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A
Anonymous
November 15, 2018
Answered

Why can't I copy/paste my gradient from Illustrator into InDesign?

  • November 15, 2018
  • 11 replies
  • 23765 views

I have followed every tutorial, reviewed every other forum on this, went step by step with all preferences and my gradient still pastes as an image. Is it the new update that refuses to copy/paste swatches between the two? Please help. Thank you.

    Correct answer Laubender

    Adobe indesign 14.0.2

    Adobe illustrator 23.0.3

    Windows 10 64 bit


    Hi acew1981 ,

    the bug is fixed with InDesign CC 2019 14.0.2.324.

    Just tested with Illustrator 23.0.3 on Windows 10.

    Paste or Paste in Place was no difference. The gradient I copied over from Illustrator worked as expected.

    Also see the list of fixed bugs here:

    Fixed issues in InDesign

    Regards,
    Uwe

    11 replies

    L
    Ludovic29924883eoep
    Known Participant
    June 21, 2023

    I do think there is an OS difference on this.
    I can't get it to work on windows 10 , while there is no problem on Macos. 
    This is a very annoying issue.

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 21, 2023

    Hi @Ludovic29924883eoep ,

    please attach a sample Illustrator file; just with a simple rectangle where the gradient is applied.

    I'll test that on the most current versions of InDesign and Illustrator with macOS or Windows.

     

    Thanks,
    Uwe Laubender
    ( Adobe Community Expert )

    L
    Ludovic29924883eoep
    Known Participant
    June 21, 2023

    Hello,

    Thanks for your quick feedback. Here is a very simple file that contain a rectangle i'm unable to past properly as a gradient:

    R
    royalfoyness
    Participant
    May 31, 2023

    I had the same problem.. both files were CMYK.. the problem on mine was both ends of the gradient swatches were colour picked so were not solid CMYK values. - ensure the CMYK break down of both ends of the gradient are complete numbers- for example C19 M99 Y55 K2 rather that C:18.78 M98.76, Y54.90, K2.34 🙂

    J
    Jo5E12
    Participant
    August 23, 2021

    I'm no expert, but I was having the same problem and this worked for me.


    In-design preferences

    > Display Performance

    In the Options area make sure the 'Preserve Object-Level Display Settings' box is ticked

     

    also

    > Clipboard Settings

    In the Clipboard Handling area - Clipboard area make sure the 'Prefer PDF when Pasting' box is ticked

     

    My gradients started to appear as they should be

     

    I also had problems scaling my gradients once in In-design - if this happens…
    If the gradient appears in illutrator as a 'clipped layer' make sure to select the layer and using the layer window open the 'options for' area and make sure the 'LOCK' box is ticked.

     

    I'm not saying this is a fix but these options worked for me.

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 17, 2020

    Hi ClusterX,

    do you still have the sample where you had issues with?

    Somewhere there is indeed a bug, but I still cannot tell what exactly enforces it.

     

    Regards,
    Uwe Laubender

    ( ACP )

      L
      lido_lee
      Participant
      July 17, 2020

      BTW: Today I filed a bug (with Video) in the InDesign Support Portal. Check this: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/40932691-gradient-scaling-breaks-does-not-work-when-copying

      L
      Community Expert
      LaubenderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 16, 2020

      Hi ClusterX,

      what's your operating system?

       

      Just tested a linear CMYK gradient with several color stops. The object with the gradient is pasted.

      The bug I detected: Wrong colors! But I also have gradient samples where it worked. Have to test more…

       

      CMYK gradient in Illustrator:

       

      Pasted result in InDesign:

       

      That's a totally differently bug, I think.

       

      German Illustrator 24.2.1

      German InDesign 15.1.1.103

      on Windows 10

       

      Regards,
      Uwe Laubender

      ( ACP )

        C
        ClusterX
        Participating Frequently
        July 16, 2020

        Hi, Laubender.

        My system is Win 10.

        Now i have working copy/paste gradients. But i don't know what helped to me: some latest windows updates or clearing read only attribute of Indesign prefs folder. Because these two things i made before check.

         
         
         
        C
        ClusterX
        Participating Frequently
        July 5, 2020

        Not working again, Indesign 15.1.1 and Illustrator 24.2.1

         
         
          L
          lido_lee
          Participant
          July 16, 2020

          Yes same here:Indesign 15.1.1 and Illustrator 24.2.1 on Mac OS 10.15.5 (19F101).
          Copy paste a vector with a gradient from Illustrator does not work. The gradient is not scaling either.

          acew1981
          acew1981
          Participant
          June 12, 2019

          I have just tried this several times and spent two days trying to figure out how to do this. I even contacted adobe about this and their support said it cannot be done. Out of frustration i kept trying many things. I decided to close out both indesign and illustrator. Created new files etc. Still no avail. I then copied the gradient object from illustrator and went into indesign and selected edit menu then "paste into place". it worked! I hope this helps someone else.

