Maryanne wrote:
Can you import only paragraph styles into InDesign CS5 from a Word document without importing the document itself? I have an InDesign file that I would like to format using paragraph styles that are used in our Word doc. template. Is there a way to import only those styles or do I have to create them manually in the InDesign document. I can only find info on how to capture the paragraph styles while importing a Word document.
If you want to bring in styles from a Word file, yes, you do have to import the Word doc manually. (The Load Styles command in InDesign’s Paragraph Styles and Character Styles panel menus can only import styles from other InDesign docs.)
However, once you import styled text from Word or from any source into an InDesign file, the styles that came along for the ride are now part of the InDesign file itself, even if you delete all the text you just brought in.
A placed MS Word file (the text to an Alcott novel) brings along all its lovely Word styles.
Delete the text, and the styles remain. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want.
So the answer to Maryanne’s question is to import the Word doc into a temporary text frame, like on the pasteboard. The styles get added to the INDD file. Then delete the text frame, and the styles stay, ready for to apply to text in InDesign.
This article was last modified on December 21, 2021
This article was first published on May 10, 2011
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