Copying and pasting data from table in Word to table in InDesign

[DigitalChickster]

ARGH! I'm so frustrated. I'm trying to copy data from a table in Word into a table in InDesign. I have the correct amount of rows and columns. But when I copy and paste it... it skips cells and I end up copying and moving the data around. It's taking me hours. I'm sure it's something to do with how the data was typed into the cells in Word. But no matter what I do to clean it up, it's not coming in cleanly. The tables are interspersed throught the document, so I can't really import them. Any tips on doing this more effeciently? Thank you! 

[BobLevine]

Place the Word doc into a blank InDesign document and then copy and paste from there.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

...and my guess is confirmed in the gap between hitting Post. 🙂

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Word tables and ID tables are not as compatible as it seems they should be. Small things like extra spaces and reserved characters can cause all kinds of fun.

What process are you using? I just did a little testing and cannot get a Word cut of multiple cells to paste as anything but all those cells inside one ID cell. (I can't recall ever doing this process, so have nothing else to draw on.)

You may have to import the Word doc and cut and paste from the converted ID tables to your target document. But there are some here with better technical document skills who might have a better workaround. ^^^ ETA: Like Bob L, for example. 🙂

[DigitalChickster]

Yes, I'm finding it works better if I remove all the hard returns inside the cells. But still not perfect. Thanks for your response! I appreciate it! 

[DigitalChickster · Accepted solution]

So after a lot of trial and error (which I unfortunately didn't write down), I was able to IMPORT the entire Word file into InDesign. I had to modify a lot of different things in the options when importing, but I finally got the entire thing to import. From there I was able to copy and paste the tables into my new InDesign file. It still required formatting, but not nearly as much as copying and pasting each cell separately. 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Importing a whole doc, so that the elements are all converted to ID formats and preferences, is often a good way to get around such cut-and-paste limitations, even if you end up "throwing away" some good part of the imported doc.

It's best, of course, when you can import a doc and use it as material just needing cleanup and formatting to get a final result, but that's not always a workable approach.

[DigitalChickster]

Yes, I had to take all the info in the Word file and put it into a different format. So the data and text were the same, but the sizing and layout was different. Good to know!