You can read the complete list of resolved issues in the Release Notes, but for me, the biggest issues fixed for InCopy users are:

• Notes now appear in all pages of PDFs exported from Layout view,
• Word > InCopy style mapping presets are working again, and
• Windows InCopy no longer reports missing links “when opening certain INDD files created from the Mac OS” even though links are accessible.

There are many more bug fixes for InDesign; you can read the Release Notes or look at Steve Werner’s post about it on InDesignSecrets.com

Full-day InCopy seminars

First, I’m really excited to be able to do two full days of InCopy/InDesign workshops on September 15 and 16. (Finally, I’ll have the time to cover everything I want to cover!) I’ll be doing these in one of the beautiful presentation halls at the Institute for Graphics and Imaging, just west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s the same place where I did a 2-day InDesign Master Class a couple years ago, if any of you were there.

Each full-day workshop is “stand alone,” though I suppose some users might want to take advantage of the opportunity for face-to-face training and attend both days.

Tues., Sept. 15: Collaborative Workflows using Adobe InCopy and InDesign
Fee: $195 for all-day seminar; discounts available*

An introductory workshop to the InDesign/InCopy workflow, this session is ideal for prospective users or those who have recently switched and are still kind of unclear about it all. I’ll cover the different ways to set up the workflow (what gets installed where), who should (and shouldn’t) be using it, how to share stories and keep up to date, and so on. More details are available on the workshop registration page. or download the PDF brochure.

*Enter the InCopySecrets discount code ICS15 for $25 off! Other discounts are explained on the registration page.

Wed., Sept 16: Adobe InCopy and InDesign Master Class
Fee: $195 for all-day seminar; discounts available*

Though all users are welcome, I’m aiming this seminar at editors, designers, and production managers who have at least a few months of InCopy/InDesign (any version) under their belt. I plan to cover more advanced topics like creating InCopy layout templates, troubleshooting font issues and permission issues, tips and techniques for keeping all the files and filetypes straight and error-free, using cloud computing solutions for remote workflows, and more. More details are available on the Eventbrite registration page, or download the PDF brochure.

*Enter the InCopySecrets discount code ICS16 for $25 off!  Other discounts are explained on the registration page.

InCopy Webinars

If you can’t travel to Milwaukee, or can’t afford a full day outside of the office, but still need some InCopy workflow help,  how about an hour in front of your computer? I’m going to show just the most essential information from both of these workshops in two separate webinars.

Wed. Sept. 9: InCopy + InDesign: Getting Started
Fee: $39.00, for 1 hour webinar plus 15 minutes of Q&A
Early bird fee of $29.00 until Aug 28 2009

This is an introductory eSeminar on how the InCopy/InDesign workflow works, with essential information for new users on how to make the transition smoothly and successfully. Send me your questions beforehand, or stick around afterwards to ask them live. Register here.

Wed. Sept. 23: InCopy + InDesign: Tips and Techniques
Fee: $39.00, for 1 hour webinar plus 15 minutes of Q&A
Early bird fee of $29.00 until Aug 28 2009

I’ll be showing some of my favorite tips and how-tos for more advanced topics like remote workflows, troubleshooting, templates, and hidden InCopy features. Send me your questions beforehand, or stick around afterwards to ask them live. Register here.

——————-

So there you have it, four ways to get up to speed with the InCopy/InDesign workflow this September … I’m looking forward to seeing you at one or more of them!

To make it easier for those companies to find a compatible date, we’re going to do the exact same webinar twice over the next two weeks. That means there are more seats available for any new attendees; and happily, the $50 discount code they gave me is still valid for either of the new sessions. I’m assuming most people visiting this blog are already using InCopy, but maybe not, or maybe you have a colleague who’s still suffering under the yoke of paper mark-up and would appreciate the info I’ll be presenting. Please send them this URL.

Editing in InCopy, a 60-minute interactive webinar

• Date 1: Tuesday, March 31, 2009; 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Eastern)
• Date 2: Tuesday, April 7, 2009; 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Eastern)
• You just need a web browser and a phone connection to participate.
• Webinar fee is per connecting site, not per attendee (e.g., you could have your whole staff attend in a conference room for a single registration fee).
• $50 Discount code: Please enter the word “GEEKNESS” in the field marked “Promo Code” on the registration form, or call McMurry (the publisher) at 888-0303-2373, to register at the special rate of $179 (a $50 savings) per dial-in site. The regular price, $229, will be reflected on your online receipt, but your card will be charged the lower rate.

