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You can often move an Adobe project into another app with much of its structure intact, but no conversion guarantees that every layer, effect, font, link, or interactive feature will remain editable. Keep an untouched original, convert a duplicate using a route supported by the destination app, and inspect the result before making it your new working master.

What to expect when moving an Adobe project

“Move” can mean two different things: preserving how a project looks, or preserving how it is built. A flattened image or PDF may look right while no longer offering editable text, paths, masks, or layers. Conversely, a project may open with its layers intact but display differently because a font, effect, linked asset, or application-specific feature did not transfer.

Before converting, decide which parts need to remain editable. For a photo project, that might mean raster layers, masks, adjustment layers, and blend modes. For vector artwork, it might mean paths, text, gradients, effects, and artboards. For a publication, it might include text flow, links, master pages, and interactive elements. Test those priorities in a duplicate of the real project rather than relying on the filename extension or a successful import message.

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Compatibility is specific to the source format, destination application, destination version, and features used in the document. The University of Mainz IT guide, updated September 9, 2025, warns that unsupported features can be lost when continuing work in Affinity and advises keeping the original. Krita’s 5.3.0 manual likewise cautions that no outside application can support PSD completely. Treat an imported file as a conversion to verify, not as a guaranteed clone of the original.

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Prepare the project before conversion

1. Preserve an untouched source and create a working copy

Keep the original Adobe project in its native format and make a separate copy for conversion. Give the copy a clear name so you can distinguish it from the archive. If the destination app changes or discards unsupported features, the untouched source remains available for recovery or for a later conversion attempt. Do not overwrite the only copy of an INDD, PSD, PSB, or AI file with an export.

2. Identify what must survive

Write down the elements that matter to the next stage of work. “Looks the same” is not a sufficient test if someone must still edit the text, masks, or vector paths. Useful checks include:

  • Whether the document opens and all expected pages, artboards, or canvases are present.
  • Whether text remains text and whether the intended fonts are available.
  • Whether layers, groups, masks, blend modes, adjustments, paths, and object effects remain editable.
  • Whether linked images and other placed assets are present and resolve correctly.
  • Whether color features, such as spot colors or special channels, are retained where required.
  • Whether interactive elements, scripts, dynamic content, and publication-specific structures still work.

3. Gather fonts and linked assets

A file may open even when a placed image or font is missing. Collect the assets needed for the handoff before import, and check for missing-link or font-substitution warnings afterward. For an InDesign handoff, Adobe’s Package workflow collects the document, fonts, and links into a package folder. That makes the handoff more complete, but it does not guarantee that every collected font can be used in another application; licensing and destination support still matter.

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4. Decide whether to simplify anything

Application-specific features can be a source of conversion problems. The Mainz guide identifies smart objects as an example of a feature that may need simplifying and recommends simplifying complex program functions before conversion where necessary. Flattening, rasterizing, or replacing an effect can make an appearance more portable, but it sacrifices some editability. Make that change only in the working copy and only if the loss is acceptable for the next editor.

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Choose the route for the file type

Adobe source Possible route What to verify
Photoshop PSD or PSB Open the PSD in the destination app; where appropriate, consider ORA or TIFF for exchange. Layer and text editability, masks, blend modes, adjustments, smart objects, and filters.
Illustrator AI Try direct import only when the AI contains a PDF stream; otherwise export PDF or SVG from Illustrator and import that. Text, paths, artboards, gradients, masks, effects, and any rasterized elements.
InDesign INDD Check whether the installed Affinity version supports native INDD import. IDML remains a documented exchange route. Text flow, layout, links, master pages, interactive elements, scripts, and object styles.
PDF Use for delivery or a destination-supported conversion, including supported PDF-to-InDesign workflows. Which text and formatting features are reconstructed, and whether the PDF retains InDesign editing information.

The routes below are options to test, not assurances of feature-for-feature parity. If a particular element is essential, verify it in the imported project before relying on it.

