Explore the workings of InDesign's check in and out system, designed to prevent overwriting of work during file editing. Learn how to effectively check out text for editing, check in completed work, and cancel a check out when changes are unnecessary.
Key Insights
- The check in and out system in InDesign is designed to prevent multiple users from overwriting each other's work during editing.
- When you check out text in InDesign, you have exclusive editing rights until you check it back in.
- There are multiple ways to check out a file, including initiating text edits, which will prompt a check out request, or manually checking out through the File tab.
- Checking in a file is required once you're done working on it, and can be done when closing a file that contains checked out items.
- If a file is checked out but no changes are necessary, it's possible to cancel the check out to avoid unnecessary saving and modifications to the file's date and time.
- Canceling a check out can be done through the File tab or the Assignments panel menu.
This exercise is excerpted from past InCopy training materials and is compatible with InCopy updates through 2021. To learn current skills in Adobe Creative Cloud and graphic design, check out our graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
InCopy Workflow Basics
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Editorial Separation
Editors write in InCopy while designers lay out in InDesign — at the same time.
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Assignments
InDesign exports specific frames as InCopy assignments.
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Check In/Out
Lock prevents simultaneous edits to the same content.
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Live Updates
Changes flow back to InDesign automatically.
Checking In, Checking Out, & Canceling a Check Out
Once you start working inside layouts created by InDesign, you or an InDesign user can edit the text. The check in and out system prevents people from overwriting each other’s work. When you Check Out some text, you can work on it, but no one else can. When you Check In, other people can work on it again.
Check Out
When you are ready to work on something, you must check it out. Here are a couple ways to check out an article.
Checking Out Files: a Couple of Easy Ways
When you start to edit some text that needs to be checked out, InCopy will ask if you want to check it out. Click Yes.
Click into some text. Then go to File > Check Out.
Check In
When you are done working on something, you must check it in. Here is a quick way to check in an article:
- When you close a file that contains items that have been checked out, you’ll be asked to check it in. Click Yes.
Why Cancel a Check Out?
Whenever you check in a file, the file is saved and the file’s modification date and time are changed to reflect when it was last saved. If you have checked out a file and realize you don’t need to make changes to it, you can cancel the check out to avoid saving it and changing the file’s modification date and time.
Canceling a Check Out
Click into the text you checked out. Then do one of the following:
Go to File > Cancel Check Out.
At the top right of the Assignments panel, go into the panel menu
and choose Cancel Check Out.
