Font changes when pasting between InDesign documents

[Guest]

I'm copying and pasting the content of one InDesign CS5 document into another and am finding that the font of my general body text is changing from Times to Minion Pro.

This occurs with all the following methods:

• Copy and Paste multiple text frames
• Copy and Paste single text frames
• Copy and Paste content of a text frame into a new text frame
• Drag and Dropping multiple text frames

I can't see any option in Preferences or Character pallette along the lines of 'Paste Remembers Fonts' (in the same vein as 'Paste Remembers Layers'.

I've change the default font in my existing documents to Times and also changed it with no documents open so all new documents have Times as the default.

I've also changed the Basic Paragraph style font to Times.

The correct paragraph styles already exist in both documents and remain in place when I copy and paste. Fonts for all other paragraph styles (eg headings etc) come across correctly, it's only my main body text that changes, with the font of the style showing as overidden.

Of course, I can simply select all the pasted text and clear the overides but I'd rather solve the problem properly.

One glimmer of hope: If I start another new document since changing the default font for new docs, the copy and paste retains my Times font.

Any thoughts? Can I fix my existing document's bad habit or will I need to start again?

[Stix_Hart]

davepolyester wrote:

One glimmer of hope: If I start another new document since changing the default font for new docs, the copy and paste retains my Times font.

If that works have you tried changing the default font in your existing doc?  Just make sure nothing is selected and change it.....

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestions. However, as I stated in my original post, I've already done both of those things and it hasn't helped. Sorry.

[Peter Spier]

So the formatting may have been applied as local formatting overrides, or possibly a character style. If the font spec is correct in the style definition, remove overides and see if it gets fixed. If not, check the character styles panel.

[Guest]

When I paste the text frames, the paragraph styles remain intact but the font changes to the ID default, Minion Pro. When I click the Clear Overides button, the font reverts to the correct font for the style. There are no Character Style issues that are causing this, it seems purely related to the default font setting.

However, I've found a nice simple solution that I should've tried in the first place. Now that I've set the defaults to what I want them to be and tested this with a new document (as mentioned in original post), it was simply a matter of doing a Save As to get those changes to apply to my existing document.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[christian_thomas]

select text, click the drop down in the paragraph pallete and select "break link to style." even if you have no styles applied.

[Peter Spier]

In line with what Stix said, there's a good chance the problem is with the font specified for [Basic Paragraph].

[garyw44438813]

This isn't an answer, its a confirmation.

In my opinion after one of the last updates I noticed that I can no longer paste formatted text from one document to another and it will retain the font information. It's as if every new document requires the fonts to be added again individually - this is naturally apart from simply a nuisance, another huge step backwards to studio productivity.

[SJRiegel]

If your text changes formatting when pasted between documents, the most likely reason is that the documents have identically named styles with different definitions. When this is the case, the text being pasted in will take on the characteristics defined for that style in the new document.

[garyw44438813]

In my case it isn't the formatting, its the entire font. I am having to re open the font for each individual indesign document - this can occur simply by saving an existing indesign file with a new name and then opening - the older file still has its font, the newly named file needs the fonts to be re added.

I will admit it does not happen across all documents or fonts but if I think back maybe 6/9 months I never saw this happening, but now it is a regular occurrence. Annoying given that from a studio perspective nothing has changed with regard to font handling (suitcase) hence my finger being pointed at indesign...

[SJRiegel]

Look at the Paragraph- and Character-style settings of the text you are trying to paste. If the same-name style exists in the new document, your pasted text will take on *all* of the formatting, including font, from the new document.

This includes Basic Paragraph.

[garyw44438813]

You are describing what I expect to happen and what used to happen.

Maybe I am not stating this clearly, but what actually happens is that all the text in the new document is highlighted as if the fonts are missing and need to be re added to get them to appear correctly.

And again for clarity it can happen when a document is created via 'Save as' as much as it happens via pasting something between two documents...

[SJRiegel]

Ok

That point to the fonts being held in a Document Fonts folder with the original document. They likely not active in Suitcase, are only available for documents that in the the same outer folder as the Document Fonts folder. 

[garyw44438813]

Ah! I didn't appreciate that the fonts would react that way - and thinking about it again perhaps we have more packaged files now which may explain the prevalence for that issue.

Good spot and thanks for clarifying.

[SJRiegel]

I'm glad I could help you find the solution. Your issue was not the same one that this thread was originally about.

[BobLevine]

Is the document being pasted from using Document fonts folder? If so, this would be normal behavior.

[printlives]

Having the exact same problem, with the same fonts Times Roman pasting as Minion. I'm on ID 2018 now, but this problem has occurred for at least the last few versions with this one project.

Because of the complexity of the book, I format the text in a separate document, then paste into blocks on the main document pages.  The section in question has the same style sheet in both documents, and seems to carry over all formatting correctly except for switching the font.

I have tried everything I can think of:

deleting the style sheets in the receiving doc;

copying the style sheet from receiving doc to the formatting doc and vice versa;

changing the global default font to Times;

changing the basic paragraph style font to Times

Nothing has any effect. 

If I paste the text into a clean document, it carries over OK, but if I paste it anywhere in the doc it needs to go to, it changes to Minion. And its much too complicated a project to rebuild the file from scratch.

Any other ideas?

[Demetria13]

It's 2018, and I am having this exact same issue. I work with 60-80 page documents, where I need to use pages/master pages for the next project, but when I copy/paste content, or simply "move pages" to new document, they change all content to Minion Pro font. I have never had this problem before updating to 2018 Indesign.

I've tried changing the paragraph styles, the "default Indesign font", but none of these changes stick.

I am wasting a lot of time on a problem that did not occur for me before updating to this current version. I should be able to copy Indesign content from one file to another without wasting time to reformat it all back to how it was copied.

Yes, I know how to "Find Font", but that should not be the fix to this problem.

[BobLevine]

Have you read this entire thread. All possible solutions and causes are here.

Nothing has changed.

[Demetria13]

The part at the top that says "This question is Not Answered." is very insightful on how these options of 7 years are not working.

In fact, if you read the most recent post (Dec 2017) on this "unanswered" post, it clearly states:

Nothing has any effect.

If I paste the text into a clean document, it carries over OK, but if I paste it anywhere in the doc it needs to go to, it changes to Minion. And its much too complicated a project to rebuild the file from scratch.

Any other ideas?

[BobLevine]

The fact that it's not marked answered is only indicative of the fact that the OP never did so.

This is style based and I strongly suspect the basic paragraph style in the two documents are different and that your styles are at some point based on that style.

[Laubender]

printlives  wrote

Having the exact same problem, with the same fonts Times Roman pasting as Minion. I'm on ID 2018 now, but this problem has occurred for at least the last few versions with this one project. …

Sounds like a remnant of a workflow that goes back to InDesign CS4 where Times Roman was the default font in InDesign.

Between CS4 and CS5 a lot of basic things had changed. I think this is a problem repurposing a layout that stems from CS4.

Regards,
Uwe

[BobLevine]

Right...which is why no style should every be based on Basic Paragraph Style.

[printlives]

Starting this annual project for another year, on another new version of InDesign and still this maddening problem. Even rebuilt templates and stylesheets, but no matter what I do (change default font, clean up style sheets etc) this one style pastes from Times Roman in the formatting document to Minion in the layout document. 

[SJRiegel]

Go through all of your paragraph styles and make sure that none of them are Based on [Basic Paragraph]

Then make sure that there are not identically named styles with different properties in the two documents.