.

If it becomes part of your daily workflow, two things happen:

  • you increase the amount of “extra work” you generate

  • you pay the verification cost repeatedly

In other words, frequent cleanup can reduce stability rather than improve it.

The correct mental model is:

  • Routine steps keep production moving

  • Recovery steps exist to restore stability when something is off

IDML cleanup belongs to the second category.
It is a “last resort” tool—useful, powerful, and not meant for everyday use.

2. When IDML Cleanup Actually Makes Sense

A Go / No-Go Checklist

This is the most important part of the article.

Go (consider IDML cleanup)

Use IDML cleanup when you have a clear reason to believe the file’s internal state is the problem:

  • After a major InDesign update, especially for high-stakes deliverables

  • Unexplained unstable behavior (random glitches, unexpected errors, crashes)

  • Abnormal file bloat (file size grows beyond what the content explains)

  • Long-lived master templates reused for years across many projects

No-Go (probably unnecessary)

Avoid it when the issue is likely caused by something simpler:

  • minor, visible layout issues that can be fixed directly

  • clear editing mistakes

  • “just in case” cleanup without a concrete trigger

The goal is not to “keep files clean.”
The goal is to recover stability when the cost of instability becomes higher than the cost of an IDML round trip.

3. Save / Save As / IDML

What Is Actually Different

When InDesign feels unstable, people often try:

  • Save

  • Save As

  • IDML round trip

These are not equivalent.

A useful way to think about the difference:

  • Save: putting a bandage on a wound

  • Save As: cleaning the room

  • IDML: rebuilding the house from the ground up

Save and Save As operate inside the existing structure.
IDML forces a rebuild via an interchange format.

That difference is exactly why IDML can work when the other options don’t.
It also explains why IDML comes with risk: rebuilding can change small behaviors, including text flow.

4. What IDML Cleanup Does Not Solve

IDML cleanup is powerful, but it is not a guarantee.

Common limitations and side effects include:

  • subtle text reflow (line breaks and spacing differences)

  • loss of plugin-dependent data (features stored by third-party plugins)

  • edge cases involving conditions or special document states

Because of this, verification is mandatory after an IDML round trip.

For multilingual work, verifying every page manually does not scale.
This is a good place to rely on diff-based review (PDF comparison tools, difference extraction, structured QA checks) to reduce the review burden.

The key point is simple:

IDML cleanup can restore stability, but it can also introduce small differences.
Always verify the result.

5. A Minimal, Reproducible Cleanup Workflow

The biggest risk with “maintenance” operations is inconsistency.
Different people perform slightly different steps, or skip a critical check.

That is why the workflow should be minimal and reproducible:

  1. start from a saved INDD file

  2. export to IDML

  3. reopen the IDML

  4. save a cleaned INDD file

  5. verify (diff/QA) before replacing anything

This is not about convenience.
It is about repeatability, which is the core requirement for scaling maintenance work.

6. The Minimal Script

Reproducibility Over Convenience

This script is not the main point of the article.
Its role is to make the cleanup workflow repeatable and less error-prone.

Design choices (intentional constraints):

  • it processes all currently open, saved documents

  • it exports IDML and saves a new cleaned INDD copy

  • it does not overwrite originals

  • it keeps the exported IDML files for troubleshooting

  • it suppresses blocking dialogs during batch processing and restores settings afterward

  • it avoids UI complexity (only a single confirmation)

The script saves outputs in the same folder as the original document.
That increases the chance that link behavior remains predictable.

Note: dialog suppression improves batch stability, but it does not remove the need for verification. It simply prevents the process from stopping halfway.

Script: IDML Cleanup Helper (non-destructive)

#target indesign

(function () {
    var docs = app.documents;

    if (docs.length === 0) {
        alert("No documents are currently open.");
        return;
    }

    var proceed = confirm(
        "This will export each saved document to IDML, reopen it, and save a cleaned copy as a new INDD file.\n\n" +
        "Original files will NOT be overwritten.\n" +
        "IDML files will be kept for troubleshooting.\n\n" +
        "Continue?"
    );
    if (!proceed) return;

    var results = [];
    var skipped = [];