          L
          Community Expert
          LaubenderCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          June 13, 2019

          Hi aaronw22990910 ,

          thank you very much for this contribution.

          Currently I cannot test this with CC 2019.

          What's your exact version of InDesign CC 2019?

          What's your operating system?

          Thanks,
          Uwe

          acew1981
          acew1981
          Participant
          June 13, 2019

          Adobe indesign 14.0.2

          Adobe illustrator 23.0.3

          Windows 10 64 bit

          A
          Anonymous
          November 16, 2018

          Laubender​

          It is constructive if my question was how to do it in general. That is not the issue.

          Your comment of if you asked too much of me was not necessary and also condescending.

          Please choose your words differently.

          Thank you and this forum is answered.

          L
          Community Expert
          LaubenderCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          November 16, 2018

          erpdesigns  wrote

          Laubender

          …Your comment of if you asked too much of me was not necessary and also condescending.

          It was not meant this way. Sorry, if you recieved it like so.

          Maybe I should have asked if you could do some screenshots first to illustrate the problem.

          My fault.

          Regards,
          Uwe

            L
            Community Expert
            LaubenderCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            November 18, 2018

            Some details on the bug we are seeing here:

            Actually the gradient swatch is applied to the copied object.

            But with the wrong values for GradientFillStart and GradientFillLength.

            I compared the values from an exported IDMS file of a pasted rectangle to InDesign CC 2018.1 and one to InDesign CC 2019 14.0.1.209. The values in CC 2019 were way off. Not so with the same rectangle pasted to a CC 2018.1 page.

            CC 2019 ( all values are in points ):

            GradientFillStart="4877.823136474006 -5013.555344725959"

            GradientFillLength="7231.69921875"

            CC 2018.1:

            GradientFillStart="-41.991211531998275 110.90551181102363"

            GradientFillLength="84.30709838867188"

            How GradientFillStart and GradientFillLength should be calculated.

            This sample:

            1. New document with non-facing pages 100 x 100 mm page size.

            2. Drag out a rectangle 100 x 100 Pt from [0,0] towards the right and the bottom.

            3. Fill it with a linear gradient.

            The bug is clearly with InDesign CC 2019.

            Gradient Fill with CMYK colors

            AI: Copy rectangle with applied gradient fill > INDD: Paste

            AI CC-2018 > INDD CC-2019 > Bug

            AI CC-2019 > INDD CC-2019 > Bug

            AI CC-2018 > INDD CC-2018 > No Bug

            AI CC-2019 > INDD CC-2018 > No Bug

            What's wrong wth INDD CC-2019?

            Wrong GradientFillStart

            Wrong GradientFillLength

            Regards,
            Uwe

            rob day
            Community Expert
            rob dayCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            November 16, 2018

            It looks like there is a problem with CC2019, and you also have to set the Clipboard preferences correctly in both applications before you cut and paste. Check this thread:

            https://forums.adobe.com/message/10736367?et=watches.email.outcome#10736367

              jane-e
              Community Expert
              jane-eCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              November 16, 2018

              Here is the link on User Voice where the bug has been reported to the engineers. As of now, it only has one vote:

              I have problems copying illustrations from illustrator into documents InDesign. – Adobe InDesign Feedback

              L
              Community Expert
              LaubenderCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              November 18, 2018

              jane-e  wrote

              … As of now, it only has one vote:

              I have problems copying illustrations from illustrator into documents InDesign. – Adobe InDesign Feedback

              Just voted to fix the bug.

              Thanks for the link, Jane!

              Regards,
              Uwe

              barbara_a7746676
              Community Expert
              barbara_a7746676Community Expert
              Community Expert
              November 15, 2018

              I have found that usually only simple shapes with solid colors will copy from Illustrator and paste into InDesign will remain vector, without being converted to an image.

                Steve Werner
                Community Expert
                Steve WernerCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                November 16, 2018

                It's also based on how complex the graphic is that you're copying. The vector graphic needs to be less than about 500 paths as described in this old article I wrote years ago:

                The Magic Number - InDesignSecrets.com : InDesignSecrets

                A
                Anonymous
                November 16, 2018

                All I want to do is try to bring the gradient swatch over from Illustrator over to InDesign. At one point you could copy and paste it but it does not work. Everything that has been suggested has been done. Thank you for your article which Ive read and thats why I posted the question. Im stuck

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