Adobe InDesign software, does anyone use it here?

Okay, so I am kinda new to Adobe's Creative Suite but am learning how to use it. I am primarily using Acrobat X and InDesign in CS6. I have got the basics down in InDesign enough to do basic layouts and dropping in photos and stuff. The problem I have is with importing and exporting files. I understand that InDesign saves files in .indd and .indt file types. And of course I know that Acrobat saves in .pdf. I know that I can export from InDesign to Acrobat as a PDF as interactive or print. I also know that I can "place" a PDF in InDesign. The problem I am having is "opening" a PDF in InDesign. I do not think it is possible without buying this plug-in for $400. However, I am being told that I can do it but I am just being difficult. Someone please tell me that I am a moron and how to actually do this. It would be nice to hear that I am a moron from someone else and preferably with a constructive criticism slid in there somewhere.

Right now, I feel like a bank teller that was not given the combination to the bank vault and everyone else that works there has already been shot. It really sucks.

I have a feeling that one of the GRM staff may even know this.

That's been an issue for a while. InDesign only sees placed pdfs as an image. I've used acrobat pro to capture the text/graphics and recreate in ID - but you're not being difficult - there's isn't a clean/cheap workaround I know about other than the recosoft plug in. The cheap version I have done is to convert the pdf to word (there are freeware/internet-based programs for this one) then pull the text back in to ID.

Acrobat X (pro) should have an export option for Word, probably your best option.

You can open pdfs in Illustrator, but the text formatting is usually pretty f'd up, so it really doesn't help. Good for doing minor edits / changes that can't be done in Acrobat.

Here is the jist of what I am being asked to do. I have a 40 page PDF from a previous magazine(not car related so don't shoot me, ) and I am being asked to open them in InDesign so I can use them as "templates" for a future magazine. I told the person asking, although I am new at this, I just don't see how I can do that. Just simply right clicking and "open with" shows it isn't possible and I do not see an export feature in Acrobat or a way to convert to .indd in Acrobat either. It would be cool if you could. This person is not accepting that as an answer and is telling me their previous graphic designer had done this before.

Giving up and moving on to another client isn't an option either as much as I would like to, this is my stepmother.

This might be the equivalent of going around your elbow to get to your ass, but can you open the pdf in photoshop and then export it to in design?

I don't have any direct experience, just tossing the idea out there.

I spent 4 years in college working on InDesign. I have not used it since graduation...

Cripes, why can't they just send you the original InDesign document? You can export all the graphic elements from Acrobat, and rebuild the InDesign doc from scratch. Here's how a friend of mine, who's working on a very similar project, is dealing with it;

1) Create a new InDesign document with the same number of pages, page size, etc. as the original pdf.

2) Place the pdf page by page into the InDesign document.

3) Lock that layer and create a new one. Put a box of white over areas that you want erased or replaced.

4) Going back to the original pdf, select the text and under properties discover the font and font size of the original text.

5) Back in InDesign simply put new text on a new layer overtop the pdf areas you want to replace.

6) Once all the changes have been made, export the document as a pdf.

This seems a lot of trouble but I've found no easy way of dealing with the craziness of pdfs.

Hell I didn't even think of covering them up with new white boxes and putting the text or pictures in there. Pretty damn clever.

I just hate that once you are done with a project in InDesign, printers need to have it in PDF since it puts it into CMYK instead of RGB. If the industry standard is to export in PDF from InDesign when done, why not be able to open it back up to make changes instead of going back to the indd file. My brain hurts now.

Thanks guys, now I need to find a way to explain this to my boss/stepmother in a way that she will believe me. She is absolutely convinced that I can just open the PDF up in InDesign as easy as opening a jpeg in Photoshop. She just doesn't understand and thinks I am just being stubborn when I tell her that. Ugh....

The previous manuals at my current job were done in InDesign, I dislike the interface so much, I use Word now instead.

