How to Work Efficiently Between Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator

[KLM33821154fpb1]

How do you work efficently between Ps, Id and Ai?

I'm trying to design a brochure with text , vectors and photos.

I can't design the text without the backround and vice versa, but it seems like you need a different program for each  part of the  brochure.

I have tried libraries but you can only put in a single element not an entire document, and you have to either have it perfect from the start or edit without being  able to see the rest uf the design.

In Affinity; which I was using until now, you simply click edit with and you can edit your entire document in any of the thre design apps (see  photo below). 

Is there away to do something similair in Adobe?

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[Derek Cross]

Briefly, you optimise your raster images in Photoshop and then Place them as native PSDs in InDesign where you add your text and background colours. You can "round trip" between InDesign and Photoshop to make further changes to the images. And similarly with native Illustrator documents for vectors.

This book and accompanying website explains all: https://www.peachpit.com/store/adobe-photoshop-illustrator-and-indesign-collaboration-9780137908325

[KLM33821154fpb1]

Is there a way to create a document in In Design add text then edit the entire document in Illustrator or  Photoshop? By placing images or vectors from  the other two programs I can edit them but I can't see the indesign text while  editing them. This makes it next to impossable to create a good layout, since the text vectors and images all rely on each other. I'm making a small two page document not an entire book.

[Steve Werner]

A simple answer: No, there is no way do to what you want in any simple way. You could view the InDesign layout and the Illustrator/Photoshop editing in two separate windows. Probably easier if you had two monitors.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

No, not really. Derek touched on the basic approach: use Photoshop to create and manage raster-based images and save them as PSD. Use Illustrator to create and manage vector images, and save them as AI. Import (by Placing) both of those in InDesign. And, my bias is to do as little text work in either of the 'art' apps as you can. Labels and art type are okay, but if a diagram needs a block of text... add that in InDesign for easier management. (Opinions vary on the balance of text between ID and AI, but in general, body text etc. should be avoided in PS.)

The rest of the question is, really, how to do the overall job/skill set using this triad of tools. There's no one answer and no one workflow for either every user or every project. It would certainly be hard to get past the above brief sketch in a forum. The recommended resource sounds like a good comprehensive introduction to the process, though — and you can always ask questions here!

[KLM33821154fpb1]

Thank you for the help. It seems kind of backwards that Abobe can't do this but I guess i'll have to find a workaround.

[leo.r]

This makes it next to impossable to create a good layout, since the text vectors and images all rely on each other.

By @KLM33821154fpb1

The Affinity feature of inter-application editing you described does sound interesting and helpful. I think it would be useful functionality for Adobe to implement, actually. And if you started with the Affinity approach, then the Adobe workflow may feel overly complicated indeed.

I just want to address the statement that "this makes it next to impossible to create a good layout". Because if you ever happened to come across a "good layout" in the last like 30 years, then way over 90% of them were created using the Adobe suite approach. That is, by combining all elements in a layout app like InDesign while editing certain elements separately in dedicated image/vector editing apps.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Using three tools that have, in the last decade or so, been merged into a just-short-of-seamless set, each preserving its immense strengths while reading each others' file formats and allowing for click-through editing, does not seem like an antiquated barrier to creativity or productivity.

OTOH, tools that "do everything" often have notable limitations or even "do nothing particularly well." It's the old saw about not using a screwdriver to drive nails. Each tool to the job, and if they work in harmony with none of the barriers we once faced (remember having to export work in specific formats to use it in the next app?) — well, so much the better.

I think the world of online, E-Z tools for office workers and amateurs has colored the nature of this kind of work, and not in any inspiring way.