Tracking changes from Word doc

[PLBCreative]

Hi there - I am after some urgent help please! I have been copying / pasting text form a large report into my InDesign and formatting it as I go - it's a complex layout, so haven't pasted all the text in and flowed it as I go.

However, the client has sent a new Word doc with loads of changes and I don't want to have to copy and paste it all in again. Is there a way I can import the entire new word doc into my Indesign doc and track the changes or apply them to my formatted text?

Thank you!

[Laubender]

Hi @PLBCreative ,

the only workflow that I know of where changes of a placed and linked Word file could be updated without wrecking formatting on the InDesign side requires a 3rd-party plug-in that is not for free, but has a free test mode for 30 days:

WordsFlow Pro by EM Software

https://emsoftware.com/products/wordsflow/#try

So in the end, my answer is "no", there is no way for tracking changes in your case.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[PLBCreative]

Hi @Laubender 

thanks for your reply - I have never done this before in InDesign. How do I go about tracking the changes with this plugin? I haven't used link files before. I just have the word doc open and was copying the content out from there and then pasting it into InDesign?

[BobLevine]

Won't matter anyway. Only works with linked Word files.

Have you considered InCopy? You should.

[PLBCreative]

Hi @BobLevine - thanks for your response. Is there anyway of correcting this issue then?

[BobLevine]

Beyond starting from scratch? No.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Wordsflow is a great plugin but it won't retrofit your current text. You would need to import the new Word document and reformat.

This is what I would do, assuming you are not using the plugin:

1. Export the InDesign document text into a Rich Text Format file (RTF).
2. Open the RTF file in MS Word and save as .docx file.
3. Use Compare Documents to see where the changes have been made (Revew tab>Compare group).
4. Edit your original document as needed, either directly or copy-and-paste added text.
5. PLACE your updated Word document back into InDesign. Be sure to show import options. AVOID pasting text, especially Word docs.
6. Since you exported the file from InDesign, it should be tagged with the ID's paragraph styles.
   (You ARE using paragraph and character styles, aren't you?)

In the future, you can format the text in Word using Word's paragraph and character styles. PLACE the Word document into InDesign and marry up the Word styles to InDesign styles--for example, Word's Heading 1 to InDesign's Subhead 1. Save the preset for future imports.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@PLBCreative

How much time do you have? 

Missed Dave's reply. 

Pretty much the same idea - but it could be partially automated - and done in InDesign.