Foreword

This book is about the art of collaboration. It resulted from a fruitful collaboration between two dedicated and talented Adobe evangelists, Adam Pratt and Mike Richman. It explores the ways Adobe InCopy and InDesign can enhance collaboration between the designers and editors in your creative team. And it reflects the depth and breadth of the interactions between Adobe's product teams and customers like youa collaboration that has helped us evolve our software to better support production workflows in magazines, newspapers, book publishers, ad agencies, graphic design firms, and other creative agencies.

If you're serious about improving your editorial workflow, this book is for you. It explains how designers and editors can use InCopy and InDesign to work on the same layout at the same time without overwriting each other's work. Designers create the assignments that control this workflow. Each participant can then focus on what he or she does best: the designer can refine the layout and presentation while one or more editors simultaneously finesse the words.

Although technology can make collaboration easier, creating more reliable and effective processes always depends on the people who participate in them. That's where Adam and Mike really help. They combine a deep knowledge of InCopy and InDesign with an even deeper understanding of how this technology maps to real-world workflows. Practical insights leap off every page as Adam and Mike guide you through setting up and managing editorial assignments, working with different views of your content in InCopy, and putting the InCopy editorial tools through their paces. If you want to achieve better editorial control over copy, fewer review and revision cycles, and faster delivery of materials to market, this book sets you up for success.

Writing a book of this type is no easy feat. Adam and Mike have juggled the demands of day jobs, travel, and family with grace and humor to produce a treasure trove of information about using InCopy and InDesign together. The InCopy and InDesign product team is indebted to Adam and Mike for their energy and enthusiasm in educating you about our favorite products. We hope this book serves you well!

Chad Siegel

Product Manager for
Adobe InCopy and InDesign