While it’s much more common for Photoshop files to be placed into InDesign layouts, occasionally you may need to do the opposite, and open InDesign layouts as layered Photoshop files. While you won’t find PSD as one of the file formats in InDesign’s Export dialog box, you can accomplish this task with the help of a script.
The script was written by Luis Corullón and works on both Mac and Windows. It comes in two versions: InDesign layers to Photoshop PRO and InDesign layers to Photoshop STD. The only difference besides the price is that PRO version allows you to choose which pages to export (each as a separate PSD), while the STD version will only export the current page.
The script creates exports InDesign content as PDF and places the PDFs as embedded Smart Objects in Photoshop.
The layer names in Photoshop match the layer names in your InDesign document. Locked layers and nonprinting layers are exported but hidden layers are not.
If your InDesign document contains a lot of text, don’t expect it will be easy (or even possible) to edit it in the exported file. Some text will be converted to outlines.
When you run the script, you get a dialog box where you can choose the color mode, page(s), resolution, cropping, and PDF preset.
Note: For lots more information about working with Smart Objects, check out Steve Caplin’s article in Issue #3 of CreativePro Magazine.
This article was last modified on October 25, 2024
This article was first published on October 25, 2024
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