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peterw65194735
Participant
January 6, 2017
Answered

Alternative to Crosstalk plug in?

  • January 6, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 1023 views

Hi,

We find Adobe InCopy very effective for our editors in editing article text for our magazines. However, we find it only usable with the Crosstalk plug in which effectively removes the complexities of assignments and the check in/check out process. We can't work without it as it makes the whole process so much more complex and time-consuming when we don't need the workflow benefits that it brings.

However, the last Crosstalk update was for CC and since their website hasn't been updated since July 2015 I fear that this will no longer be an option for us which puts us our 15 InCopy users in danger of going back to manual editing.

My two questions are; does anyone know of an alternative plug-in to Crosstalk or (preferably) can a simple version of InCopy be used without assignments and checking in/out, etc.?

I appreciate any help.

Peter Watkinson

KHL Group

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer AnneMarie Concepcion

You don't need assignments with InCopy. Just have the editors open the layout (the INDD file), which InCopy can open readily. As long as the designers exported the content to editable InCopy format (Edit > InCopy > Export All), they'll be able to check out and edit stories. To check them back in they can just close the layout, that's the lazy man's way. ;-)

Honestly it's just a little bit of work upfront that takes about a minute.

AM

2 replies

AnneMarie Concepcion
Community Expert
AnneMarie ConcepcionCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 16, 2017

You don't need assignments with InCopy. Just have the editors open the layout (the INDD file), which InCopy can open readily. As long as the designers exported the content to editable InCopy format (Edit > InCopy > Export All), they'll be able to check out and edit stories. To check them back in they can just close the layout, that's the lazy man's way. ;-)

Honestly it's just a little bit of work upfront that takes about a minute.

AM

P
peterw65194735Author
Participant
January 17, 2017

Hi AnnMarie,

Thanks for your response. We've tested your suggestion but it still adds a huge workload to the text editing process primarily due to the editors having to check in and check out to edit every text box in the magazine. We don't use production editors and the editors edit the whole issue in one (or two) sessions. Hence having to check in and check out for every single text box is very tedious and time consuming and I'm not sure why it's even necessary at such a granular level. But thanks for trying nonetheless.

Peter

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2017

You don’t have to check them in or out individually. You can select the top level in the assignments panel (might even be unassigned InCopy content) and check out everything in one click.

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 6, 2017

Have you asked CtrlSoftware about their plans?

There is no way to use InCopy on its own without first going through the export process from InDesign nor without the check in/check out process.

If you’re looking for an alternative you might want to look into Truedit from MEI. If you need contact information, let me know.

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