I’m aiming the content at editors and writers (as opposed to designers), to introduce them to InCopy and the InCopy/InDesign workflow and how InCopy compares to and can work with Word. I’ll show how files are shared between the two programs, cross-platform, and answer your specific questions during a final Q&A. If the Q&A extends beyond the end of the session, I’m okay with staying longer if you are. .

If you’ll be attending and you have some specific questions, please e-mail me beforehand and I’ll try my best to address them during my presentation (or I’ll let you know if it’s outside of the scope of the session).

Participants will receive a PDF handout of the slides/key points afterwards.

Mainly it’s editors who ask the question, but designers too would appreciate the ability to occasionally save a version of the contents of a text frame being shared with InCopy.  Well, I now have a solution, but need your help. More on that further down.

As InCopy users know, versioning is not built in to the workflow. When you check out a story in  a layout or assignment, even the Save As command is dimmed. You can only do a Save As with standalone InCopy files. So editorial users make do with Track Changes, or with some manual workarounds. (Note that K4 and SmartConnection systems have a versioning feature, I believe, but I’m talking about the “normal” InCopy workflow here.) And in InDesign, even if you do a Save As to the layout, the text frames are still linked to the first version’s InCopy stories.

So last year I joined forces with a couple InDesign/InCopy developer geeks (and I mean that as a compliment), Peter Truskier and Jim Birkenseer, to address the issue. Last month we released the first beta version of InVersion. It’s a low-footprint plug-in for InDesign and InCopy that lets you save and restore versions of each story in your publication, whenever you want.

For example, here’s a screen shot of part of the contextual menu you see when you right-click on a story you’ve checked out:

Unlike VersionCue, InVersion doesn’t require a database or anything special like that, it just uses your existing project folder to store and track versions of InCopy stories. Also, InVersion only saves a version when you specifically choose the Save A Version command, instead of every time you save a story or check it in, which we think makes the most sense.

It works the same in InDesign as it does in InCopy.  In fact, InDesign users could use InVersion even if their company isn’t using InCopy. They’d just need to use InDesign commands to export the story to InCopy format first (kind of like exporting the story to RTF format), and from then on they could use InVersion to save and manage iterations of main stories or sidebars, without having to do Save As’s to the full layout.

We Need More Testers

For the past month we’ve had a small group of InDesign/InCopy users download the beta and the PDF how-to, use it, and give us feedback to a private forum we’ve set up. The very first bit of feedback we received was so great to hear:

“I’ve done some testing in an InVersion installed InCopy and a standard InDesign without the plug-in, and it works fine. [...] I deleted the Versions folder to see what would happen and if the workflow still works using the latest incx file – it works fine. I can see the most use on the InCopy side where editors needs versioning (without the hassle of Version Cue). It’s simple, elegant, it works. Me Like! ”

But before we release it into the “wild” commercially, we need many more InCopy and InDesign users to try it out and tell us what works and what’s missing. There’s not much to test, it’s actually quite straight-forward and simple, and it would help us immensely (plus, active testers get a free copy of the final release!).

Right now the InVersion beta is only available for CS3 (Mac and Windows), but CS4 will follow shortly.

So if you’d like to join the fun and you’re using either CS3 or CS4 of InCopy or InDesign, please e-mail me at amarie [at] incopysecrets.com with INVERSION in the Subject line and I’ll get you signed up. Thanks!

I’m assuming most people visiting this blog are already using InCopy, but maybe not, or maybe you have a colleague who’s still suffering under the yoke of paper mark-up and would appreciate the info I’ll be presenting. Please send them this URL.

Editing in InCopy, a 60-minute interactive webinar

• New date/time to be announced shortly (likely end of March/early April)
• You just need a web browser and an Internet connection to attend.
• Details/registration at the Copyediting webinar page
• Discount code: Please enter the word “GEEKNESS” in the field marked “Promo Code” on the registration form, or call McMurry (the publisher) at 888-0303-2373, to register at the special rate of $179 (a $50 savings) per dial-in site. The regular price, $229, will be reflected on your online receipt, but your card will be charged the lower rate.

