Working with Dossiers in Studio for InDesign and InCopy

Dossiers form the basis of creating a story. In Studio for InDesign and InCopy you can work on Dossiers in the following ways:

• Accessing a Dossier and its contents
• Creating a Dossier
• Adding files to a Dossier
• Removing files from a Dossier

About Dossiers

In Studio for InDesign and InCopy, a Dossier represents a story. All files that are related to the story are collected in the Dossier. These files include reference material such as articles and images as well as the files that are needed to publish the story. In a print workflow these are the InDesign layouts, InCopy articles and images.

A Dossier is represented by a blue folder and can be expanded or double-clicked to view its contents.

Figure: The Studio panel showing 3 Dossiers, one of which is expanded to view its contents.

In a typical workflow, a Dossier is the starting point for locating the file that you want to work on in InDesign or InCopy. However, you can also create Dossiers from scratch and add files to it.

This article describes how to work with Dossiers in Studio for InDesign and in Studio for InCopy.

Accessing a Dossier and its contents

In Studio for InDesign and InCopy, Dossiers and their content are accessed through the following panels:

• The Studio panel. This is the default panel for locating a file in Studio Server, including Dossiers.

  To access this panel, choose Window > Studio > Studio.

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

• 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 Dossier panel (live version). (Studio for InDesign only.) This panel shows the Dossiers (and their content) that the layout that you are currently viewing belongs to. When switching to another layout, the Dossiers to which that layout belongs are shown.

  To access this panel, choose Window > Studio > Dossier.

Tip: Use this panel to quickly access the files that are in the Dossier — such as the images that need to be placed on the layout — instead of using the Studio panel to locate these files.

• 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.

The following images show the panels and their variations.

The Studio panel

In this scenario, the Studio panel shows 4 Dossiers, with one Dossier expanded to show the files it contains.

Figure: The content of a Dossier viewed in the Studio panel.

The Dossier panel

Info: This feature is only available in Studio for InDesign.

When we open the layout that is in the Dossier and access the Dossier panel (Window > Studio > Dossier), we now have a static panel that will show us the content of the Dossier for easy access. When needed, we can use the Studio panel to locate other files in other locations.

What is nice about using this panel is that it automatically shows the files of the Dossier that the layout you are currently working on is part of: when switching between layouts you see the content of the Dossier panel change.

If needed, we can use the Issue list and Edition list to further filter the content of the Dossier.

Note that the title of this panel is 'Dossier'.

Figure: After opening a layout, the Dossier panel shows the content of the Dossier that the layout belongs to, thereby giving you easy access to those files.

When double-clicking the Dossier in the Studio panel, a similar Dossier panel is opened showing the content of that Dossier. However, the panel now shows the title of the Dossier, meaning that this panel will always show the content of this Dossier even when switching between layouts. Again, the content of the panel can be filtered by Issue and/or Edition.

The Show Dossiers panel

We can also right-click the layout in the Studio panel and choose Show Dossiers. This will show all Dossiers that the layout belongs to. The title of the panel is now the name of the layout. The term [Dossiers] is added to the title to indicate the relation with the layout. Note that the Issue and Edition filters are now not present.

Figure: A Dossier panel showing all Dossiers that a layout is part of. In this case it is only part of one Dossier.

The Show Dossiers and Layouts panel

When right-clicking an image, article, or Excel file you can also choose the command Show Dossiers and Layouts. This will bring up a panel showing all Dossiers that the image, article, or Excel file is part of and all layouts that it is placed on.

Figure: The Dossier and Layouts panel shows all Dossiers that a file is part of and all layouts it is placed on.

How the panels behave

The Studio panels and the Dossier panels behave as any other panel in InDesign but with the following differences:

• Studio panel. When a new panel is created, it is added to the Window > Studio menu and to the menu of the panel itself. When closing the panel it is hidden (not removed) and it can be brought back into view again by choosing it from the menu. To fully remove it, choose Remove Studio Panel from the panel menu.

