Make text hidden

[F***@adobeforums.com]

Someone just asked me if there was a way to hide text in InDesign and I
didn't know how to do it. In Word you can set the text to hidden and it
will show up on the screen with a dotted gray line under it and it won't
print, and will not take up any room within the text flow. Anything
similar in InDesign?

[j***@adobeforums.com]

One of the sample plugins in the InDesign SDK adds that feature. Ask on the SDK forum -- perhaps someone will be kind enough to build it for you. Be sure to state the exact version of your ID.

A drawback might be that

[t]he implementation approach used by this plug-in can only be deployed
in closed document workflows, only use it if you can guarantee that all
users who receive your documents will have your plug-in installed.

[D***@adobeforums.com]

You could just put it on another layer and turn that layer off.

[unknown]

How about using the notes feature?

For CS2 or earlier, you'll need to install the InCopy plugins. These
plugins are installed by default in CS3.

Bob

[F***@adobeforums.com]

The specific problem this person has is that he's in the middle of a
transition from a code-based program to ID. He wants to be able to keep
the codes in the text and "hide" them. So layers and notes won't work in
this particular situation.

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Most of the circumstances I come across that require this kind of in-text markup are connected to localization workflows. If you're trying to migrate documents from this "code-based program" to ID, perhaps a shot of some XML in the workflow would be useful. If you post more details, I might be able to make some useful suggestions, especially if (as I suspect) he's trying to adapt his working methods to use ID in a translation/localization workflow. Otherwise, I think that he'd still need to have you offer more details about what he needs in order for any of us to offer any ideas.

However, the ability to hide text with tags, such as one might find in uncleaned Trados files in Word, does not exist in InDesign. (I'm sure that one of the regulars will shoot me down if my assertion is not correct.)

[F***@adobeforums.com]

Thanks, Joel, I'll try and find out some more info from him. If I get any I'll post back.

[G***@adobeforums.com]

He wants to be able to keep the codes in the text and "hide" them. So
layers and notes won't work in this particular situation.




Why not? This is exactly what "convert text to note" does.

[K***@adobeforums.com]

I'm also interested in the ability to include 'invisible' information in text. I would like to be able to add a date to
the top of individual stories, so that if there is overmatter after publication, I can keep track of it in future issues
to know how old my copy is getting.

k

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Is there any way of showing the content of a note in layout view?

k

[K***@adobeforums.com]

I use a paragraph style that applies 0 leading and color none to hide
entire paragraphs. This doesn't help Fred, because he wants (I think)
text hidden inline. But it should work for adding a date at the top.

I use this for hiding placement callouts (like ***Place Figure 1
Here***) and for hiding variable references in CS3 so that I can
automate running heads. I could make the running head pick up the
chapter title, but too often they want an abbreviated version of the
chapter title.

ID is kind enough to show you Hidden Characters (Type > Show Hidden
Characters) even if the color is set to None, so I can still sort of see
my hidden paragraphs because the return at the end shows. Or I can look
in Story Editor.

[D***@adobeforums.com]

Yes. Click in the text before the note and then choose Next Note from the Notes menu.

Dave

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Not quite what I had in mind Dave. If I add a note with an issue date I can see in the layout view that there is a note
in the text, but I have to either look at the story in Story Editor or use the Notes routines to read what the note
says. Ideally I would like to read the notes in layout view. Some sort of global 'display notes' which I guess isn't
with us yet.

k

[unknown]

No. Not even in InCopy.

Bob

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Something for the product development people to work on to justify CS4, perhaps.

k

[unknown]

Perhaps with a mouse over like a tooltip or an Acrobat sticky note.

Bob

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Certainly for my purposes a view-all switch would be good. As I said up the thread, all I want to do is to date
individual stories on overmatter so that I know when they're starting to get too old to use. If it were possible to look
at the pasteboard and turn on 'View notes' or somesuch, I could read the dates and kill what's too old in a single
operation. At present I'm grouping an overmatter text frame with each story frame, but that presents limitations in
further handling unless I ungroup each time.

k

[G***@adobeforums.com]

You could learn scripting...
Notes can be read by script as far as I know.

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Good idea. I'll do it tomorrow, between my brain surgery and astronautics lessons. :-)

k

[F***@adobeforums.com]

Maybe notes would be good.

