Getting PS text into InDesign

[williamb67390983]

So I created a pretty poster with a lot of text with different text size, fonts and colors to the text.

Now I want to learn Indesign, and I wonder if it is somehow possible to import the text layers (Not text images, real vector text from Photoshop) into Indesign.

Both programs is CC, and I can't figure out the Library, so I would be happy to hear if it's somehow possible : )

Thank you!

[D Fosse]

I don't think it's possible to import formatted text from Photoshop into InDesign, and keep it "live". Copy/paste removes the formatting (or most of it), and Place treats it like an image. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

But why would you? If you want to learn InDesign, there's no better way than doing. Text layout is what InDesign was born to do, and the whole application is based on importing raw text (from Word or elsewhere).

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Saving a pdf, converting it with Illustrator, copying the text there and pasting it in Indesign might work, but the text might get outlined.

[williamb67390983]

Thanks for your replay, yeah I hear InDesign is born to be the best text layout program out there ^ ^ But it's so difficult, and I can't see what it does better than Photoshop?  : )

[c.pfaffenbichler]

• It allows for creating multiple-page documents

• it has superior typography features

• …

[D Fosse]

I can't see what it does better than Photoshop?

Text...

Seriously, people think Photoshop is for everything, but it really isn't. The vector tools in Photoshop, including text, are very limited and mainly intended as aids to making selections and masks - for pixel content. They're not, and never were, intended for making final vector output. It can be done, with effort and workarounds, but it's extremely cumbersome and inefficient compared to dedicated applications.

Photoshop is a raster image editor. Everything else is secondary. It is not a page layout program.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

The vector tools in Photoshop, including text, are very limited and mainly intended as aids to making selections and masks - for pixel content.

And yet a few of Photoshop’s path editing features are superior to Illustrator’s, namely the perspectival transformation of Paths and the path-closing behaviour.

[Guest]

Is there too much point to this?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Is there too much point to this?

How much point do you accept?

Some of Illustrator’s shortcomings are a pet peeve of mine …

Consider this:

Suppose you create a Path with the Pen Tool and start by creating a Curve Point.

In Photoshop one can click the first point and the Path gets closed and the bezier handles are maintained.

When closing the Path Illustrator does by default not allow one to maintain the backwards bezier handle one created but either destroys it or one has to drag out the handles anew.

What would you deduce from that different behaviour of the »same« Tool in the two applications?

[Conrad C]

The reason you're having trouble transferring Photoshop text to InDesign is that it's rarely done. InDesign is typically the document production hub. So text is  created in a word processor, photos are created in Photoshop, vector graphics are created in Illustrator, and these components are all imported into InDesign and assembled there.

But it's so difficult, and I can't see what it does better than Photoshop?

If you're working on a single-page poster, InDesign doesn't have much of advantage over Photoshop, especially if you understand how to create final output with vector text from Photoshop. For one page documents there isn't much reason to learn InDesign, especially since Photoshop has been upgrading its text and typography in recent versions.

But as soon as you want to create longer documents, Photoshop simply can't keep up. InDesign has better features for creating and managing layouts and text for documents and books that can be hundreds of pages long. InDesign can generate automatic page numbers, an index, and table of contents based on text markers and styles. As for InDesign seeming difficult, that might be because it comes from a different corner of the industry. Where Photoshop is easier for those with photo/image editing experience, InDesign is easier for those with book/publication production experience.

If you wanted to lay out a 64-page product catalog and send it to press, PDF, and eBook, InDesign makes it fast and efficient, but if you tried to complete that project in Photoshop it would feel like torture and take forever, because Photoshop isn't built for that.