Nell Chitty writes “A Designer’s Love Letter to WordsFlow”
Nell wrote a wonderfully helpful love letter to WordsFlow about a year ago, and we let it go by without note. It’s so good that we wanted to bring it up and share it with you, in spite of the time passage.
I first learnt about WordsFlow when watching a tutorial on Lynda.com on Word and InDesign Integration. I have found that clients love the control they have over the text using WordsFlow, that they get to work in an application they’re comfortable with (I’ve yet to meet someone who uses InCopy), and how fast I can output an updated PDF for them. Before, they’d have to wait for me to make the text changes they need, but now I just need to press a button. Its great!
The post is great–read the whole thing. Thanks, Nell!
Release: InCatalog 2.22.3 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch fixes a problem with ODBC key field auto-quoting.
Release: Xcatalog 3.13.1 for QuarkXPress 2016/2017/2018
This patch release fixes a few issues with key fields.
Release: WordsFlow 2.14.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch fixes the export of images placed from multi-image files.
Release: DocsFlow 2.16.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch responds to an upcoming Google server change and fixes a problem with drag’n’drop from Google Drive FS.
Release: InData 2.9.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch allows embedded utf-8-encoded Unicode characters in Mac-Roman/Win-Latin imports.
Release: InCatalog 2.22.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch fixes a crash when closing a Create Data dialog in newer macOSes.
Release: InCatalog 2.22.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch release fixes a problem with key-from-contents links.
Release: WordsFlow 2.14.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This patch release fixes a problem with updating Excel links in InDesign CC 2019.
Release: InData 2.9 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2019.
Release: InCatalog 2.22 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2019.
Release: DocsFlow 2.16 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2019 and fixes some minor issues.
Release: WordsFlow 2.14 for InDesign CS5–CC2019
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2019.
Release: Xcatalog 3.13 for QuarkXPress 2016/2017/2018
This release adds support for default field values and addresses a couple minor issues.
Release: InCatalog 2.21 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for default field values and addresses a few minor issues.
Release: WordsFlow 2.13.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch improves stability when working with bookmarks and endnotes, fixes problems with Place with WordsFlow…, and addresses an issue with commas in exported style names.
Release: WordsFlow 2.13 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release greatly improves Word exports, adds a way to directly create WordsFlow links, and makes placing with WordsFlow scriptable.
Release: DocsFlow 2.15.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch release includes a fix for the Import Options dialog in InDesign CC 2018.
Release: WordsFlow 2.12 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release prevents unnecessary Missing Plug-ins messages and improves product stability.
Release: DocsFlow 2.15 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release prevents unnecessary Missing Plug-ins messages, overhauls progress bars, reduces document load times, and improves stability when updating stories.
June 2018 progress report
We thought it would be a good time (right before CreativePro Week 2018) to stop and take a look at the progress we’ve made with the InDesign plug-in products over the past year or so.
Of course, the InDesign plug-ins were all upgraded for the CC 2018 release back in mid-October 2017.
And we’ll gloss over the dozens of ongoing smaller improvements and bug fixes that are part of the normal process of keeping the products “in tune” and up to date. For those details, you can view each product’s release news using the “release history” links below.
Release: WordsFlow 2.11.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This quick release improves compatibility with Excel files and adds basic support for InDesign index markers.
Release: Xcatalog 3.12 for QuarkXPress 2016/2017/2018
This release of Xcatalog adds support for QuarkXPress 2018 and discontinues support for QuarkXPress 2015.
Release: Xdata 4.9 for QuarkXPress 2016/2017/2018
This release of Xdata adds support for QuarkXPress 2018, discontinues support for QuarkXPress 2015, and fixes problems with the macOS Universal Clipboard.
InDesign Rejects Custom Excel Cell Ranges
We’ve recently discovered that InDesign’s Excel import filter has a weird, long-standing bug where it won’t accept a custom Cell Range if the sheet contains exactly 26 columns (or a multiple of 26 columns). While it’s annoying if you run into this problem while Placing a sheet with WordsFlow, it’s downright insidious if you run into it while updating a linked sheet.
