Share content

Exporting content from InDesign to InCopy establishes a link between the two applications. You export InDesign text frames, graphics frames, and their contents to InCopy using either of two methods:

• Create a container file (*.icma)—called an assignment—and add related groupings of document items (such as the text and graphics of a story) to the assignment so they can be worked on together. Content within assignments is exported as *.icml files.

• Export text and graphics frames separately (including placeholder frames) using the Edit > InCopy > Export menu commands. Exported content is saved as *.icml files.

After content is exported, small icons appear at the top left of exported frames in InDesign and InCopy, and in the Assignments panel. A link to the exported file appears in the Links panel. These icons indicate the status of managed frames and they differentiate managed frames from those that aren’t part of the workflow. All exported content appears in the Assignments panel. Content exported using the Export menu commands appears in the Unassigned InCopy Content section of the Assignments panel list. While both methods establish a controlled connection between InCopy content and an InDesign document, the primary method is to use assignment files.

Exporting content makes the content available for users to check out while maintaining a link to the original InDesign document. (This link is made from within InDesign; you cannot create the link from InCopy.)

Once the content is exported, InCopy users can see (but not change) the page layouts, styles, and so forth as they appear in the InDesign document.

Assignments panel overview

The primary tool for working with assignments is the Assignments panel (Window > Assignments in InCopy, Window > Editorial > Assignments in InDesign). The Assignments panel displays the files exported from the currently active InDesign document, and an icon indicates their status. The Assignments panel menu also contains commands that control import version and file-management functions between InCopy and InDesign. When you open an assignment in InCopy, the assignment name and its contents appear in the Assignments panel. You can double-click text and graphics frames in the Assignments panel to select them in the document window.

Assignment files

In InDesign, assignment files are containers for organizing collections of page items. For example, you might want to select all the items in a story (headline, byline, copy, graphics, and captions), and then assign them to one InCopy user. Adding those items to an assignment provides a convenient way for InCopy users to access only the content for which they are responsible. Assignment files (*.icma) appear in the file system, in the InCopy story bar, and in status messages. Only InDesign users can create assignment files; only InCopy users can open them.

When you create an assignment, a folder is created in the same location as the InDesign document by default. This assignment folder includes the *.icma assignment files and a content subfolder that contains any exported InCopy story files (in .icml format) that are part of images or other resources. Once the assignment is created, store the project folder in a location where all users have access to it, or create and distribute an assignment package. If content is exported before it’s added to an assignment, the files on disk are not moved to the content folder of the assignment file.

Assignment files include the following:

• Links or pointers to the associated page items, including placeholder frames. These elements let the InCopy user open a single file in InCopy and have editorial access to multiple page items.

• Any transformations on the graphics included in the assignment, such as moving, scaling, rotating, or shearing.

• Page geometry, so InCopy users can see the layout of the frame and its content that they’re editing without opening the entire InDesign file.

• Color-coding of assigned frames in the document.

   

Create assignments and add content (InDesign)

Only InDesign users can create assignments and add content to them. There are several ways to create assignments. The method you choose usually depends on whether you have content to add at the time you create the assignment.

• Create empty assignment files. From your InDesign document, you can create a series of empty assignments to act as templates for content to come later.

• Create assignments and add content at the same time.

• Add content to an existing assignment file. You can add linked content—text and graphics that have already been exported as InCopy content—or you can add selected page items to become linked InCopy content. If one or more of the selected frames already contain InCopy content files, and none is part of an assignment, you can add them to a new or existing assignment file.

By default, the assignment folder you create is saved in the same folder as the InDesign document. You can then place this folder on a server or create and send a package.

Create empty assignment files (InDesign)

Simultaneously create assignments and add content (InDesign)

The newly created assignment file includes any frames selected in the document window.

Add content to existing assignments (InDesign)

Assignment file options (InDesign)

When you create or modify an assignment file, you can set the following options:

The unique identification of the assignment in the Assignments panel, for example “Ocean article.” This name must conform to the file naming conventions of the operating system.

The unique identification of the user assigned to the files. The user’s name appears in parentheses following the assignment name in the Assignments panel. Entering a name here is for informational purposes only; it doesn’t grant special rights or permissions to the user.

Displays a list of colors for adding a distinctive highlight to the frames of the current assignment in the document window, and to the assignment names in the Assignments panel. This color coding differentiates frames that belong to one assignment from frames that belong to another, and it differentiates from unassigned frames. To toggle the display of this color coding, choose View > Extras > Show/Hide Assigned Frames. In InCopy, the color coding is visible only in Layout view.

Click the Change button to specify the location of the assignments folder. By default, the assignments folder is created in the same location as the InDesign file.

Lets InCopy users see the text and graphics frames in the assignment as well as boxes (or other shapes) representing all other frames on those InDesign pages. All frames and placeholders accurately reflect the size, shape, and location of the InDesign originals. Placeholder frames are empty shapes that don’t show any of the content in the InDesign document. The Placeholder Frames option provides the least amount of fidelity, and therefore provides the fastest performance. In InCopy, the placeholder frames are visible only in Layout view. InCopy users cannot check out and edit placeholder frames.

Lets InCopy users see all assigned frames, as well as the entire contents of other frames that aren’t part of the assignment, on the same spread. In InCopy, content in frames outside an assignment isn’t editable and is visible only in Layout view.

Exports all content in the InDesign document to the assignment file. This option provides the maximum amount of fidelity; it also provides the slowest performance because the assignment file displays the design and layout of every page, including pages not relevant to the section a user is editing.

Includes a copy of linked images in the assignment package. Selecting this option gives InCopy users access to images but increases the package’s file size. InCopy users can include images while returning a package.

Export content as separate InCopy files (InDesign)

If your workgroup prefers working with separate files rather than using assignments, you can export InCopy content without using an assignments file. Compared with creating a single assignment file with references to multiple content files and layout information, this method creates a separate file (.icml) for each text or graphics frame you specify in the document. To see the context of the content you are editing, you must also open the associated InDesign document (.indd).

Cater the InDesign document to suit your workflow needs. For example, if you want all of the editor’s comments to be exported in a single file, create a layer for the editor to make comments. You can then export all the content on the selected layer.

The InCopy content is now managed, and is available to be checked out and edited by other users in the workflow.

Shared content appears in the Links panel just like imported graphics. If you move a shared file manually, you can use the Links panel to update its link.