InDesign 19.4 Brings Text-to-Image, Cloud Docs, and More
Update adds Text-to-Image Generative AI, Cloud Docs, password protection for Publish Online documents, and EPUB accessibility improvements
This article appears in Issue 32 of CreativePro Magazine.
In recent years, InDesign users have become accustomed to updates to the program that added only bug fixes and minor new features. But the latest release (19.4) is a different story. It offers significant new features such as Text-to-Image Generative AI, Cloud Docs, password protection for Publish Online documents, and EPUB accessibility improvements.
Text-to-Image Generative AI
Like Photoshop and Illustrator, InDesign now offers the ability to generate images from text prompts, via the Adobe Firefly service. You can access the new features in the new Contextual Task Bar and Text to Image panel where you can choose from multiple variations of the image.
You have the option to generate a photorealistic image or one with a more obvious illustrative style. Just don’t look at the hands too closely, in either case.
The generated image can either fit to the selected frame or you can choose from common aspect ratios.
In order to use the new Text to Image features, you must first agree to abide by the Generative AI User Guidelines.
Cloud Docs
Cloud Documents allow you to access your work from any machine where InDesign is installed. Note that feature is not available everywhere yet. Cloud Documents are auto saved and you can access previous versions of the file. You have the option to make Cloud Documents always available offline. And you can now place Photoshop Cloud Documents into InDesign layouts.
For much more on Creative Cloud storage, check out Conrad Chavez’s article in Issue 27 of CreativePro Magazine.
Password Protection for Publish Online
Some people have avoided the Publish Online service due to security concerns. There was no way to stop someone who had a link to your document from viewing it. But now you can require a password.
EPUB Accessibility Improvements
Tweaks to accessible EPUB export include enhanced page navigation, metadata for cover images, the ability to mark images as purely decorative, and support for endnotes and footnotes.
Finally, Adobe has listed the ability to export and import user settings as a new feature, though it was already present in version 19.3. You’d be forgiven for not noticing it (I didn’t), since it was added without any fanfare.
InDesign users, what do you think of these new features? Let us know in the comments.
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As a professional designer, I’d have to disagree that GenAi is not useful. We have to sometimes bang out multiple concepts for a cover design, for example, and this helps us do it on the fly while we are brainstorming as a group. These are by no means final design concepts, just ideas to show what we are talking about without endless searches for the right image for a comp. They also help in our discussions with photographers to get the point across. I’m sold.
In the updated version of this article in the June 2024 issue of CreativePro Magazine, there’s a sidebar headed “Keeping The Contextual Task Bar Out Of Your Way.” That refers to 19.4’s intrusive default of popping up the task bar under every image frame. But it doesn’t mention the easiest way (imo) to hide it, which is to deselect Contextual Task Bar in the first place, under the Window menu. Nip it! Nip it in the bud! And, as with the dreaded Content Grabber, you can turn it off with no docs open to make it an application default. (Then you can add the Window > Text to Image (Beta) panel to a custom workspace, where it makes more sense.)
Upgrading towards 19.4 created some problems for some ongoing files I was working…. it totally crashed and corrupted the file with multiple pages (364) …… I forced to work in the lower version then to finish the job….. I request to revive 19.4 upgrade.
The Cloud Document feature for version 19.4 is now available for the United States and I think all localities (not positive about that but the US is usually the last added when a feature is added locality).
I’ve been beginning to test it on two of my Mac computers.
What’s this supposed support for endnotes and footnotes in epub? Two projects with endnotes have so far crashed ID 19.4 when I’ve tried to export to reflowable epub. Unfortunately, while converting to footnotes in ID allowed the export to go through, the resulting epub was a mess. It’s just very disappointing.
Still, thanks to the “Better EPUB from InDesign” group for trying to push Adobe on this.
I agree with others that the text-to-image is more or less a gimmick. But it’s a gimmick that’s at the cutting edge of technology, and I want my favorite program to keep that edge.
Less sexy but infinitely more useful is the ability to open PDFs (for now, only PDFs exported from ID) and edit them in InDesign Beta. Looking forward to that capability maturing and moving from the ID beta to the general release version.
The more Adobe crams Gen AI down my throat the more I look for alternatives. I don’t want to help poison my own well.
Yep. I’m seeing fewer reasons to bother learning anything about any of the Adobe products anymore. No more courses or books to have to buy because the generative AI will do it all. Perfect world for all – except for anyone who actually wants to create something themselves, because why bother? All that wasted time, effort and money straight down the drain.
