Font changed when linking to Word document.

[tobiase32835748]

Hello.

I am hoping someone can help me with a problem I have had for years and through various versions of InDesign.

Sometimes when working on a document where I link to Word documents, the fonts will change in some parts of the document. Sometimes just one word and sometimes several words or sentences. It all looks ok in the Word document. It's really hard to fix. I have to select the "EXACT text in Word. Change it to another font. Save it. And then change it back and save again. Then it works...most of the time. If I miss a single character or space, then it doesnt work. So I can't just chose all the text and setup the fonts and formats across the whole document.

It makes no sense to me.

It's Word documents that are part of collaboration between me and collegues, So it's reworked on diffent PCs.

I have attached an example.

Best regards

Tobias

Does anyone have a fix or and idea what is wrong? 

[Mike Witherell]

You should be controlling the appearance of text in both Word and InDesign by using paragraph styles to control the appearance. Use, if possible, the same style names in both Word and InDesign. When InDesign has a linked Word doc, and when the style names agree (or are mapped to each other when you placed the Word doc) then the paragraph style appearance automatically applies to the text in a consistent way. For small portions of text that have bold and italic applied to them, you should be using Character Styles in both Word and InDesign that control the appearance of text that looks different from the overall paragraph of text.

[Mike Witherell · Accepted solution]

Also, if you are using paragraph styles in both programs, avoid using Normal style in either Word or InDesign and also avoid using Basic Paragraph Style in InDesign, nor would you define any paragraph style based on Basic Paragraph Style.

[tobiase32835748]

Thank you Mike.

Good input. I will follow your instructions 🙂

Best regards

Tobias

[sa63481182]

This is also a problem for me. I'm months new to InDesign but am fairly tech savvy with Word and Scribus. I have a book template already set up in ID. I have the manuscript in Word. All programs and computers are new and up to date. When I attempt to copy a very small chapter of just a few pages of the manuscript text into the ID book template the text does not import properly. It imports at 60 pt font. I've tried the following methods: 1) using the Place function, 2) standard copy from Word, standard Paste into ID, 3) holding down the Shift key when pasting. I also tried setting the "show paste options" box in Word to see if that would help. I checked all settings in Preferences and in the Character pallet. Styles are set correctly in both documents: neither program is using the Normal or Basic style setting, both are properly set; Word and ID both set to MinionPro 12pt. It is also losing the italicized text on import. I've spent hours on this and checked everywhere, so forgive me if I missed something. Will someone please have mercy on me and tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks to all the helpers on the boards.

[sa63481182]

I am having a similar problem. I have a book template completely set up in ID. I am importing the manuscript from Word. All computers and programs are new and up to date.  When attempting a test to import even a very small 3-page chapter from the manuscript into ID, it is switching every character of the Word document into 60 pt font size and also losing the original italics. I used these methods: 1) the Place function, 2) standard Copy from Word, checking the "show paste options" box to be sure nothing was wrong, 3) changing the Word document to the matching destination font of MinionPro 12 pt. Nothing has worked. I have done what was suggested in this thread, ensuring that all Paragraph Styles are properly set and not based on Normal or Basic (they were not), checking Preferences, and Character settings. I cannot find the problem. Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks so much to the helpers in the forum community for guidance.