best way to import text from word

[defaultab1kdk9ehopp]

Hi there, how to best import a text of around 100 pages from word into indesign? thanks

[JonathanArias]

you can import the word file:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIUBVKVuZD4

do you have styles already set up in that indesign file?

if so, that video does not show that. you would use the mapping styles feature.

[defaultab1kdk9ehopp]

Thanks for this. Does the shift/place command works whatever version of Indesign I have ? It did not seem to work when I tried today. Do I need to insert first a text block before placing the text with the shift key? Thanks for your help

[Creamer Training]

For 100 pages, you should be using a primary text frame when you created your InDesign document. Shift-place is not efficient for long documents.

[defaultab1kdk9ehopp]

Thanks for the video. I found the way to place a text from word. My follow up question is about the styles. What is the best and quickest to do? My word doc includes some formatted styles and local overrides. Shall I finalise the formatting in word or shall I import in indesign and deal with the formatting afterwards? Thanks 

[Creamer Training]

I recommend using only basic styling in Word, not every specialized style you will use in InDesign--this would include heading, body (Normal), bullet/number lists, etc. 

I would use Character styles in Word rather than use local formatting. That way, you can specialize the style usage--Company Name, Product Name, etc., rather than simply bold, italic, and bold-italic. You can make a macro in Word to search for local formatting and apply character styles. (Word macros are much easier to create than the equivalent in InDesign.)

During import, after you match up your paragraph and character styles, save your settings so you don't have to set them again.

After import, select all your imported text and remove style overrides*, even if it appears there are none. 

*If you did not use a Word macro, do your search & replace for local formatting to character styles first. There is a script that comes with InDesign to do multi-FindChange functions. 

[Diane Burns]

Use the File Place command. Also, in the Place dialog, click "Show Import Options" to display a dialog with various settings you can control, such as whether the formatting or inline images come in.

[Laubender]

Hi defaultab1kdk9ehopp,

if you plan a review process that includes a round-trip workflow from Word to InDesign and back, you should invest in the WordsFlow Pro plug-in for InDesign by EM Software:

http://emsoftware.com/products/wordsflow/

WordsFlow Pro comes with a 15days trial that is free.

Use the 15 days wisely for testing and setting up a workflow.

Note: WordsFlow Pro is able to export single InDesign stories to docx files.

An InDesign story is a text flow that is hosted in a single InDesign text frame if the text frame is not threaded to other text frames. If a text frame is threaded to other text frames the whole text that is running through the frames is considered a single story. Are the 100 pages from Word in one single docx file?

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )