🚀 go-pugleaf

Did you receive an InCopy package and work on that?

Bob

Right ... InCopy can only create a return package for InDesign from an opened InCopy package (the assignment should show a package icon in the Assignments panel).... not just any old file.

AM

Something else worth pointing out in case you do get this straightened 
out...Working InCopy CS4 should only be done with InDesign CS4 except 
for workflow testing.

CS4 and CS3 have different text engines and support different features. 
Using this combination is a production environment is not advisable.

Bob

Bob and Anne-Marie,

Thanks for your comments.

I believe I received and am working on an InCopy package. How would I know? What kind of icon should I be looking for, and where would it be? I do know that I've been able to make copy changes in the file, and have saved those changes -- at least they appear when I re-open the file a day later. I just can't activate the command "Return for InDesign."

All I will be doing is putting original copy into layouts, and then editing copy based on client comments. I hope that means the CS4 and CS3 differences won't create problems.

Judy

Judy ... if you're editing a package, it's hard to tell just by looking at the layout in InCopy. It looks the same as though you were editing any old assignment or layout. But if you open the Assignments panel in InCopy, if you see an icon of a little gift-wrapped package to the right of the Assignment name, then you're working on an assignment package. If not, there will be no icon to the right of the assignment name.

What did the designer send you to work on? You just said "files." Are they standalone InCopy documents (.incx)? Is it an assignment (.inca extension)? Is it a layout file (.indd)? See if you can find the original thing(s) you got from the designer.

If they actually sent you an *assignment package,* then it would be in the form of a single .incp file (InCopy Package), probably attached to an e-mail. Double-clicking the .incp file silently "unpacks" its contents to a folder on your computer and automatically opens one of them, the assignment file, in InCopy.

> I believe I received and am working on an InCopy package.

What was the file extension?

> I hope that means the CS4 and CS3 differences won't create problems.

It could...text flow will certainly be an issue.

Bob

By the way if you're working on Windows, and you can't see the filename extensions we're talking about (.incx, .incp, etc.), it would help you out *greatly* to turn on the display of these extensions.

In any Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) window, like the My Documents window, open the Tools menu and choose Folder Options. In the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab, and then uncheck the box next to "Hide file extensions for known file types".

Click Apply (to all folders) and close the dialog box. Now you should be able to tell if a file is an .indd or an .incx or whatever just by looking at its filename. (You'll also be able to tell if an image is a .jpg or .tiff or .gif etc. ... very handy.)

If you've already done this, or you're on a Mac, nevermind ...

AM

While that's the first thing any Windows user should do, just showing 
the files in detail view would show you what type of file they are.

Bob

I don't see a package icon on the Assignments panel.

From the designer I received something called "Assignment.inca", as well as about fifty somethings with the file extension .incx.

I opened the "Assignment.inca" which gave me three views: Galley, Story and Layout. I made the edits in the Layout view, and saw that they also appeared in both the Galley and Story views as well.

Judy

Well then, that's that.

You didn't get a package so you can't return something you never received.

Have the designer save a package for InCopy from the InDesign 
assignments panel and send that to you.

Bob

Thank you so much!

Of course, I've spent 3 days trying to figure out what I was doing wrong ... oh well.

Obviously my designers don't know how to save a package for InCopy from the InDesign assignments panel. Can you tell me what I should tell them? They both work on Macs as well.

Judy

Bob,

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. I'll send the info to my designers, and hopefully we'll be able to get this process rolling.

Thanks to Anne-Marie as well. You guys are great. I hope you don't hear from me again ... at least not on this issue!

Judy

Judy, one thing ... if you've already edited what they sent you, and you don't want to lose your edits, before you get any more files from them make sure you send them the edited files (just the .incx ones, no need to send the .inca). Have the designer REPLACE their old .incx's in their existing folder with what you send them. Then they should update the INDD file (the layout file) ... they'll get a prompt from ID asking them to do so.

From then on, they can just package the assignment and send that to you, and then you in turn, after editing it in InCopy, can just use the Return for InDesign command to make an InDesign package, which you email to them.

The single package thing is what replaces having to send all those .incx files and .inca files and manually replace originals in Explorer or the Finder.

AM

They already figured out the assignment part the package part is easy. 
Just open the flyout menu from the assignments panel and choose package 
for InCopy or package for InCopy and email.

The latter will simply add the InCopy package to an email. I'd avoid 
this with large files that may have to be transferred via FTP.

Bob

Thank you, Anne-Marie.

That's good information. I'm really determined to get the group working this way -- it will be so much more efficient than my marking up pdfs and having the designers input the changes on their InDesign files. But clearly I don't have a clue about what I should be doing, much less what they should be doing. I only have InCopy, not InDesign, so I can't see what they're looking at when we're trying to figure it out. So I really appreciate all the advice you and Bob have given me.

Judy

> The single package thing is what replaces having to send all those .incx files and .inca files and manually replace originals in Explorer or the Finder.

And just an FYI to anyone else reading along...these packages are really 
just zip files with a different extension and an INJB file added so 
InDesign and InCopy know what to do with file.

By packaging the files, the content in InDesign will be automatically 
checked out to avoid any accidental changing of the content in InDesign.

Bob