To see the problem, create a new document in any version of InDesign (CS5–CC 2018), bring up the Place dialog, check Show Import Options, and then select an Excel file (xlsx only) containing a sheet with exactly 26 columns (such that the last column is Z). Once the Import Options dialog is shown, select the sheet, enter a valid, custom sub-Cell Range, and then click OK. You’ll see this error message:
At this point, the error can be worked around by simply adding (or removing) a column. If you add a column, it doesn’t need to be used in what’s imported, it just needs to hold a value (be non-empty) in the Excel sheet. Alternatively, the file can be down-saved to an old-style Excel Workbook (xls format), if that works better for you.
Now, imagine that you have a linked Excel sheet that was placed with WordsFlow and a custom Cell Range.
You select the link, click Edit Original, and work on the Excel file a bit and maybe add a few columns such that the sheet now happens to contain exactly 26 columns. You save, close Excel, and pop back into InDesign, and then find yourself presented with
when InDesign attempts to auto-Update the edited link. And that’s where this bug will get you, because that generic message will leave you not knowing why the link update failed.
As dire as the message sounds, don’t panic; the link is still valid and the fix is the same as above. Just re-edit the linked sheet, add (or remove) a single column, save it, close Excel, and then give the link update another try.
For Excel files with multiple sheets, WordsFlow displays the link’s selected Sheet and Cell Range in the Links panel’s Link Info section. (If they’re not already showing, select Panel Options… in the Links panel’s popup menu and then check both Sheet and Cell Range in the Show in Link Info column.)
Many thanks to user grum/Graham who documented this bug years ago in an online Adobe forum thread. We’ve resubmitted it in Adobe’s online bug database; please up-vote it if the problem affects you.
Come see us at Creative Pro Week 2018!
We’ll be at Creative Pro Week 2018 the week of June 3rd, in New Orleans.
If you’re planning to attend any of that week, including the InDesign Conference (Tue/Wed) and PePCon (Thu), or just in the area, please drop by our table. We’d love to see you and discuss anything of interest.
We’re always happy to show our products and talk about how they could make your work life easier. We’ll be demo’ing the latest WordsFlow and DocsFlow releases, which have solid performance and reliability improvements, as well as our perennial data publishing favorites, InData and InCatalog.
As a bonus for our readers, you can apply the coupon code CPWWEM for a $100 discount on any of the multi-day events at Creative Pro Week.
Release: DocsFlow 2.14.4 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release addresses issues with column breaks, Team Drives, exporting, and updating.
Release: InData 2.8.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch fixes an incompatibility with macOS Sierra’s Universal Clipboard.
Release: WordsFlow 2.11.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release fixes problems with updating and improves stability.
Release: InData 2.8 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release augments the fieldindex() function and corrects a long-standing problem when using XPress Tags translation tables in styled puts.
Release: DocsFlow 2.14.3 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release works much more efficiently with large tables and fixes a couple minor problems.
Release: WordsFlow 2.11 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds full support for CC 2018’s endnotes and includes a number of other fairly significant fixes and improvements.
Release: DocsFlow 2.14.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release fixes a connection issue with Google Team Drive accounts.
Release: WordsFlow 2.10.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release fixes a compatibility problem with links created without WordsFlow installed.
Release: DocsFlow 2.14.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release fixes a problem with connections to some non-Team Drive accounts.
Release: DocsFlow 2.14 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for Google Team Drives and Google Drive File Stream.
Release: DocsFlow 2.13.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch addresses incompatibilities with CC 2018’s new endnotes feature.
Release: InData 2.7.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch fixes a problem with the pageinfo function.
Release: WordsFlow 2.10.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This patch addresses incompatibilities with CC 2018’s new endnotes feature.
Release: DocsFlow 2.13 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2018.
Em plug-ins for Adobe InDesign CC 2018
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve released all but one of our plug-ins for Adobe’s just-released InDesign CC 2018 update. Notably absent is DocsFlow, in which we found a last minute show-stopper. We hope to have it fixed and released in the next few days, so keep an eye on our release channel for further DocsFlow news.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t updated to CC 2018, and depend on DocsFlow for production, please hold off until we have it released.
