Copy Pasting From Illustrator to InDesign

[athena_b]

Hello, everyone.

I'd just like to ask if it's recommended to copy directly from Illustrator to InDesign.

I am working on some vector shapes that I need to use for my book layout.

Would it be recommended to directly copy-paste or do I have to save it as .PNG?

Thanks a lot.

[KCH LTD]

Thanks Corey2576973768yx.

Through trial and error, ticking the "Prefer .PDF When Pasting" box in the clipboard handling menu worked. It took several tries and I had to reboot my computer, but I am now able to copy-paste (basic) graphics without a hitch.

(And I generally expand strokes before copy-pasting to ensure that what is pasted looks exactly like what was copied.)

[Ellen21863648yfgz]

Thank you! It started working after I ticked that option - but only after rebooting my computer as well. 

[Casper van den Bosch]

Hi, I face the same problem for several months now. I have to use another Mac to copy / paste the vector objects. It's bizarre. I tried and tried, and one time it worked for half a day. Then it went back to the bounding box, with non-editable graphic in it 😞

So there must be a bug. As i worked with the copy pasting ai>Id for many years.

[Ellen21863648yfgz]

Yes, after I wrote my comment in January, it worked perfectly until about April, then it suddenly stopped working again. Retried ticking "prefer pdf when pasting" and rebooting, but this time even that didnt work. Now even just copying a single path from Illustrator still pastes into Indesign with a bounding box/non-editable. It's sooo frustrating. I also asked adobe support and had a very muddled conversation with someone who adamantly told me that you couldn't use vector graphics in Indesign. That's very odd considering I've been doing it for years haha. 

[KCH LTD]

I feel your pain. At times, copy-pasting from Illustrator to InDesign has stopped working for me as well, and toggling “prefer PDF when pasting” and rebooting usually works.

To the Adobe support person who claims you can’t copy-paste vectors from Illustrtor to InDesign, I echo your statement: I’ve been doing it for as long as I’ve been using InDesign. It’s a valuable, necessary part of my daily workflow.

[rob day]

Hi @KCH LTD  and @Ellen21863648yfgz , Check your Illustrator Clipboard Preferences before you make the copy. In order to copy vectors, the AI Clipboard prefs should be AICB (no transparency support) and Preserve Paths checked. Also note that some complex AI vectors do not survive the copy and paste between AI and ID. Mesh Tool objects do not paste as vectors, but a text object converted to outlines does:

InDesign’s Clipboard Handling>Clipboard>Prefer PDF When Pasting needs to be unchecked unless you want to convert the vectors to PDF objects. Here you can see the outlined A pasted as a path, but the interior of the mesh object is a single object—not the original AI vectors.

[rob day]

Also, as the Illustrator preference suggests there’s no transparency support when copying and pasting vectors:

[KCH LTD]

Thank you rob day. I appreciate the tip; this may be why copy-pasting works sometimes and other times does not. 

[Shirley292824785kp3]

Same for me! And this was just this month August 2023. I updated indd and illustrator hoping it was addressed but nothing has changed. It is really frustrating as I need this function to work.

[Mike Witherell · Accepted solution]

If you must copy n paste from AI to INDD (and you shouldn't):

Illustrator > Preferences > Clipboard Handling > Clipboard: AICB (Preserve Paths)

InDesign > Preferences > Clipboard Handling > Clipboard: Prefer PDF When Pasting is OFF

Make sure your Illustrator art is very simple. If complex or using fancy blends, save it as a .AI file and place it in InDesign.

[Willi29105333yzty]

Thanks for summarising Mike. I understand that not everything can be pasted between programs successfully, I only use very simple vectors in indesign eg icons with strokes that I need to edit in indesign. Occassionally these assets are existing in illustrator so creating them again in indesign would not be practical. In these situations I paste simple vector shapes and have never had an issue before yesterday.

[Petra23894537oodf]

Me too. Before, they (icons) would paste in directly, and I could adjust them. Now (suddenly), they paste into frames and aren't editable. Really frustrating.