InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Import Filters

As with QuarkXPress, for InDesign to be able to bring in data from another file format, it must have an import filter for that format. The filter decides what information to bring in and what to leave out. There are also options which you can set which affect the import.

For text, word processing and RTF files, InDesign brings in most paragraph and character attributes and ignores most page layout information. It also imports paragraph and character styles if they're saved with the document (we describe working with imported styles in Chapter 58).

Unlike QuarkXPress, InDesign can directly import tables from Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets (we discuss how to create tables in Chapter 74). QuarkXPress imports tables as tab-delimited text. However, note that InDesign doesn't import Word or Excel files before version 8 (Office 97/98), nor does it import WordPerfect files. For these formats, you should save as RTF files, which should retain formatting attributes. We discuss tagged text in Chapter 60.

Import Options

When you choose the Place command, InDesign offers several import options (see Figure 39-1). Some of the features of the dialog box are specific to your operating system, but there are four checkbox options which are always available:

• Show Import Options. This tells InDesign to display the Import Options dialog box (after this dialog box closes), which offers different settings depending on the file format. Holding down the Shift key when you select a file does the same thing as turning on this checkbox.




• Retain Format. If you turn this on, character and paragraph attributes and styles are retained. If off, character and paragraph attributes are stripped out; however, word processing styles (like bold and italic) are still imported.




• Convert Quotes converts straight quotation marks to "curly" typographers' quotes.




• Replace Selected Item. When this is on, InDesign goes ahead and places the text (either at the current insertion point or replacing the text in any selected text frame); when off, the program displays the "Place gun."