Adobe InDesign CS6 Server / FAQ

Adobe InDesign CS6 Server software is a layout and composition engine that powers automated publishing solutions. Based on InDesign CS6 software, it offers the ability to automate the design, layout, and typographical capabilities of the desktop application and deliver the same output quality you would expect from Adobe Creative Suite® software.

InDesign CS6 Server is a proven and tested application. Adobe's partner and developer networks have created solutions that enable customers to increase return on investment (ROI) in many ways, including:

• Centralizing resources
• Reducing staffing needs for repetitive processes
• Increasing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• Efficiently publishing worldwide
• Reallocating creative resources to more business-critical tasks
• Generating new revenue streams

Automated publishing offers enterprises and other businesses a way to optimize professional publishing workflows, increasing efficiency and ROI. Traditionally, all design, layout, and typography tasks have been done by highly trained professionals working with a desktop application like Adobe InDesign. Automated publishing allows a significant portion of that work to be performed automatically or by nonexpert users working through a web interface. As a result, companies can save time, labor, and resources, while increasing the effectiveness of their communications.

InDesign CS6 Server is based on the desktop version of InDesign, but there are important differences:

• InDesign CS6 Server has no built-in user interface.
• Like InDesign CS6, InDesign CS6 Server can be driven through scripting and C++ plug-ins. However, InDesign CS6 Server can also be driven through a SOAP interface or Java™ APIs.
• Solutions powered by InDesign CS6 Server can scale as requirements change, with support for multiple instances running on multiple processors.
• InDesign CS6 Server has been rigorously tested to help ensure that it delivers long periods of continuous uptime.
• InDesign CS6 Server has been designed and tested to work on the server versions of the Windows® and Mac OS operating systems.

InCopy CS6, also based on InDesign CS6, is a copyediting and copyfitting tool for use in publishing workflows. While InDesign Server does not replace InCopy, it can provide similar functionality in an automated publishing solution, often in the form of a web-based editor. These solutions can exist on their own or as part of a desktop InCopy workflow.

If your company uses CS6 software, such as InDesign CS6, InDesign CS6 Server can import content from many of those desktop applications. InDesign CS6 Server can also export content in a number of formats used by Creative Suite components, including FLA for use with Adobe Flash® Professional CS6.

InDesign CS6 Server provides the same export capabilities as InDesign CS6 and can export to a number of formats, including INDD, Adobe PDF, EPS, PostScript®, FLA, JPEG, XHTML, SWF, IDML, and InDesign snippets.

You can find the system requirements for the InDesign CS6 Server engine on the tech specs page.

InDesign CS6 Server is a layout and composition engine. Only by combining it with other software components can you build an end-to-end automated publishing solution.

Web to print refers to solutions in which customers use a web browser to access an automated publishing workflow. For example, a web-to-print solution might display a document to a user within a rich-media application on a web page. The user could then create a customized version of the print document by accessing and changing content displayed in Adobe Flash Player software.

Variable Data Publishing (VDP) refers to solutions that use database information to automatically populate templates and create many versions of the same document, each intended for a different person. As a result of this personalization, VDP campaigns often produce higher response rates than traditional marketing and advertising.

Today, VDP and web-to-print solutions are complementary. Many solutions now combine elements of both VDP and web to print — for example, a website that allows users to create, preview, and edit VDP jobs combines the technologies.

Adobe provides two types of support for InDesign CS6 Server. The first is developer support. This is designed for those developing solutions and allows for the purchase of support cases as needed.

The second type of support, Adobe Platinum Maintenance and Support, is intended for the end customer of a solution. Platinum Maintenance and Support provides free upgrades and enables you to receive bug fixes and updates. It also allows a development partner to engage with Adobe on your behalf for other necessary development-related support. If you are developing your own in-house solution, Platinum Maintenance and Support also provides an unlimited number of developer support cases.

If you are an Adobe partner developing a solution, you should probably purchase development support cases only. If you are a customer purchasing a solution from a partner, you need to purchase Platinum Maintenance and Support when you buy InDesign CS6 Server. If you are a customer developing an in-house solution, you have two choices: You can either purchase InDesign CS6 Server and enroll in Platinum Maintenance and Support at the beginning of your development process, or while developing, you can use a free-of-charge developer license and purchase development support cases. However, when you deploy your solution, you are required to have Platinum Maintenance and Support.

Platinum Maintenance and Support is a comprehensive package designed to meet the needs of companies deploying publishing solutions. It provides a range of support services and offers personalized service and a deeper understanding of the customer's technical requirements through senior-level technical support consultants.

You should have a track record of building publishing solutions and a working knowledge of some of the following: C++, scripting, SOAP, Java, and XML. Ideally, you should also have some experience developing for the desktop version of InDesign so that you understand the challenges associated with automated publishing.

InDesign CS6 Server also includes support for IDML, which allows you to represent the complete richness of an InDesign document in a published XML format. This provides new opportunities for developers who have experience creating and manipulating XML. Using IDML, you can build a large portion of a solution without InDesign scripts or plug-ins. Once you have created an IDML document, you can then use InDesign CS6 or InDesign CS6 Server to render the document into an InDesign file format, such as INDD or PDF.

Customers that handle their own in-house development can purchase single or multipack development cases. Visit developer support for more information.

Contact Adobe Sales at 888-649-2990, or contact a member of the InDesign Server team directly at idserver@adobe.com, for more information on developing a custom InDesign Server solution.

For supported languages, see the InDesign Server tech specs.

