Linking Text to Illustrator Document

Hello, I'm relatively new to Illustrator and have just downloaded CS2. We plan to use it to create a layout with a large body of text in it, which will be subject to unknown changes. I was wondering if it is possible to link a text document to a text box in Illustrator, the effect being such that if a line of text changes in the word processing document, the linked text in Illustrator will reflect those changes. I have researched this via Help and the forum but do not have a clear sense of whether it is possible. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

Not that easy it is. You could go the route via AI's Variables Palette, but notice that many people do not consider it as an easy way.
Have you already thought about linked .pdf files which are created out of your .txt files whenever the text changes?
Also, perhaps this task is better done in InDesign which has better tools for these kinds of jobs.

Similar Messages

HT2506 In pages how can I link text within the document? I can find a bookmark option and links only allows me to link to a web page

Hi all,
This is my first time using this discussion site! Any help would be great, as I am getting very frustrated with pages!
What I am trying to do is link text at the bottom of a document to a page at the beginning of the document. I can't find a bookmark option adn when I clink insert link it only provides an options to link to a web page. Help! thanks

Bookmarks are missing (sadly) and with them, the ability to create an in document link.
I was looking for this feature in a Table of Contents. When you assign a 'style' to text in a document, you can Insert > Table of Contents. Then Pages will keep the TOC updated and you'll be able to 'link' from the page number in the TOC. (Not much help though, for the OP)

CS4 Linking Text Boxes Together in Anchored Objects?

Hi. Using InDesign CS4 I have a Anchored Object that I would like to link part of it to the next one in the text frame. Example: I have grouped together a text box, a box with a placed UPC from Illustrator and another text box stacked on top of each other, all lined up. I group this and place it in a text box so I can set these at different places along a 29" document. When I have overset text, in the top box for example, I see the + sign but can't grab it to try to link the text to the next text box in the Anchored or grouped object. All I can do it change the size of the box - even when holding down the command key on the Mac with the text too enabled. I am setting it up this way so all three boxes stay together when positioning on pages. I have multiple rows of these so it makes it easier to modify. If I take the grouped set out of the text box so it's by itself I can grab the overset text. I am trying to link text boxes so it's easier and faster to flow in text from another program. Thanks.
Pat

OK, I will try to get the whole page later. I want to keep what you see in the screen shot - one of the grouped objects - together as it goes across the page. So the 9232554 text and all bellow that would stay grouped together when I tab it over to line up to a certain spot on the page. This is placed in a text box that runs horizonal on the page, about 28" across. I also wanted to link the 9232554 box to the 9232729 box which is just a duplicate of the group of text and UPC code before it. But from what you say, and what I tried to do, I can't. Even when all the anchored object groups are in the same long text thread. I tried not grouping each section - the UPC code sandwiched by the text boxes, but could not place them in the long text box when not grouped togther.
I wanted to flow in the text to all 14 of these grouped or anchored objects, say all top boxes, in one 'paste' instead of doing each one at a time but keeping the 3 elements you see togther at all times.
Pat

Can you export images which have been pasted into an Illustrator document as separate files?

I have a multi-page Illustrator document (over 50 artboards) which contains lots of images that are all saved within the document (not linked in from seperate files) and all the images need to be exported as separate image files (similar to when you package a file in Indesign). The problem is the files are not linked, they are all saved within the document.
Want to avoid having to copy + paste every image into a new document in Photoshop and save individually as this will take forever.

Save the document as a PDF and Open in Photoshop. Select only the Images in the Open dialog and proceed from there.

Is there a way to link text fields, so when you reach the end of one line it moves to the next?

I often use Acrobat Pro to create forms, whether it be from an existing document or from scratch, and this has always irritated me. I know you can create a text field and select the Multi-line option; however, this is not what I am looking to do. I have a form that has a Yes or No Radio Button, then below it says "If yes, please explain:" followed by 3 lines to respond. When I run it through the Form Creator, it places three text fields on the response lines - as it should. The first line is shorter because of the text, which is why I cannot use the Multi-line option. So is there a way to link these three text fields, so that when I reach the end of the first line it stops and automatically moves to the next?
Here is a picture of what I am looking at:

These types of lines are a left-over from printed forms. There's no reason
to keep using them if your form is digital.
The best approach is to combine the fields to a single multiline field, and
get rid of the first line. Trying to link text fields together is very
tricky. I haven't yet to see it done properly.

Can I use ExtendScript to store info about an Illustrator document externally and recover it later?

