PDF (adobe.com)

Use snippets



A snippet is a file that holds objects and describes their location relative to one another on a page or page spread. Use snippets to conveniently reuse and position page objects. Create a snippet by saving objects in a snippet file, which has the .IDMS extension. (Previous InDesign versions use the .INDS extension.) When you place the snippet file in InDesign, you can determine whether the objects land in their original positions or where you click. You can store snippets in the Object library and in Adobe Bridge as well as on your hard disk.

Snippets contents retain their layer associations when you place them. When a snippet contains resource definitions and these definitions are also present in the document to which it is copied, the snippet uses the resource definitions in the document.

Snippets you create in InDesign CS4 cannot be opened in previous versions of InDesign.

Create snippets

 Do one of the following:

  • Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then choose File > Export. From the Save As Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS) menu, choose InDesign Snippet. Type a name for the file and click Save.

  • Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then drag the selection to your desktop. A snippet file is created. Rename the file.

  • Drag an item from Structure View to your desktop.

Add snippets to a document

  1. Choose File > Place.
  2. Select one or more snippet (*.IDMS or *.INDS) files.
  3. Click the loaded snippet cursor where you want the upper-left corner of the snippet file to be.

    If you placed the insertion point in a text frame, the snippet is placed in the text as an anchored object.

    All objects remain selected after you place the snippet. By dragging, you can adjust the position of all objects.

  4. If you loaded more than one snippet, scroll and click the loaded snippet cursor to place the others.
You can drag a snippet file from your desktop into the InDesign document and click where you want the upper-left corner of the snippet to be.

Choose how to place snippets

Rather than place snippet objects according to where you click on a page, you can place them in their original locations. For example, a text frame that appeared in the middle of a page when it was made part of a snippet can appear in the same location when you place it as a snippet.

  • In File Handling preferences, choose Position At Original Location to preserve objects’ original locations in snippets; choose Position At Cursor Location to place snippets according to where you click a page.

You can press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) to override the Position setting you selected for handling snippets. For example, if you selected Position At Cursor Location but you want to place snippet objects in their original locations, hold down the Alt/Option key when you click the loaded snippet cursor on the page.