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1. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 7, 2013 6:42 AM (in response to smithpr)Also tried using FontDoctor on the font, but it didn't detect any problems, and the font is working fine everywhere else I'ved used it, so I don't think it's the font
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2. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 7, 2013 6:46 AM (in response to smithpr)Also, I'm using the cell style in tables imported from Excel, if that makes a difference. Sorry so many posts to describe the problem; I just keeping thinking of other details that may or may not be relevant
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3. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
P Spier Jun 7, 2013 7:25 AM (in response to smithpr)Are you seeing any Plus signs indicating style overrides (particularly in the cell styles or table styles)? Tables are really wierd about overides.
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4. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 7, 2013 8:27 AM (in response to P Spier)Hi Peter, thanks for the quick response. I really appreciate your efforts to help. It wasn't showing me the overide plus sign in this instance, though I have noticed such overides in the past that have baffled me.
However, since I am having other troubles with these imported tables, I've simply given up and gone back to copy pasting the text from Excel. It makes me feel a little sick to do it that way given the size of this project, but I simply have no more time to spend fighting with InDesign to make this work. Maybe I'll come back and try again on another project, but I feel pretty burned by this feature at the moment and will now have to work in desperate fashion to try to get something together for the client on time.
Anyway, I apologize for troubling you with the griping, and I really do appreciate your help. Hope you have a great weekend.
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5. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
P Spier Jun 7, 2013 8:40 AM (in response to smithpr)For what it's worth, I find tables so baffling in ID that I pretty much avoid them entirely whenever possible.
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6. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Jeffrey_Smith Jun 7, 2013 9:49 AM (in response to smithpr)I'm using the cell style in tables imported from Excel
Are you saying that when importing an excel file, and selecting Formatted Table, the file imports and the cell styles created in Excel come along and populate the Cell Style panel of Indesign? If so, how are you doing that? I can import a formatted table, keeping the attributes (cell color, border, font, etc.) but the actual style does not come along.
Have you tried this: Create all of your Indesign Table and Cell Styles before importing, then import excel file as an unformatted table, and in this process assign your ID styles?
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7. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 7, 2013 12:40 PM (in response to Jeffrey_Smith)To Peter-
Hearing that from you makes me feel much better . I've been reading these forums for a long time and know you to be extremely knowledgeable, so I don't feel so bad now that these table issues have stumped me
To Jeffrey-
Thanks for your response! I was actually already doing just what you suggested (creating styles in InDesign then importing unformatted table from Excel). I'm not sure how to import actual styles from an Excel document; never tried to do it that way before (generally the Excel files I receive from clients just include raw data with very little formatting).
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8. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
P Spier Jun 7, 2013 2:00 PM (in response to smithpr)There ARE some pretty experienced users here who DO use tables all the time (and mostly without issues, as far as I know). I've just always hated them, and for some reason I just never managed to get table styles to work. I think it's the same thing that used to cause the bank's computer network to crash every time I walked in the door in the 1970's.
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9. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Laubender Jun 9, 2013 5:54 AM (in response to P Spier)I totally avoid Table Styles.
But I extensively use Cell Styles.Uwe
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10. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Frans van der Geest Jun 9, 2013 6:08 AM (in response to P Spier)So Peter Spier, you hate me? ;-)
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11. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Frans van der Geest Jun 9, 2013 6:08 AM (in response to Frans van der Geest)Or the tables? ;-)
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12. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
P Spier Jun 9, 2013 6:30 AM (in response to Frans van der Geest)Sorry, that wasn't clear was it. I admire people who can use tables (but I'm a little jealous). It's the tables I hate.
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13. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Frans van der Geest Jun 9, 2013 7:14 AM (in response to P Spier)I understood, just kidding! ;-)
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14. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 10, 2013 6:38 AM (in response to P Spier)Lol
I've used tables for a long time without issue as well; they have their quirks for sure, but in the absence of cell/table styles they work just fine for me.
The reason I was trying so hard to get the styles to work this time around is because this project is a long doc that will require 100+ tables. I can use the cell styles when I copy paste the data from Excel; they don't behave entirely as expected, certainly not a one-click formatting solution, but they at least apply the correct font. It was when I imported the data from Excel as an unformatted table that InDesign refused to apply the font.
I wanted to be able to maintain the link to the Excel file so that the client could update the data there, but if I'm going to have to redo the formatting each time that happens anyway (my understanding is that applied table/cell styles will be maintained when you update the link, but local formatting will not), then I may as well copy paste the data so that I can at least know how the software is going to behave, you know?
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15. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Jeffrey_Smith Jun 10, 2013 9:52 AM (in response to smithpr)smithpr, I can replicate your table issue by importing a "formatted table" and then try to apply cell styles to table, with the associated paragraph style not working. But, selecting "unformatted" in the import option will remove all attributes applied in Excel, and allow for proper cell styling, including a paragraph style associated with cell style.
Even though a spreadsheet may appear as raw data in Excel, it may have style-applied attributes that can only be removed by selecting (unformatted) during import into Indesign. -
16. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 10, 2013 11:12 AM (in response to Jeffrey_Smith)Hi Jeffrey-
Indeed it should, and I see why using a formatted table would cause conflicts, but I am importing it as an unformatted table already. Built all styles in InDesign first, then imported as unformatted table. A few times it did work as expected, but most of the time it steadfastly refused to apply the correct font.
But in any case, that wasn't my only issue with the tables. My understanding of importing Excel spreadsheets is that applied table and cell styles will be maintained when the linked file is updated, but local formatting/overrides will be wiped out, which is why I was trying to get the styles working in the first place. However, after testing, I found that even when I didn't use local formatting/overrides, updating the linked file still broke my InDesign layout.
In my test, the only thing I did to the imported (unformatted) table was to apply the table/cell styles and adjust column width (which is unavoidable as far as I know - didn't see anywhere I could set column width as part of a style). But even then an update to the linked file removed all the styles and column widths I had set (and was also highly annoying as it gave me a separate error message about the formatting loss for each and every instance of the spreadsheet).
Could be a fluke, or could be I'm missing something, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't get it to work
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17. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
Jeffrey_Smith Jun 10, 2013 1:36 PM (in response to smithpr)How are the excel files saved XLS or XLSX ? If XLSX, have you tried back saving to the older format ?
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18. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 11, 2013 6:54 AM (in response to Jeffrey_Smith)Jeffrey that is an excellent point; I hadn't even thought of that. The file is XLSX. I have a few other projects needing attention at the moment, but as soon as I get back to this one I'm going to save it back as you suggested and give that a try. Thanks!!
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19. Re: InDesign CS6 Font doesn't work in table cells
smithpr Jun 18, 2013 6:18 AM (in response to Jeffrey_Smith)Thanks Jeffrey! Your suggestion to save the Excel file back to xls did the trick.




