Convert graphic back to text

[Stephen229259846qpi]

For some reason, my text box (which contained a large amount of text) was converted to a graphic box. How do I convert it back to a text box so I can add/edit text? I am using the latest version of InDesign on a Mac. 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

At what point was it converted? InDesign does not normally convert text to graphics as any kind of internal operation, but it can happen on export to various formats. What format are you working with?

And the short answer, barring a slim few possibilities, is no. If you don't have the text somewhere, it's lost to that visual version and will have to be re-entered or possibly OCR'ed.

[Stephen229259846qpi]

It is so strange. I did not convert or export the file, but I did move the file from the Beta version of InDesign to InDesign 2024 (19.5) on MacOS

[leo.r]

If all you need is to salvage the raw text, you can copy-paste your graphic into Preview (or export it and open in Preview). Preview should recognize text, which you can then simply copy from the image. Obviously, all formatting will be lost. It's also possible there are more sophisticated AI tools around that will preserve the formatting.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I guess something weird could have happened in there, but I don't know of any process, intended or not, that converts text to a raster image within InDesign. The closest thing is the (obsolete and deprecated) feature to convert to text outlines.

Maybe someone else has a better idea of the how/why  — but unless you have a backup somewhere, I'd just consider that text lost and move on.

[rob day]

How do I convert it back to a text box so I can add/edit text?

Hi @Stephen229259846qpi , With an empty frame selected you can choose Object>Content>Text. That will convert the selected frame to a text frame, but will not recover any text that existed before the conversion to a graphic frame. You can also right-click an empty frame and change its content contextually—maybe that’s how the conversion to a graphic frame happened?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I can't enable any of the options on that menu to test this. When are they active?

[rob day]

The frame has to be empty in order to change its content from the menu:

You could also Place a graphic in a selected Text Frame (not a text selection or insertion point), which would convert it to a Graphic Frame:

[Stephen229259846qpi]

When I click on the frame and choose Object>Content, all options are greyed out and not selectable. 

[rob day]

Is the frame empty?

[Stephen229259846qpi]

No, the frame contains the graphic of the text. So, I am a bit confused. How will an empty frame help me to convert my graphic (with text) back to text?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It won't, and simply deleting the graphc and starting to type in the frame will accomplish the same result; Rob's suggestion is just an absolute method.

Once again — even if a cause for the conversion is found, and I'm certainly scratching my head over this — the text is lost from this document. Unless you have it somewhere else, it will be a retyping/OCR job.

[rob day]

How will an empty frame help me to convert my graphic (with text) back to text?

What format is the graphic? Is it a placed image or some kind of vector file?

[rob day]

Can you share the file?

[Stephen229259846qpi]

The file is attached. It is the frame with the Volleyball Schedule on it. 

[rob day]

Could you have used Paste Into to paste a text frame into another text frame? That would convert the container frame into a graphic frame:

[Stephen229259846qpi]

I guess it's possible that I inadvertently did that, but I don't remember performing that action. 

[rob day]

 It is the frame with the Volleyball Schedule on it

The Volleyball Schedule is a Pasted Graphic. Looks like it is vector, maybe copied from a PDF?

[Stephen229259846qpi]

I pasted the text from a Word document and then re-formatted it after pasting the text. Somehow it got converted to a graphic. I did not paste a graphic. So strange. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I pasted the text from a Word document and then re-formatted it after pasting the text. Somehow it got converted to a graphic. I did not paste a graphic. So strange. 

By @Stephen229259846qpi

Maybe you've converted text to Outlines?

[rob day]

Outlined text would be listed as <compound path> in the Layers panel, @Stephen229259846qpi ’s text is listed as <pasted graphic>.

I have an AppleScript I use to extract the PDF content of a pasted object (on OSX the clipboard content is always a PDF object). I’ve attached the PDF.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

After IDMLing:

At least @Stephen229259846qpi, you can see when it happened:

<xmp:ModifyDate>2024-07-23T16:00:25-05:00</xmp:ModifyDate>
<xmp:CreateDate>2024-07-23T16:00:25-05:00</xmp:CreateDate>
<xmp:MetadataDate>2024-07-23T16:00:25-05:00</xmp:MetadataDate>

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Bit me, too. You have to delete the graphic first. So this isn't a solution to your problem but forcing the frame type back to Text is at least a start.

You could try saving the graphic and running it through any of the many OCR tools available, which I believe is where Leo's suggestoin above falls.

[Laubender]

Hi @Stephen229259846qpi ,

my suggestion would be to open the InDesign document with exactly the same version of InDesogn you saved it the last time. If a beta version, then this beta version of InDesign. Then save the document as IDML file. Open the IDML file with the release version of InDesign.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Stephen229259846qpi:

Would you mind sharing a copy of your Clipboard Handling preferences? If you have enabled Prefer PDF when Pasting, then pasting Word text will paste as a graphic. If you disable it, the text will paste as live, editable text. 

~Barb