Adobe InCopy is a professional writing and editing solution for multi-person environments. It enables users the ability to have parallel workflow without the cost of everyone on the team having access to InDesign. It can be used by editorial staff to work on documents provided by a designer, for example. The cost for a full version is US $249.00 and an upgrade is US $89.00. This is a savings compared to the price of a full version of InDesign CS5 which is US $ 699.00 with an upgrade price of US $199.00. Thus you can see how cost effective it is for a firm to utilize InCopy CS5 along with InDesign CS5.

The last time I reviewed InCopy was version CS3. A lot has been added to this version. Those who have InDesign CS5 will notice some similar new features such as paragraphs that span columns, Adobe Mini Bridge, new layers panel, etc. Below are some of the new features:

Below is a screen shot of the interface when the text tool is selected. The text is grayed out. This means I cannot edit it in this mode.

To edit a file, you need to see it in all modes - story, gallery, and layout. The best method is Exporting or Packaging for Assignment.

When you look at the InDesign file, the text is light gray, and as I stated, only in the layout mode. You cannot make changes to the document until you create an InCopy (icml) document. One way to do it is through Packaging for Assignment- not to be confused with packaging for a printer. The best method is for all members of the team to have the use of a single server. If that is not the case, files can be sent as compressed packages. Packages can be created for the server or for e-mail distribution. This can get a little complicated if you are not familiar with checking in and checking out. One of the issues I find is that there are so many places you can accomplish this, that I don't always do it in the correct order and, then, only the layout mode will appear in InCopy and not the layout, story, and gallery views. You can, also, export the files: File>Export or Edit>InCopy>Export. In addition, I can right click and do Edit with InCopy.This creates an icml file for use in InCopy CS5.When a user in InCopy is finished with the edits, he or she can send it back to the user of InDesign or forward it to another InCopy user. This file, then, becomes an .idap file.

Track Changes is a new feature. For those using InDesign CS5, I am sure you are familiar with it. In InCopy CS5 it can be turned on for all open stories or for just a particular document. When chosen in Windows>Track Changes, it is located on the top toolbar. It will show up in Story and Gallery modes.

Spanning and splitting columns are new features in InCopy CS5 as they are in InDesign CS5. You can take a 1 column spread and turn it into a 2 column spread or take a 2 column spread and turn it into 1 column. It is very easy. You do it with the insertion tool and choosing Span columns or Split from the Paragraph panel menu.

Let's look at Adobe Mini Bridge and Enhanced Adobe Bridge Interaction. The Mini Bridge allows you to see previews of files right from InCopy CS5. This is a feature of many CS5 programs. The Bridge now allows for setting the number of pages previewed. Notice how the preview is showing page 1 of 5 pages.

InCopy CS5 has new panels. Both have expanded capabilities.

The Eyedropper tool copies selected attributes between text. I changed the size of the type in the first paragraph by clicking my Eyedropper tool in it and then selecting paragraph 2 and selecting with the Eyedropper tool those areas I want to change.

Another big plus is that the InDesign CS5 fonts will load automatically in InCopy CS5. So you will have automatically the same fonts in Layout mode.

Of course, you can create documents in InCopy itself. Also, through Adobe CS Lives's online Acrobat.com, you can import content from Buzzword, a web based word processing program.

As you can see, many of the changes in InCopy CS5 are the same as those in InDesign CS5 which speeds up the workflow between the two programs. The only issues I found were that sometimes I couldn't open Assignments files in InCopy CS5 the first time in all views, layout, story, and gallery. If I played with the various settings when I packaged it in InDesign CS5, I was eventually successful. I imagine if you are doing this on a routine basis, this would not be the case. My recommendation is to find a way that is comfortable and use the same method whenever possible.

The system requirements are:

Windows

  • Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor
  • Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended); Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1; or Windows 7
  • 1GB of RAM (2GB recommended)
  • 1.3GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash-based storage devices)
  • 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
  • DVD-ROM drive
  • Adobe Flash® Player 10 software required to export SWF files
  • Broadband Internet connection required for online services

Mac OS

  • Multicore Intel processor
  • Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6
  • 1GB of RAM (2GB recommended)
  • 1.8GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash-based storage devices)
  • 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
  • DVD-ROM drive
  • Adobe Flash Player 10 software required to export SWF files
  • Broadband Internet connection required for online services

For more information, go to InCopy CS5. For information on all Adobe products, go to Adobe.

If you have a team and need to share documents, this is a huge cost saver as well as time saver. In addition, it can be pivotal in keeping your files organized and your workflow in order. However, you need to play around with packaging and exporting and keep track of your settings so you can replicate them each time.