CS4 introduced a new consistent interface for the Adobe applications. This included the application frame for mac users, a tabbed interface and a other changes. One useful, but small change is the introduction of visual feedback of the save status for your open files.
When you have a file (or multiple files) open look at the name at the top of the documents window. If there is a small * next to the file name, it means that the file has not been saved since the last change.
This is not unique to InDesign CS4. Every other CS4 app that uses this updated interface also will use the *filename feedback to let you know if the file has been saved.
This article was last modified on December 1, 2023
This article was first published on June 3, 2009
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I cannot get this wonderful little asterix to ever go away on one of my documents. It is one of 7 documents in a book in CS4. I have tried saving as INX and resaving as INDD. I have turned off preflight, updated my xrefs & links, and I have every other document in the book open while I work. Yet every time I save this one particular document, the asterix vanishes only to reappear in a few seconds whether or not I have even clicked in the document.
This funny little thing doesn’t really have an effect on my ability to work, other than driving me nuts (I obsessively save, and that little glyph is enough to make me feel like I am about to lose all of my work). But I am afraid that there is something happening which I don’t want to be happening, but I cannot isolate it and I don’t want to regret not investigating.
Anyone ever see this before? Thank in advance.
I have this problem often, with many different documents. I never found a satisfactory explanation or any way to make it stop. Sorry!
In addition to Peter’s comment at the top:
The dot (?) in the red close button in modified and unsaved documents on Mac OS X is always visible. Just the (x) is visible only when you hover over the button.
I remember seeing asterisks on unsaved Mac documents’ window bars as well, long time ago. Usually these were poorly programmed ports of Windows apps, not conforming the Mac UI guidelines. ;) (Could be, that Freehand 9 was one of those. So much I loved the app then over anything else on the market, its interface was horribly flawed?)
hmmmm
Don’t know how to edit my typo above?
Just a little reminder to those whose memories go back to things long gone ?
Freehand always had that useful little asterisk. ;-)
That is weird, now I can edit this comment, but not my comment below, so please ignore it.
Peter is right: every Windows program in the universe has had, since time immemorial, that handy “unsaved asterisk” in its window bar. Welcome to the new and glorious past, ye Mac’ies!
Just for fun, make a modification date text variable including the seconds, and put it on the paste board of the master page, then you’d have a reminder of when you last saved.
You do have to do something or manually refresh the screen to get the number to change.
Convert the variable to text if you want to freeze the date/time as a save history tag.
Silly? Yes, but why be normal?
Easier: keep the Info panel open and Show Options. When you have nothing selected, it shows you the last modification date and time (no seconds, though).
I find that little asterisk helpful. In CS3 and earlier on the Mac, you could also tell based on whether the little tiny thumbnail icon in the title bar was grayed out or “full strength.” (That works in CS4, too, but only when documents are tabbed.)
I never noticed the x and dot icons on the mac before. that is really interesting.
Actually, the asterisk is simply a Windows interface convention Adobe used since they needed an equivalent on the Mac when they introduced the document tabs in CS4.
On the Macintosh, the icon of the red close button of document windows usually turns from an X into a dot if there are any unsaved changes (you need to mouse over the button to see it). This works in all applications that conform to the Apple guidelines, and I’m almost 100% certain that it worked in earlier versions of InDesign as well, so strictly speaking it’s not really a new feature.