Tips and techniques for Adobe InCopy/InDesign workflow users

Stealth Glitch: Accidental Accents in Filenames

When Mac users and Windows users need to share the same files, it’s important to use “lowest common denominator” types of filenames to avoid platform-specific problems with special characters. The Mac is  perfectly fine with, say, a “greater than” symbol (OurLayout>v2.indd), while Windows most definitely is not. And when files are saved to and opened [...]

Fixing Links to Missing Stories

Theoretically, if you’re doing everything right, you should never see this icon appear on one of your workflow stories:

If you see a scary red stop sign icon (it’s a hexagon, I checked) on a workflow story, instead of the usual globe or pencil, it means the story’s link is missing — neither InDesign nor InCopy [...]

The Strange Case of the “Editing and Out of Date” Status

I get a lot of screen shots of InCopy UIOs (Unidentified Interface Objects) sent my way. “What does this thing mean?” is the usual message in the e-mail. Here’s one that I get at least once a month — you may have encountered it yourself — and at first glance, it seems impossible:

Now, how could [...]

Incompatible plug-ins

It’s a bitter truth, but not all InDesign plug-ins are compatible with InCopy. Here’s an example.
Chris, a production manager at a catalog company, sent me an e-mail. He said that his company’s art department uses InDesign CS3 to put together their catalogs, relying heavily on Meadows Publishing Solution’s AutoPrice plug-in and Virginia System’s Sonar IndexPro. [...]

Galley and Story View are Not Available

Lately, the InCopy forums at Adobe.com have been peppered with posts from different users quoting the same Alert dialog box, and asking why they’re seeing it.
The Alert box they’re referring to is this one: