Transferring text box or table from InDesign to Photoshop

AH
Posted By
Adrian_Hoff
Mar 5, 2009
Views
1676
Replies
9
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Closed
I create large "Posters" for presentation at scientific meetings. I do most of the work in Photoshop CS3. Tables, and particularly complex text boxes (those where text wraps around multiple photographs, for example) I create in InDesign CS3, and then cut and paste into Photoshop.

Text created in, or pasted directly into Photoshop remains editable text. InDesign text boxes and tables enter Photoshop as smart objects. They can be re-sized without pixilation, but the text is no longer editable. Double-clicking on the table in Photoshop opens Illustrator, not InDesign.

If I create a pdf version, the so-called smart objects are no longer even scalable (pixilate when viewed larger than 100%). Their embedded text is not searchable by database/internet search engines: Photoshop text is searchable.

Is there a way to transfer text boxes and tables from InDesign into Photoshop and still have editable text and editable tables (editable text within the table structure)?
Related Tags
box indesign table text transfer

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JM
J_Maloney
Mar 5, 2009
What about transferring your images from PS to IND (working in reverse)?
JJ
Jim_Jordan
Mar 5, 2009
This is like feeding mashed carrots to a baby by sticking a spoon in through the diaper. You have it backwards.

InDesign is intended to assemble text and graphics created in other programs (Photoshop).

Create your initial art in Photoshop, save as PDF/PDP and place in InDesign. This will allow live text created Photoshop and text created in InDesign to be fully searchable in the final PDF file.
AH
Adrian_Hoff
Mar 5, 2009
I have thousands of hours working in Photoshop over 15 years. I have neither the time or the inclination to learn enough about InDesign to work in it on a daily basis. And unless they changed it in CS3, InDesign cannot support pages large enough for what I’m doing (4-feet by 8-feet is a "normal" page size).
JM
J_Maloney
Mar 5, 2009
18 foot limit in IND. If you have 15 years experience in PS, IND will be a dream to learn. I’m very confident you’ll ultimately save a lot of time working this way. My guess is you have many workarounds and tricks you’ve learned to support this workflow. Could you quickly hand it off to someone not familiar with it? If the answer is no…
JJ
Jim_Jordan
Mar 5, 2009
Wow, you’ve had 15 years to realize better workflows and this is the best you could imagine?! 🙂

InDesign and Illustrator can be used for large formats.

You can also work to scale on a letter-sized page in any program.

Is there a way to transfer text boxes and tables from InDesign into Photoshop and still have editable text and editable tables (editable text within the table structure)?

No. This is why the rest of us work the other way. Submit a feature request to Adobe if this is important to you.
AH
Adrian_Hoff
Mar 5, 2009
I work quite efficiently in Photoshop. I dabble (poorly) in InDesign. Other than accidently, by double clicking on a table in Photoshop, I’ve never even opened Illustrator. I could not do what I do in any other program.

I didn’t ask for advice on how to change my well-established workflow to fit someone else’s skill-set. I asked if there is a way to transfer text boxes and tables from InDesign into Photoshop without their becoming "smart objects" that lack editable text? Or, once they are "Smart Objects," can they be converted back to actual text inside Photoshop?
JJ
Jim_Jordan
Mar 5, 2009
This is not about skill-set. This is about doing what you want with the tools you have. You have it backwards. Either change your workflow or change your tools.

Have you tried exporting PDF from InDesign and placing that in Photoshop? You can re-edit the InDesign file and create a revised PDF file to place in Photoshop.
AH
Adrian_Hoff
Mar 5, 2009
Yes. I started exporting InDesign to PDF and pasting the PDF into Photoshop. That was the only way I could make it work at first. None of that set of posters went into a database, so the final PSDs weren’t saved as PDFs. The tables still came in as smart objects, so I doubt they would have gone back to PDF as text. I’ll open one and see.

I don’t have that many tables, and most are pretty simple. At this point I’m thinking about just creating blank tables in InDesign and pasting text into the boxes in PhotoShop.
AH
Adrian_Hoff
Mar 6, 2009
The reply from RenéG proved most useful. I have Illustrator on my computer only because it came in the bundle. I’d never used it. After reading the line about opening smart objects in Illustrator. making corrections, and having them applied automatically to the object embedded in Photoshop, I played with it for awhile. Thanks.

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Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

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