Studio for InCopy quick start

Studio for InCopy contains many features and options. However, not all of them are used on a daily basis.

Use this article to learn more about the main features and about how to get started when you are new to Studio for InCopy.

The concept

Working with Studio for InCopy essentially involves working with two systems:

1. The Studio for InCopy plug-ins in InCopy. These give you the tools to work on articles.
2. The Studio Server platform. This provides the workflow environment and access to the files.

When working with Studio for InCopy therefore, it is essential to be familiar with the Studio concept and the use of Brands, Issues, Editions, Dossiers, Access Profiles, and more.

For more information, see The Studio concept.

Logging in

When using Studio for InCopy, you are working on files that are stored in a central system (known as Studio Server). This system also controls to which files you have access and what actions you can perform on them. The first step therefore is to log in to the system using the credentials that you have received from your system administrator.

The process for logging in depends on how Studio Server is configured: with or without Single Sign-On (SSO) implemented.

The dialog box that is used for logging in to Studio Server appears automatically when starting up InCopy. It can also be accessed by choosing WoodWing Studio > Log In...

You will be guided through the process by various messages that appear on screen. Follow the steps until the process is completed.

How the process works

In order to fully understand how Studio for InCopy works it is important to be aware of some of the processes that are used.

Checking files out and checking files in

Creating a page in a magazine or newspaper involves the cooperation of many different people such as copy writers, layout designers, editors, and so on.

Checking-out

It is important that when one person works on a file that another person is not able to also open that file and make changes. To prevent this from happening, all files are stored in a database and only one person at a time is allowed to open a file for editing: a process referred to as 'checking-out a file'.

Checking-in

As long as a user has a file open for editing, others cannot make changes to the content of that file. Only when the user saves the file back to Studio Server (a process referred to as 'checking-in a file') can another user open that file for editing.

Article components and Element Labels

A story will typically consist of different parts such as a header, an introduction and the story itself. In Studio, these parts are called 'components' (or sometimes 'elements'). An article that contains these components is called a 'multi-component article'.

Each article component is represented by a separate frame on the layout. To better indicate which frame is going to be used for which purpose, a label can be assigned: the frame that will contain the headline can be labeled 'header', the frame that will contain the story can be labeled 'body text' and so on.

This way, the copy writer knows exactly what type of content to write in that frame and the layout designer knows what style to apply to that component.

Studio for InCopy shows you these labels for each frame when viewing the article in the Layout tab with in 'Normal' screen mode selected (View > Screen Mode > Normal).

Figure: An article with multiple components. Each component has a specific Element Label assigned.

Stories and Dossiers

In Studio, each story is represented by a Dossier. Seen from a Studio point of view, a Dossier acts as a folder in which all required content is stored: the article containing the story, images, videos, reference material and so on.

Dossiers are also used for publishing a story to a Web site (this functionality is available in Studio). To successfully publish a story, the right files need to be available in the Dossier. When saving a file to Studio Server therefore you might need to save that file to a particular Dossier.

For more information, see Working with Dossiers in Studio for InDesign and InCopy for Adobe 2020.

Access Profiles

Studio for InCopy is driven by a system in which rules are set up that control which features and options of Studio for InCopy and InCopy itself you can and cannot use.

The purpose of this is to make sure that only those users who are allowed to make changes to files during the various phases of the production process can make these changes, while all other users are prevented from doing so.

These rules are stored in so-called 'Access Profiles' which in turn are linked to your user account.

It may therefore be that you will not be able to use certain features such as applying character styles or paragraph styles, selecting fonts or font styles, editing Sticky Notes or any of many other features when working on files that are stored in Studio Server.

Depending on how the system is set up, you might even find that you can edit a file as long as it is part of the production process, but that as soon it is ready for publication that you are not allowed to edit it anymore.

Note: These restrictions do not apply when working on articles that are stored outside of Studio Server.

For a full overview of all features (by area) which can be controlled by an Access Profile, see Access Rights for Studio for InCopy.

Your Studio for InCopy Environment

Studio for InCopy and Studio Server are highly configurable systems. It is therefore more than likely that the version of Studio for InCopy that you are using has been modified by your system administrator to suit your company’s workflow as best as possible.

These modifications can affect the terminology used, the way dialog boxes look and perhaps even the text in messages that might appear. Additional customizations might also have been implemented, adding extra functionality that is either not covered in the Online Help articles, or they change the behavior of the described features.

When in doubt, contact your system administrator.

The main Studio tools

When using Studio for InCopy, you will be mostly performing the following tasks:

• Locating files in the database that you need to work on
• Editing articles

To assist you with these tasks, the following panels are available:

• The Studio panel
• The Dossier panel

The Studio panel

The Studio panel is your main link to the files that are stored in Studio Server. You use the panel to search for the articles you want to work on.

Accessing the panel

The Studio panel displays automatically after signing in to Studio Server, but can also be accessed by choosing Window > Studio > Studio.

