DesignGeek 28: InCopy CS and InDesign CS Tips, HTML, Simpler Word Art

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*** DesignGeek ***
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Tips and techniques for the digital designer

In this issue:
-- InCopy CS Info and Tips
-- Mac Users Dissed in HTML Comments!
-- Simpler Handling of MS Word Art

Issue 28, 9/14/04
Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion
... for her clients, colleagues, random contacts and interested subscribers

© 2004 Seneca Design & Training, Inc.

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InCopy CS Info and Tips
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I've been working a lot lately -- both in-house and through training engagements -- with Adobe's editorial workflow solution, InCopy CS, InDesign CS, and the free "Bridge" plugins -- new to InCopy CS -- that tie them together.

With this set up, editors can "check out" articles from an InDesign publication and copy edit while seeing how their story fits in the actual layout, even if/while the designer has the InDesign file open. (Meaning: If your editors want to edit their stories in InDesign, they don't need to buy InDesign -- just InCopy, which is far less expensive, and could even replace MS Word in this workflow.)

Adobe's Bridge plugins allow designers and editors to automatically update each other with changed files, without having to purchase 3rd-party plugins, as was necessary with earlier versions of InCopy. There is no equivalent solution for QuarkXPress, unless you want to spend thousands of dollars (at least) for a QPS set-up.

We set up an InDesign CS/InCopy CS bridge workflow here in our studio with three computers (Macs and PCs) and a quasi-server (a shared external hard drive) and are doing real projects with it. As a result of this ongoing experience, and from teaching it to clients, here are some tips and links for any DesignGeek readers who are either considering, testing, or currently using Adobe's cool "bridge workflow."

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Download the Tryout
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If you have InDesign CS and want to see how it works, you can download a fully-functional tryout of InCopy CS from Adobe's web site:

InCopy CS Tryout for Macs
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/download.jsp?ftpID=2432

InCopy CS Tryout for Windows
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/download.jsp?ftpID=2431

You don't have to have a server to use the system, all the files can be kept on your local hard drive if you want. That way you can test it out for yourself, bouncing between InCopy and InDesign.

The default InCopy CS installation installs the Bridge plugins, not just for InCopy, but also for InDesign CS. If you installed InCopy CS first and then installed InDesign CS on the same machine, you'll need to run the InCopy CS installer again and choose a custom installation that only installs the InDesign CS Bridge plugins.

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Download the Update
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All InCopy CS users, tryout or purchased, should download and install the 3.01 update that was released on August 12, 2004. This is an additional update to the 3.01 update that was released in March 2004 (don't ask me why both have the same number.) It fixes a bunch of minor problems, especially pertaining to server issues. These links appear on the same pages as the above URLs, but here's a direct link anyway:

ICCS 3.01 Update for Macs
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2447

ICCS 3.01 Update for Windows
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2450

(By the way, there's an August 3.01 update for InDesign CS too ... an update to the earlier 3.01 update. Go to Adobe's downloads page at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html and click on the InDesign link for your platform to get it. Or just choose Help -> Updates in InDesign CS.)

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Download the Cheat Sheet
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Buried on Adobe's web site is a wonderful PDF document that explains the whole process of using InDesign CS and InCopy CS with the Bridge plug-ins:

The Bridge Workflow in InDesign CS and InCopy CS (888k)
http://www.adobe.com/products/incopy/pdfs/ic3bridge.pdf

It's fully illustrated and includes step-by-step instructions for setting up a workflow and productivity tips. It also explains how to set it up on a single workstation for testing purposes.

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Most Common Error with New Users
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If you're in InCopy and you want to edit an article from an InDesign publication in Layout View, do you open the article's InCopy file? No. You open the *InDesign* layout file. From InCopy's File -> Open command. Bizarre, no?

You're not actually opening the InDesign document in InCopy; that would be impossible. You're opening something similar to a snapshot of the InDesign file -- when you switch to Layout View you can see all the placed images, graphic elements, text frames, etc., but you can't edit them. The only element you can edit and format is the text in the stories (the stories the designer exported as InCopy stories, that is).

Actually, you could open the standalone InCopy story file and edit it. It's still linked to the layout, when you save your changes and check the file back in, the designer is alerted (via InDesign's Links palette) that the article has been modified and can update the layout with your changes.

But when you open a standalone InCopy file, you can't see a true Layout view. The Layout View tab is still active, but all that's different from Story or Galley View is that you can see the text formatting. No other InDesign document elements are visible.

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Save a Version of an InCopy Story
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There are a number of InCopy/InDesign workflow solutions from third parties that are more robust and fully-featured than Adobe's free Bridge plugins. One of those features is editorial version tracking and rollbacks. There's no automated way to do that with the Bridge plugins.

You can devise your own manual system, though. You'll note that InCopy's File menu has a couple tantalizing commands: "Save Story As" and "Save Story Copy." The problem is that if you've opened an InDesign file in InCopy so you can see page elements in Layout View (see preceding section), these commands are grayed out.

If that's your situation, do this. Using the Type tool in any view, click inside the story that you want to save a version of and choose Edit -> Select All. Copy the selected text to the clipboard, then choose File -> New to create a new standalone InCopy document. Paste the story into the new document and save it with a different name. This new story is not linked in any way to the InDesign layout file, but retains all existing information, including style sheets.

When *do* those "Save Story As" and "Save Story Copy" commands become enabled? When you open the standalone InCopy file. Choosing either command creates a copy of the story in its current state that is unlinked to the layout file, leaving the linked story as it was last saved.