InDesign CS6 Server can scale to the requirements of individual businesses. Depending on the license you have purchased, you can run a single instance on a single processor or multiple instances on multiple cores or processors.

Yes, Adobe offers a free, fully functional, time-limited version of InDesign CS6 Server. The trial version allows customers to evaluate an Adobe partner's automated publishing solution before purchase. You can download the trial software by clicking the Try link on the right side of the InDesign Server product pages on Adobe.com or by visiting www.adobe.com/downloads and selecting the product from the drop-down menu.

The time-limited trial version of InDesign Server is not the same as the developer version.

Visit the InDesign Developer Center to find technical documentation for InDesign CS6 Server.

Yes, the EULA for the desktop version of InDesign does not allow for its use as a server engine to power an automated publishing solution.

While the majority of partners build solutions from scratch, some choose to use an underlying solution from another partner.

Building an entire solution in-house can help you manage development costs, gain expertise with InDesign CS6 Server, and retain control over the end product. However, using technology from another partner may help you lower risks, get to market sooner, and leverage the development experience of others.

Yes, InDesign CS6 Server includes built-in load balancing and job queuing. Developers have the option of using this feature or leveraging their own solution.

InDesign Server is designed to be a very fast server engine that, for example, can create many thousands of PDF files in an hour. However, customers and developers should understand the difference between InDesign Server and a solution powered by InDesign Server. A solution powered by InDesign Server contains other technology and factors that have an impact on speed and scalability.

The InDesign Server SDK contains a Performance and Scalability Toolkit, which allows developers to measure the speed of InDesign Server alone and offers a way to measure the speed of InDesign Server as part of a broader publishing solution. This toolkit includes a console to monitor and report the results of these tests, as well as prebuilt scripts that enable you to run tests out of the box. The Performance and Scalability Toolkit also contains guidance on how to optimize the performance of InDesign Server.

While other desktop Adobe applications have periodic public updates, also known as dot releases, due to the complex nature of the integration between InDesign Server and its broader publishing solutions, updates are not provided in a public forum for download.

Customers and partners developing their own solutions powered by InDesign Server have access to regular updates through the InDesign family Rapid Release Program. For details on the Rapid Release Program, contact your Adobe representative.

Developers may also find the Adobe Forums a useful resource. These forums provide an opportunity to post questions to other InDesign CS6 Server developers; however, they are not designed to be used to replace formal support, as there is no guarantee that a question will be answered.

Developers new to InDesign CS6 Server may want to consider engaging with other partners who can provide support, guidance, or even development consultancy for a fee. A list of InDesign Server partners can be found in the partner finder.

You should make sure that an Adobe account manager or partner manager knows the pertinent details of your solution as it comes to market so that you can be considered for inclusion in the partner finder. The work you're doing with your customers may also be featured in case studies.

You should have a shipping product with customer references, or offer development training and support services to other partners or customers.

A single-instance license allows for only one instance of InDesign Server to be running in memory, irrespective of the number of cores or CPUs available within the server hardware. A multi-instance license allows for an unlimited number of instances of InDesign Server to be started and utilized. The multi-instance licenses can only be used on a single physical (or virtual) server. That means you cannot distribute a license across multiple virtual servers.

InDesign CS6 Server is not a multi-threaded application. However, it is possible to make use of multiple cores and multiple CPUs, and thus scale InDesign Server by running more than one instance of InDesign Server on a single server. Running two instances of InDesign Server on a server would approximately double the throughput.

No. Copies of InDesign CS6 Server can be made for disaster recovery and/or backup in accordance with the End-User License Agreement (EULA), but they cannot be used for live production unless the production server fails. These copies should not be confused with cluster or load-balancing configurations.

As the market and customer requirements for InDesign Server change, we are always interested in hearing about new licensing models that might be of interest to our customers. If you have any requests around nonstandard licensing models, contact your local Adobe representative.

Customers with a current Maintenance and Support contract are able to upgrade their software to InDesign CS6 Server for free. However, for customers who do not have a current Maintenance and Support contract, it is possible to purchase an upgrade.

Yes. It is possible to upgrade from a single- to multi-instance license or to purchase additional multi-instance licenses.

An internal network is a local corporate network or intranet that resides behind a firewall within a single primary domain.

VPN usage is acceptable within an internal network and therefore does not require any special licensing, as long as it does not violate the terms of the licensing model.

A debug version of InDesign Server is available to members of the Adobe Partner Connection Solution Developer Program. Solution partners can enroll at partners.adobe.com.

No. There is a single version of InDesign Server that supports document creation and composition in more than 20 languages. View a list of supported languages.

Adobe offers a free-of-charge, 90-day, time-limited version of InDesign CS6 Server.

If you are buying the InDesign CS6 Server component directly from Adobe, it is only available through the FLP. Customers who normally purchase Adobe software using Adobe's TLP or CLP will not be able to purchase InDesign CS6 Server through these programs. The purchase of an InDesign CS6 Server license will not contribute to the TLP or CLP points system.

Software partitioning is a model of configuration in which multiple instances of operating systems execute cooperatively on a single computer. With either hardware or software partitioning, each instance of the Adobe software requires a separate license. The EULA makes it clear that a license is required for each CPU that is enabled to run the software. The customer must be able to provide proof of partitioning upon request via Adobe’s standard audit rights. A multi-instance license cannot be distributed and installed across multiple virtual partitions, as each virtual partition is considered a unique server requiring a new license.

The Premium license model may be used in hosted or SaaS solutions as long as InDesign Server is an integrated component of a solution, not standalone.