For more information, see Using the Studio panel in Studio for InDesign or InCopy.

The Dossier panel

Apart from using the Studio panel to locate Dossiers, you can also use one of the following dedicated Dossier panels:

• The Dossier panel (static version). This panel shows the content of a particular Dossier.

  To access this panel, double-click a Dossier in a panel.

• The Show Dossiers panel. This panel shows all Dossiers that a particular file is part of.

  To access this panel, right-click a file and choose Show Dossiers.

• The Show Dossiers and Layouts panel. This panel shows all Dossiers that a file is part of and all layouts that it is placed on.

  To access this panel, right-click a file that can be placed on a layout (such as an article, image or an Excel file) and choose Show Dossiers and Layouts.

For more information, see Working with Dossiers in Studio for InDesign and InCopy for Adobe 2020.

Setting preferences

Before you start using Studio for InCopy you might want to set some preferences, for instance setting the size of fonts in the Studio panel for optimum readability.

Options that you would typically change would be the font size of the text shown in the Studio panel.

Figure: The Studio preferences.

Accessing the preferences

• macOS: Choose InCopy > Preferences > Studio...
• Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences > Studio...

For more information about setting the Studio preferences, see Studio for InDesign and InCopy Preferences.

Searching for files

The default method of locating files is by using the Studio panel in Browse mode. As the name implies, this method makes it possible to browse for files by choosing specific locations such as a combination of a Brand, Issue, Category, or Status.

Step 1. From the Search menu of the Studio panel, choose Browse.

Lists appear containing the Brands, Issues, Categories and Workflow Statuses that you have access to.

Step 2. (Optional) Make a choice from one or more lists.

Step 3. Click Refresh.

Note: When making a choice from the Workflow Status list, the panel is automatically refreshed.

Any found files are shown in the panel.

Note: When no files are displayed, either none met the criteria or you have not been given sufficient access rights to view the files.

For more information, see Searching and locating files using Studio for InDesign and InCopy.

Opening articles and layouts

You can open articles as well as layouts in InCopy.

Opening the layout makes it possible to see how the article is placed on the page in relation to the other content, and also makes it possible to edit the article directly on the page.

Use one of the following methods:

• In the Studio panel or the Dossier panel, double-click an article or right-click an article and choose Open.
• Open a layout on which the article is placed by double-clicking the layout in a panel, place the cursor anywhere in the article and choose Studio > Check Out Article.

The article is checked-out and ready for editing. You can edit the article in either the Galley tab, the Story tab or even in the Layout tab.

When using the Galley or Story tab, you will see each article component displayed separately.

Figure: When working on an article in the Galley or Story tab, each article component (here 'head', 'intro', 'byline' and 'body') is shown separately.

Note: When multiple articles are opened, their components are all shown in the same Galley or Story tab: first all components of the first article, then the components of the second article, and so on.

Opening articles without a layout preview

The downside of opening a layout is that this can cause longer wait times because a lot more information needs to be processed.

As an alternative, articles can also be opened without loading the layout information. The layout tab will then only show the formatted text.

Figure: An example of opening an article with and without design information. On the left the Layout tab of an article opened with design information (zoomed out): the layout tab shows the formatted article (here shown undimmed) as it is placed on the layout. On the right the Layout tab of the same article but now opened without design information: each article component is now displayed on a separate page.

To open an article without design information, do the following:

• Right-click the article in the Studio panel or the Dossier panel and choose Open without Design.

Note: When opening an article without design information, write-to-fit information is not available.

For more information, see Opening articles using Studio for InCopy.

Saving and closing articles

When it comes to saving articles it is important to be aware of 2 distinct differences in the way you can save them:

• Saving an article by pressing Cmd+S (macOS) or Ctrl+S (Windows), or by choosing File > Save only saves the article on your local system; it does not save the changes to Studio Server.
• Saving the changes to Studio Server can be done in various ways but the most common one is to check-in the layout. This will close the article and save all your made changes to the database.

Checking-in an article and closing it

Step 1. Open the article that you want to edit and make your changes.

Step 2. Place the text cursor in any of the article components of the article that you want to check-in.

Step 3. Choose Studio > Check In... .

The Check In dialog box appears.

Step 4. Enter all details and click OK.

For more information about all ways of saving articles, see Closing or saving an article using Studio for InCopy.

Working with file names

When creating or editing an article, image, Dossier, or any other type of file or object, be aware of the following restrictions:

• The name cannot be longer than 63 characters
• Some characters are not allowed

For more information, see Restrictions for naming files in Studio for InDesign and InCopy.

Logging out or quitting

When logging out of Studio Server or quitting InCopy, any panel settings are saved so that you can make use of these settings the next time you log in, even when doing so from another system.

• To log out:
• Choose Studio > Log out.

• To quit InCopy:
• Choose File > Exit or use the keyboard shortcut

Note: When logged in to Studio Server with SSO support, logging out of Studio Server in InDesign will not log you out of the authentication provider.