If you’d like to start playing with CC 2018 without DocsFlow, you can update, but when you do, it’s critically important to display the Advanced Options in Adobe Creative Cloud’s update dialog and un-check Remove old versions. That will leave your previous version (CC 2017, most likely) untouched, so you can continue using it.
If you’ve already updated and had your older version auto-removed, you can click on the InDesign CC entry’s down arrow, select Other versions, and then click on the Install next to the previous version. Finally, download and install the Em plug-ins you were using before (from the relevant product page’s Downloads sidebar), and you should be fully back in business.
If you purchased a new or upgrade license since January 1, 2017, we’ll be emailing you your free upgrade license in the next few days. Otherwise, you can purchase an upgrade from our online store, or contact us for other options.
Release: InData 2.7 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2018.
Release: InCatalog 2.20 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2018.
Release: WordsFlow 2.10 for InDesign CS5–CC2018
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2018 and includes a couple minor fixes.
Connecting with FileMaker Pro 16
On macOS, our InCatalog and Xcatalog data linking products use a technology called Apple Events to make a direct, non-odbc connection with FileMaker Pro. Unfortunately, FileMaker Pro 16’s new Extended Privilege security setting disables support for this type of connection by default. So while InCatalog 2.19 (or later) and Xcatalog 3.10 (or later) support FileMaker Pro 16, they may fail to establish a connection with a fresh installation of it.
To change this Extended Privilege setting and restore access to your FileMaker databases, open the database and manage its security settings (File > Manage > Security…). If Manage Security is showing the Basic Setup dialog, select the user and then click the Edit… button next to the user’s selected Privilege Set to bring up the Edit Privilege Set dialog. If Manage Security is showing the Detailed Setup dialog, select the Privilege Sets tab, select a Privilege Set, and then click the Edit… button.
Once in the Edit Privilege Set dialog, check the Allow Apple events and ActiveX to perform FileMaker operations option to allow a direct connection from InCatalog and Xcatalog.
The latest version of InCatalog and Xcatalog can be downloaded here.
DocsFlow at Agidea
Matt Dunton, digital UX (user experience) designer at Agidea, has written a very helpful overview of their use of DocsFlow and how it solves “the problem of inflexible workflow between copy and designers.”
The background:
Our problem at Agidea was that we wanted to create high quality, illustrated, on-brand documents, that could be reused and easily updated in Indesign when required, with copy and design kept separate, so that copy editors didn’t have to go into the graphics package. Because of the lack of flexibility with integrating copy and visual designs, as a work around in the past, we have used Word or Powerpoint as these are easy for content editors, despite delivering less professional visual layouts.
After adopting DocsFlow:
This has simplified Agidea’s process for print document creation, making it a much more flexible and joined up process. Gone are the days of the designer waiting patiently for the copy to be finalised, and correspondingly the copy writer having to meet a fixed deadline set by the designer. This software allows both parties to work seamlessly as a joined up team, in real time, for painless updates, greater efficient and a simpler working process for high quality print layout creation.
We encourage you to read the whole thing.
Release: DocsFlow 2.12 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release improves browser-based drag and drop and fixes updates of spanned table cells.
Release: DocsFlow 2.11 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds support for Relink, enhances the Place dialog, and improves the Export dialog.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10.5 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release improves stability, enables InDesign’s Missing Plug-ins alert, and addresses connectivity issues.
Release: WordsFlow 2.8.4 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release improves stability and enables InDesign’s Missing Plug-ins alert.
Release: Xcatalog 3.11 for QuarkXPress 2015/2016/2017
This release of Xcatalog adds support for QuarkXPress 2017, discontinues support for QuarkXPress 10, and fixes a couple of problems.
Release: Xdata 4.8 for QuarkXPress 2015/2016/2017
This release of Xdata adds support for QuarkXPress 2017, discontinues support for QuarkXPress 10, and fixes a problem with tabs.
Release: InData 2.6 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds prototype badges and fixes a problem with full paths on startup volumes.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10.4 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This quick release works around a crash bug in just-released InDesign CC 2017.1.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10.3 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release fixes style mapping, supports list continuations, and improves stability.
