Maintaining Text Formatting When Copying
Vincent wrote:
We often have to lay out all our text in Photoshop (along with the graphics), and then, later in the process, copy all text in InDesign for the final layout. The problem, as you would expect, is that InDesign doesn’t retain formatting from Photoshop or Illustrator when pasting. Do you know a way to bring text from Photoshop to InDesign with retained formatting and still be able to edit the text in InDesign?
You’d think that something as simple as copying and pasting formatting text from one application to another would be simple — especially among applications in the Creative Suite! But no, there is simply no good way to copy and paste formatted text from Photoshop to InDesign. Or even Illustrator to InDesign! Sure, the text is pasted just fine, but all the formatting is stripped away.
Curiously, you can copy and paste formatted text between Photoshop and Illustrator… or even between these programs and After Effects. But not InDesign. The reason ostensibly has to do with how these programs handle text internally, but I would say the reality of the situation is that not enough people have complained to Adobe about this rather bizarre limitation.
By the way, my guess is that Adobe probably got caught up in “well, if we can’t figure out a way to copy and paste formatted text perfectly among these applications, then we just won’t let them do it at all.” They often get nervous that customers will complain if they don’t implement something perfectly. That’s why I usually try to explain, when making suggestions, that even a partial solution is better than no solution at all. For example, I would be fine with Illustrator or Photoshop just putting plain RTF on the clipboard. That would solve most people’s problems, even though it wouldn’t keep all the text formatting you can set in these programs. What do you think?
But it’s worse than that!
Not only can you not copy and paste formatted text from Illustrator or Photoshop into InDesign: You cannot export as RTF from either Illustrator and Photoshop either!
Here’s a workaround that may help sometimes with a lot of Illustrator formatting: (1) Save the Illustrator file as PDF, choosing to Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities (you can use the Illustrator Default PDF export preset. (2) If you have Acrobat Standard or Professional, choose File > Save As and select RTF as the format. (3) In InDesign, choose File > Place and turn on the options to retain formatting.
If you’re happy with the Photoshop text formatting, why not save as PhotoshopPDF - text will remain vector. (I think the compatibility options in Photoshop prefs need to be turned off so that the flattened version saved with the file is not loaded into InD)
I have Illustrator layout files that I have recently started converting to ID. I have found this to be an issue as well - Rather than converting the file to PDF, just place them into ID as native .ai or .psd files. That way you can easily edit them without having to make a change, create a PDF and revise the link.
guys, i think it’s because indesign rocks on CSS stylesheeting, which would be awesome if we could figure out how to `port text from one application to another and even as far as exporting illustrator-formatted text direct on to the web or log a CSS stylesheets file form illus.
blahhhh! come on adobe.
you have our money,
give us our gold.
yeah adobe, wtf?
I agree that there should be an easier way to move text between the two programs. There’s a little more info on this post..
pannamaster.nl, LOL!
Adobe needs to lay off the smart objects and concentrate on this… I am not re-typing a menu! >….<