Understanding how to track changes in a professional application such as InCopy is crucial for careers that require collaborative document editing. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to monitor and manage changes in text, from deletion and addition to movement.
Key Insights
- InCopy's change tracking feature does not monitor formatting adjustments like style sheet applications but is limited to text alterations - deletion, addition, and movement.
- To begin tracking changes in a text document, you must first ensure the Track Changes toolbar is visible, then click the "Enable Track Changes" button at the top of the screen.
- Changes are highlighted in different colors for easy identification. However, during normal typing, these highlights could be visually distracting, necessitating the option to hide or show them using the "Show Changes" button.
- InCopy allows users to accept or reject changes individually or in bulk with dedicated buttons available on the toolbar.
- The Change Info panel provides additional information about each change, including the author, the time it was made, and the nature of the change.
- Navigation between changes is facilitated by the "Next Change" and "Previous Change" buttons on the toolbar, eliminating the need to manually search for them.
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
-
Editorial Separation
Editors write in InCopy while designers lay out in InDesign — at the same time.
-
Assignments
InDesign exports specific frames as InCopy assignments.
-
Check In/Out
Lock prevents simultaneous edits to the same content.
-
Live Updates
Changes flow back to InDesign automatically.
Tracking Changes
How It Works
You can track changes such as deleting, adding, or moving text. However, InCopy does not track formatting changes such as applying a style sheet. Once you have a body of text and want to start tracking changes, you must turn on Track Changes by doing the following:
First, make sure the Track Changes toolbar is showing at the top of the screen by going to Window > Track Changes.
Then at the top of the screen, click the Enable Track Changes button
.
Showing/Hiding Changes
Changes are highlighted in a color. Typically, you only want to see changes if you are reviewing them (so you can accept or reject the change). When typing normally, the tracked changes can be visually confusing, so you’ll probably want to hide them. To hide or show tracked changes, click the Show Changes button at the top of the screen. (Make sure you are in Galley or Story view to see the changes.)
Accepting & Rejecting Changes
When you are viewing the changes, here’s how to accept or reject a change.
Place the text cursor anywhere in a change (which is highlighted in a color).
-
In the toolbar at the top of the screen, use these buttons to accept or reject changes:
Accept Change :
Accepts the change you are currently in Reject Change :
Rejects the change you are currently in Accept All Changes :
Accepts all changes Reject All Changes :
Rejects all changes -
Once you’ve accepted or rejected a change, the colored highlight disappears.
NOTE: To navigate between the changes without having to find them yourself, use the Next Change
or Previous Change
buttons in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
The Change Info Panel
You can see additional information about a change such as:
- Who made the change.
- When the change was made.
- What the change was (added text, deleted text, moved text).
To see this info, open the Change Info panel by going into Window > Change Info.
