How do I work with
Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
in InDesign?
Dear Drowning,
Don’t retype! Save those fingers for necessary tasks. Instead, take advantage of the Excel import filter. You can import Microsoft Excel 97, 98, 2000, 2002, and X files into Adobe InDesign documents. (And it doesn’t matter whether you’re using the same platform—Windows® or Mac OS—on which the Excel file was created, either.)
You can import the Excel data into InDesign as tabbed data or as an InDesign table:
1. Open your InDesign document.
2. Choose File > Place, and navigate to the Excel file.
3. Select which cells to import. To import the entire worksheet, leave the Cell Range field blank. To import a range of cells, enter them in the Cell Range field using a colon. For example, to import cells B2 to F17, enter B2:F17. If your client has named the range, enter its name or choose the range from the Cell Range pop-up menu.
4. Choose whether the text should be tabbed or come in as a table. I recommend importing the text as an unformatted table and using the great formatting features in InDesign to create the look you want.
5. Click Place.
The filter brings in text only, no graphics. To learn more about what the filter does and does not support, read the Filters ReadMe.pdf file, installed in the Adobe InDesign folder on your computer.
If you need to import graphics or a chart that was created in Excel, consider creating an Adobe PDF file from the Excel file and then importing the PDF file into InDesign. You’ll need to use Adobe PDFMaker or Adobe Acrobat Distiller® to create the PDF file; both are installed with the full version of Adobe Acrobat.
You can copy pie charts or other Excel charts and paste them into InDesign, but the quality may not be great. Instead, try pasting the chart directly into Adobe Illustrator. Clean it up a little and make any appropriate changes (such as converting RGB colors to CMYK), and then save the file in Illustrator format. Then, place the native Illustrator file into your InDesign document.
It’s time for more help from A. Pixel, the friendly, knowledgeable, anthropomorphic Adobe support specialist. In each issue, A. Pixel answers questions and provides troubleshooting advice on Adobe software. A. Pixel loves e-mail. Send your questions to apixel@adobe.com.
Thinking about switching?
If you’re considering switching page layout programs, visit Why choose InDesign? to see how InDesign measures up to QuarkXPress and for valuable information to help you in the transition.
