Working with Studio text variables in Studio for InDesign and InCopy – Help Center

Text variables in Adobe InDesign or InCopy make it possible to add dynamic, recurring pieces of text such as dates, page numbers, product names, and more.

When Studio for InDesign and InCopy is installed in InDesign or InCopy, text variables that hold Studio-specific content can be added such as the name of the Brand, the Workflow Status, publication date, and so on.

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

Notes:

Studio text variables are designed and implemented only with placement on a layout in mind, such as adding page numbers or issue titles in the page folio. Even though Studio text variables can be added inside an article, they are not updated when they are part of an article.

For more information about working with text variables, see Adobe Help. It is assumed here that you are familiar with the working of text variables in InDesign or InCopy.

Available text variables

Studio text variables are split into two groups:

File based text variables
Logon based text variables

File based text variables

These variables that are part of the Studio properties of the document. They can be dynamically updated.

Variable	Description
Brand	Displays the name of the Brand that the layout is part of.
Issue	Displays the name of the Issue that the layout is part of.
Category	Displays the name of the Category that the layout is part of.
Editions	Displays the name of the Edition(s) that the layout is part of. Multiple Editions are separated by a comma.
Status	Displays the Status that is assigned to the layout.

Logon based text variables

These variables are part of the Brand setup on Studio server. They remain static during the time the user is logged in in InDesign or InCopy.

Variable	Description
Publication date	Displays the publication date of the layout. Note: The date formatting is determined by the ‘short date’ format of the operating system on which InDesign is installed.
Issue Subject	Displays the content of the Issue Subject field, as entered on the Issue Maintenance page in Studio Server.
Issue Description	Displays the content of the Issue Description field, as entered on the Issue Maintenance page in Studio Server.
User Name	Displays the name of the user who (last) opened the file.

Inserting a Studio text variable

Inserting a Studio text variable is similar to inserting a regular text variable in InDesign or InCopy.

Step 1. Place the insertion point where you want the variable to appear in the text.

Step 2. Use one of the following methods:

Choose Type > Text Variables > Insert Variable, and then choose the Studio text variable that you want to insert.

Open the Quick Apply panel by pressing Cmd+Return (macOS) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows). Locate the desired text variable and press Return or Enter.

Notes:

Unlike the default text variables in InDesign or InCopy, Studio text variables support text breaking across lines.

Studio text variables do not appear in the Text Variables dialog box that can be accessed via 'Type > Text Variables > Define' and can therefore not be added through that dialog.

The available Studio text variables are build into the software; it is therefore not possible to modify or remove existing variables or add new ones.

Inserting Studio text variables is possible at any time, even when not logged in to Studio Server.

When you are not logged in to Studio Server and add a Studio text variable, the name of the variable is used as the value to display. The value will be automatically filled when the layout is closed and opened again (and for logon based variables: when you close the layout, log out, log in, and open the layout again.

Studio text variables can be recognized by the yellow square brackets that are placed on either side of the variable. In InDesign, these are visible when viewing the layout in Normal mode, in InCopy these are visible when viewing the article in Layout mode.

Updating a Studio text variable

While working on the layout, the value that the variable should display may change: the page number changes because more pages are added or pages are removed, the description of an Issue is changed, the publication date is changed, and so on.

To update the variables with these changes while working on a layout, do one of the following:

For file based variables: Close the layout and open it again.

For logon based variables: Close the layout, log out of Studio Server, log back into Studio Server and open the layout once more.

Converting a Studio text variable

There may come a time when you want the text that is displayed by the Studio text variable to be static and to not automatically update anymore.

In these circumstances, the text variable can be converted to regular text. This is done in the same way as for regular InDesign or InCopy text variables:

Step 1. Select the text of the variable.

Step 2. Do one of the following:

Choose Type > Text Variables > Convert Variable To Text.

Right-click the text variable and from the context menu, choose Text Variables > Convert Variable To Text.