Issue importing MsWord equations in Indesign

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Hello,

I have to create a math Book in InDesign but i'm having issues importing equations to it.

First i have imported the .doc file into InDesgin and all the equations came in with an .eps format, wich is fine because i don't nececerly need to edit them into InDesign. But the thing is that they are not displayed correctly: some letters are over the other, some comas are not at the good place. i've uploaded two images, one is the equation on word and the other one inDesign with .eps format.

Word

InDesign

Anyone know where this issue come from?

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Hi,

There are several threads in the InDesign about issues with MathType plugin.

It seems that the font is not recognised/mapped correctly.

Check:

Please include the version of InDesign, Word, MathType and operating System you are using. It might help getting you better support

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Thanks for your answer.

The thing is that the equations have not been written with MathType but with the Ms Word equation editor 3.0.

I'm using CC 2018 , Ms office pro 2016 and the latest version of mathtype but as i said i dont use mathtype.

Report · Apr 29, 2019

I tried to copy/past the equations into an Ai file and they were displayed correctly. So would it come from import parameters of InDesign?

Report · Apr 29, 2019

its about the font, I had this issue before, just try to find the suitable fonts that related to math glyphs.

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Ok but the fonts that seem to be missing are :

Arial Baltic (wich is supposed to be part of Arial Unicode MS that i have) and the font "Times", not times new romans , wich is unfindable on internet. Does anyone know where i could find those fonts?

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Search for MathType fonts..

Also try typekit.com.. You can access it from your character panel if you have creative cloud account.

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Hi einsteininho ,

both missing fonts could be part of your MS Word installation.

And currently only accessible through MS Word perhaps.

Maybe Times is also substituted by a different font. Silently when used with MS Word.

Regards,
Uwe

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Thanks for your answer,

Times is actually available through Ms-Words and i managed to install it on InDesign.

Though it didn't change anything, the equations are all messed up.

I'd like reformulate my main issue: how can i import MsWord equations into inDesign without any need to edit them later?

Report · Apr 29, 2019

I think i've found a way to kind of "get around" my problem.

Basically i copy/paste the word equation into illustrator. On illustrator the equation is displayed correctly.

Then i save it as an eps. Then i import the eps into my InDesign and put it into the container of the previous equation.

So it's not very convenient because i have more than a thousands equation to do like this but it seems the only way to do it properly.

If anyone has an idea to accelerate this process, it's welcome

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Hi,

I found this article, Hope this helps

How to Insert Equations in InDesign

by Charles Jackson

If you use Adobe InDesign to create printed advertising materials for your business and you want to insert a mathematical equation into one of your projects, you'll find that there is no obvious way to do this. The only way to insert an equation is to edit it in another program that supports complex mathematical equations and suitable formatting (such as Microsoft Word) and then save it as an image file. You can then import it into InDesign as an image. There used to be a plugin available for InDesign that allowed you to enter equations directly into InDesign, but this is no longer available. The following steps apply to any program you use to create the equation.

1.

Open the program which you will use to create and edit the equation, such as Microsoft Word. Some programs, such as Maple Calculator, allow you to save equations as images within the program. If you do not have such an option available, or you don't know where to find it, continue to the next step.

2.

Click "Start" and type "Snipping tool" into the search box. Click on "Snipping Tool" when it appears in the search results.

3.

Click "Cancel" in the Snipping Tool and ensure that the program containing the equation is displayed on the screen. In the Snipping Tool, click "New" and, using the left mouse button, drag out a box around the equation. When you release the mouse button, the equation will appear as an image in the Snipping Tool window.

4.

Click "File" followed by "Save As." From the drop-down box beside "Save as type," choose "JPEG file" and click "Save."

5.

Open Adobe InDesign and click "File" followed by "Place." Navigate to the image file you just saved and click "OK." The equation will appear in your InDesign project.

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Have you tried saving your Word file as a PDF and place it?

Report · Apr 29, 2019

vinny38 I haven't tried.

What do you have in mind? If i save my whole document as a pdf i would not only have the equations but also an uneditable text.

The thing is , i just want to manipulate the equations as objects ( i mean .eps) but i want to be to able edit and the text on indesign.

Report · Apr 29, 2019

Right...

I must have missed the part where you were talking about having both text and equations in a single file.

Of course, the PDF suggestion will not work then.

Sorry, I have no expertise in dealing with equations so I won't be able to help you out there.

That said, I'd like to share a few thoughts:

- you wrote you have MathType but don't use it... Why is that? It seems to be the most appropriate tool, as far as I can tell.

- you're lucky your Word exports equation as EPS. I had a try and can't get any better than dreadful 96dpi PNGs... Not same version though... (Or maybe some hidden word pref)

Anyhow, if you decide to go through the Illustrator workaround, make sure black isn't composite. I don't trust MSWord that much ^^

Also, you can re-save in AI, instead of the old format EPS.

Report · Apr 30, 2019

Thanks for your advices.

vinny38 a écrit
- you wrote you have MathType but don't use it... Why is that? It seems to be the most appropriate tool, as far as I can tell.

I have mathType but the equations were written on the Ms-Word equations editor 3.0 not by me. I tried to convert them into mathType equations but it didn't work very well. But you are right, the perfect situation would be to use mathType from the beginning, but people i work with don't do it yet.

vinny38 a écrit
- you're lucky your Word exports equation as EPS. I had a try and can't get any better than dreadful 96dpi PNGs... Not same version though... (Or maybe some hidden word pref)

Actually i don't really know what format the equations take when i copy/paste them into Illustrator but there are no loss of quality and it's still vectorial.

Report · May 01, 2019

In the previous threads about similar issues it seemed that the problem comes from a font mapping point.

Which it strange for an EPS. I was hoping the font embedding option would help.

At the end, not the quickest I know, I ended up making pdf of the Word doc and inserting that in InDesign.

Report · Jul 24, 2023

If you can get the equations into MathType, you can then use the MathType feature to export all equations to EPS. Maybe you can copy the equation from the current format, and paste into a new MathType equation?

Report · Jul 24, 2023

Why are you resurrecting 4 years old thread??

Adobe Community

Issue importing MsWord equations in Indesign

Hi,

I found this article, Hope this helps

How to Insert Equations in InDesign

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