I understand why you’d feel that way, Carol. But I’d say hang in there and stay engaged because nothing is as inevitable as the AI hype would want you to believe. It wasn’t long ago that the same people were telling us that crypto and NFTs were going to take over the world. Now, they’re punchlines for comedians. The only thing I know is that nobody knows what’s going to happen with the technology. But there will always be a need for creative people and their talents.
Kinda…underwhelming. “Pitiful” is the word that comes to mind. But thanks, Mike, for keeping us up to date.
For a professional InDesign user, Text-to-Image is an unfortunate addition. It’s on the same level of usefulness as Auto-style and Style Packs: i.e., not a lot.
For professional users of InDesign, there is no image creation workflow that isn’t better served by Photoshop or Illustrator. There may be rare instances where a generated image is immediately adequate for a given purpose, but in almost all cases a designer will want to adapt, edit, expand, or composite it in Photoshop. Why not just start in Photoshop (or Illustrator), the way we do with photographs or complex graphics?
It’s not that the feature doesn’t work. It’s amazingly good, in fact. It just isn’t useful.
Export/Import Settings, on the other hand, finally promises to get us back to the time, years ago, when we were able to sync our InDesign settings through the cloud and keep a laptop and desktop computer in sync with one another. The InDesign team promises to expand the capability moving forward, and there are several folks pushing for a way to make the feature selective. Why it’s on the File menu when “Migrate local settings” is on the Edit menu along with Preferences (on Windows) remains an unanswered mystery.
Any improvements in accessibility are welcome, especially in ePub, and it’s great to know that work continues on this.
Well, this is one time when we’re going to have to agree to disagree, Alan. I think GenAI inside InDesign is a terrific feature, and I think many users will find it very useful. Of course you’re right that this is better handled in Photoshop, but there are many instances where I just need something done quickly and easily and not having to deal with Photoshop makes me happy. You could make the same argument about the Pen tool in InDesign: why bother when you have Illustrator? But having basic functionality in InDesign is a great improvement over having to switch apps all the time.
By the way, the GenAI feature I most want in InDesign isn’t here yet: Generative Expand. For example, I want to select an image or object that goes to the edge of the page and have GenAI extend it to the bleed guides for me! That would be cool.
I’m with David, features that allow me to stay in InDesign = production speed. I would absolutely love to be able to check a box in a picture frame options dialog to automatically use Gen Expand. Then to be able to edit the image with the Gen fill layer included in Photoshop would be perfect!
Gen AI isn’t a part of my workflow because my job is to solve problems visually. I don’t need to offload that process to an algorithm that can’t understand intent.
Hi David–you know, Glenn Fleishman and/or Marcin Wichary did exactly this for some images in “Shift Happens.” I’m not quite sure what the application/workflow was. But it’s seriously exciting–an actual use for Generative AI, at last.
To be clear–I’m talking about the “expand” idea. The rest of it is useless.
Seems great that we can export user settings. What user settings might those be? The Remember function of BlatnerTools offers preferences so we can choose which settings we want to export.
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/export-import-user-settings-indesign.html
Hi Mike,
do not forget another new feature, hm, more a fix to existing problems with the Adobe World-Ready Composer’s current implementation of Harfbuzz rendering or shaping engine. A new option to use the old shaper engine of the Adobe World-Ready Composer under:
Preferences > Advanced Type >
[ ] Enable Legacy Text Shaping for Adobe World-Ready Composer
More details:
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/shaping-engine-world-ready-composer.html
Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )
I noticed this but also note that the previous releases in version 19 have been very poor in handling right-to-left text. I’m wary of what might happen with this.
Further clarification about using the Cloud Documents feature in 19.4 is available:
(1) This is a geographically limited roll-out (which is why it wasn’t available for me). Cloud documents will soon be available in all locales.
(2) Cloud documents are enabled on the SECOND launch of InDesign
Thanks, Steve. I was wondering why I don’t see the option to save as a cloud doc in 19.4. Guess I’ll just have to be patient.
No point updating again. The whole 19.x line seems like a massive fail.
The road to get there betas/pre-releases has been the most funky of any release!
If you try using the Cloud Documents feature in 19.4 some of us have had problems getting that to appear. Another expert user and I demonstrated we couldn’t get it to work and an Adobe rep we talked to today said they’d be working on that.