How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5

How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5 Subject Descriptors: InDesign CS5, Import, Layout, Word, Excel Table, Text Frame, Headline, Linked...
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How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5 Subject Descriptors: InDesign CS5, Import, Layout, Word, Excel Table, Text Frame, Headline, Linked, Show Threads, Insert Break, Formatting, Alternating Fills, Patterns, Color, Remove Strokes Application (Version): Adobe InDesign CS5 - Windows Task Description: Learn how to import and layout text in InDesign CS5 Tutorial Date: 4 June 2009, by Virinia Smith. Updated 29 June 2010

Create a New InDesign Document

Either create a new InDesign document or open an existing document and navigate to a blank page or blank area of a page so that you can create a text frame.

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Change Type Preferences

The first step is to change a preference in InDesign CS3 that determines how InDesign handles placed Word and Excel file. Press Command+K (PC: Ctrl+K) to open Preferences, and click on the Type category on the left. Enable the option to Create Links When Placing Text and Spreadsheet Files. This will ensure that when a placed file is updated in Word or Excel, it will also update your InDesign document. There's a caveat to that with Excel files, but we'll discuss that later.

Create or Open a Word Document You're going to need a Word file to follow along with in this part of the tutorial. The Word file we're going to use as an example also uses style sheets in Word. This is not absolutely necessary, but if you set your Word users up with a template it will help you going forward.

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Create Text Frame for Headline

The next step will depend upon your layout needs. InDesign allows you to create frames first or create them while placing your content. In this example, we want the article to go into a specific area of the page, so let's create the frames first. Click with the Type tool (T) and drag out an area for your headline.

Create 3-Column Text Frame

Now that you have a headline frame created, create a three-column frame below it. To make three columns, select Text Frame Options under Object or simply press Ctrl+B. In the Text Frame Options dialog box that appears, type "3" into the Column Number. Then select your Text tool (T) and draw the frame. How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5 - 3

Link the Text Frames

Now that we have our headline frame created, let's create a linked three-column frame below it. Switch to your Selection tool (V) and click on the out port near the bottom right of the frame you created. Your cursor will change into a placement icon and you can then drag out one large text frame below your headline frame. You can verify that the two frames are linked together by choosing Show Text Threads from the View menu.

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Place Text Cursor in First Frame

Now we're ready to place our Word document. Switch back to your Type tool and click inside the first frame that you set up for your headline. A faster way to do that would be to double-click inside the first frame with Selection tool. This will automatically switch you to the Type tool and place your cursor in the frame. Choose Place from the File menu. How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5 - 5

Activate Show Import Options

You can just choose your Word document in the Place dialog and click Open and the Word file will be placed. All of the controls for how that Word file will be placed are in the Show Import Options section of the Place dialog. Select your Word document in the Place dialog, enable the Show Import Options checkbox, and click Open.

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Choose Either to Preserve or Map Style Sheets

Most users will opt to Remove Styles and Formatting from Text and Tables. This means that the text will come in with a default font that you can style in InDesign. However, if the person used style sheets in Word and those style sheets match the same exact names as the ones in your InDesign document (yes, it's case sensitive), then your document will come in beautifully formatted. So if that were the case, you would choose Preserve Styles and Formatting from Text and Tables. If you are unsure of the styles used, choose Customize Style Import, and click the Style Mapping button.

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Force Text to Second Frame

One side effect from placing this article is that the headline frame is too large. We could increase the size of the headline or decrease the size of the frame, but let's say we want to keep everything the same size and just force any text below the byline down to the next frame. Don't hit the Return (PC: Enter) key; there's a better option. Place your cursor after the last word you want to be in the headline frame and choose Frame Break from the Type>Insert Break Character menu. This will force everything after the cursor to begin in the next frame.

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Place Excel Table in InDesign

If your Word document contained a table, it would automatically be converted into an InDesign table and placed with the rest of the text. For tables generated in Excel, the process is pretty much the same: Place your Excel document with the Show Import Options box checked in the Place dialog.

Choose Unformatted Table from the Table pop-up menu in the Formatting section and click OK. Because we didn't create a frame first, the table will be placed at the current cursor location, or you'll get the placement icon so that you can place the frame whenever you want. How to Import and Layout Text in Adobe InDesign CS5 - 10

Select the Entire Table

The table that you placed will be pretty plain. You can, of course, go through and change the fonts and even use your style sheets for consistent formatting. However, remember the caveat we mentioned in Step 1? If you have a linked spreadsheet and someone makes changes to it in Excel, your InDesign table will update, but you'll lose all custom formatting done in InDesign. To format all the text at once, switch to the Type tool and position it in the upper-left corner of the table until the icon changes to a diagonal arrow. Click to select the entire table.

Create Your Rows and Columns

Beyond simple text formatting, you can also change the fill color of the cells. My favorite method of doing this is to choose Alternating Fills from the Table>Table Options menu.

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Choose Patterns

The resulting Table Options dialog allows you to choose a pattern for which rows or columns that you want to fill. After selecting a pattern, choose your colors and click OK.

View Results

In this case, We have a dark text blending in with a dark fill. To fix this problem, we will need to change the text color.

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Change Text Color

To change the text color, highlight the rows that need to be changed and select the Color palette in the right toolbar. First, select the Text icon and then select the color you want for your text (in this case, white).

Remove the Strokes

Users often ask if you have to keep the visible lines/strokes separating the cells. The answer is no. With the entire table selected as we did in Step 2, you can choose 0 points for the stroke value in the Stroke palette.

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