2 Replies Latest reply: Feb 7, 2011 7:16 AM by confused_again RSS

    Preserving styles from InDesign in InCopy CS5

    confused_again Community Member

      We use an InCopy-based workflow integrated with InDesign using WoodWing. In the past, I would create InCopy templates based on my InDesign layout templates, and the InCopy files retained ALL of the Paragraph and Character styles available in the InDesign document. With CS5, all that comes into the InCopy file are those styles that are in use (which, given that the InCopy template is an empty text box, equates to one style). I'm told that this is something Adobe have implemented in CS5. Is that correct - and, if so, is there a way round it? (Just in case, for those non WoodWing users, the system does not allow InCopy styles to be edited, so the feed has to come from InDesign, I can't just add the missing styles post creation).

        • 1. Re: Preserving styles from InDesign in InCopy CS5
          AnneMarie Concepcion CommunityMVP

          As far as I know there is nothing new in CS5 (or CS4 for that matter) regarding which styles are retained when exporting frames to InCopy. If you're exporting an individual story (text frame) from ID to IC, the only styles in that ICML file will be the ones used by the text in the story. If there's no text in the story -- you're exporting an empty frame -- then the ICML file won't have any styles.

           

          It's been this way as long as I can remember.

           

          What you need to do in InDesign is keep some fake text in the text frame to which you've applied the styles you want the InCopy users to use. Export that, then in InCopy, open it up, delete the text, and the styles will remain. Now you can save it as an actual InCopy template file (ICTD? something like that) from the Save As menu, and when IC users open it, it'll create an untitled, empty copy of the starter InCopy document with all the styles.

           

          In a non-Woodwing workflow, InCopy users open the actual INDD file and so have access to all the styles, even if the story frame they want to work on in that layout is initially empty. Or, they can import (Load) all the styles from an InDesign doc into their standalone InCopy file from the InCopy Paragraph Style panel menu (Load All Styles).Not sure if you can do the latter w/Woodwing.

           

          I was pretty sure that Woodwing had a different way of creating InCopy templates, something like InCopy article templates? Not sure.

           

          AM

          • 2. Re: Preserving styles from InDesign in InCopy CS5
            confused_again Community Member

            Thanks for the input. I too thought it was strange and that I had seen this behaviour in earlier versions...

             

            I tried your workaround, but once I delete the dummy text from the InCopy file and resave it as a template it strips the unused styles out again. I'm assuming that this is WoodWing doing this rather than InCopy, but I can't be sure.

             

            You're correct in that in WoodWIng you create an InCopy template by assigning frames from an InDesign layout. In the past that also captured all of the styles from the InDesign layout, making them available to an InCopy user who does not have access to InDesign (a large number of people at my place).

             

            Unfortunately, part of this process locks the Styles in InCopy so that they cannot be edited, so I can't Load from an InDesign document - and even if I could import them, it seems that as soon as I resave it as a template, the styles would get stripped out again....

             

            I'm following this up with WoodWing too, but I was trying to understand what, if anything, had changed in CS5 that might cause this.