InDesign How-To: Using the New Content Conveyer in CS6

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Excerpted from InDesign CS6 New Features video training course on lynda.com.

As mentioned in our first look at InDesign CS6, the Content Conveyor and its associated Content Collector and Content Placer tools are new to InDesign CS6. The Content Conveyor lets you collect content from a design and then reuse it, perhaps in the same layout or in an associated layout, for example, a poster that will use the same design elements as a brochure.

Unlike a library that must be created in advance and then opened within your layout, the Content Conveyor lets you collect elements as you go along. It represents a more spontaneous, on-the-fly way to work with design elements that will be reused and repurposed.

Think of it as copy-and-paste on steroids. But rather than copying items one by one, navigating to the correct page, pasting an item, and then starting the process over with the next item, the Conveyor lets you store multiple items in a kind of visual clipboard. Better yet, you can not only collect (or copy) multiple elements in one action you can also place (or paste) multiple elements in one fell swoop.

The Content Conveyor is especially powerful when combined with InDesign CS6’s Liquid Layout tools that let you create multiple layout iterations in the same file — print and iPad versions, for instance.

Describing the Conveyor is awkward. It’s best to actually see how it works. Take a look at this Lynda.com video about using the Content Conveyor, Content Collector, and Content Placer tools in InDesign CS6.

Visit the InDesign tutorials page on lynda.com to see more videos of InDesign CS6.

Anne-Marie “Her Geekness” Concepción is the co-founder (with David Blatner) and CEO of Creative Publishing Network, which produces InDesignSecrets, InDesign Magazine, and other resources for creative professionals. Through her cross-media design studio, Seneca Design & Training, Anne-Marie develops ebooks and trains and consults with companies who want to master the tools and workflows of digital publishing. She has authored over 20 courses on lynda.com on these topics and others. Keep up with Anne-Marie by subscribing to her ezine, HerGeekness Gazette, and contact her by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @amarie
  • Anonymous says:

    Excelente, favor enviar en español.

  • Anonymous says:

    Just wondering why this is so superior to libraries (aside from helping out the lazy and thoughtless.) It seems to me that this new function is just a raison d’etre for adding the number “6” or for seeming trendy. But I would love to be dissuaded.

  • Anonymous says:

    The Content Conveyer is often the better choice (over libraries) because:

    1. You don’t need to create a Library file — this would be for more ad hoc types of copying/pasting
    2. It has an option to link the content that you’re placing/pasting (to the original that you initially copied from)
    3. If you choose to add/place linked text frames, it can optionally map styles (from source ID file to destination ID file) in them.

    -Anne-Marie
    @amarie

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