Working with Sticky Notes on layouts in Studio 11.173 and higher

Sticky Notes can be added to an InDesign layout as a way of leaving short messages to other users — including InDesign and InCopy users — for instance to indicate any changes or corrections that need to be made to the content of a page.

How it works

Info: This article describes the functionality of Studio 11.173 and higher. For the functionality in lower versions, see Working with Sticky Notes on layouts in Studio 11.172 and lower. (See how to check the version of Studio that is installed.)

Working with Sticky Notes in Studio is done when viewing a layout in Preview mode.

To view a layout in Preview mode, do one of the following:

• Select a layout and press the Spacebar.
• Right-click a layout and choose Preview.
• In the Inbox, select a layout and click the Preview icon for that layout.
• In the Publication Overview Application, double-click on a page (optionally in the Duplicate Pages panel), or right-click a page and choose Preview from the context menu.* This opens the pages of the selected spread in spread view.

* When doing this in Studio versions 11.173–11.179, the design and functionality of Studio 11.172 and lower is shown.

Sticky Notes consist of the following components:

• A Sticky Note icon in the side bar. It is used for accessing the Sticky Notes panel. The number in the icon badge indicates the number of Sticky Notes available. This number is determined as follows:

• When the preview is opened from the search results, the number is the total number of all Sticky Notes on all pages of the layout.

• When the preview is opened in the Publication Overview, the number is the total number of Sticky Notes that are on the visible pages only (including when the opened left and right pages are pages from two different layouts). When navigating the layouts of an issue, the number changes accordingly.

• A Sticky Note panel. This panel contains the messages of the Sticky Notes that are shown and various tools for working with these Sticky Notes. The Sticky Notes that are shown in the panel is based on the following:

• When the preview is opened from the search results, the panel contains all Sticky Notes on all pages of the layout.

• When the preview is opened in the Publication Overview, only the Sticky Notes that are on the visible pages are shown (including when the opened left and right pages are pages from two different layouts). When navigating the layouts of an issue, the available Sticky Notes in the panel changes accordingly.

• A Sticky Note icon on the page. This icon is used for showing to which part of the layout the messages relate to.

• An option Show Sticky Note pins in the View menu to show or hide Sticky Note pins.

Sticky Notes can be added, replied to, edited, deleted, assigned a status, navigated, and moved to a different layout.

Figure: A layout with Sticky Notes added. The conversation of Sticky Notes can be followed in the Sticky Notes panel.

Adding a new Sticky Note

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• Click the Sticky Note icon in the menu bar to open the Sticky Note panel and click Create new. Click anywhere on the layout to place the Sticky Note.
• Right-click on the layout where the Sticky Note needs to be placed and from the menu that appears click Create new Sticky Note.

Step 2. Click anywhere on the preview to place the Sticky Note icon.

Note: The icon can be moved any time after it has been added.

A window appears in which you can add a message.

Step 3. Add a message and click Create.

Using hyperlinks

Add a hyperlink to the note by adding a URL that starts with one of the following prefixes:

• http
• https
• ftp
• sftp

When clicked, the link will open in a new Web browser tab.

Replying to a Sticky Note

Step 1. Open the Sticky Note that you want to reply to by doing one of the following:

• Click the icon on the layout. The Sticky Note panel will open (if not already open) and the conversation of the Sticky Note is expanded.

• In the Sticky Note panel, click on the collapsed conversation.

Step 2. In the Add reply field at the bottom of the conversation, add your reply and press Enter.

Editing the text of a Sticky Note

You can edit the text of messages that you have added yourself, not the text of messages added by other users.

Step 1. In the Sticky Note panel, locate the message that you want to edit.

Step 2. Hover your mouse pointer over the message and click the Edit icon that appears.

Step 3. Edit the text and click Save.

Deleting a reply

Step 1. In the Sticky Note panel, locate the reply that you want to remove.

Step 2. Hover your mouse pointer over the message and click the Trash Can icon that appears.

A message appears asking to confirm the action.

Step 3. Click Delete.

Deleting a Sticky Note

Step 1. In the Sticky Note panel, locate the Sticky Note that you want to delete.

Step 2. Click the Trash Can icon for the Sticky Note that you want to delete.

A message appears asking to confirm the action.

Step 3. Click Delete.

Assigning a status to a Sticky Note

A status is used to track the workflow of each Sticky Note. Each Sticky Note can have one of the following statuses:

• None (default status)
• Accepted
• Rejected
• Done

The color of the icon reflects the status that a Sticky Note has assigned:

• Yellow - None
• Blue - Accepted
• Red - Rejected
• Green - Done

To set the status of a Sticky Note, click the Status icon and choose the status.

The Status icon is available in the window when creating a new Sticky Note and for each Sticky Note in the Sticky Note panel.

Figure: Choosing a status when creating a Sticky Note.

Figure: Choosing a status for a Sticky Note in the Sticky Notes panel.

Navigating Sticky Notes

To navigate from one Sticky Note to the other, open the Sticky Notes panel and use the Previous/Next buttons at the top of the Sticky Note panel.

Note: The icon on the layout for the currently viewed Sticky Note will show in a larger size than all other icons.

Moving Sticky Notes to a different layout

Info: This feature requires Studio 11.180 or higher. See how to check the version of Studio that is installed.)

When a layout is opened in Preview mode from the Publication Overview and the displayed spread pages belong to two different layouts, Sticky Notes can be moved from one layout to the other.

Do this by simply dragging the Sticky Note icon from one page to the other.

Showing or hiding Sticky Note pins

To show or hide Sticky Note pins on the layout, enable or disable 'Show Sticky Note pins' in the View menu, accessed by clicking the three dots in the top right corner.

To only show or hide Sticky Note pins that have a specific status assigned, enable or disable that status in the menu.

Note: When the option 'Show Sticky Note pins' is disabled to hide the pins and the Sticky Note panel is open or opened, Sticky Note pins are always shown. When closing the panel, the pins are hidden. In other words: when the panel is open, pins cannot be hidden and the commands in the View menu are grayed out.

Revisions

• 31 October 2024: Updated section 'How it works' with information about the user interface that is shown when double-clicking a layout in the Publication Overview itself.
• 31 October 2024: Added section 'Moving Sticky Notes to a different layout'.