Enhance your writing skills by understanding the process of spell checking in InCopy. Whether you're preparing a document for a business presentation or working on your novel, knowledge of spell check options is essential to ensure error-free content.
Key Insights
- Spell checking can be done in InCopy through two primary methods; the Check Spelling panel and the Dynamic Spelling feature.
- The Check Spelling panel can be accessed via the Edit menu. It provides options to spell check an entire document or the current text frame you're working in.
- Users can manually select suggested corrections, type their own corrections, ignore the suggested changes, or add a word to the User Dictionary to prevent it from being flagged in future spell checks.
- Dynamic Spelling is another method for detecting errors. It requires activation from the Edit menu and visually highlights mistakes in real-time, similar to Microsoft Word.
- With Dynamic Spelling, misspelled words are underlined in red, while capitalization errors and duplicate words are marked in green.
- Corrections can be made quickly by right-clicking (Windows) or control-clicking (Mac) the highlighted mistake and selecting the appropriate option from the 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.
Spell Checking
As explained and illustrated below, there are two ways to check spelling. You can either use the Check Spelling panel or enable the Dynamic Spelling option, which underlines misspelled words in red like Microsoft Word.
The Check Spelling Panel
To run a spell check, go to Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling.
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As shown below, at the bottom of the window, go into the Search menu. These are the options you’ll usually want to choose:
Document: Spell checks all text frames (Stories) in the entire InCopy layout Story: Spell checks just the current text frame (Story) you are currently in Click the Start button if you see it, otherwise InCopy has already started it for you.
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Depending on which words come up, you can:
- Select a Suggested Correction and click Change.
- Type in your own correction and click Change.
- Click the Ignore All button to make no change.
- Click the Add button to add it to the User Dictionary so the word won’t come up in Spell Check again.
When finished, click Done.
Dynamic Spell Checking
To use dynamic spell checking, you must turn it on. Go into Edit > Spelling > Dynamic Spelling.
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Finding errors is easy! This is how InCopy color-codes different types of mistakes:
- Misspelled words will be underlined in red.
- Capitalization errors and duplicate words will be underlined in green.
To correct a spelling mistake, Control–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the underlined word.
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As shown below, in the menu that appears, choose the correctly spelled word or Add it to the User Dictionary.