I’m aiming the content at editors and writers (as opposed to designers), to introduce them to InCopy and the InCopy/InDesign workflow and how IC compares and can work with Word.  About 1/3 the presentation will be me explaining how it works via slides and purty pictures,  1/3 will be me showing it “live” by sharing my screen while I take a pub through InDesign and InCopy and back again, and 1/3 will be for Q&A. from the audience.

Participants will receive a PDF handout of the slides/key points afterwards.

Such is the case with Macworld magazine’s review of Adobe InCopy CS4, just published on their web site. Reviewer Sally Zahner is the assistant managing editor at the magazine. Macworld themselves moved to an InDesign/InCopy workflow earlier this year, so Sally’s excitement over being able to track changes in table text rings true. As does her disappointment that Adobe didn’t add any new Notes-related features (other than the ability to embed them in tables) to CS4, among other still-missing enhancements she says she’s been pining for. We’re with you, Sally!

These frustrations aside, she was upbeat about the new version, expounding on how useful the redesigned Links panel and conditional text features will be for editors and publishers.

(Full disclosure, I was the technical editor for this review. However, Macworld tech editors are limited to pointing up factual errors or overlooked major features in reviews and have no sway over mouse ratings or anything else.)

Inexplicably, InCopy CS4 is not a “featured product” on the trial downloads page … heh …  so you’ll have to scroll past the image links and select the product name from the dropdown menu on the same page. Enter your Adobe ID if necessary, and you’ll be brought here:

It’s safe to install either or both InCopy CS4/InDesign CS4 on the same machine running the CS3 version — CS3 will continue to function normally. However, if it’s a production (as opposed to testing) machine, you might need to adjust the way you open files, since most Mac and Windows machines will assume anything you double-click on should be opened in the latest version of the program you have installed. Limit yourself to using the File > Open menu in CS3 versions to avoid unwanted conversions, or right-clicking on files in order to use the Open With command.

As usual, 30 days after you install the trial versions, they’ll refuse to run until you enter a serial number and activate it. If you purchase CS4, though, you don’t need to reinstall anything. Entering the new serial number will convert the trial version to a “normal” version of the software. Nice and easy!

Well, yes and no. It’s called “InCopy CS3″ (or whatever version you have) because it’s designed to work with the same version of InDesign. But it’s not bundled with any of the Creative Suite packages, it’s always sold separately. (If you want them to include a copy, as I do, let Adobe know.)

Luckily, you’ve got me, and I’m here to give you the scoop. I want to start with the top three new features. I’ll write about additional new features in upcoming blog posts.

Table Editing in Story/Galley

There may be new feature that will have more long-range impact, but I believe this baby will be the most welcome to any editor or writer who works with tables in InCopy. You’ve always been able to edit table content in Layout view. In CS4, you can now see and edit the text content of tables — every cell, every row — in Story view and Galley view too.

Here’s a sample table in Layout view (note the overset cell, the one with the red dot):

And here are the first few rows from that same table in Story view:

The start of every row is indicated by a blue text label (Row 1, Row 2, etc.) and the contents of each cell in that row is marked off with a horizontal dashed line. (Seems strange at first, but you get used to it.)

Since table text is now accessible in Story/Galley, it means you can now track changes in tables, access overset cell text, and insert inline notes in cells — none of which was possible in InCopy CS3. Hallelujah!

Remember the evil red dot? Here’s the culprit — the overset cell text— in Galley view, completely accessible and editable without messing up the table formatting:

Alas, Adobe hasn’t figured out how to show the contents of anchored text frames in Story/Galley yet. Maybe in CS5?

Dynamic Cross-References

In CS4, InDesign and InCopy share a powerful new automatic cross-referencing feature, complete with its own panel (which it shares with the Hyperlinks panel, also new to InCopy), dialog boxes and menu commands.

To create a cross-reference in InCopy, you select some text in a story you’ve checked out, click the Insert New Cross-Reference button in the panel, and then use the New Cross-Reference dialog box to link it to other text in the current document or in any InDesign layout available to you.

Most of the cross-references you’ll likely create will be dynamic, meaning the software will take care of keeping it up to date. For example, the source text “See the Indiana Dunes Map on page 14″ will automatically update as the destination (the page number on which the map appears) changes. Woo-hoo!

