Working with Sticky Notes in Studio for InDesign and InCopy

When Studio for InDesign and InCopy is installed in InDesign or InCopy, Sticky Notes can be added when working on a layout in InDesign as a way of leaving short messages to other users of Studio for InDesign and InCopy and Studio, for example about changes or corrections that need to be made to the content of the page.

This article describes in detail how to work with Sticky Notes in Studio for InDesign and InCopy.

Figure: Sticky Notes on a layout in InDesign.

Note: Users of Studio can also add Sticky Notes to a layout. These automatically appear when working on that layout in InDesign.

How it works

Working with Sticky Notes is done when viewing a layout in Normal viewing mode (View > Screen Mode > Normal).

Sticky Notes consist of the following components:

• A Sticky Note icon in the Tools panel. This is used for placing a Pin on the layout.
• A Sticky Note pin on the layout. This indicates the location on the layout to which the Sticky Note is related.
• A Sticky Note. This contains a status and a message.

Adding a Sticky Note

Step 1. In the Tools panel, select the Sticky Note tool.

Figure: The Sticky Note tool in the Tools panel of InDesign (left) and InCopy (right).

The mouse pointer changes to the Sticky Note cursor.

Step 2. Click once on the layout where you want to create the Sticky Note.

The text cursor is automatically placed inside the text area of the Sticky Note.

Step 3. Type your message.

Step 4. (Optional) Click the Status button in the to left corner of the Sticky Note and choose a status from the list:

• None
• Accepted
• Rejected
• Done

Step 5. (Optional) Click and drag the pin to a different position.

Showing or hiding Sticky Notes

Layouts can often contain many Sticky Notes which can get in the way of working with the layout. When needed, some or all Sticky Notes can be hidden from view. This can be done by hiding the Sticky Notes or their pins, or by hiding Sticky Notes that are set to a specific status.

Note: Sticky Notes are also automatically shown or will disappear when they are added or removed by other users.

Hiding Sticky Notes and their pins

To hide one or more Sticky Notes or their pins, do one of the following:

• Double-click a pin.

• Click the Close icon in the top right corner of a Sticky Note.

• Use the options in View > Sticky Notes:
• Show/Hide Pins and Notes
• Show/Hide Sticky Notes

Take note of the following:

• Which Sticky Notes are shown is also influenced by the filter based on status (see below).
• The Show / Hide Pins and Notes settings are stored in the layout and applied when the layout is re-opened.
• The Show Sticky Notes and Hide Sticky Notes settings work per layout but are not stored.
• The settings set with no layouts open are used when creating a new layout.

Filtering Sticky Notes based on status

Info: This feature requires the following versions of Studio for InDesign: Version 15.2.2 for Adobe 2020 or any higher version of version 15. Version 16.3.1 for Adobe 2021 or any higher version of version 16.

Each Sticky Note can be given a status to indicate if an action for it is still required.

A filter can be used to show only those Sticky Notes that are set to a certain status and hide all other Sticky Notes.

This filter can be found in View > Sticky Notes > Filter on Status.

Do one of the following:

• Enable or disable a status to hide or show Sticky Notes that have that status set.
• Choose Enable All or Disable All to quickly show or hide all Sticky Notes.

Take note of the following:

• The filter only affects the Sticky Notes, not the pins.
• The filter settings do not overrule the view settings for showing or hiding Sticky Notes and pins. In other words: when a Sticky Note is already hidden, setting the filter to view it will not make that Sticky Note visible.
• The filter affects all opened layouts.
• The filter settings are stored as a user preference and is restored when relaunching InDesign.

Working with Sticky Notes

Working with Sticky Notes such as replying, repositioning, editing, copying their content, and deleting them should be self explanatory and is not covered in this article.

For all actions to work fully and properly though, make sure that:

• The layout is saved in Studio Server.

• You are logged in to Studio for InDesign and InCopy (unless you are working on a layout that has been taken offline).

• The layout is not opened as read-only.

• You have been given sufficient access rights.

• The layout is viewed in Normal viewing mode (View > Screen Mode > Normal).

• Deleting a Sticky Note or a reply can only be done when the Sticky Note or reply has been created by yourself.

Other notes:

• Sticky Notes cannot be printed or exported to PDF.

Using Offline Mode

• For InCopy: When logged out from Studio Server and opening an offline article, the Sticky Notes functionality is not available. This means that new Sticky Notes cannot be created and existing Sticky Notes cannot be edited.

• For InDesign: When logged out from Studio Server and opening an offline layout, any Sticky Note that is already part of the layout will appear as read-only and cannot be edited.

As soon as you log in to Studio Server, these Sticky Notes will automatically become available and will be synchronized with any changes that may have been made by other users during the time that the document was offline.

It is possible to add new Sticky Notes to the offline document while logged out of Studio Server.

When working offline, newly created Sticky Notes will display the name “Local User” and will have the default yellow user color. When logging in to Studio Server, the user name and color will be automatically updated.

Sending and Receiving Updates

When broadcasting is used, any changes that you or other users make to Sticky Notes (such as creating new Sticky Notes, repositioning Sticky Notes, replying to messages, and so on) are processed in the following ways:

• InDesign users will receive the Sticky Note changes immediately after the InCopy or Studio users save their work through a Save Version or Check-in action.

• Studio users receive an “Update Available” message in the Publication Overview window as soon as other users save their work through a Save Version or Check-in action. They then have to reload or refresh the window to see the changes.

• InCopy users needs to do an “Update Geometry” action or re-open the layout to receive the Sticky Notes changes from InDesign or Studio users after they have saved their work through a Save Version or Check-in action.

Revisions

• 30 September 2020: Updated section 'Filtering Sticky Notes based on status' with a reference to Studio for InDesign version 16.3.1.
• 31 August 2021. Updated section 'Showing or hiding Sticky Notes' with information about filtering Sticky Notes on status.