I think the codes have a character style with the hidden attribute in Word. I bet this could be scripted, have the script look for the character style and convert the text to a note. It probably wouldn't be too difficult at all.

[G***@adobeforums.com]

Ken, what I meant is that your request is rather specialised and as Ole said in some other thread this is exactly what scripting is for: ind smooth solutions to rather specialised needs.

And you could always pay someone to write the scripts you need. I am sure there are several scripters here that can make you an offer...

[K***@adobeforums.com]

Gerald

Just being facetious. I've been fighting a magazine for the past couple of days and InDesign has just crashed yet again
because of me forgetting to close the info palette and being bitten by the deletion bug. Even poor jokes make light
relief at the moment.

k

[J***@adobeforums.com]

I think the codes have a character style with the hidden attribute in
Word.




They can, but they do not necessarily have a usefully named character style. I'm looking at a typical uncleaned Trados file, and the hidden segments all have the automatically-generated character style names that Word sticks onto local formatting. Writing a VB script in Word that would clean up the character style naming would be pretty easy; trying to clean it up after placing the text in ID looks somewhat harder.

I bet this could be scripted, have the script look for the character style
and convert the text to a note. It probably wouldn't be too difficult
at all.




I've never used notes, but that sounds like it would work.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

Hello,

Unfortunately InDesign doesn't have the same option as Word does. However layers would do the trick. Are you trying to hide a word or multiple words(paragraphs). This may not be what you are looking for but it's really the only option. Perhaps the new CS3 has the hidden text feature. There might be some Plug-ins or an Easter Egg out there that someone made.

[P***@adobeforums.com]

Hi, Fred:

This is a brainstormed suggestion, so reality may frown on using it. But it might work with a finite and reasonable number of codes in content that needs to be round-tripped, or to which additional coded content will be imported.

The basic premise is that the source content codes are text. If they are not, then the non-text codes need to be something that ID retains when the content is placed, and something that ID can search and replace. If this isn't the case, the codes will need to be replaced with text identifiers before placing.

* In a new ID document named "active codes," create a text variable for each code - if start and end codes are different, create one for each. Name these text variables clearly, of course.

* Before adding definitions to the text variables, save a copy of this document as "blank codes."

* Back in the active codes file, define each text variable as the appropriate code and save the file.

* In a document (not active codes or blank codes), place the source content that contains codes.

* Perform Type > Variables > Define > Load, and navigate to the active codes file to import the text variables.

* Convert each code in the imported source text to the matching text variable.

One efficient approach might be to search for a start code text and replace
it with the start variable, then lather, rinse, repeat for each code. I
believe there's a find/replace from list script or third-party plug-in for
this that could automate the process.

This operation embeds variables that can contain codes or nothing.



* Save the file.

* To hide the embedded codes, load the variables from the blank codes file. The codes will disappear, but the empty variables will remain in place.

* To restore the embedded text variable codes, load the variables from the active codes file.

* To prepare ID content that contains text variable codes in a form for editing in the source format, perform Type > Text Variables > Define, select all variables in the list, then click Convert to Text, then export.

* Back in the source application, if plain-text codes are appropriate, you're done; if not, you need to replace the plain-text codes with their matching code markers.

I don't know enough scripting to know if this can be scripted. Perhaps try it out in the scripting forum.

HTH

Regards,
____________________
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

[M***@adobeforums.com]

Hi Fred
In answer to your question (I hope this is helpful) you can set your code text to non printing. This way it is visible on screen but does not print. To do this all you have to do is select your text box. Go to "attributes" under "window". Once opened click the check box for nonprinting. This still previews the text on screen but does not print out. Hope this is helpful once again.

Good Luck

Maria

[P***@adobeforums.com]

I'm too tired tonight to follow Peter G's method, but I think the problem with what everyone is suggesting is that Fred wants, I think, to be able to have one or two words inline that don't print, not entire text frames. Unless that text is somehow deleted and the text reflows at print time, you are going to have gaping holes in your copy.

I'm not sure what happens in Word, but I suspect that if you use this feature text reflow is exactly what happens. Personally I think this would be highly undesirable in a page layout application like ID.

For what it's worth, I think Kenneth Benson asked this same (or similar) question last week and was offered some other options. If memory serves, he would up using some sort of notes on a separate layer that could be hidden without affecting the rest of the document.

Peter