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Is it just me or is inDesign simply not importing as it should?

New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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Howdy folks,

 

I'm encountering an issue with a project I'm currently working on in inDesign.

 

I have, basically, previously created what I call "singlets" in Illustrator. These singlets are basically, the same file, but have a little different text in them. The size in pixels and allignments and everything else are the same.

 

Now, when I try to import my "singlets" into my "printing template" in inDesign, even though they should all import as the same size, inDesign imports some of them correctly, and some of them incorrectly.

 

The error inDesign seems to do is that it does not import the full width of the "singlet" and cuts from one of the sides.

 

For the purpose of the demonstration, I will provide 3 of the "singlets" that need to go on a "printing template" as well as an inDesign "printing template". These are placed in the following Dropbox shared folder.

 

In this exact scenario, inDesign places the "singlets" for "Per Lennart Joakim" and "Lillian Storehjelm" as it should, but weirdly crops the one for "Aslak Helge".

 

Does anyone know how I could stop inDesign from doing this, and basically make it place the files as they are?

 

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

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Bug , How to , Import and export

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

The issue is related to your Import Options when you placed the files.

It appears you placed them Cropped to Bounding Box. Use Crop or Trim instead.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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I've downloaded your folder. I've opened the InDesign "template" and the Illustrator files.

 

Sorry, but I'm not seeing any weird cropping for the "Aslak Helge.ai" file.

 

If I were setting up the template, I would create a placeholder frame where the AI file is supposed to be placed. I would apply an object style to each placeholder frame which included Frame Fitting Options that control how the AI file is placed and cropped:

 

Screen Shot 2021-08-19 at 3.34.30 PM.png

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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This is extremely weird then, because I suspected a simple display error in inDesign and actually printet several copies of the file. They all showed, both the electronic version, and the three printed copies, the same fail.

 

The frame for "Aslak Helge" is not centered, as the others are. It is "leaning" towards the lower side of the page instead of placing itself perfectly as it should...

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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This is how your template looks when I open this on my MacBook Pro, macOS Big Sur (11.5.2), InDesign 16.3.2

 

Screen Shot 2021-08-19 at 3.53.59 PM.png

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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Yes, it shows exactly like it shows for me. The last one, the one for "Aslak Helge" does not center properly in its frame. I was able to trace this to the Place (import) tool. The other ones, in the Preview, are perfectly centered in the dotted line that shows how it will look after its placed.

 

This is not how they show up in Illustrator. In Illustrator, they are perfectly centered, each and every one of them. The problem seems to be in how inDesign imports the files.

 

I am using Windows 10, updated to the day with inDesign version 16.0.1 x64.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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Does this happen with just one file, or any file you try? Can you provide information: Please tell us what operating system (exactly) you're running. Please tell us (exactly) what InDesign version you're using.

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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This only seems to happen with the files that have shorter (from a width point of view) text. It seems, to me at least, that if the text is shorter than those two design elements (top & bottom), inDesign crops one of the sides. If the text is even a little bit wider than the two design elements (top & bottom), it seems to get imported right, or even if it doesn't, the differences are not noticeable, to me, at least.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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[Deleted this comment]

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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I missed the previous comment ("Yes, it shows exactly the same for me...")

 

So I told you that you could control how the text fits if you created a placeholder frame for each name, and control the fitting with an object style. That's my suggestion.

 

Illustrator uses a different text engine than InDesign. You want InDesign to set the formatting, not count on how the text is placed from Illustrator.'

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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I am looking at the screenshot you posted earlier, and there is literally no difference from what I get, when I try it.

 

The last item on the page, the one for "Aslak Helge" is not imported properly and so, because it is missing a whole slice from it's left side, from the Illustrator file, the lower side, on the page, in inDesign, it is easily visible that it is not centered properly inside its "square".

 

This problem persists in printing, as I have mentioned before.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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My solution is in the previous comment I made. I missed what had written.

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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Would this affect how the whole file is imported?

 

The problem is that it is not only the text that is misaligned, it is the entire element, including the two "design elements" themselves.

 

I was able to completely confirm the problem by simply placing two files, one on top of the other, without placing them in a container. One gets placed at full width, in accordance to the Illustrator file, the one for Per Lennart Joakim, for example, while the one for Aslak Helge does not get placed at full width and I was able to track it down to the fact that a good part of the left edge gets cropped somehow.

 

Would your solution completely stop this situation from occurring?

 

If yes, could you please go into detail on how I would go about doing that? I am rather new to inDesign, unfortunately, and the MacOS interface is rather different from the Windows one.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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My summary: You should use InDesign to do the formatting, rather than counting on what you're getting from Illustrator.

 

I would give the same explanation for someone who was importing a formatted Word document. 

 

Neither Word nor Illustrator have as much control for formatting as InDesign does. Learn how to do the InDesign formatting.

 

Let's see what other people say, I'm removing myself from the conversation for today.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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The issue is related to your Import Options when you placed the files.

It appears you placed them Cropped to Bounding Box. Use Crop or Trim instead.

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2021 Aug 19, 2021

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You, sir, are quite literally a life saver. I've been head butting inDesign all night (here).

 

That does seem to have solved the problem!

 

Weird, though, that importing with bounding box settings created issues just for some of the "singlets", and not all of them.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 20, 2021 Aug 20, 2021

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I'm glad you got your issue sorted!

 

Good luck to you.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 20, 2021 Aug 20, 2021

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It actually IS doing it to the others as well... you just aren't seeing it as much because the size of your artboard is clipping it on the wider names on the right side.

Bounding boxes on live type have been historically "loosey-goosey" and give a wider buffer around the area the type is occupying (how much more depends on the typeface selected, and it's usually wider on the right side of Italic or "slanty" typefaces). I could go on about the technical reasons for this, but won't! 😉

In my example, the red line is the Crop/Trim line (which is the size of your artboard), the green line is the bounding box of your live type object (which goes quite a bit to the right), and the yellow is the Bounding Box area that ID sees when you place it with that option, so you can see how the Bounding Box area changes to accommodate the width of your type, and how it changes how your file is centered.

BoundingvsCrop.png

 

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