i have an adobe indesign file that seems to be corrupt.

how it happened:
i was saving it when i bumped my external HD and knocked the cable out. during the save the program froze (because it could no longer access the HD the file was on) and now i get the following error when i try to open it:

Cannot open "book.indd".
The file "book.indd" is damaged and cannot be recovered (Error code: 5).

do i need to start over? or is there anyone here that can recommend some steps to recover the file?

When working with Adobe, the safest method is to do a "Save as" every so often. Keeps the original with all the undo steps intact, but gives you a fall back should something serious happen. Once the project is complete and saved the intermediary files can be safely trashed.

Time machine does seem to have difficulty with apps that make extensive use of a scratch disk, hence the suggestion to do the occasional "Save as".

I know the recommendation is OS and app on main HD, file on a second and scratch on a third HD. However this applies mainly to Mac Pros with a multi drive structure. When using external drives the file itself should be on the main HD. It will slow things down a bit but is also much safer.

Sorry I know that is of no immediate help but should help prevent future problems.

EDIT: In the meantime if the file is open you can try a save as in the hopes that the entire file is stored in memory.

thank you. i definitely will "save as" in the future.

if anyone knows of any way i can recover this file, that would be amazing.

i have uploaded it to our ftp. if anyone is interested in tinkering around with it:
www.smcouples.com/uploads/book.indd

Did you have any backups of anything? That's probably about the only way you're going to get anything back from this -- going to backups and a previous version of the file. If it was interrupted mid save as you say then it's pretty much a write-off I suspect.

I have to ask the question - do you have a backup drive set up with TimeMachine? Mac 101: Time Machine (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427)
Have you tried opening an earlier version?

"While your backup disk is connected, click the Time Machine icon in the Dock and the Time Machine restore interface appears. You can literally see your windows as they appeared "back in time."

You can use the timeline on the right side of the window to reach a certain point back in time (the timeline shows the times of all backups on your backup disk). If you don’t know exactly when you deleted or changed a file, you can use the back arrow to let Time Machine automatically travel through time to show you when that folder last changed."

i do have time machine setup, but i was on a flight when i was working on this project. i started and finished it on the plane, where i wasn't connected to my time machine drive.

i have no backup. :(

You can give this (http://markzware.com/blogs/indesign-file-recovery/fix-corrupted-indesign-files/2008/09/15/) service a try, I've never used them so this isn't an endorsement, they claim that their service can restore damaged .indd files by converting it to Quark and back. For that they charge $101 CAD... but the software to DIY is about $400 and you need a full version of both ID and Quark.

thank you. i emailed them and will wait and see.

thank you. i emailed them and will wait and see.

Here's hopin' :) I took a look at the file with a few utilities and got nowhere so this was about all I could come up with using a search for "indesign recovery". If there's another way I couldn't find it...

thank you. i really appreciate you trying. :)

the thing is that when you "get info" about the file, it's evident that it's not empty. there's definitely data in it, but it's just a question of getting at it!

YESSSS! SUCCESS!!!

the guy responded to me within the hour, and this morning i received an 85% fixed file. that's definitely enough for me. and definitely worth the $99.

for anyone in the future: InDesign File Recovery | Markzware (http://markzware.com/category/blogs/indesign-file-recovery)

thanks all for your help!

Nice!

YESSSS! SUCCESS!!!

the guy responded to me within the hour, and this morning i received an 85% fixed file. that's definitely enough for me. and definitely worth the $99.

for anyone in the future: InDesign File Recovery | Markzware (http://markzware.com/category/blogs/indesign-file-recovery)

thanks all for your help!

Good to hear a positive result even if it meant throwing money at the problem.