Release: WordsFlow 2.8.3 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release improves OpenDocument file handling and overall stability.
Release: Xdata 4.7 for QuarkXPress 10/2015/2016
This release adds control over PDF imports and fixes a macOS-only import bug.
Release: InCatalog 2.19.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This quick release fixes an unintended expiration problem with the previous release.
Urgent: InDesign plug-ins expiring March 1, 2017
Due to a bad decision we made last November, many of you are seeing your CC 2017 plug-in builds expire today, March 1st (not your licenses, luckily). It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that we messed up.
If you just download and install the very latest version of the plug-in (released yesterday), it should work without further problems. You can get the latest version from the “Downloads” sidebar of your plug-in’s product page.
If that doesn’t work, please contact us at support, and we’ll get you going.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release improves stability and fixes issues with exporting images to Google.
Release: WordsFlow 2.8.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This patch improves stability and fixes problems with exported Word files.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This patch addresses minor issues with Unlink, bullet lists, and change tracking.
Release: InData 2.5.2 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This patch addresses a problem with importing some CJK characters.
Release: WordsFlow 2.8.1 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This patch release addresses styling issues with unformatted text and fixes rtf exports.
Release: InData 2.5 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2017.
Release: InCatalog 2.19 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2017 and enhances the look of the Data Linker.
Release: DocsFlow 2.10 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2017, improves drag’n’drop, and addresses a few issues with exporting.
Release: WordsFlow 2.8 for InDesign CS5–CC2017
This release adds support for just-released InDesign CC 2017, improves support for the OpenDocument and Word file formats, and addresses issues with fonts.
Em plugins for InDesign CC 2017
We’re in the middle of porting our plugins to the just-released InDesign CC 2017 update, and hope to have it done in the next few days.
To keep up with the CC 2017 release news, see how to keep in touch.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t updated to CC 2017, and depend on our plugins for production, please hold off until we have them released.
If you’d like to start playing with CC 2017 without our plugins, you can update, but when you do, it’s critically important to display the Advanced Options in the update dialog, and un-check Remove old versions. That will leave your previous version (usually CC 2015) untouched, so you can continue using it.
If you’ve already updated and had your older version auto-removed, you can click on Find additional apps, then to the right select Previous version, and then select InDesign CC 2015 to re-install it. Finally, download and install the Em plugins you were using before (from the relevant product page’s Downloads sidebar), and you should be fully back in business.
We plan to drop support for InDesign CS5/CS5.5 with this release. We’ll still be supporting the CS6, CC (2013), CC 2014, and CC 2015 versions along with the new CC 2017 version.
If you purchased a new or upgrade license since Feb 1, 2016, we’ll be emailing you your free upgrade license in the next few days. Otherwise, you can purchase an upgrade from our online store, or contact us for other options.
Release: WordsFlow 2.7 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release adds support for change tracking, moves to -> as the style group separator in exported Word files, and fixes some issues with updating, exporting, and unlinking.
Release: DocsFlow 2.9.6 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release fixes Export and Unlink and includes a number of stability improvements.
Release: Xcatalog 3.10.2 for QuarkXPress 10/2015/2016
This quick release fixes a problem with data links marked as XPress Tagged.
Release: Xcatalog 3.10.1 for QuarkXPress 10/2015/2016
This patch release mainly fixes the Select Data Descriptor Map menu on macOS.
Release: WordsFlow 2.6.10 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This quick release addresses a couple of Export with WordsFlow… problems that were introduced in the 2.6.9 release.
Release: WordsFlow 2.6.9 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release addresses styling issues when updating and exporting and improves product stability.
Release: DocsFlow 2.9.5 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release includes fixes that improve the quality and stability of updates.
Release: WordsFlow 2.6.8 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release includes a number of fixes that improve the quality and stability of imports, updates, and exports.
Release: Xcatalog 3.10 for QuarkXPress 10/2015/2016
This release of Xcatalog adds support for FileMaker Pro 15 and introduces a major improvement to editing text with links.
Release: InCatalog 2.18 for InDesign CS5–CC2015
This release adds support for FileMaker Pro 15 and fixes a problem with key from group links in tables.
