Adding InCopy to your workflow

Sometimes, layouts are created before the text is written; other times, text is created before layouts are designed. In both scenarios, text and layout eventually come together in the page layout file. InCopy fits into both workflows. In a design-driven workflow, a designer exports stories that include page geometry. InCopy users check out these stories and write, edit, and fit the copy. In a text-driven workflow, InCopy users write text using its word processing features. The stories are then placed into InDesign layouts. Additional editing or copyfitting can be done in InCopy while the designer works on the InDesign layout.

When you install InCopy, several features are added to InDesign, including the ability to create InCopy assignments. An assignment can be as simple as a single text frame or can include one or more stories spanning several pages, plus headlines, graphics, captions, etc. Each time a designer saves changes to the layout, the InCopy user working on the assignment is notified and can update it to incorporate those changes. Similarly, whenever an InCopy user checks in an assignment, the InDesign user is notified and can update the text in the layout. Both InCopy and InDesign users can check out an assignment, making it unavailable to other users.

Adjust the assignment options in the New Assignment dialog box.