Edit information like company on templates

[Vlady Valenti3710904582a6]

hi, I'm sure this is a no brainer but I can't seem to figure out how to change info on a current template in InDesign. I made a screenshot of it. I can't click on it to edit. And via the layers I can't find it either (in this example "COMPANY")

Soooo, where can I put my company name or even just deleting this text box from every single site?

Please help.

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

vlady

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Without seeing an example of the template or file, it's hard to say exactly what is going on.

When you say "template" — do you actually mean an InDesign template (INDT) file downloaded from some resource? Or do you mean it more casually, a file given to you as a model for further work? (It can make a difference in what features might be in play.)

But check these points —

• Is the 'company' block on a Parent page?
• Is the block on a locked Layer?
• Is the block itself locked?

... and I think that covers all the alternatives. If you're not sure how to check any of those, ask. And if none seem to address the problem, upload a (blank or dummy) copy of the file/template that's showing the problem.

(Formally created templates can sometimes use even more elaborate indirect content such as cross-references, conditional text and sometimes just wild designer choices... with luck, it's one of the simple things above.)

[Vlady Valenti3710904582a6]

Hi James and thanks for your quick reply. It is an actual free template from Adobe Stock. I shared the file here, hope you can open it.

https://stock.adobe.com/de/templates/creative-pitch-deck-layout/164633199?prev_url=detail 

I checked all layers and I just couldn't see any locked/editable text on there.

Curious to see, what you can make of the file.

Much appreciated, vlady

[Mike Witherell]

Double-click the Parent page in the Pages panel. There you will see the textframe that says Company in it. Your Type tool can freely edit the text content there. Afterwards, double-click out to any physical page to see the update.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Beat me to it. On your working page, the lower text box is accessible; the box containing COMPANY is on the relevant Parent page and can be edited there.

Just a repeat of the note above: templates can be a bit of a two-edged sword if the designer used obscure features or combined them in odd ways; we've seen some here that took a couple of the best minds to unravel. 🙂 This one was simple and the design/usage is completely orthodox.

[Vlady Valenti3710904582a6]

Thanks Mike, by parent page you mean the first one? the one on top?

[Mike Witherell]

Yes. They used to be called Master pages. A page by any other name would smell as sweet.

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Vlady Valenti3710904582a6:

Actually, your screenshot shows the answer.

Frames on a parent page have dotted line border and frames on the body pages have a solid border. You can see the dotted line border around Company. 

The next time you see a dotted line border, you'll know immediately to go to the parent pages to edit the content.

~Barb 

[Vlady Valenti3710904582a6]

Hi Barb,

for thanks for your reply. Still, I can't click on it. None of the COMPANY boxes I can click on. As if they're locked. And on front page at bottom, it says "your company" etc. but it's not linked to the COMPANY frame on every page top left.

So confused over here... 😕

cheers

vlady

[James Gifford—NitroPress · Accepted solution]

@Barb Binder makes another very good point about determining where a frame is located, but it is a subtle detail.

If you don't understand how Parent pages (formerly and still often referred to as "Master" pages) work as an underlying design element, you're going to have a lot of hurdles in trying to edit documents in InDesign. It's not like Word where (generally) you can just plow along; you HAVE to know a spectrum of basic structure and design elements to even begin using it effectively. This is true even with templates to guide you — maybe even more so, since you have to unravel how the original designer built the model. There are few templates where you can just open them, edit a little text and have a desired result.

You might benefit from some of the basic tutorials, to get you oriented with ID's features — such as this one: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/parent-pages.html

[Vlady Valenti3710904582a6]

Got it under Layout Master Page right above all the pages. Thanks guys, really helpful and much appreciated for the quick turnaround. 

Kind regards

vlady

[Barb Binder]

Hi Vlady:

Professionally-designed templates seem like a great way to start using InDesign, but in my experience, they are not. They're really best used by an experienced user to get a jumpstart on the design and then one can tweak them as necessary.

Your template has one parent page, called A–Portrait Layout Master Page. Parent pages hold the repeating elements in a multi-page document. Changes made there are immedately applied to all body pages (your template has 18 body pages) that are assigned the A parent. (All 18 of your template have little As in the top outside corners in the Pages panel.)

You can double click the words A–Portrait Layout Master Page to move to the parent pages, and double click the , or – between the page ranges under the body page icons to return.

That gray horizontal line I'm dragging up and down at the beginning of the recording? That is the separator between the parent pages at the top of the pages panel and the body pages shown underneath.

~Barb

[Willi Adelberger]

Probably in text variables.

But this is a bad template.