The safest way to move an Adobe project is to duplicate it, use the destination app’s documented import route, and verify a representative copy before making it your new master. No interchange format preserves every Adobe-only effect, script, link, or editing control. Keep the untouched PSD, PSB, AI, INDD, or source PDF, collect its fonts and linked assets, and treat the first import as a compatibility test rather than a finished migration.
Start with a migration copy, not your only source
Open the original project in its Adobe application and make a working duplicate. Store the original in a read-only archive or clearly named folder, then perform conversions only on the duplicate. The University of Mainz Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung guide, updated September 9, 2025, warns that continuing in Affinity changes the original format and that unsupported features can be lost. That warning applies broadly: an imported file may look correct while quietly losing editability.
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Define what must remain editable
Write down the requirements before exporting. A poster may need editable text and vector paths but not animation. A retouched photograph may need masks and adjustment layers. A publication may need live links, master pages, spot colors, and interactive elements. This list determines whether a visually accurate PDF is sufficient or whether you need a layered, natively editable result.
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- Text content, font family, weight, tracking, and line breaks
- Layers, groups, masks, clipping paths, and blend modes
- Vectors, gradients, transparency, and artboards or pages
- Smart objects, filters, effects, and adjustment layers
- Linked images, placed files, color profiles, spot colors, and separations
- Master pages, scripts, forms, hyperlinks, animation, or other interactivity
Package fonts and linked assets
Before conversion, make sure every linked image and required font is available on the migration computer. InDesign’s File > Package command creates a handoff folder containing the document, fonts, and links. Use that package, rather than a lone INDD file, when testing an alternative. If licensing prevents copying a font, record its exact family, style, and substitute so you can identify changes after import.
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Simplify only on the duplicate
Some application-specific objects can be flattened or rasterized to improve appearance in another app. Smart objects are a common example. Do this only when losing their internal editability is acceptable, and preserve the untouched source so you can return to it. Do not flatten a whole file merely because an import initially fails; first test whether a supported export route solves the problem.
Use this verification routine after every import
A file opening without an error is not proof of compatibility. Compare the source and imported duplicate at normal viewing size and at high zoom.
- Confirm document geometry. Check page or canvas size, bleed, crop marks, resolution, orientation, artboard count, and layer or page order.
- Inspect text. Look for substituted fonts, changed line wraps, missing glyphs, altered tracking, and text that has become a bitmap or outline.
- Toggle layers and groups. Verify names, visibility, clipping, masks, opacity, blend modes, and stacking order.
- Review appearance. Compare gradients, transparencies, shadows, filters, color modes, spot colors, and overprinting at 100 percent zoom.
- Check assets and links. Open placed images, confirm resolution and color profiles, and relink anything shown as missing.
- Test behavior. Edit a paragraph, move a vector point, disable a mask, and change a color. If an object cannot be edited as expected, record that limitation.
- Export a proof. Create a PDF or image from both versions and compare pages or artboards side by side. Keep the imported project only after the proof meets the intended output requirement.
Use a representative file containing the most difficult features in the real project. A simple test page can pass while a production document containing a complex effect, script, or linked asset fails.
Moving Photoshop PSD and PSB files
Direct PSD import into Affinity Photo
The University of Mainz migration guide recommends opening a PSD directly in Affinity Photo. It reports that most layers, masks, and adjustments are retained, but smart objects and complex filters may not import as expected. After opening the duplicate, inspect adjustment layers, masks, text, blend modes, and every smart object rather than assuming the visual preview tells the whole story.
What Krita can and cannot guarantee
Krita’s 5.3.0 manual describes PSD as Photoshop’s internal format with no public official specification. Krita supports loading and saving raster layers, blending modes, layer styles, vector shapes, text layers, layer groups, and transparency masks, but states that no program outside Photoshop can support PSD 100 percent. A file can therefore open successfully while a Photoshop-specific feature is approximated, rasterized, or discarded.
When cross-application interchange matters more than Photoshop-specific behavior, Krita recommends considering OpenRaster (ORA) or TIFF where they suit the work. These formats are not a guarantee of feature-for-feature parity; they are alternatives to test for the particular layers and effects you need. Keep the original PSD or PSB regardless.