• The Dossier panel (static version), the Show Dossiers panel and the Show Dossiers and Layouts panel. These panels are not added to the Window menu or the Studio panel menu. When closing them they are also removed.

• The Dossier panel (live version). The panel is not added to the Window menu or the Studio panel menu. When closing the panel it is also removed.

Creating a Dossier

Creating a Dossier can be done in the following ways:

• When saving a file to Studio Server:
• In InDesign: When saving the layout to Studio Server or when creating an article or an image
• In InCopy: When saving the article to Studio Server

• Based on one or more selected files in a panel

Creating a Dossier when saving a file to Studio Server

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• In InDesign:
• Bring up the Check-in dialog box or the Save Version dialog box for a layout.
• Convert an image frame to an Studio Server image by selecting the frame and choosing WoodWing Studio > Create Image...
• Convert a text frame to an InCopy article

• In InCopy:
• Bring up the Check-in dialog box or the Save Version dialog box for an article (see Closing or saving an article using Studio for InCopy).

The Check-in dialog box appears.

Step 2. Enter a name and set the properties for the file.

Note: The file name may not contain characters such as “ ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * \ | ; : ’ < > / ?. For a full overview, see Invalid file name characters in Studio Server.

See also: Using duplicate file names in Studio Server.

Step 3. From the Dossier list, choose New Dossier.

Figure: The 'New Dossier' option in the Dossier list.

Step 4. Click OK.

The file is saved in Studio Server and added to the Dossier.

Creating a Dossier based on one or more selected files in a panel

Step 1. Select one or more files in a panel such as the Studio panel or the Dossier panel.

Note: The selected files can be of any type except other Dossiers. It is also possible to select files that are already part of another Dossier.

Step 2. Right-click any of the selected files and choose Create Dossier... from the context menu.

The Create Dossier dialog box appears.

Step 3. In the Name box, enter a descriptive name.

See also: Using duplicate file names in Studio Server.

Step 4. Set the rest of the properties for the Dossier and click OK

.The Dossier is created and the selected files are added to it.

Adding files to a Dossier

Adding a file to an already existing Dossier can be done in the following ways:

• By using the Studio panel
• When saving the file

Using the Studio panel

Do one of the following:

• In the Studio panel, drag one or more files onto a Dossier
• Select one or more placed files on the layout and drag them onto a Dossier in the Studio panel

Note: Make sure that the files that you are dragging are all stored in Studio Server, otherwise the file cannot be added.

• Open a layout (in InDesign or InCopy), right-click a Dossier and choose Add Current Document to Dossier

Saving the file

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• In InDesign:
• Bring up the Check-in dialog box or the Save Version dialog box for a layout.
• Convert an image frame to an image stored in Studio Server by selecting the frame and choosing WoodWing Studio > Create Image...
• Convert a text frame to an InCopy article

• In InCopy:
• Bring up the Check-in dialog box or the Save Version dialog box for an article (see Closing or saving an article using Studio for InCopy).

The Check-in dialog box appears.

Step 2. Enter a name and set the properties for the file.

Note: The file name may not contain characters such as “ ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * \ | ; : ’ < > / ?. For a full overview, see Invalid file name characters in Studio Server.

See also: Using duplicate file names in Studio Server.

Step 3. From the Dossier list, choose an existing Dossier.

Figure: Various existing Dossiers in the Dossier list.

Step 4. Click OK.

The file is saved in Studio Server and added to the Dossier.

Removing files from a Dossier

Step 1. Display the Studio panel in List View mode (as opposed to Thumbnail View mode).

Step 2. Click the expander in front of the Dossier from which the file needs to be removed so that all files in that Dossier are visible.

Figure: A Studio panel viewed in List View mode with one Dossier expanded.

Step 3. Select one or more files.

Step 4. Right-click any of the selected files and choose Remove from Dossier.

A message appears, asking to confirm the action.

Step 5. Click Yes.

The selected files are removed from the Dossier.

Step 6. (Optional) Click Refresh to update the content of the Dossier.