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Track Changes a la Microsoft Word
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Did you know that InCopy has a Track Changes feature similar (but not quite as powerful) to Microsoft Word's? It's turned off by default. To turn it on, choose Track Story Changes from the Changes menu. Now delete a word in a story and see what happens: the word remains, but with a strikethrough line and highlighted in your user color (which you set in Preferences).

When you save the file and the InDesign file is updated with your story edits, the word disappears in InDesign. (It doesn't have a Track Changes feature.)

Nonetheless, it can still work in reverse. If the InDesign user edits a story in InDesign, there's no visual indicator in InDesign of their change; but after they check the story in, their changes are tracked and show up in InCopy (if Track Changes had been turned on when the story was last saved in InCopy). Nifty.

There are a ton of Change tracking features in InCopy; note that not only does it merit its own menu, but there's a Change Info palette available in the Windows menu (you can use it to see time/date stamping of changes) and of course all those icons in the InCopy toolbar for reviewing, accepting and rejecting changes.

For detailed instructions, in InCopy choose Help -> InCopy Help. When the online manual opens in your browser, click the "Writing and Editing Text" link on the left, then the "Tracking and reviewing changes" link on the right.

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Mac Users Dissed in HTML Comments
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I'll bet a lot of you don't know that web designers talk to each other on web pages they develop for clients. They do this via HTML "comments" -- bits of code buried in the page, surrounded by starting and ending tags that tell your browser software "this is a comment, don't show it on the page."

The only way to see the comments is to use your browser's View Source command and scan through the plain text HTML that lies behind the web page you're viewing. Look for the comments start tag. It's a less-than sign, followed by an exclamation point and two dashes, like this: 

A well-commented page is the mark of a careful and considerate web developer.

For some reason, I was checking out the HTML behind a web page at one of my favorite sites, http://www.sitepoint.com the other day. I don't remember why I was peeking under the covers -- probably to see how they achieved a particular web page effect I liked -- and found this, copied/pasted verbatim:


<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="/css/alt.css" />

<script src="/js/utilities.js" type="text/javascript"></script>



<script src="/js/x.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/js/layout.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">

Do you believe that ... the nerve! But it cracked me up. ;-)

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Simpler Handling of MS Word Art
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In the last issue of DesignGeek I described two ways of extracting Word art from Word files that clients might give you. Soon afterwards I received a couple replies from readers wondering why I was doing things the hard way.

Dave Haglund of Cygnus Media put it best. In fact I'm thinking of hiring him ... LOL.

He's given me permission to reprint his e-mail here:

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Hi Anne-Marie,

I always look forward to reading your handy tips in your Design Geek newsletter. But this issue's tips for dealing with artwork in MS Word has me confused.

I get my share of crummy MS Word docs with clip art etc. and though I hate the quality of the art (and find it ironic that someone without any graphics training is "helping" me with a design or layout), I do not have problems getting their art into usable files.

Maybe I am missing something...

Try this:
Open one of these beauties in MS Word.
Click on a clip art image and copy.
Open Illustrator CS
Make a new document
Paste the clip art into the Illustrator file.
...it works perfectly for me and is fully editable.

The same procedure works for photos...
Click on the photo and copy it to the clipboard
Make a new blank file in Photoshop CS
(Photoshop will make it the exact pixel size of the image on the clipboard)
Paste in the photo

Of course if the photo they placed was lo-res, that's all you get...no free lunch.

The same procedure also works with drawn objects copied and pasted into Illustrator (with a few exceptions)

Please let me know if this works for you (or if I misunderstood the problem you were solving)

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Thanks Dave! I don't know why I didn't try the easy method first! The ones I explained will still work (save as PDF and open in Illy, or save as HTML and open the individual graphics it exports); but this solution is obviously far better.

And everyone, let me take this opportunity to mention I love receiving feedback from you! I reply to every message personally. Whether you're fact checking, setting me straight, asking for help or just expressing appreciation (as a number of you did regarding last issue's link to the Firefly Press movie). It helps me to know I'm not writing into a faceless void. :-)

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BRING HERGEEKNESS ON-SITE

Do you like what you read in DesignGeek? Find anything useful? Why not bring me in for a session or two of hands-on software training for your workgroup; here in Chicago or any other city in driving distance from an airport. I don't charge an arm and a leg, and you'll find we usually go far beyond teaching which dialog does what. I pay attention to your particular projects and workflow, and teach how you can best use the software to get it done easily, accurately and efficiently.

Many of the stories I write in DesignGeek come from real-world situations my training clients are dealing with. They had a problem that wasn't on the syllabus, I helped them solve it. This level of commitment to your real-world concerns is just one of the benefits I offer to training clients. To learn more, or hear what other clients have to say, contact me or fill out the no-obligation "Request a Training Quote' form on Seneca's site:
http://www.senecadesign.com/training/request.html

Recent training clients include the American Health Information Management Association (InDesign, InCopy); Wells Manufacturing (InDesign, Version Cue); BCN Communications (InDesign); Ispat/Inland Steel (InDesign), Serta (Photoshop); Awana Clubs International (OS X, InDesign); BBDO Chicago (InDesign); and Emergency Nurses Association (Quark 6, Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS)
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DesignGeek is a free bimonthly publication written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion, a cross-media designer and authorized Adobe and Quark training provider. She owns Seneca Design & Training, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois (http://www.senecadesign.com/).

To subscribe to DesignGeek or read archived issues, go to its home on Seneca's site: http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/subscribe.html

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Copyright 2004 by Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
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