TechNote

InDesign crashes when you open an Open, Place, Import Export or Save dialog (CS2, CS3 on Mac OS 10.5 - 10.5.3)

Issue

When you open a dialog that allows you to navigate folders on your system, such as the Place, Open, Import, Save or Export dialogs, InDesign crashes.

Details

This issue is specific to early versions of "Leopard" (Mac OS X 10.5 - 10.5.3) and InDesign.
This issue is similar to, but not resolved by "Adobe Creative Suite 3 products crash when you save, open, or place a file, after installing the Version Cue CS3 3.1.0 update (Mac OS X v10.4.x-10.5) (Technote kb402521).

Reason

This issue was introduced in Mac OS X v.10.5 with changes to the Mac OS X navigation services utilized by InDesign. The release of Mac OS 10.5.4 appears to have resolved the issue.

Solution

Solution 1: Run the Mac OS X Software Update utility to update to Mac OS X version 10.5.4.

From the Apple menu, choose Software Update.
From the list of available updates, choose Mac OS X Update v.10.5.4, or Mac OS X Update Combined v.10.5.4.
Click Install.
When prompted, restart your system and wait for the installation to complete.

If you are not able to update to Mac OS X v.10.5.4, then try the other solutions in this document.

Solution 2: Uninstall Version Cue or Version Cue Server.

Note: There is new uninstall functionality on Macintosh. Do NOT drag applications to the trash to uninstall.

To safely uninstall Version Cue or Version Cue Server on Mac OS X, double-click the product installer in Applications/Utilities/Adobe Installers.
Authenticate as an administrator, then select Uninstall Components and follow the on-screen instructions.

Solution 3: Invoke the Place dialog from a new document.

Note: This solution applies only to crashes when you use the InDesign Relink dialog, and not other dialogs or scenarios where Bridge or Version Cue are involved.

For every time you launch InDesign:

Before you open an existing document, choose File > New > Document.
Choose File > Place to invoke the Place dialog, then cancel out of it.
If you have to quit InDesign, repeat the steps above after relaunching.

Solution 4: Invoke the Mac OS X Save as PDF dialog from the InDesign Print dialog.

Note: A number of customers have reported reducing their encounters with this issue by performing these steps, but this has not been verified by Adobe.

For every time you launch InDesign:

Before opening an existing document, choose File > New > Document.
Choose File > Print and click on the Printer button at the bottom of the Print dialog. This will invoke the Mac OS X Print Driver UI.
Click and hold to select "Save as PDF" from the PDF button/menu. This will invoke a Save dialog.
Press Cancel, then Cancel twice more, until you are back to your blank new document.
If you have to quit InDesign, repeat the steps above after relaunching.