Adobe Community: Copy and Paste from Word to ID

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1. monaronyc,

May 10, 2010 6:04 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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Hi!

Was this ever resolved? We're experiencing the same issue! And it's never consistent. I posted the same issue on Microsofts forum to see if maybe the issue is with Word. We are currently using IDCS4 6.0.4 and Word 12.2.4 on an Intel Mac Pro 10.5.8. I'll post another topic of the same here if no one responds. Thanks a bunch!

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2. Eugene Tyson,

May 10, 2010 7:06 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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It should paste as text

Try resetting your preferences in InDesign

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/526990

If that doesn't work then try saving your Word file as a different format, like RTF or .doc or something?

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3. Vernal Bogneris,

May 10, 2010 10:19 PM in reply to monaronyc

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It seems that it depends whether or not you're in a text box (i.e. blinking cursor and all) at the moment you first paste your copied Word content. It will paste as text if you're actually in a text box. Otherwise it will paste as an image.

Note that if you mistakenly paste as an image, you have to go back to Word and re-copy the text again to reset the pasting mode. If you just say "oops", click into your text box and paste again, you get the image again because InDesign has committed to that method. You gotta re-copy it from Word to reset.

Hope that helps.

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4. Eugene Tyson,

May 11, 2010 1:22 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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No it should still be pasting as text.

What file format is it in word; RTF; doc; docx, dot?

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5. Peter Spier,

May 11, 2010 3:13 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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Vernal Bogneris wrote:

It seems that it depends whether or not you're in a text box (i.e. blinking cursor and all) at the moment you first paste your copied Word content. It will paste as text if you're actually in a text box. Otherwise it will paste as an image.

Note that if you mistakenly paste as an image, you have to go back to Word and re-copy the text again to reset the pasting mode. If you just say "oops", click into your text box and paste again, you get the image again because InDesign has committed to that method. You gotta re-copy it from Word to reset.

Hope that helps.

I'm very puzzled by this post. On my system it always pastes as text. If you are in an active text frame the text pastes there, if not ID creates an new 2" ssquare frame in the center of the screen area to hold the new text. Are you sure this isn't what you are seeing? I also have no problem switching into a text frame.

Can you post a screen shot of theis image, with frame edges visible?

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6. Vernal Bogneris,

May 12, 2010 8:01 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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Apparently attachments are disabled in the forums right now, so here's a link on my website: http://ravenplenty.com/screenshot.png

The top text was pasted as an image, because I was not working inside a text box.

The bottom text was (re-copied and) pasted as text inside of a text box.

I'm using Word 2008 for Mac, regular .doc and/or .docx files, and InDesign CS4 (6.0.5). I've found this pasting behaviour to consistently work this way. Perhaps there's a preference somewhere that's causing this, but I can't find it.

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7. Peter Spier,

May 12, 2010 10:16 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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Sorry, I guess I should have said with frames selected so we could see the frame types. You can embed a screen capture using the little camera button.

That top frame is odd. It looks for all the world like the text is pasted inline inside another frame. Please describe in detail what you did, including what is selected or not selected at the time you paste.

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8. Vernal Bogneris,

May 12, 2010 12:38 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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Ok, new screenshot, with notes to accompany the numbered sections:

1. I copied the text from a Word 2008 .docx file. In InDesign, made a new document and hit Paste. (Nothing was selected.) It pasted as an image inside a graphic frame. It seems to be an embedded vector graphic – I'm guessing PDF format? – retaining the same formatting and appearance, including line breaks, as the source Word doc.

2. Next, I created a text box and, with the cursor positioned inside said text box, hit paste again. It pasted the same pixel image into the text box as an inline graphic.

3. Next, I re-copied the text anew from the Word doc, and pasted into a new text box in InDesign. It pasted as text.

Here's a capture of the source Word doc, so you can see that the formatting is retained in the pasted "vector image" version:

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9. Peter Spier,

May 12, 2010 12:49 PM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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This might have something to do with the docx format or it being Word for Mac (which is often a little strange compared to Windows), but since I stopped upgrading at Word 2000, and I run Windows, I have no way to test.

Anyone else out there with Word 2008 for Mac who can jump in?

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10. Vernal Bogneris,

May 12, 2010 12:57 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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In any case, at least I know how this works now. I originally thought it was totally random, but now I know to paste into an active text box if I want editable text.

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11. Peter Spier,

May 12, 2010 2:00 PM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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Well, I'm not convinced that this is really the way it's supposed to be, and while that might be a workaround for now, I'd prefer to hear from som other Mac users as to whether they have the same experience. If it's an abberation it seems like it would be worth fixing.

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12. BriGuyAG,

May 4, 2012 9:19 AM in reply to Vernal Bogneris

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Sorry, I know this is an old post, but I'm not really finding many newer posts about this (although I did also find this article online via built-in InDesign Help, which contains a couple more recent responses: http://indesignsecrets.com/when-pasting-text-from-word-turns-it-into-a n-image-in-indesign.php).

Anyway, as a long-time Mac user, I can confirm the OP's dilemma.

I just upgraded from a pre-Intel Power Mac G5, OS X 10.5.8, CS2 Premium, Word 2004 for Mac to a late-2011 MacBook Pro, Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3, CS5.5, Word 2011.

This definitely is working as the OP is describing. Select text in .docx file, Cmd-Tab to InDesign, paste (with nothing selected)... pastes as an image.

Drawing a text frame in InDesign *first* and *then* pasting the text does work, though (unlike the OP, it's not pasting as an inline graphic for me, so something may have been addressed since his posts), as does pasting the text from Word into TextEdit, then copying the text from TextEdit and pasting into InDesign (it is not necessary to first draw a text frame if pasting from TextEdit).

I can also paste the text from Word into Dreamweaver and then into InDesign, and it'll be actual text in both locations, without having to first draw a text frame in InDesign.

For some reason, though, it's not liking the Word-to-InDesign transition.

I even tried saving the file as a text-only file (.txt), opened that in Word, copied some text, pasted into InDesign with nothing selected... still being pasted as an image.

So, anyway, workaround method it is, for now.

(Yes, placing the Word doc -- as opposed to copying/pasting -- does still work, but if you're only trying to grab a few lines of text from the file, placing becomes more of a hassle.)

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13. Peter Spier,

May 4, 2012 9:27 AM in reply to BriGuyAG

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It might also have to d withthe Clipboard Handling Preference. Is "Prefer PDF When Pasting" checked?

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14. BriGuyAG,

May 4, 2012 9:34 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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No.

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15. Peter Spier,

May 4, 2012 9:39 AM in reply to BriGuyAG

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Then I'm as clueless as I was two years ago...

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16. BriGuyAG,

May 23, 2012 7:19 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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For what it's worth, the Word-to-InDesign transition works properly in CS6 (I ordered 5.5 just before 6 came out, so I got the free upgrade ).

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17. harpercollins,

InDesign

Copy and Paste from Word to ID – as text please?

May 29, 2009 7:39 AM

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