Knowing Other Ways to Import Pictures


If you want to specify custom import options for an imported graphics file, you must use the Place command. However, if you don't need this level of control, InDesign offers three other options for importing pictures:

  • You can also use your computer's Copy (File Copy, or z +C or Ctrl+C) and Paste (File Paste, or z +V or Ctrl+V) commands to move a graphics file between two InDesign documents or from a document created with another program into an InDesign document.

  • You can drag and drop graphics file icons from your computer's desktop into InDesign documents.

  • For Illustrator files, you can drag objects directly from Illustrator into InDesign.

If you use these methods to add a graphic to an InDesign document, some of the attributes of the original graphic may not survive the trip. The operating system, the file format, and the capabilities of the originating application all play roles in determining which attributes are preserved. If you want to be safe, use the Place command.

Copy and Paste

If you copy an object in an InDesign document and then paste it into a different InDesign document, the copy retains all the attributes of the original. In the case of a copied and pasted picture, all import settings, frame modifications, and picture modifications are retained, as is the link to the original graphics file.

When you copy and paste a graphic into an InDesign document, a link between the original graphics file and the InDesign document is not established. The graphic becomes part of the InDesign document, as though you created it using InDesign tools.

Cross-Reference ‚  

The Links pane (File Links, or Shift+ z +D or Ctrl+Shift+D) helps you manage the links that are established between an InDesign document and a graphics file when you use the Place command. See Chapter 24 for more about managing links to graphics files.

Drag and Drop

When an InDesign document is open , you can import a graphics file in any supported file format by dragging the file's icon into the window of the InDesign document. When you drag and drop a graphics file into a document, a link between the original graphics file and the document is established, just as it would be if you had used the Place command.

Adobe Illustrator files

If you drag and drop an Illustrator file icon into an InDesign document window, the graphic behaves the same as it would if you had used the Place command. That is, individual elements within the graphic are not selectable or modifiable within InDesign. However, if you drag and drop Illustrator objects from an Illustrator document window into an InDesign document window, each object becomes a separate, editable InDesign object, as though you had created it in InDesign.

This is a handy way of moving objects that you may want to modify between Illustrator and InDesign. For example, you can create text along a path in an Illustrator document, then drag and drop the object into an InDesign document. Each character is converted into an editable shape, which you can stroke, fill, distort, and so on, using InDesign features. However, you cannot edit text along a path after you've dragged and dropped it into InDesign. (You'd have to go back to Illustrator, edit the original text, then drag and drop it again, then redo all your modifications.)

Using the Copy and Paste commands to add Illustrator objects to InDesign documents is the same as dragging and dropping objects between the programs. The copied objects behave the same as objects created in InDesign when you choose Paste, and no links are established.

New Feature ‚  

If you paste or drag and drop Illustrator objects into InDesign, any gradients are now editable in InDesign CS.




Adobe InDesign CS Bible
Adobe InDesign CS3 Bible
ISBN: 0470119381
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 344
Authors: Galen Gruman

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