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Dan_Macy
Participating Frequently
April 11, 2012
Answered

Copying paragraph styles between documents

  • April 11, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 26084 views

I have a document that contains some text that I want to copy to another document. The original text is tagged with a paragraph style called Body. If the document that I'm copying into already has a paragraph style called Body defined, then when I copy the text into this document, it applies its Body paragraph style to the text I'm copying into it. Is there a way to copy the text and maintain the text styling from the original document (overriding the paragraph style in the receiving document)?

I am using InDesign CS5.

Thanks!

    Correct answer Rik Ramsay

    You will achieve your goal by just using basic Edit > Paste but you should try putting it in an empty, new text box. It keeps the appearance and will override your Body style leaving a + next to it. I advise you to create a new style with this though especially if you're later sending it to print.

    If it's not doing that, you may have character styles applied.

    1 reply

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2012

    Edit>Paste without formatting.

    Bob

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    Dan_MacyAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    April 11, 2012

    Thank you for your reply, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything for me.

    In document 1, I have a paragraph that is tagged with style Body that is Arial-Narrow, 16 pt. font size and 21 pt. leading. In document 2, there is a style Body in the paragraph styles list; it is Arial-Narrow, 9 pt. font size and 9.5 pt. leading. I selected the entire paragraph in document 1. I click in a text frame in document 2. Whether I choose Edit > Paste or Edit > Paste without Formatting, the resulting paragraph in document 2 is Arial-Narrow, 9 pt. font size and 9.5 pt. leading.

    S
    SJRiegel
    Legend
    April 11, 2012

    To keep the formatting but not the style name, after you choose your text in the first document, choose Break Link to Style in the parpagraph pallet before you copy the text. If that doesn't work, check to see if there is a character style applied, and do the same to it.

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