Transferring InCopy files via iChat

Instant messaging is my company’s drug of choice for day-to-day communications. Sure, we have project management software set up, and emails fly back and forth too, but when we need to have a conversation, instant messaging—usually via AIM—is the default.

I use both iChat and Adium for instant messenging: iChat for the voice, video, and screensharing features; Adium for the ability to connect with multiple accounts to multiple networks, and I prefer the interface to the “bubbly iChat.”

The company is experimenting with InCopy right now, with one of our developers [project manager and editor and writing all rolled into one]. Today he fed me a copy InCopy INDP files while I was using iChat, and I noticed that iChat was tossing up a strange dialog at the conclusion of the file send, and then the files appeared on my hard drive not as a nice OS X style package, but as a directory. Needless to say, double-clicking on the directory did not import it properly into InDesign.

A Sad InCopy file, roughly handled by iChat.

I had the developer re-send the file, and this time I used Adium to download it. No problem, imported perfectly. A few more experiments later, and I have an easy conclusion:

If you are receiving INDP files via iChat, have the sender—regardless of what IM client they are using to send the file!— zip the file first before sending it, or use a different IM client to receive the file.

A Happy InCopy file, transferred across the net with Adium.