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PSD migration checklist
- Open a copy, not the archived source.
- Check whether text remains live and whether the expected fonts are installed.
- Toggle every layer mask and verify its edge behavior.
- Compare adjustment layers, blend modes, layer styles, and opacity.
- Test smart objects and complex filters individually; expect some to require rebuilding.
- Check 16-bit or 32-bit color, transparency, and document profile where print or compositing depends on them.
- Save an alternative-format copy only after exporting a proof that matches the intended output.
Moving Illustrator AI files
When direct opening works
The University of Mainz guide says an AI file can be opened directly in Affinity Designer when it contains a PDF stream. Illustrator files without that embedded PDF-compatible content need another route. In Illustrator, export a duplicate as PDF or SVG and import the result into the destination application.
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A PDF or SVG can carry visible artwork without carrying Illustrator’s private editing data. After import, compare critical text, paths, gradients, masks, effects, artboards, and raster effects. An object that looks identical may be grouped differently, converted to a bitmap, or no longer expose the controls you used in Illustrator.
Canva’s help documentation specifies a PDF-compatible AI file for its AI import path. It warns that some elements may be rasterized and that fonts are matched where possible rather than guaranteed. The cited workflow is a beta feature available only on canva.cn through a desktop browser, so do not generalize those instructions to every Canva region or account.
Canva’s published import limits
| Imported item | Limit or condition | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| AI | Up to 100 MB | Canva’s cited beta help page; requires PDF-compatible format |
| PSD | Up to 300 MB | Canva’s cited beta help page |
| Illustrator artboards | Up to 300 artboards per design | Canva’s cited beta workflow |
These are product limits published by Canva, not compatibility rates. A file under the size limit can still lose fonts, effects, or editability.
AI migration checklist
- Save a duplicate AI file with PDF-compatible content when direct opening is supported.
- If direct opening fails, export a tested PDF and, where appropriate, an SVG.
- Compare artboard dimensions, clipping masks, gradients, transparency, and raster effects.
- Verify every font and inspect line breaks; outline text only when preserving appearance is more important than text editing.
- Check whether placed images remain linked or have become embedded or rasterized.
Moving InDesign INDD and IDML files
IDML remains the established cross-version route
Adobe identifies IDML as an export format for backward compatibility to InDesign CS4 and for cross-version exchange. In the University of Mainz guide updated September 9, 2025, direct INDD import was not available in the documented Affinity workflow. The recommended procedure was to export IDML from InDesign and import that IDML into Affinity Publisher. The guide reports that layout and text are largely preserved, while links, interactive elements, complex master pages, scripts, dynamic content, and unsupported object styles may be lost or render incorrectly.
Native INDD import may now exist in some Affinity versions
A Canva announcement dated September 2026 states that Affinity supports native INDD import. This later vendor announcement changes the practical decision: check the version installed on your computer and its current release notes before assuming IDML is the only route. The announcement does not enumerate every limitation, so test the actual document. Keep an IDML copy as a fallback when a native import produces unexpected results.
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How to prepare an InDesign handoff
- Use File > Package in InDesign to collect the INDD document, fonts, and linked graphics.
- Save an IDML export from the duplicate. Preserve the packaged INDD as the authoritative source.
- Import the IDML, or test native INDD import if your installed Affinity version supports it.
- Compare page geometry, text flow, tables, styles, master-page items, links, and color settings.
- Open a few representative hyperlinks or interactive objects and verify whether they remain functional.
- Rebuild scripts, dynamic content, unsupported object styles, and missing links manually where required.
Do not delete the packaged InDesign folder after a successful-looking import. It is the recovery point for fonts, links, and features that the destination cannot represent.
Using PDF when appearance matters most
PDF is often the right delivery format when the destination explicitly imports PDF or when the goal is a print-ready or reviewable result rather than a fully editable project. It is not a substitute for archiving the source. A standard flattened PDF does not recreate original layers, object structure, scripts, or application-specific controls.
PDF to InDesign capabilities and limits
Adobe’s current InDesign documentation describes PDF-to-InDesign conversion support for strikethrough, superscript and subscript, baseline shift, underline, tables, special characters, hyperlinks, nested lists, spot colors, and gradients. The same documentation lists unsupported advanced list and table features and imposes page and file limits. Treat those limits as version-specific operational constraints and check the current Adobe documentation for the edition you use.
