Importing an entire book manuscript into InDesign: What are the best practices?

Thanks to David Creamer!

I learned something new and began an experiment.

In Word you can import a picture from a file.

Insert > Picture > Insert Picture from > This Device > Insert button (which has a triangle drow-down list)

You can Insert or Link to File or Insert and Link

Save and close that Word .docx

1. Now do a InDesign > File Place > Show Import Options...

If you Inserted an embedded file into Word in the usual way, the Microsoft Word Import dialog box can bring the text in along with embedded graphics. Great, but maybe later you relink to higher rez graphics, which is work.

2. If you InDesign > File Place > Show Import Options...

If you Linked to the picture file in the Word docx, you get ... NOTHING! Waaah!

3. If you InDesign > File Place > Show Import Options...

If you Insert and Link in the Word docx, you get an embedded graphic again, like in situation 1.

I was not expecting the behavior or situation 2 and 3.

How many pages are you talking about? If more than a couple of hundred, I'd create separate chapters as individual documents and use the ID Book feature. 

Do not import the graphics with the Word document; place them after you get the text imported and formatted. 

Hi Marie:

Addressing the best practices question—depending on the length of the book, I would break it into smaller chapters and pull them together in the book file. As stated above, you don't have to, but I do mostly book work and find it easier to work with chapters.

Other best practices:

1. Design with template frames and linked master pages
2. Use variables and auto-numbers for the running heads
3. Define paragraph and character styles for all formatting
4. Generate a table of contents from the paragraph styles
5. Sync formatting from one chapter to the others for consistency
6. Let the book handle the page and paragraph numbering

Unfortunately, I have bad news on the x-refs—they do not translate from Word to InDesign, yet. It's a good feature request for a future version.

Adobe InDesign Feedback

~Barb

you can keep it all on one document and use the word to indesign style mapping feature. here:

https://indesignsecrets.com/solving-word-workflow-problems-with-style-mapping.php

Depending on the length of the book I suggest you try one document first. Place the MS into InDesign using the Microsoft Word Input feature (that may not be the exact name, but I can’t check at the moment).