Move Photoshop PSD and PSB files

Open a PSD in the destination app

The Mainz 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. Krita’s 5.3.0 manual documents support for PSD raster layers, blending modes, layer styles, vector shapes, text layers, groups, and transparency masks, while warning that third-party PSD support cannot be complete.

  1. Save a separate PSD copy from Photoshop and leave the original untouched.
  2. Open the copy in the destination application using its normal Open or Import command.
  3. Check for import warnings, missing fonts, or unsupported-feature notices before editing.
  4. Inspect representative content: a text layer, a group, a mask, a blend mode, an adjustment layer, a smart object, and any filter or layer style used in the project.
  5. Compare the opened copy with the source at the same zoom and against the same visible layers. Check both appearance and whether the critical parts can still be edited.
  6. Save the converted document under a new native destination-app filename. Keep the PSD as the recoverable source.

Do not assume that a layer name in the stack proves the layer is intact. A layer can remain visible while an effect has been flattened, substituted, or rendered differently. If a feature is important, test a meaningful edit—for example, adjust the mask or change the text—then undo it. This confirms whether it is genuinely editable rather than merely present as pixels.

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When ORA or TIFF may help

Krita’s manual recommends considering ORA or TIFF where possible instead of treating PSD as a universal interchange format. These formats may suit a cross-application handoff, depending on the kind of work and what the destination supports. They do not promise to preserve Photoshop-specific behavior, and the cited manual does not claim feature-for-feature parity. Keep the PSD source, and compare the converted file against the features you actually need rather than choosing a format on extension alone.

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Move Illustrator AI files

Try direct import only when the AI includes a PDF stream

The Mainz guide says Affinity Designer can open AI files that contain a PDF stream. If the file lacks that stream, the guide recommends exporting PDF or SVG from Illustrator and importing the export instead. A direct-open attempt that fails is not evidence that the artwork is unusable; use the export route and test the result.

  1. Duplicate the AI file and open the copy in Illustrator.
  2. If the destination supports the file’s embedded PDF stream, try opening the copy directly there.
  3. If direct import is unavailable or unsuccessful, export a PDF or SVG from Illustrator, then open or import that export in the destination app.
  4. Inspect the artwork against the original, especially text, paths, gradients, masks, effects, raster effects, and every artboard needed for the project.
  5. Test whether critical text and vector objects can still be edited. If they have become pixels or have changed structure, decide whether that is acceptable before continuing.
  6. Save the imported work in the destination app’s native format, separate from both the original AI and the interchange export.

PDF and SVG are exchange paths, not containers that guarantee preservation of Illustrator’s private editing data. The Mainz guide warns that special effects, raster effects, and non-standard Illustrator features may not remain editable. Compare both appearance and structure: a visually close export can still have lost the controls needed for future revisions.

Importing AI into Canva has specific limits

Canva’s cited help page says AI files must be saved in “PDF compatible format” for its import path. The page describes a beta workflow available only on canva.cn through a desktop browser, so it should not be assumed to apply to every Canva region, account, or interface. Canva also says fonts are matched where possible rather than guaranteed, and some elements may be rasterized.

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For that cited beta workflow, Canva lists a maximum AI import size of 100 MB and up to 300 Illustrator artboards per design. These are Canva’s product limits for the described workflow, not general limits for AI files or other destination applications. After import, check the actual text, fonts, artboards, and any element that must remain independently editable.

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Move InDesign INDD and IDML documents

Check the installed Affinity version before choosing a route

Advice about direct INDD import has changed. The Mainz guide, updated in September 2025, describes a workflow in which direct INDD import was not possible: export IDML from InDesign and import that into Affinity Publisher. A later Canva announcement from September 2026 says Affinity now supports native INDD import. The announcement is a vendor claim and does not list every import limitation, so confirm what the version installed on your computer accepts and test the actual document.

