Opening layouts in Smart Connection for InCopy

InDesign layouts can be opened directly in InCopy. This makes it possible to see placed articles within the designed layout, check-out a placed article and work on an article from within the page.

This article describes the following actions:

• Opening layouts
• Checking-out articles from an opened layout

Opening layouts

InDesign layouts can be opened in the following ways:

• By opening the layout directly
• By opening an article that is placed on the layout

Notes: Layouts are opened in the Layout tab of InCopy. Layouts are opened as read-only documents so that an InDesign user can still open it for editing. When an article is opened that is placed on a layout and the preference 'Bring InCopy Stories to Front' is enabled, all article components of that story are brought to the front in Layout view. For more information, see Opening articles in InCopy using Smart Connection.

Opening the layout directly

Opening a layout directly can be done by double-clicking the layout in the Smart Connection panel or the Dossier panel. Because no articles are checked-out during this process, all placed articles appear dimmed in the Layout tab and the Galley and Story tabs are not shown.

Figure: A layout opened directly in InCopy. No articles have been checked-out yet so all appeared dimmed and the Galley and Story tabs are not shown.

Opening an article that is placed on a layout

A layout can also be opened by opening an article that is placed on it. Do this by double-clicking the article in the Smart Connection panel or the Dossier panel. This will:

• Check-out the article and open it in the Galley and Story tabs
• Open the layout on which the article is placed in the Layout tab

Note: If the article is placed on more than one layout you will be asked to choose the layout that you want to open.

Figure: A layout opened in InCopy. One article has been checked-out: it appears un-dimmed while articles that are not checked-out appear dimmed.

Take note of the following scenarios:

Scenario 1: An article is opened that is placed on the same layout as an already opened article

Outcome:

• The article components of the newly opened article are added to the window or tab of the already opened article.
• In Story/Galley view, article components of the first opened article are displayed first, followed by those of subsequently opened articles. The article names are displayed in the following ways:
• Combined in the window title bar or tab (separated by a comma)
• Separate in the title bar for each article component in Story or Galley view, on the far right-hand side.

Scenario 2: An article is opened that is placed on a layout other than the already opened article

Outcome:

• The Story, Galley, and Layout tab for that article are displayed in a different window or tab than the already opened article.

Checking-out articles from an opened layout

Once a layout is opened, placed articles can be checked-out from it by doing the following:

• Place the text cursor anywhere in the article and choose Smart Connection > Check Out Article

Updating layout content when opening a placed article

Depending on the way Smart Connection is configured by the system administrator, one of the following will happen when opening an article that is placed on a layout:

• Only the latest saved version of the layout and that of the article is loaded. This is the default behavior and keeps the loading time to a minimum.

Example: Article A and B are placed on a layout and a version of the layout is saved. Article A is opened in InCopy, edited and checked-in. Article B is opened in InCopy. The changes that were made in article A cannot be seen in the layout view because the layout has not been updated yet.

• The latest stored version of all content that is placed on the layout is loaded. To make this work, Smart Connection for Adobe CC 2014 (version 10.0.1 or higher) is required and the system needs to be configured by the system administrator.

Example: Article A and B are placed on a layout and a version of the layout is saved. Article A is opened in InCopy, edited and checked-in. Article B is opened in InCopy. The changes that were made in article A can now be seen in the layout view.

Document history

• 2 August 2017. Added information about opening a placed article while bringing its components to the front.