Content-first Workflow


In a content-first workflow, content is king, and the design of the publication follows suit. Some examples of a content-first workflow might include technical documentation, a literary journal, or a novel. In these cases, the text content is the most important element, the design is often relatively straightforward, and the length of the publication will increase or decrease based on the copy.

When you participate in a content-first workflow with InCopy, it's called stand-alone mode. It's a stand-alone mode in the sense that when the writer is working in InCopy, he or she is working on an InCopy file that was created in InCopy instead of an InCopy file that was exported from InDesign. You're also opening .incx files instead of InDesign (.indd) or InCopy assignment (.inca) files (Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2. A content-first workflow starts in InCopy, and then completed stories are flowed into InDesign layouts.


Let's outline what a copy-first workflow might look like:

  1. The InCopy user creates a new .incx document by choosing File > New and sets the text area and page dimensions. These page dimensions are only for the benefit of the writer and will likely be overridden by the final InDesign layout (see Chapter 2).

  2. If the InCopy user knows how long the text should be, the text area dimensions provide accurate line breaks without relying on InDesign for copyfit information. For example, if a certain weekly newspaper column is always 2.5 inches wide and 18 inches deep, those values can be entered as the Text Area width and depth.

  3. If the InCopy user writes stories with the same length on a regular basis, document presets can save time and ensure consistency. Choose File > New to enter the desired document properties, click Save Preset, and give the preset a memorable name. Now the document preset can be accessed easily from the Document Preset pull-down menu in the New Document dialog (see Chapter 2).

    Tip

    If the text of a story already exists in another format such as Microsoft Word or a text file, those files can be opened or placed in InCopy (see Chapter 2) for further writing and editing.


  4. Next, the InCopy user might create some character and paragraph text styles or import them from an existing InCopy or InDesign file. If the team members have decided not to use text styles in InCopy but rely solely on the InDesign users to style text, then skip this step. However, many workflows benefit greatly by having the writers and editors be responsible for styling their text. Even if it's as simple as creating structural styles for headline, byline, body, and caption, it can save a lot of time in the rest of the process, and designers aren't forced to guess what's what. If certain stories are frequently the same length and include common text styles, InCopy templates (.inct, see Chapter 2) should be created for future use.

  5. After the InCopy user creates a new InCopy document (possibly from a document preset) or chooses the right InCopy template (.inct), the writing can begin. When writing in stand-alone mode, the InCopy user employs the writing and editing features we've documented throughout this book as well as a few other special options. Stand-alone mode enables a few extra features that aren't available when working on an InCopy assignment or an InCopy story that's checked out of an InDesign document:

    • Stories do not need to be explicitly checked out. When an .incx file is opened in stand-alone mode it's checked out automatically.

    • InCopy users have the ability to create custom swatches and apply any color swatch to selected text.

    • InCopy users can create and edit character and paragraph styles for formatting text.

    • InCopy users can change the document setup with the File > Document Setup command. This includes text area width and depth as well as page dimensions.

  6. When the InCopy user is done writing and editing the copy, the file must be saved, closed, and submitted to the design or production department.

  7. The InDesign user places the .incx file in the InDesign layout just as if it was a Microsoft Word document or a text file but with all the benefits of an InCopy file. The completed layout is now ready to pass on to the production or pre-press department for final pre-flight, output, and distribution.

As you look over this outline of a copy-first workflow, you might be wondering how it differs from a typical workflow where writers and editors use Microsoft Word to prepare stories that are flowed into a page-layout application. Why bother using InCopy instead of Word?

First, the fact that InCopy and InDesign share many of the same technologies makes it easy to create InCopy templates that share common text styles with the InDesign layout templates. Second, InCopy can calculate basic copyfit information even in stand-alone mode. You don't have complete page visualization in a copy-first workflow with InCopy, but you can still have copyfit statistics as specified by the File > Page Setup command. Third, if the writer using InCopy is using the same text styles as the InDesign layout, he can see accurate text formatting in Layout view.

Lastly, some users will prefer InCopy simply because it's a streamlined writing and editing tool and not a bloated word processor that tries to do everything short of waxing your car. This is admittedly a very linear workflow, but it simplifies things a lot thanks to all the shared technology and file formats. InDesign users are the last people to touch the files, so design always wins in this scenario.




The AdobeR InCopyR CS2 Book
The Adobe InCopy CS2 Book
ISBN: 0321337050
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 122

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