When exporting from InDesign, selecting Preserve InDesign Editing Capabilities helps recreate an InDesign-origin PDF. It still does not make a PDF equivalent to the original INDD: the result must be tested, and the source project must be retained.
Choose PDF when
- The recipient needs reliable visual output rather than editable source objects.
- The destination has a documented PDF import but no dependable native-project import.
- You need a proof to compare before rebuilding editable content.
- Print color, spot colors, hyperlinks, or page appearance are more important than layer-level editing.
Compare alternatives by capability, not by file extension
“Supports PSD” or “opens AI” describes only the first compatibility question. Evaluate the destination on six separate axes.
| Question | What to inspect | Typical failure signal |
|---|---|---|
| Can it open the file? | Native import, PDF stream, IDML, PDF, SVG, or another documented route | Error, blank canvas, missing pages, or partial import |
| What stays editable? | Text, paths, layers, masks, groups, and objects | Rasterized artwork, outlined text, or merged layers |
| Do text and fonts match? | Installed fonts, glyph coverage, line breaks, styles, tracking | Substitution, reflow, missing symbols, changed pagination |
| Are appearance features preserved? | Blend modes, gradients, filters, transparency, color channels | Different colors, flattened effects, unsupported spot colors |
| Do links and interactive features survive? | Placed files, hyperlinks, forms, scripts, animation, master pages | Missing assets, inactive links, discarded scripts or pages |
| Is the route available to you? | Destination version, platform, account, beta status, and region | A documented feature is absent in your installed edition |
Common failure modes and practical fixes
The file opens, but text is no longer editable
Confirm that the font is installed and that the importer recognizes text layers or objects. If the source used an unsupported text feature, keep the live source in Adobe and create an outlined or rasterized display copy only for the destination where appearance is the priority. Record that the copy is no longer equivalent for text editing.
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Layers appear merged or effects look different
Check whether the affected item is a smart object, complex filter, layer style, live effect, or transparency construction specific to the source app. Rebuild the effect with destination-native controls when practical. If rebuilding changes the design, retain the original and use a rendered layer only for the final output.
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Fonts substitute and pagination changes
Install the packaged fonts where licensing permits, then reopen the imported file. For unavailable fonts, compare a PDF proof and decide whether to accept reflow, replace the typeface, or outline text in a delivery copy. Never overwrite the source merely to hide a substitution.
Links are missing
Relink from the packaged assets folder and verify resolution and color profile. If the destination cannot maintain live links, embed or replace them deliberately and keep the packaged source for future updates.
Interactive content, scripts, or master pages disappear
Assume these features require manual reconstruction unless the destination documentation explicitly says otherwise. Test a representative page, list every lost behavior, and decide whether the alternative app is suitable for that project or only for exported delivery files.
Import is unavailable in your region or edition
Check the installed version, operating system, account type, and regional availability. Canva’s cited AI workflow, for example, is described as beta and limited to canva.cn through a desktop browser. A feature described by a vendor may not be present in your workspace.
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- Need a fully editable continuation? Start with the destination’s native import (PSD, AI with PDF stream, or current INDD support). Test every required feature before migration.
- Need reliable visual output only? Export a carefully checked PDF, SVG, or image, depending on whether pages, vectors, or pixels are the priority.
- Need maximum layer interchange? Test PSD directly, then evaluate ORA or TIFF for work that fits those formats. Keep Photoshop’s original because neither alternative promises Photoshop parity.
- Need an InDesign handoff across versions? Package the INDD and export IDML; also test native INDD import if your installed Affinity version provides it.
- Have a complex production file? Run a pilot on the most feature-rich page or artboard before converting the complete project.
Migration record to keep with the project
Alongside the original and imported files, save a short plain-text record containing the source application and version, destination application and version, export format, fonts used, linked-asset folder, features that changed, and the date of the proof comparison. This turns a one-time conversion into a repeatable handoff and tells the next editor which limitations are known rather than accidental.
The practical rule is simple: preserve the source, convert a duplicate, inspect editability and appearance separately, and choose the destination only after it passes the tests that matter for your work.
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