What I want to do is this:
1. Iterate through all the layers in a document (recursively) and discover each layer's NAME, VISIBLE, and LOCKED properties.
2. Create an object that contains those properties.
3. Push the object onto a second array.
4. Store that second array somewhere, preferably in a file (text?) in the same directory as the AI document.
5. Load that file at a later date as an object array.
6. Use the object array to iterate through the illustrator document to conform the current state of that document to the stored states in the array.
Ideally I would like to be able to store a number of separate states in the same document and refer to them somehow.
As you may have guessed by now, this is my attempt to make a LayerComps feature for Illustrator that I could use to turn visibilities on and off and then export the result, moving on from one state to the next until all the states I am interested in would be exported. I would settle for being able to do it one at a time.
I can already do steps 1-3 (shown in blue).
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var docName = doc.name;
var layerStates = [];
var layerCount = doc.layers.length;
var count = 0;
function addLayers(layerArray) {
        for (var i=0; i<layerArray.length; i++) {
            // create an object representing a layer state
            var o = {};
            o.name = layerArray[i].name;
            o.visible = layerArray[i].visible;
            o.locked = layerArray[i].locked;
            layerStates[count] = o;
            count++;
            // if this layer has layers of its own, iterate through those
            if (layerArray[i].layers.length > 0) {
                    addLayers(layerArray[i].layers);
addLayers(doc.layers);
// show that we did something, incomplete though it is
var s = "";
for (var i=0; i < layerStates.length; i++) {
        s += layerStates[i].name + ": ";
        s += (layerStates[i].visible ) ? "visible" : "invisible";
        s += ", ";
        s += (layerStates[i].locked ) ? "locked" : "unlocked";
        s += "\n";
alert(s);
I don't know if it is possible to export that data as XML or even a text string and save it as a file on the file system for later parsing. Anyone have any thoughts about this? Is it possible?
Currently I am using a restrictive version of a LayerComps script I created, which iterates through a top layer's sublayers, turning each on and exporting as PDF, then turning it off and moving to the next. This is more convenient than doing it by hand, but it really forces me to compartmentalize all "views" of a document in a way that does not lend it self to efficiency and forces redundant copying of pathItems between layers.
Thoughts?

Also good, and thanks again for your help. I wasn't sure if ExtendScript implemented the eval() method, necessary to re-objectify a JSON string, because I can't find it in the documentation, but I do see it used in some examples elsewhere. I've successfully written XML files at this point, and when I get a few minutes I'll work on the reading/modifying/exporting part. In the long run, XML files are easier to read, manipulate and maintain, so I'll probably go that route.
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var docName = doc.name;
var xml = new XML("<root></root>");
var layerStates = [];
var layerCount = doc.layers.length;
var count = 0;
function addLayers(layerArray, xmlObj) {
    for (var i=0; i<layerArray.length; i++) {
        // create an object representing a layer state
        var lay = layerArray[i];
        var x = new XML("<layer/>");
        x.@name = lay.name;
        x.@visible = lay.visible;
        x.@locked = lay.locked;
        xmlObj.appendChild(x);
        layerStates[count] = x.toXMLString();
        count++;
        // if this layer has layers of its own, iterate through those
        if (lay.layers.length > 0) {
            addLayers(lay.layers, x);
addLayers(doc.layers, xml);
var xmlFile = new File();
xmlFile.open('w');
xmlFile.write(xml);
xmlFile.copy ('C:/Program Files (x86)/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS4/Presets/en_US/Scripts/data.xml');
xmlFile.close();
All in all, the documentation for this stuff leaves a little something to be desired. My original question had more to do with how file read and write text streams was handled. The answer was actually much simpler than I anticipated. All this stuff is, once you get a handle on it, but the docs are so stingy on particulars — does it really help us to know about the XML class merely that it "wraps XML into an object" or that XML.attribute(name) "returns a list containing all attribute elements matching the given name"? I finally worked it out for myself that the XML object may be manipulated using dot syntax (x.name, x.@name), but that was certainly not mentioned anywhere.
Ah, well. The journey is the reward, right?

How to get the link of already archived document

Dear all,
How to get the link of already archivied document. for example i have a sales order for which subsequent documents have been archived. now i want to get the link of subsequent document.
please give some solution
Thanks in advance
Thanks,
Hemachandran.

