Hi, I am a freelance writer/editor trying to get a smooth workflow for InCopy at a company I freelance for. Until I suggested we get InCopy, final editing, copyediting and proofiing changes made by the editors (4 total including me) were either as bubble comments in the PDF the designer exported to us, that had to be input one by one by the designer. He is not good at that so the editor in chief had to spend all day reading each change to him and making sure it was right. The other method tried was that the designer reconvert the nearly final text (which had already gone through cycles of regular edits) into WORD, everybody made track changes in word, I fixed it all up, cleaned it up, and then the designer had to reflow the articles into InDesign once again. He found that unproductive, understandably, because it took him all day.
I suggested we get InCopy. We got it last year, but he seems to be having trouble learning it through the lynda.com tutorials very well. The first time, he exported me only the articles–no cover page, ToC, heds, subheds, pullquotes, or sidebar boxes, and he was unable to export one article as well. I got the files labelled, but I did not really have story/galley view. I just had plain text, in story or galley view.
I did edit it though as much as I could and saved them some time.
He did not export me fonts and was confused when my InCopy changed fonts and the pieces were a different length when he got them back. When he realized, he changed the fonts back to what he’d originally used.
This time, I convinced him to export me fonts. I also asked for the other design elements. My whole idea was I’d do all this inputting of small, late edits and copyedits and some proofing, and except for a few changes I couldn’t make on my own, I would save them so much time. I could do it all the day I got it, instead of them waiting weeks until they had a chance to sit down together. I would then send the back the PDF with only the few bubble comments remaining that needed to be addressed.
The first files I got, yesterday morning, were 59 ‘mic’ files–numbered and out of order. Random. It was completely confusing. One mic file might just be the first line of a hed. Another might be the subhed beneath that hed.
I tried to edit a few and gave up. I was sure I was going to make an error. I checked with two editor friends and they said no way, this is not how its done.
Designer then exported me 30 files with the names on them. I got the 6 articles, one sidebar, and 6 bios (he has the bios in boxes), all these were separate files but named. He also exported me the pullquotes, each pullquote named as an article file.
I still didn’t have story/galley view. I made the edits. Basically each file he exported was just text, either in story or galley view (though galley view had more line breaks)
I think he can learn it, I’m sure he can, but I think he is not going to learn it from lynda.com? We have lynda.com and he says he followed exactly what lynda.com says, and he seems to think InCopy is the problem.
I would like to suggest to management that he go to a real time class or get, best of all, onsite training for a day. I don’t know the expense. Online classes are $495 for the day but I do not know how engaged those are–is it a realtime class where he can interact with the teacher?
Does anybody have ANY insight to give me? I am a writer/editor and know nothing at all about InDesign per se. Thanks.
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