Adobe CS5.5 (v.7.5) Mac Upgrade NO 65103933 User Manual

Importing text and graphics

InDesign supports import of all common formats

 for both text 

and graphics, including RTF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, TIFF, JPEG, 

PDF, EPS, Buzzword files from Acrobat.com, and even native Photoshop 

and Illustrator files (see “Using native file formats” on page 26). You 

can also import InDesign (INDD) files into InDesign layouts. If you are 

creating a “rich media” PDF file with InDesign, you can import QuickTime, 

AVI, MPEG, and SWF movie files, or AIFF, WAV, and AU sound clips. These 

file formats can be played when you export a document to Adobe PDF.

There are three basic methods for 

importing text and graphics into 

your InDesign document: Copy and 

Paste; choose File > Place; or drag 

and drop files from Adobe Bridge, 

the Mini Bridge panel (Window > 

Mini Bridge), the Mac OS Finder, 

or Windows Explorer into an open 

InDesign document.

Copying and pasting plain text 

into InDesign is a useful and quick 

import method, but formatting and 

special characters are often lost in 

the translation. Instead, importing a 

Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format 

(RTF) file using File > Place is often a 

better choice.

InDesign offers robust support for 

both Word and RTF files. When you 

import a Word document or an RTF 

document, you have the option to 

rename styles (in case of a nam-

ing conflict), overwrite an existing 

InDesign style with the Word or RTF 

style, or map a Word or RTF style to 

an existing InDesign style. 
To access these style-mapping 

options, as well as several other 

options, choose File > Place, select 

a Word or RTF file, and then select 

Show Import Options in the Place 

dialog box. When you click Open, 

the Microsoft Word Import Options 

dialog box is displayed.

22  Adobe InDesign CS5  |  Conversion Guide