Using the Elements panel of Studio for InDesign

In the same way that the default InDesign Links panel provides an overview of all (local) images that are placed on the layout, the Elements panel of Studio for InDesign shows which articles, Layout Modules and graphics — stored in Studio Server — have been placed.

The Elements panel can be used for performing the following actions:

• Moving components between articles
• Reordering components in an article
• Removing a component from an article
• Adding an unassigned frame to an article
• Creating a new article

This article explains how to perform these actions.

Note: Additional actions are available through the options in the toolbar and the flyout menu.

Accessing the panel

In InDesign, choose Window > Studio > Elements.

Panel components

The Elements panel consists of the following components:

• Toolbar. Contains buttons for accessing often used functions such as check-in and check-out, and a Filter list.

Note: Hover the mouse pointer over a button to view a tooltip describing the action that the button performs.

• Elements pane. Shows all items stored in Studio Server that are part of the layout. These could be articles, images, or Layout Modules. In case of placed articles, components of that article that have not yet been placed are also shown, thereby making it easy to add these to the layout if needed.

Tip: Use the Filter to hide these unplaced components.

• Unassigned Elements pane. Used for quickly adding an unassigned frame to an article.

• Flyout menu. Contains actions that are used less often.

Article hierarchy

Articles and their components are displayed in a hierarchy of different levels, each with their own indentation:

Level 1: The article

Level 2: The article component

Level 3: Instances of the article component which have been placed multiple times on the same layout.

As you can see, the third level is only shown when a component has been placed more than once on the same layout.

For example: consider an article containing a Header and a Body component. Both components have only been placed once. The article hierarchy is then displayed as follows:

When placing a component a second time (for example the Body component), the hierarchy is now displayed as follows:

The Body component now shows two instances: one for each placement.

Tip: To quickly see if an article has been placed multiple times, check if it is displayed on a third level in the Elements pane as described above.

Actions

Using the Elements panel, the following actions can be performed:

• Moving components between articles
• Reordering components in an article
• Removing a component from an article
• Deleting an unplaced component
• Adding an unassigned frame to an article
• Creating a new article

Each is explained in the following sections.

Note: Additional actions are available through the options in the toolbar and the flyout menu.

Moving components between articles

Step 1. Select one or more components in the Elements pane of the panel or on the layout.

Step 2. Do one of the following:

• To place the components in a specific position: drag the selected components onto the target position. A thick line is drawn to indicate where the components will be placed.

• To place the components at the end of the article: drag the selected components on top of the level 1 article component.

Step 3. Release the mouse.

Reordering components in an article

Reordering components in an article is typically done for controlling the reading order of the article, as well as the way the components are ordered in the text editors of Studio.

The process of moving a component is identical to those of moving components between articles as explained earlier in this article (where applicable).

Essentially, the process works by dragging a component in the Elements panel to its new position within the same article.

Removing a component from an article

To quickly remove a component from a placed article, do the following:

Step 1. In the Elements pane, select one or more components which need to be removed from the article.

Step 2. Drag the components from the Elements pane onto the Unassigned Elements pane.

Example: Article A contains components B and C. When dragging component C onto the Unassigned Elements pane, component C is removed from the article and only exists as a frame on the layout which is not part of Enterprise.

Deleting an unplaced component

An article component which has not been placed can be quickly deleted from the article it is part of by right-clicking the component in the Elements panel and choosing 'Delete Unplaced Component From Article'.

Note: For this to work, the article should be checked out and the component should not still be placed elsewhere (including on another layout).

The article component is then removed from the article in the Elements panel.

When needed, the process can be undone via Edit > Undo or a keyboard shortcut.

The article in the Studio panel still shows the article component until the article is checked in. When needed, the component can still be placed from that panel.

Adding an unassigned frame to an article

When an article has been created, it consists of a certain number of article components. It could be that at some later point another frame on the layout — which is not yet assigned to an article — needs to be added.

The Elements panel can be used to perform this action quickly:

• Method 1: Select the frames on the layout and drag it onto the article in the Elements pane.

• Method 2: Select the frames on the layout and from the Unassigned Elements pane drag them onto the article in the Elements pane.

Creating a new article

To quickly turn an unassigned article component into a new article, do the following:

• Select an unassigned frame on the layout and click the Check-in button in the Elements panel.