    // Suppress blocking dialogs during batch processing
    var oldLevel = app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel;
    app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevels.NEVER_INTERACT;

    try {
        // Close() happens inside the loop -> iterate backwards to avoid index shifts
        for (var i = docs.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            try {
                var doc = docs[i];

                if (!doc.saved) {
                    skipped.push(doc.name + " (not saved)");
                    continue;
                }

                var originalFile = doc.fullName;           // File
                var originalFolder = originalFile.parent;  // Folder
                var baseName = stripInddExtension(originalFile.name);

                // Output paths (same folder to preserve link behavior as much as possible)
                var idmlFile = new File(originalFolder.fsName + "/" + baseName + "__idml_cleanup.idml");

                // If a cleaned file already exists, add timestamp to avoid collision
                var cleanedInddFile = new File(originalFolder.fsName + "/" + baseName + "__idml_cleaned.indd");
                if (cleanedInddFile.exists) {
                    cleanedInddFile = new File(
                        originalFolder.fsName + "/" + baseName + "__idml_cleaned_" + timestamp() + ".indd"
                    );
                }

                // 1) Export IDML
                doc.exportFile(ExportFormat.INDESIGN_MARKUP, idmlFile, false);

                // 2) Close original without saving (non-destructive)
                doc.close(SaveOptions.NO);

                // 3) Open IDML (attempt hidden open if supported)
                var reopened;
                try {
                    reopened = app.open(idmlFile, false);
                } catch (_) {
                    reopened = app.open(idmlFile);
                }

                // 4) Save as new INDD (do not overwrite original)
                reopened.save(cleanedInddFile);

                // 5) Close cleaned doc
                reopened.close(SaveOptions.YES);

                results.push(baseName + " -> " + cleanedInddFile.fsName);

            } catch (e) {
                skipped.push(safeDocNameAtIndex(i, docs) + " (error: " + e.message + ")");
                continue;
            }
        }
    } finally {
        // Always restore interaction level
        app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = oldLevel;
    }

    // Report
    var msg = [];
    msg.push("Completed.\n");

    if (results.length > 0) {
        msg.push("[Cleaned copies created]");
        for (var r = 0; r < results.length; r++) msg.push("- " + results[r]);
        msg.push("");
    }

    if (skipped.length > 0) {
        msg.push("[Skipped]");
        for (var s = 0; s < skipped.length; s++) msg.push("- " + skipped[s]);
        msg.push("");
    }

    msg.push("Note: Always verify (diff/QA) before replacing originals.");
    alert(msg.join("\n"));

    // ---- helpers ----

    function stripInddExtension(name) {
        return name.replace(/\.indd$/i, "");
    }

    function timestamp() {
        // YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS
        var d = new Date();
        return (
            d.getFullYear() +
            pad2(d.getMonth() + 1) +
            pad2(d.getDate()) + "_" +
            pad2(d.getHours()) +
            pad2(d.getMinutes()) +
            pad2(d.getSeconds())
        );
    }

    function pad2(n) {
        return (n < 10) ? ("0" + n) : ("" + n);
    }

    function safeDocNameAtIndex(idx, collection) {
        try { return collection[idx].name; } catch (_) { return "(unknown document)"; }
    }
})();

7. How This Fits into a Scalable Workflow

Why Recovery Scales

Recovery sounds “non-scalable” at first—because it happens when something is wrong.

But in multilingual publishing, recovery can be the highest-leverage step.

If you produce 20 languages from a single master workflow:

  • one unstable master can generate 20 unstable outputs

  • one recovery operation applied upstream can prevent that multiplication

That is the reason IDML cleanup belongs in a scalable workflow:

  • not as a routine step

  • but as a controlled, upstream recovery action

  • applied at the point where it prevents downstream multiplication

This is also why reproducibility matters.
When recovery steps are defined clearly, the work becomes transferable and less dependent on individual intuition.

8. Closing: Scaling Includes Recovery

Scaling is not about “never breaking.”

It is about having a reliable way back when things break.

The first phase of scaling is usually:

  • creating repeatable processes

  • automating stable rules

  • reducing decisions

The second phase is more subtle:

  • protecting those processes

  • restoring stability when something becomes unpredictable

  • maintaining the system you built

That is what maintenance and recovery are for.

In multilingual DTP, scaling includes recovery.

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