  1. Keep the INDD source and make a separate copy for the test.
  2. Check the installed Affinity version’s available import options. If native INDD import is supported in that version, test a copy of the INDD file.
  3. If you need the documented IDML route, export an IDML file from InDesign and open or import it in Affinity Publisher.
  4. Open the result and inspect page layout, text flow, fonts, linked assets, master pages, object styles, interactive elements, scripts, and dynamic content.
  5. Correct any missing or altered material in the converted copy, then save it as a new Publisher document. Keep the source INDD and any IDML export separately.

The Mainz guide reports that IDML generally preserves layout and text, but that links, interactive elements, complex master pages, scripts, dynamic content, and unsupported object styles may be lost or render incorrectly. Check these features explicitly; a page that looks acceptable at first glance may still contain missing links or broken interactivity.

What IDML does—and does not—mean

Adobe identifies IDML as an export format for backward compatibility to InDesign CS4 and for cross-version exchange. That makes IDML a useful route when the receiving app supports it, but it is not a guarantee that every InDesign-specific capability will survive. For a packaged handoff, Adobe’s Package Folder workflow collects the document, fonts, and links. Packaging the source and exporting an interchange file solve different problems: one gathers project dependencies, while the other provides a route for opening the document elsewhere.

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Use PDF when appearance or a supported conversion matters

A PDF is often suitable for delivery when recipients need to view or print a finished document. It can also be an input for a destination app that explicitly supports PDF conversion. But a standard flattened PDF should not be treated as a replacement for the editable project: it does not promise to recover the original layers, object structure, or application-specific controls.

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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. Adobe also documents unsupported advanced list and table features and page and file limits. The available information does not specify the numerical thresholds here, so check Adobe’s current documentation and the destination’s own limits before planning a large conversion.

When exporting a PDF from InDesign for a workflow that may recreate an InDesign-origin document, Adobe says selecting “Preserve InDesign Editing Capabilities” helps that recreation. This setting is not a promise that an ordinary PDF will behave like the original INDD file in an unrelated application. Retain the INDD source and test any PDF-based conversion before relying on it for further layout work.

Inspect the imported project before adopting it

Make the review systematic. Compare the source and converted copy using the same pages or canvases, visible content, and viewing scale. Inspect the parts most likely to fail, not just a representative opening page.

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  • Structure: Are the expected pages, artboards, layers, groups, and object order present?
  • Text: Is text still editable? Are fonts substituted, line breaks changed, or text overflowing its frame?
  • Images and links: Are placed assets present, at the expected resolution, and connected to the right files?
  • Appearance: Do masks, blending, layer styles, gradients, transparency, and special effects look as expected?
  • Color: Are spot colors or special channels preserved where the output requires them?
  • Behavior: Do links, interactive elements, dynamic content, or scripts still work where applicable?
  • Editing: Can you make a small test change to each critical feature and undo it without discovering it was flattened or converted to an unusable form?

If something important fails, do not continue editing as though the conversion were complete. Return to the preserved source, try the destination app’s other supported route, or deliberately simplify the feature in a new copy. If only visual fidelity matters, a rasterized or flattened result may be sufficient; if future editing matters, document any lost controls and keep the source file as the editing master.

Choose a route based on the work, not just the extension

There is no universally safest interchange format. Choose according to what the next person must do with the file. Direct import is convenient when the destination supports the source and the test confirms the needed features. PDF is a practical delivery format and can support selected conversions, but it does not make a flattened file fully editable. IDML provides a cross-version and exchange route for InDesign documents, while native INDD support depends on the installed destination version. ORA or TIFF may be worth considering for some raster workflows, but they are not substitutes for retaining the original PSD when Photoshop-specific behavior matters.

Before committing to a migration, run one representative project through the complete workflow: prepare assets, convert a duplicate, inspect it, make a test edit, and save in the destination format. That small trial reveals whether the route is suitable for the real workload far more reliably than assuming that a file opening successfully means its formatting and layers survived.

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