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• • November 13, 2009 at 10:29 pm #53717
    kc00799

    Member

    I am using the book panel in indesign and when I go to add documents using the add documents tab, I get the message that I need to convert the ms word document file to a indesign file! I have searched several books and still cannot find out how to convert my word document to indesign file document. If anyone knows, please respond.

  • November 13, 2009 at 10:38 pm #53718
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    As I wrote on the blog post, you cannot add Word docs to an InDesign file. You can only import Word docs using File > Place into an InDesign document.

  • November 13, 2009 at 11:37 pm #53719
    Anne-Marie Concepcion

    Member

    Right, KC. It's simple really. Import each Word doc into a separate InDesign layout. Then add the InDesign layouts to the Book with Add Documents.

    I'm not sure which books you were looking through, but one of the best places to start is the online help. Here is the page that explains how you add files to a book:

    https://help.adobe.com/en_US/In…..A94Ca.html

    AM

  • November 14, 2009 at 12:18 am #53721
    kc00799

    Member

    Thanks David and Anne-Marie, I am new to this software and didn't know I couldn't upload a word file. I guess i will have to setup the layout in indesign and flow in the text. Am I on the right page?

  • November 14, 2009 at 12:24 am #53722
    kc00799

    Member

    Hey,

    I am still trying to find a shortcut. Could I possibly convert the word doc to a adobe pdf then add to the book panel? Just wondering!

  • November 14, 2009 at 7:20 am #53724
    Adi Ravid

    Participant

    You must understand that the Book panel will only allow you to add InDesign documents.

    Basically, the Book is a “workflow manager” for multi-document InDesign projects, and you can't add Word files to the Book from the same reason the you can't simply have them opened (File > Open) by InDesign and automatically converted into InDesign documents.

    It's the same issue with PDF and any other file format that InDesign is unable to convert from its original format to InDesign document.

    So the basic workflow you're looking for is: Create a new InDesign document > place the Word file > layout the placed content > save the InDesign document > add the InDesign document to the Book.

    To give your documents a consecutive look and feel, I'd suggest working with a template file.

  • November 14, 2009 at 10:50 am #53725
    Eugene Tyson

    Member

    It sounds like you already have the book made in Word. But it's all in different documents.

    If you're happy with the current layout in Word then you should try to either combine all the word files together. Or you should make PDFs of the each Word document. Using Acrobat Pro you can combine the PDFs into a single PDF.

    The only reason to bring a Word file into InDesign is if you're going to change the layout of the document(s) to make them all consistent. If you're unsure how to use InDesign you should forego this route, or find someone who can help you with your project.

    Again, if you're happy with the layout of the Word documents you should talk to your print provider about the best way to proceed in getting yourself to print.

    InDesigns Book feature is managing InDesign files to manage the Chapters and synchronise styles and page numbers, chapter numbers etc. within InDesign file. It's sort of like a mini file manager for the Chapters of your InDesign files.

  • November 16, 2009 at 2:55 am #53738
    kc00799

    Member

    Thanks everyone for the responses!

    Hank,

    I have completed the entire book including headers in word, trying to get it to Lightning Source in a pdf file. But instead of purchasing Adobe 9 to convert the book into a pdf file, I chose to purchase Adobe indesign CS4, because it had the PDF export and the page layout I could use again for the next book. Now, since I am new to CS4, I am getting frustrated trying to learn the software and package my book for distribution. It seems I almost have to redo the whole book formatting in Indesign now. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    KC

    

  • November 16, 2009 at 11:39 am #53742
    Eugene Tyson

    Member

    Sounds like you purchased the wrong tool for the job you want to do

    You can download a 30 day free trial of Acrobat Professional.

    If the book is one document or if it's in multiple documents it doesn't matter, from Windows Explorer or Finder you can select the Word File(s) and choose Convert to Acrobat or Combine In Acrobat, from the File menu or from the contextual menu (right click or cmd click).

    If it's multiple documents you can arrange them in a folder in their correct order. Selecting from the bottom to the top and choose File>Combine in Adobe Acrobat 9, you will get a dialog box in Acrobat, check the order is correct before proceeding.

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