I haven't been able to convince them to spend the money on a CMS, MadCap Flare and the necessary training for it.

Unfortunately, your stepmother is mistaken.

If you are going to use Lesley's technique to "trace" the existing layout by importing pages into ID, you should only have to trace each unique page, not every single one. If you are not using Master pages, then you're wasting time, and I strongly recommend learning how to use them before laying out a 50-page doc.

I use the master pages for just the page numbering and titling. I would use the master pages for doing similar page layouts within the document but each page appears to be a little different.

Yeah, I do the same thing with Quark. Use the master pages to set up the document and parameters. If there's a banner, date and page numbers in similar spots, it's a real time saver.

I'd do it the same way Leslie suggested. Even if you could "open" a pdf in InDesign (which you pretty much can't, because "opening" a pdf isn't a thing), using that file for a template would be a disaster waiting to happen.

As for the original docs (which must exist, since the document had to be created in something), or just follow Leslie's instructions and make your master pages.

jg

Thanks for the help guys and gals.

For those interested, Markzware (http://markzware.com) will be coming out with a $199 plugin for InDesign which will allow you to open and edit a PDF within InDesign.

The plugin is called PDF2DTP (http://markzware.com/products/pdf2dtp/)

Right now there is a PDF2DTP (for QuarkXPress 9). The InDesign version will be releasing in the coming months.

Canoe

Yeah, I should have figured it would pull some paddle boats out.

I know this thread is a damn near cold dead body but let me revive it for one more bit of advice or reassurance.

I have come to yet ANOTHER disagreement with my boss who manually layout magazines in the late 80's/early 90s. This one has to do with spreads and correct page numbering.

So we are doing the cover, front inside cover, back inside cover, and back cover in a separate file from the rest of the pages so we can send them to the printer separately. I am good with that. But the disagreement comes with the page taskbar layout where you modify and place master pages. As you know, when opening a new document, it show page 1(cover) in the first spread on the right, the the next spread has pages 2(inside front) and 3(inside back), then page 4(back cover) appears to be in a third spread on the left.

Well I tried to explain to her when you export it, that page 4(back cover) on the "third spread" will actually be printed on the first spread to the left of page 1(cover). So it will export as follows:

4-1(first spread): back cover - front cover
2-3 (second spread): inside front cover - inside back cover

She thinks that you have to have the back cover to the left of the front cover while laying out in the pages task bar. I told her the only way to do that is to have the back cover as page 1 and the cover as page 2, then the inside front would be page 3 and the inside back would be page 4. That would make it export as follows:

4-1: inside back cover - back cover
2-3: front cover - inside front cover

Does this sound about right?

She is basically telling me that I am wrong and I don't know what I am doing, much like the whole PDF thing. I am thinking of just taking the high road, keep my mouth shut, and do it the way she wants. I will keep the original .indd files to unberkeley this if the printer can't adjust it. But from what I understand, the printer should be able to adjust it. If not, it would be a short amount of time to just rearrange it if requested.

Ugh, its the blind leading the semi-blind around here.

Dragging pages between spreads is fairly easy.

Company I work for has close to 200 unique courses with manuals for each, about 20-30% of the manuals are indesign. Most of the instructors we work with make edits infrequently enough that they won't do them in indesign(or don't know how). So then I get to do what I spent te last few days on, comparing an edited word file to the indesign doc that was created last year in order to find what changed, then making said edits in the indesign files. This time, I'm giving him the PDF to annotate for changes, rather than doing this again next year.

Talk to the printer on what their preference is and what makes their life easier? Some printers want the indesign package, some want PDFs some want them in traditional layout and some want pages in sequential order - mostly based on the systems and equipment they have available.

If I had a situation like that, I'd just export and upload the "stupid" (industry term) pages individually. I like my books to start on page 1 (cover) and go sequentially from there. If I have to do something different, it's usually just for a paghe or two, so the extra effort of uploading 3-4 pages separately is worth it.

jg