Hemachandran,
The archiving object for sales order is SD_VBAK. If you run the program S3VBAKAU by transaction se38 and search based on the document numbers ( as you mentioned it is the preceeding document numbers to the current document), you will be able to retrieve the information regarding the previous sales orders.
More information on the sales order archiving object can be found at,
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_45b/helpdata/en/a9/55c7b690a111d1a5510000e82deaaa/content.htm
Sojan
<<text removed by moderator>>
Edited by: Matt on Nov 16, 2008 5:08 PM - Do not request points

Random character appears when outlining text in Illustrator CS4 !!!

Hi All,
Firstly, any help would be greatly appreciated.
My problem is shown below, I have an artwork containing live text produced in Illustrator CS4 on a Mac. On outlining the file for forwarding to prepress, a random "D" appears at the end of one of the sentences. I have been unable to find any reason for this. The "D" is not visible when the document is viewed in Outline Mode, it is not visible when hidden characters are shown, it cannot be selected using the text cursor, it appears regardless of what typeface is used, and there are no effects or transparencies applied to the text. Obviously this is of great concern, we produce artwork using live fonts, and on approval outline the files and forward them to a prepress bureau, the result of random characters appearing on printed material could prove very costly.
If the Illustrator document is saved as a CS2 compatible file from CS4, opened in CS2 and outlined this does not occur.
Thanks,

Same thing here, but in CS3. Files came from a client, but appear to have been created and saved in CS3 also. I couldn't fix it with CS5.
In our case, it's a phantom W that sits on its own line before another W. No hard return, no soft return, no spaces, nothing shows with invisibles on. You can select it (using the shift and arrow keys) and format it, and the changes show up when you outline it. Select it and type a different character, and it winds up on the next line next to the "real" W, as it should. Double-clicking the word selects the phantom letter as well.
Type is area type, and it's rotated 180° (packaging). Original fonts were Trajan Pro and UniversLTStd.
Anyone?

Printing text from separate documents in same book as a continuous flow through the pages

Hi, I have a basic problem. My book in InDesign has different chapters and subchapters. When I started it I split all chapters in separated documents (all contained in the same book). But for a specific chapter I also want to split each subchapter into a separate file, the layout would be something like:
MyBook.indb - the bookfile
Chapter1.indd - Chapter 1
Chapter2.indd - Chapter 2
Chapter3.indd - Chapter 3
Chapter3A.indd - Chapter 3, Subchapter 1
Chapter3B.indd - Chapter 3, Subchapter 2
Chapter3C.indd - Chapter 3, Subchapter 3
Chapter4.indd - Chapter 4
After I have set everything up page numbers and styles for headers and subheaders work no problem through the chapters and subchapters. The problem I have is, if I print the book to PDF, Chapter 3A, 3B and 3C will be printed in separate pages although they are less than a page long each. My ideal will be that all the contents of chapter 3 (3 + 3A + 3B + 3C) will be printed as a single chapter with no page breaks. I have tried changing the styles of the paragraphs and headers/subheaders to keep with previous, also the option Start Paragraph set to Anywhere. I am not able to disable the option to Start Section for the first page of say Chapter3A.indd, but I guess this is not possible as InDesign sees this as a single document with one page and it needs a sections. Is there any other way in InDesign to link those documents together so they don't add page breaks (or effectively split into different pages) without the need to have them all in the same .indd document?
Thanks

In the words of the Rolling Stones, "you can't always get what you want."
So you have documents that have unfilled pages, each of which has an assigned page number that you synched through the book panel, but now you want the text in these documents to flow as one continuous thread? How do you think InDesign is going to be able to thread text in different files, and what do you expect to happen to your page numbering?

Linking text boxes together?

hello,
I work with a book (.indb) with many different Documetns linked in it(.indd)
Problem is that i have a lot of textboxes that are the same in the documents and also across the documents.
What i would like to do is to link them all together somehow and either have
-one master (if i make changes in that it applies to all of them)
or
-everyone as a master, i make changes anywhere and all of them get changed
best would be though
-i have one master wich changes all of them but i can have extra text in the individual textboxes if needed. (I could solve this by just doing extra textbox n the pages i need some extra text)
Also dont know if it matters but the text in the textbox is conditional text (shouldnt make a difference think)
So what i want to know is if you can do this and if so, how you do it.
Thank you in advance
/Simon

SimonSchneider wrote:
Thank you for the quick reply,
So there is no way of linking text boxes together?
Becouse i only have a small amount of text that has to be the same on certain pages.
So i cant put it inot master page and i dont really want to place an entire page,
I hope I understood the procedure correctly.
Thank you in advance
Consider cross-references. Each cross-reference brings in a whole paragraph, to another place in the same document, or from a separate document. The source content can be in a separate document that's one of those in an InDesign book, or one that's not in a book. Cross-reference source content and the source that's captured can both be conditionalized, though, hiding the source creates unresolved references.
Changing the source content changes all instances that capture it.
Search Google for terms like "InDesign cross-reference tutorial" without quotes for details.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

List of Fonts/Colors used in illustrator document

Hi guys,
Is it possible to get the list of all the fonts and colors used in the active illustrator document (.ai file) ?
if yes then how?
thanx in advance...

