Linked content

Replicating content across various pages is no easy task; copy-pasting can be cumbersome and time consuming. Use linked content features to manage multiple versions of content. You can place and link content within the same document or even across different documents. Linked content makes it easier to support emerging workflows, where for example, you design for vertical and horizontal layouts. Linked content also works well for traditional print and publishing workflows, where you synchronize boilerplate text on different pages or documents.

Linked content behaves similar to traditional links. See Use the Links panel for an overview. You can designate an object as parent, and then place it at other places as child objects. Whenever you update the parent object, the child objects are flagged and you can update them to synchronize with the parent.

You can place and link objects using either the Content Collector tools, or choose Edit > Place and Link menu command.

The icon displays on the upper-left corner of linked object. The item is displayed as linked object in the Links panel.

Content Collector and Placer tools let you duplicate page items and place them on open InDesign documents. As content is collected, it is displayed in the Content Conveyor. Use Content Conveyor to easily and quickly place and link multiple page items within and across open documents.

Click in the toolbox to open the Content Conveyor.

• Use Content Collector tool to select an object and add it to the conveyor
• Use Content Placer to place page object on a page

Use the Content Collector to add page items to the Content Conveyor.

Use the Content Placer to place the items from the Content Conveyor to the document. When you select this tool, the current item is added to the place gun.

Enable Create Link to link the placed item to the original location of the collected item. You can manage the links using the Links panel.

Map paragraph, character, table, or cell styles, between the original and placed items. By default, style names are used for mapping. See Custom style mapping.

Define custom style mapping between the original and placed items. Map the styles to automatically replace original styles in the placed item.

Specify the Conveyor options while placing items.

• Remove items from the conveyor after you place them
• Place the current item multiple times. The item remains loaded in the place gun.
• Place the item and move to the next item. The item is however kept in the conveyor.

Navigate through the items in the Content Conveyor.

Enable this option to collect all threaded frames. The story and all frames are collected. If this option is disabled, the story is collected in a single frame.

Use to load the conveyor with items.

• Selection: Use this option to load all selected items
  
  
• Pages: Use this option to load all items on the specified pages
• All: Use this option to load items from all pages and pasteboard

Enable Create Single set to group all the items in a single set.

You can collect individual page items, or collect related items as "sets." In some cases InDesign automatically creates sets to preserve the relational integrity of the page items.

The following are a few method of collecting items as sets, some manual and some automatic:

• Marquee select a number of items
  
• Use the Load Conveyor option and then select range of pages or all document content or selected items and items will be accordingly collected in a set.
• Collect an item that has related content such as a part of an interactive button that has other items and states associated with it, it will collect all related items in a set (this set will always drop in one gesture)
• Collect a text box with threaded text spanning into other objects and ’collect All Threaded Text Frames’ checkbox is checked on the conveyor, it will pick all threaded text boxes into a set.
  

Place and link

Specify link options

Custom Style Mapping

Text styles (paragraph, character, table, cell) or style groups can be mapped to different styles while linking. The mapped styles are automatically applied to the linked content, instead of the original styles applied to the parent. Custom style mapping comes in handy, for example, when you want to use sans serif fonts for digital and serif fonts for print publications. Or if you want, vary the text style between the horizontal and vertical layouts.

To define custom style mapping, do one of the following:

• In the Link Options dialog box (Links panel > Link Options), enable Define Custom Style Mapping and then click Settings.
• Click in the Content Conveyor.
  

1. Select a source document and Style type.
   
2. Click New Syle Mapping.
3. Choose source and mapped styles or style groups from the list

Update a linked item

If an original item is modified, symbol displays over the frame and in the Links panel. To update do one of the following:

• Click  near the top-left of the frame
  
• In the Links panel, double-click  symbol
  

If you have made local edits to a child item, the edits are overwritten with content from the original item. If you set Warn if Link Update Will Overwrite Local Edits, a warning message displays.