The Cross-References panel shown above tracks all your cross-references and lets you know if and when destinations are missing or need to be updated.

Conditional Text

Instead of creating duplicate layouts or even duplicating text frames onto multiple layers, use the Conditional Text panel in InCopy CS4 to create multiple editions or versions of a single document meant for different audiences: Teacher/Student textbook editions, English/French/Spanish magazine versions, Windows/Mac help files, and so on.

Each of these editions or versions would be called a “condition,” and using the Conditional Text panel, you can hide and show conditions at will.

First, you create the conditions in the Conditional Text panel. (Probably the InDesign users will be doing this—like text styles, InCopy users can only apply conditions, not modify them, in a managed document). When you open a layout or assignment in InCopy, the conditions saved with the INDD file are available to you to apply to text.

Text that remains the same throughout each version is called “unconditional” and nothing special needs to be done to it (it’s the default, starting state for all text). Unconditional text is always visible in PDFs and printouts.

When you have some text that should only appear in a certain edition/version, you select it in a checked-out story and click the condition name in the panel. (In some cases, you can use Find/Change to apply conditions automatically; but that’s a topic for another post!)

The end result is that you can then use the Show/Hide icons (the eyeballs next to each condition) to show and hide text with that conditioned applied. Hide all the UK conditions, and the US version of the document is ready to be printed or PDF’d. To create the UK version of the document, hide the US condition(s). Coolness.

More to Come

There’s more to write about each of these new features, and of course the other ones as well. Stay tuned!

My sincere apologies for neglecting this site in the past few months. Here’s what I replied to one of InCopySecrets’s fans who recently e-mailed me asking what’s up:

Yes, it’s still alive! This whole summer for me has been one huge client project after another, and everything else fell to the wayside (my posts on InDesignSecrets, my DesignGeek ezine, the updating of my own web site, my creativepro.com column … and my new baby blog, IC Secrets.)

Most of the huge projects are almost done and I’ve hired a couple new people who are just getting up to speed so I’ll be able to offload some tasks to them. Now I am doing my best to shore up neglected things, and IC Secrets is #1.

I hope you can take heart in the fact that many of the projects I referred to in my reply are directly related to Adobe InCopy. Training, writing, CS4 documentation, Lynda.com video tutorials, even working with plug-in developers to come up with some solutions to missing features in the off-the-shelf InCopy/InDesign workflow. (What I like to call the “commando” workflow—sans K4 or Smart Connection, just using what comes in the box.)

I’ll be writing about all of these projects in upcoming posts, but most especially, I’ll be writing about you, and the innovative ways you’re all making the workflow work at your own publications.

Adobe released an update, 5.0.1 (CS3 = version 5) in the middle of October for both programs on both platforms. The InCopy update fixes “key issues” with text and fonts, dictionaries, and other things. To see exactly what’s fixed in InCopy; you can download the PDF:

Adobe InCopy CS3 5.01 Read Me
http://www.adobe.com/go/ic5_readme

InCopy, like all the Adobe software, is set by default to periodically check the Adobe web site for updates, and to alert you if one exists. It uses the little utility program, Adobe Updater (installed along with the main programs) to do the checking. Updater will reveal itself if it finds any updates and offers to download and install them. At this point you can tell it to go away without doing anything; or to download them but don’t install them. To invoke the Adobe Updater on your own, just chose the menu item “Updates…” from the Help menu.

If you don’t have admin access to your computer then you probably can’t install updates. In that case, have your IT people log on as an admin, then start up InCopy or InDesign and choose Updates to kick start the Adobe Updater. Or, you can download and install updates manually from Adobe’s web site:

Adobe – Latest Product Updates
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/

It’s critical in an InDesign/InCopy workflow for everyone to be using the same version, especially if you’re encountering problems. (When clients contact me to troubleshoot something, it’s the first question I ask — “What version is everyone using?”.) So design and editorial should coordinate with each other to make sure everyone has downloaded and installed the patch to both InDesign CS3 and InCopy CS3.

I don’t mean to scare anyone; if some users are on 5.0 and others are on 5.0.1, everything will still work. It’s just that things will work better if everyone is at the same patch level. And, of course, you may be struggling with some issues that the patch fixes!