I thought about AdjustObjectAIColors, and its a good way to get a bunch of them but I'm not 100% sure if it covers all colours or just those found in paths. If not, this would exclude colours on effects & overlays for symbols, found in kPluginArt (though there is a similar function for plugin art specifically) and I imagine text. Probably a few other types if we look hard enough. Granted, paths are probably 90% of colours :-) I also wondered (sinc I haven't tried it before) how comprehensive that method is -- does it hit all the colours in various effects & styles layered on path? Or does it just hit the standard stroke & fill? I assume not, but I don't know.

Styling links for a PDF document

Hello!
I am trying to style my links for this PDF document. They should signal "go forward" or "more information here" in the simplest, most minimalistic manner. Now, I know I've seen symbols like these before, I just can't for the life of me remember where. Anyhow here's my attempt at recreating them:
The blue text gets underlined when the mouse hovers it. The symbol stays the same though.
So what do you guys think? How'd you wanna improve them?
Many thanks!

Also, yesterday the lines around my text field and text boxes....mysteriously disappeared.
Can someone pls tell me how to get them back as I use them to line up my objects.
Thanks~
Tammie

Can I add a link to launch another document in another app?

I'm writing a OS X app. I want to paste or drag a text object into Pages. Is there a way to add a link back to my app?
Thanks

The only links supported in Pages v5 (any release) are email, and web links. Pages '09, the predecessor to Pages v5, supported web, email, intra-document links (bookmarks), and extra-document links to other Pages '09 documents. Neither supports a link back to storage resident applications.

PLACING Images in Illustrator documents and saving.

Is there any way to just embed pictures in an illustrator document, because I know when you PLACE (File> Place) them in, it creates a link, and if you accidently delete a pic or something it won't show up in your document you open. My question is: Is it possible once you place images in your document, to embed them permanantly without having them linked at all, yet still preserve editing capability?
I save out a lot of PDF's and sometimes the images are linked to the pdf's as well. I always have (preserve illustrator editing capabilities) checked when I save out my PDF's in order to make changes regularly. ANY HELP??

To embed images go to you links palette flyout menu and choose embed.
Experienced Illustrator users usually do not embed because
makes your illustrator files larger and slower.
cannot keep track of resolution or color space
they can keep track of their files without losing
making edits later is a longer process
overall control and management of image quality is better
Embedding images on large projects increase the overall project file size, because you make a copy of the image within illustrator each time you embed.
To edit embedded images, you need to copy from illustrator and paste them into photoshop. Problem is you do not know what original resulotion they are and you maybe upsampling the image or changing the colorspace/profile. If you still want to embed, you are better off , keeping an original image in your job folder, that you can edit in Photoshop, and then use the links palette in Illustrator to relink.

Lining up text in linking text frames

I've inherited a document design from an agency that my client sometimes uses - the client can't get their hands on the original files so I've recreated from a PDF. I can't replicate how they make text line up across a page through linking text frames.
The majority of their text frames have VertJustification set to Bottom, so I'm setting that as Default for my text frames. But when I put dummy text in to my frames, I get very bad alignment of lines - especially at the top - when there is a different number of paras in each frame.
Design agency PDF http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4460087/designagencytext.png
My InDesign setup http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4460087/mytextsetup.png
Current text
9pt text
14pt leading
2mm (5.9pt) space after each para
Given their text set up - especially the 2mm space after each para - they must be doing some adjustment and balancing after the text is added. I'm just not sure how.
Any clues??

Assumption simply based on the fact that they seem to line up more often at the bottom through 80 pages of this stuff rather than at the top.
But I think you've hit the nail on the head for me. Setting my frames VertJust to 'Justify' helps me do replicate their style quite easily.
And agreed, I also think the visual distraction of lines not lining up across columns is worse than having columns line up at the bottom.
Thanks for the help.

Linking Text to Illustrator Document

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for