The Adobe® InCopy® CS2 Book [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Creating a New Document

Now you're ready to write. Like most word-processing tools, InCopy can create a brand-new blank document so that you can begin to put words to paper, as it were. But because InCopy is tailored toward a workflow environment, realizing that your words will eventually be laid out on the printed page in a larger context, even the New Document dialog offers some options you may not be used to.

Choosing File > New brings up the New Document dialog (Figure 2.2). The first field in this dialog is the Text Area setting. Why a text area? You're not laying out a whole page in InCopy. In fact, you're not laying out pages in InCopy at all. That's the designer's job. You're here to write, so InCopy is simply asking you how much space you have for your words. This setting is designed for writers who need to write to fit. The feature, new to InCopy CS2, is called Standalone Copyfit.

In some cases you'll know the settings that belong in these fields. In some cases you won't. Don't worry if you don't. InCopy is quite forgiving on this score. It's not going to stop you from writing simply because you've gone over your word allotment (or your line count, or what have you). It's just going to let you know how you're measuring up against that allotment of space. Truth is, most of this information is just for you, the writer, to be able to see how your work interacts with the geometry of your layout: line breaks, line counts, page breaks, and copyfitting. The default setting for text area in this dialog is 7.5 inches wide (Figure 2.3). But if you do need to change these settings, no worries, just head over to File > Document Setup and change it.

Imagine that you're assigned a sidebar to a longer story. Your cigar-chomping editor has bellowed that he needs 500 words in it. He also told you that your sidebar will be 4 inches wide. In that case, set the Text Area width to 4 inches. Notice that the