Copy/import Indesign formatting to Photoshop

Question

Hi guys,
Initially, I mistakenly posted the questions below to the Indesign Feature Requests.   I was advised by Peter Spier that I really should have brought my issues to the regular forum, so here it is.  I thank Peter for attempting to answer my question, but he seems not to have understood what I was asking. He offered advice about how to lay out a page, and to have it correspond exactly to the page I want to print to, but I have already done that to my satisfaction, as I thought I made clear in my post.  He goes on to suggest that I ought to save the document as a PDF and print it from Acrobat or Reader so that the vector content will be preserved.  Other than my logo on the opening page, there is no type.  Nor do Acrobat or Reader offer the kind of print control that is necessary for my project and central to my questions to you all.  I simply want to find a way to easily and quickly use all the placement, scaling and formatting I've already done in Indesign and apply it to Photoshop documents.  I need to print in Photoshop, where there is maximum control over print quality and placement of the print document on the inkjet paper.  I'll paste Peter's response at the bottom of my original letter.
Thanks,
spreldog
Hello Indesign experts,
Let me first acknowledge my ignorance where Indesign is concerned, though I have watched 60+ Indesign instructional videos on Lynda.com.  I am a commercial photographer and out of my Photoshop comfort zone with Indesign, though I'm only using it to update and lay out my portfolio.  If you're interested, you can see my website here...
http://www.toddpearsonphotography.com/
It's obvious that Indesign is an incredibly useful application for seeing the big picture, all the way down to a very granular level, in visualizing and attending to all the details of images working together.  My procedure previously has been to make smallish prints, lay them on the floor, sort the order, sort again, and imagine how this one or that one would look bigger or smaller.  Kind of primitive.  I'm never going to be a big time user of Indesign, and I can't help but be impressed by how fabulously easy it is to use, particularly after a little instruction, but I am having trouble finding solutions to some problems that are essential to my project, and probably easy for you guys to answer.
At this point I have the Indesign document of my book laid out and scaled exactly the way I want it - I'm now ready to print.  My questions all relate to finding out how to bring the formatting I've done in Indesign to Photoshop (CS5) so that I can print on my Epson 3800 there.  More precisely, I want to bring entire pages and spreads over in such a way that I'll be able to see the images from Indesign pages, including those that have multiple images, maintaining the framing, scaling, margins - everything just as it is in Indesign.  Would, or could I then drop the actual images into the bounding boxes, just as they are in ID?  Is there a way to import individual pages, and also entire spreads, so that I don't have to re-scale, re-locate images on the page, and essentially duplicate the work I've done in Indesign all over again in Photoshop?
Why do I feel it's necessary to print in Photoshop rather than Indesign?  After looking at the print dialog box in Indesign I can see that it has a limited ability to exactly position the image on the page to be printed.  That is crucial, because I am printing to double-sided pages that are pre-crimped on one side, so that they will easily lie flat in my portfolio.  The images must orient their "home" position in a very specific spot and print exactly on the edge of the crimped lines. When everything is printed, a custom bindery will trim all the pages at once, so it is very important that all pages are printed in exactly the same position on the paper, on both sides of the page.  Indesign does not appear to give me the controllability that the printing demands, but I'd be glad to hear different solutions if others are available.
Thanks,
spreldog
Peter Spier's reply:
InDesign gives you 100% control over the postioning of all objects on the page. Set up a facing pages document with a page size that matches the paper you will be using to print. Set the inside margin wide enough to accomodate the fold (either at the fold, or leave some additional space -- this is a guide, not a page element) and set your other margins however you like. You might want to set teh inside margin equal to the outside margin PLUS the width to the fold, for example.
Place your content as you want it to appear in the final print. When done, Export to PDF (Print). I would suggest using the High Quality Print preset as a starting point foir your digital printer. You should be able to print this from Acrobat or Reader without going back to Photoshop, which will preseve the vector content. If tyou really want to go back to Photoshop, open the PDF, but understand that all of your type and other vectors will be rasterized.

Answer 1

Ok, Peter.  Thank you for your help.
Peter Spier2/5/11 11:04 [email protected]
If the document size in ID is the same as your inkjet paper size, you have no
need to go back to Photoshop for positioning. The PDF will also be the same
size as the paper, and the positioning will be what you have set up in ID.
There is no way to move the ID file directly to Photoshop. The best quality
you will get for moving betweenthe two is to export to high resolution PDF
(such as the High Quality preset) and open that PDF in Photoshop, but you
won't gain anything by doing so.
>