Using InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop Together: Moving Vectors
Moving vectors between InDesign and Illustrator
Why might you need to move vectors out of InDesign into Illustrator? There’s not much that you can do in InDesign that you can’t do in Illustrator. Why not just start in Illustrator?
Well there are some people (like my InDesign expert friend) who insist on working with the tools they know best. These people like using the drawing tools in their page layout program. But let’s say that you inherit an InDesign file from them where they’ve created a fantastic logo for your client. But you want to convert the logo into an Illustrator file that can be used and modified by those who don’t have InDesign. How do you get the vectors out of InDesign into Illustrator?
Copying and pasting from INDD to AI
It’s pretty simple to get the paths over to Illustrator from InDesign. Select the artwork, copy, move over to Illustrator, and paste. You can also drag and drop from one application to the other. Just make sure that Copy PDF to Clipboard is selected in InDesign’s preferences or Illustrator won’t be able to accept the path.
Watch out for the clipping path!
Once you get the path into Illustrator, you need to delete a clipping path (bounding box) that is automatically created around the art. You can select it in the Layers panel or with the Direction Selection tool.
Once the clipping path is deleted, the artwork behaves exactly like any other Illustrator path.
Moving from Photoshop into Illustrator or InDesign
I’ve only found one vital reason to bring paths from Photoshop into either Illustrator or InDesign—extricating Photoshop’s custom shapes from its shapes libraries. You may recognize these from sample symbols in Illustrator. But others are new to Photoshop. I especially like the custom arrows and special shapes from the Grime library. I use the Custom Shape Tool to drag the shape onto the InDesign or Illustrator canvas.
Note: One advantage Photoshop has in working with vectors is the “rubber band” feature for the Pen tool. With this option turned on, a line extends out from the previous point indicating how the next segment of the path will look. It’s a nuance that makes it easier to use the Pen tool.
From Photoshop to Illustrator
Once you’ve got a custom shape on the canvas, you can copy/paste or drag/drop it into Illustrator. It comes in without a fill or stroke, but that’s no problem. Just add whatever enhancements you want.
From Photoshop to InDesign
You would think it would be just as simple to copy and paste from Photoshop into InDesign, but it’s not. If you copy from Photoshop and paste into InDesign, you’ll get an error message. Since the error is undefined it’s hard to figure out how to fix it.
But remember there was no
problem pasting into Illustrator. So we can use Illustrator as the transitional program between Photoshop and InDesign. Copy the path in Photoshop and then paste it into Illustrator. Now, copy the path in Illustrator (you’ve got to actually copy the path) and paste it into InDesign. Whoops! There’s another error message.
At least this message gives us a clue as to why the paste didn’t work: “Scrap contains no visible objects.” What that means is you need to give the path either a fill or stroke in order for it to come into InDesign. When you add a visible element, the path pastes without any problems. It may seem cumbersome, but you might find those shapes very helpful in InDesign, as I do.
Exporting Paths to Illustrator
Another way to get paths out of Photoshop, is to use the Export > Paths to Illustrator command. This opens the Export Paths to File dialog box where you get a choice of which paths you want to export. When you save the export, it is saved as an Illustrator file. However, like the paths that are copied out of Photoshop, the exported paths have no fill or stroke. So in order to get them into InDesign, you’ll have to give them some sort of visible element.
Staying on the right path
Understanding how to move paths from one program to another can help you re-use artwork, enhance projects, and work better in the super-application, InDe-Illu-Shop.
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Great article, Sandee! Very useful tips.
There is one new element to bringing moving vectors which is good to know about: If you are an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, there were updates to InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, and Photoshop CC in January 2014. Photoshop CC 14.2, the updated version, has a new feature called Place Linked.
Previously, if you placed an Illustrator file, for example, into Photoshop, it would become an embedded Smart Object as you describe in an article. (And pasted objects are still embedded as you describe.) But this is now File > Place Embedded. You now have an option called File > Place Linked. This turns the Illustrator graphic into a linked graphic just like in InDesign and Illustrator! (Unlike InDesign and Illustrator, Photoshop also keeps a backup embedded object in case you lose the link.)
Now, we you want to edit your linked smart object, it will open in Illustrator as you describe, but it opens up the copy of the Illustrator file on your hard drive or server. This is very useful if you want to use, for example, and Illustrator-created logo in multiple Photoshop files. Each will point to the same file.
There is another reason besides “custom shapes” for moving from Photoshop to Illustrator. I frequently have to convert a raster object to vector since many clients only have a raster copy of their logos. Outlining in Photoshop and exporting the path to Illustrator will result a crisp, printable logo. I suggest outlining by hand and not using the “make work path” command from a selection …those can be imprecise, or contain a ridiculous number of vector points.
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The paths become InDesign vectors so they can be edited with InDesign’s Pen and other path-editing tools. But theres a limitation: If the art is too complex, the copied objects print at high resolution and become an uneditable embedded EPS file.It turns out that if you copy up to 500 paths or shapes, they stay vector. If you copy 501 or more, then they’re no longer editable.
Rafah,
You’re right about the number. But don’t you think it strange that it is the number of paths? I would have thought it would have been the number of points.
Great article, thank you. Comments are very helpful too. I often have to work with vector maps and often get the dreaded “embedded eps” dialog. I’ve struggled to work with Smart Objects. It’s good to know the number of paths to try to stay under in order to be able to work with the file. I had thought it was points.
Lots of great tips that help clarify what is happening between the programs. Thank you!
hi guys i am not david
Hello, Thanks for the article,
i have a lot of artwork from indesign that i need to bring into illustrator…. And when i say a lot – probably close on 200 vectors all in different groups..
I would ike to bring this all into illustrator, however, going through and finding each clipping path is incredibly time consuming… Is there away to bring vector work into illustrator with out the clipping masks?
I have also tried saving the indesign doc as a PDF but still has the same issue.
Thanks and trust you can help,
Thanks,
Andrew