Indesign Help

[khamla]

I received a file from another agency and am trying to figure out what's going on here. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's going on with these fonts, they aren't pathed but they aren't editable texts either.

I have an image to show.

It's a font in graphic, its a graphic image. I want to be able to edit the font myself but can't. I don't understand what's going on here, or how they did that or why do they do that? I'm a bit lost. What can you guys tell me?

 

[sacredeye]

It could be that the file was originally created in another program, such as Quark XPress, and converted to open in InDesign.

I had a job where the previous designer did all product packaging in Quark, did a Save As EPS files, and deleted the original Quark files. When the EPS files were opened in Illustrator, they were editable every 2-3 letters and not editable as entire bodies of text. This could be a similar situation.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

It's a font in graphic, its a graphic image.

The fonts are within an EPS, PDF or Illustrator file (or similar vector graphic image) that has been Placed into your InDesign document ... you won't be able to edit the image nor change the fonts / text it uses without the original image document and the original / compatible application.

This is a pain when you don't have the fonts the image uses, which is why all fonts should be changed to paths (or at least embedded in the PDF, etc.) before Placing the image file into the InDesign document.

 

[khamla]

The fonts are within an EPS, PDF or Illustrator file (or similar vector graphic image) that has been Placed into your InDesign document ... you won't be able to edit the image nor change the fonts / text it uses without the original image document and the original / compatible application.

This is a pain when you don't have the fonts the image uses, which is why all fonts should be changed to paths (or at least embedded in the PDF, etc.) before Placing the image file into the InDesign document.

I still don't understand how or why they did this? I mean if your saying its a vector image placed in it, if they collect the files wouldn't the image go along with it in the links folder? There is nothing there in the links folder. Also i do have to load the fonts in order for it to load properly yet i cannot edit the font, it acts as an image but yet not a pathed image if that makes sense meaning i can't achor the points.

These files are horrible, everything is in RGB too.

 

[Kwill]

There are several ways to produce files with the problem you describe. It is not necessarily intentional.

1. An InDesign (or QuarkXPress) document can be saved as PDF opened in Illustrator and resaved.
2. An Illustrator document can be saved as a PDF with the option to "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" disabled.
3. An old version of Illustrator (or FreeHand) could have been opened in a newer copy Illustrator. I think it was version 7 from OS 9 that had a problem playing nice with OS X.

Either of these situations can cause text to be split into tiny subsets, making editing next to impossible -- especially if complete sets of original fonts were not embedded within the PDF.

Here is something you could try if the placed file is a PDF. Open it within Adobe Acrobat. With the type selection tool, highlight and copy the text. Draw a new text box within InDesign. Using a font you have on your system, paste the text from the clipboard. Yeah, you'd essentially be rebuilding the file. With the object touch up tool, the prior text boxes can be removed from within Adobe Acrobat Professional; you can also convert images to CMYK there (or when exporting a PDF from InDesign).