August 12, 2008

Tool Tips: InCopy Shared Dictionary

One of the features of InCopy that I find is a huge hit with editorial teams in my training classes is the ability to create a shared dictionary. While the shared dictionary feature can often be overlooked, it is quite easy to setup and will save lots of headaches once implemented. With a shared dictionary one individual can add custom words, terms, proper names, technical jargon, website URLs etc. along with preferred hyphenations to a custom dictionary file that is shared by the entire team.

First step is to choose who will be the dictionary keeper, as InCopy will only allow the creator of the shared dictionary to add new words, while the other users of the dictionary can only add items to their own personal dictionary.

The dictionary keeper needs to access the dictionary preferences by going to the InCopy menu (under the edit menu for the PC) and under preferences choosing dictionary.

In the dictionary preferences you will see a listing of dictionaries currently loaded into InCopy. To create a custom dictionary press the "new" button to the left of the plus sign.

Give your dictionary a name and save it to a network location where others will be able to access it.

The dictionary file will appear as a file with a .UDC extension and should look like the icon below.

Once you have added the dictionary it will appear linked in the dictionary list. For others to add this custom dictionary they would go to this preference panel and then press the plus sign, and locate the shared dictionary out on the network. Once you have finished with this preference window you can click "OK" to return to the InCopy Application.

Once you have created the custom dictionary you can add words or hyphenation to it by going to the dictionary window found under the Edit Menu > Spelling > Dictionary.

In the dictionary window switch the target dictionary to your custom one, and from there you can begin to add words. If you already have a style guide or a word list that is used to keep track of names and companies etc. than you can import that list into your InCopy dictionary. The Import and Export buttons allows allows your to bring in and export .txt files that can be loaded into your custom dictionary.

If you have your style guide in a Microsoft Word document it is import to remember a few things. First every word must be separated by a paragraph return, and second the document must be saved as a plain text file (.txt). Simply typing .txt after the file name will not make it a plain text file, you need to make sure that it is saved as Text Only

Before InCopy brings in the word list you will get the option to Add to the dictionary or Replace the dictionary. Choose whichever one will work best for you.

Once you have added or imported your word list you are good to go. Other users can add the shared dictionary to their preferences, and if you are working with freelancers or contributors that do not have access to your network you can export your dictionary and ask them to import it from the dictionary menu.

Quick tip on hyphenation - You can specify where words will break over a line by adding discretionary hyphens into the word definition. These discretionary hyphens will not appear in the word until it is broken over a line. When adding a word to the dictionary you can put a ~ where you would want the hyphen to appear. The "~" key is found on most keyboards under the escape key on the top left of the keyboard. For some words that you do not want to break over a line ever, you can put a ~ before the word. The no-break hyphen trick works especially well if you have added Website URLs to your dictionary because when a URL breaks the hyphen could be misunderstood for a dash, leading to an incorrect URL i.e. http://www.databasepublish.com vs. http://www.database-publish.com.

Hope this has been a helpful tip. Check back next week for another InCopy Tool Tip.

Posted at 07:01 pm by Ivan Mironchuk

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