Although a typical workflow begins in InDesign, where the basic layout and text and graphics placeholders are defined and exported to InCopy, a different workflow can start with a stand-alone InCopy content file (.incx or .incd) that you place in InDesign using the File > Place command.

Consider the following dependencies when you place InCopy content files in an InDesign document:

Styles

If the InCopy text file has styles applied, they are added to the InDesign list of styles for the document. In the event of a style-name conflict, InDesign overwrites the imported style with its existing style.

Layout

You can create the basic layout geometry for the content in InDesign, and then create or import the text and styles from a word-processing application. (Text files placed within InCopy are embedded in the InCopy document and are not linked to any external file.)

Placing/Duplicating

If you place an InCopy content file more than once, each instance of the content appears in the InDesign Links panel, but they are all managed as one content file. The same is true for any exact copies of a content file (by any means of duplication).

Note: If you copy and paste some, but not all, of the text in a managed InCopy content file, the result is a new content file that is not connected to the original and has no link to any external file (InCopy or otherwise). The original and the pasted portions can be edited independently of each other.

Updates/Management

Once multiple instances of a managed content file are present in an InDesign document, they behave as if they were open in two applications. For example, checking out one instance of the content file locks all other instances so that you can edit only the checked-out instance. In this case, you would use the appropriate Update command to refresh the other (open) instances of the content.