Import Text into Adobe InDesign CS6

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Video: Import Text into Adobe InDesign CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to import text in Adobe InDesign CS6 in Windows 7.

1. 1
   To begin, you should open Adobe InDesign either from your desktop or by coming down to the bottom-left corner of your screen and clicking the Windows icon.

   

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2. 2
   Clicking the Windows icon will bring up a list of your recently used programs. You might see Adobe InDesign on the list. InDesign has a pink-and-purple icon with the letters "ID" on it.

   

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3. 3
   Otherwise, click the search bar at the bottom of the screen and manually type "Adobe InDesign".

   

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4. 4
   Then click "Adobe InDesign CS6" to open it.

   

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5. 5
   Before you proceed, click "Essentials" in the top-right corner.

   

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6. 6
   Then, check "Advanced" from the drop-down menu. The menu that appears will allow you to change some of the options that appear on the right side of the screen.

   

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7. 7
   Next, click "File" in the top-left corner of the screen.

   

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8. 8
   You can create a new document by clicking "New". You can also do this with the shortcut "Ctrl" + "N" on the keyboard. If you prefer, you can open an existing document from the "File" menu as well. For additional help with this step, please view our other Adobe InDesign tutorials.

   

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9. 9
   Now that the document is opened, click and drag "Paragraph Styles" and "Character Styles" from the right-hand side menu to the workspace.

   

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10. 10
    The easiest way to import text is to use the "Place" function. You can copy and paste your text into a text box, but you will lose all of your formatting. To import text, select "File" from the top-left corner of your window.

    

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11. 11
    Then, click "Place..." in the drop-down menu. You can also use the "Ctrl"+"D" shortcut on the keyboard.

    

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12. 12
    You can select the document you would like to work with by clicking it once.

    

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13. 13
    In the lower-left corner of the window, check the box that says, "Show Import Options".

    

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14. 14
    Then, click "Open".

    

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15. 15
    Because you've checked the "Show Import Options" box, a large dialogue box will appear. It will allow you to show what you want to keep and discard in your document. You can either check or uncheck options of what you want to carry into your document.

    

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16. 16
    Next, you have the options to change the formatting of your document. Experiment with how you want your document to look. If you would like to keep your formatting when adding text to a document, check "Preserve Styles and Formatting from Text and Tables". If you do not want to keep your formatting, you can just copy and paste your text.

    

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17. 17
    It may be useful to click "No Breaks" in the "Manual Page Breaks" drop-down menu to remove page breaks. Oftentimes, page break settings are not compatible between Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign.

    

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18. 18
    You can also select the priority list of programs that are used when importing text to InDesign. It is recommended to let InDesign take precedence over Microsoft Word, as it will give you more formatting freedom later on.

    

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19. 19
    You can save presets by clicking the "Save Preset..." button in the upper-right corner of the window. This may be useful if you will be completing the same type of project often.

    

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20. 20
    When you have finished, click "OK". Your cursor will be ready to import your text into your document.

    

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21. 21
    You can click and drag the area where you want your text to be. It is done the same way as drawing an image. Now, you can go through and check how InDesign has interpreted your text document.

    

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22. 22
    You may need to zoom in on the document, depending on the size of your file. Your document will likely need some clean up because of the nature of the two different programs used in importing the text.

    

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This concludes our tutorial on how to import text from Microsoft Word in Adobe InDesign CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding this video or the program used, then just add them to the comment section below. Thank you for choosing VisiHow!

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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