Tracking and reviewing changes



    Track changes

    One of the most valuable InCopy features is the ability to track changes made to a story by each contributor in the writing and editing process. Whenever anyone adds, deletes, or moves text within an existing story, the change is marked in Galley and Story views. You can see the date and time of each change in the Change Info panel, along with the contributor’s name and type of change made.

    Use the Track Changes toolbar in InCopy to turn Track Changes on or off and to show, hide, accept, or reject changes made by contributors. Contributors can also make annotations on the screen using the Notes command.

    Change tracking shown in Galley view

    A.
    Change bars

    B.
    Added text

    C.
    Deleted text

    D.
    Moved text (from)

    E.
    Moved text (to)

    Turn on change tracking

    1. Do any of the following:

      • Open the story you want to edit, and then choose Changes > Track Changes In Current Story. A check mark appears next to the option, indicating that it is active.

      • Click the Track Changes in Current Story button  in the Track Changes toolbar.

      • To enable tracking in all open stories in a multistory document, choose Changes > Enable Tracking In All Stories.

      • To change the default for new documents, close all documents, and then choose Changes > Track Changes In Current Story.

    2. Add, delete, or move text within the story as needed.
    Note: When Track Changes is turned on, a track changes icon  appears at the right end of the Story bar in Galley view and Story view.

    How change tracking is displayed

    When Track Changes is turned on, each change is marked by default as follows in Galley and Story views:

    Preference settings let you choose a color to identify your changes, as well as select which changes (adding, deleting, or moving text) you want tracked and the appearance of tracking. (See Set Track Changes preferences.)
    Added text
    Highlighted.

    Deleted text
    Highlighted and marked with a strikethrough.

    Moved (cut-and-pasted) text
    Highlighted and marked with a strikethrough in its original location; highlighted and boxed in the new location.
    Note: If you cut text from one InCopy document and paste it into another, it is displayed as deleted text in the document of its original location and as added text in its new location.

    Copied text
    Highlighted in the new location. The original text is unchanged.

    Change bars
    A change bar is a vertical line that appears to the left of a line of text that has been changed. You can choose whether to show or hide change bars as you work. You can also specify what color to use for displaying the change bars.

    Show or hide changes

    When changes are hidden, the text appears as it would with the change-tracking feature turned off. That is, added text is visible, deleted text is invisible, and moved or pasted text appears where it has been inserted.

    When change-tracking is turned on, editing is tracked regardless of whether you work in Galley, Story, or Layout view. You can view changes only in the Galley and Story views, not the Layout view. Text edits in InDesign are also tracked although changes are visible only in InCopy.

     Do one of the following:

    • Choose View > Show Changes or View > Hide Changes.

    • Click the Show/Hide Changes button  in the Track Changes toolbar.

    Turn off change tracking

     Do any of the following:

    • Choose Changes > Track Changes In Current Story. Track Changes is off when no check mark appears next to the option.

    • Click the Track Changes In Current Story button  in the Track Changes toolbar.

    • To disable tracking in all open stories in a multistory document, choose Changes > Disable Tracking In All Stories.

    Note: If you disable tracking, no further changes will be tracked. Previously tracked changes will not be affected.

    View change information in the Change Info panel

    1. Choose Window > Change Info.
    2. Click the insertion point in a change. The Change Info panel displays the date, time, and other change information.

    Accept and reject changes

    When changes have been made to a story, whether by you or by others, the change-tracking feature enables you to review all changes and decide whether to incorporate them into the story. You can accept or reject single changes, only portions of a tracked change, or all changes at once.

    When you accept a change, it becomes a normal part of the text flow and is no longer highlighted as a change. When you reject a change, the text reverts to how it was before the change was made. To accept or reject tracked changes, you can use either the Changes menu or the Change buttons on the Track Changes toolbar.

    Track Changes toolbar

    A.
    Enable/Disable Track Changes in Current Story

    B.
    Show/Hide Changes

    C.
    Previous Change

    D.
    Next Change

    E.
    Accept Change

    F.
    Reject Change

    G.
    Accept All Changes

    H.
    Reject All Changes

    Review changes using the toolbar

    1. In Galley or Story view, position the insertion point at the beginning of the story.
    2. Click the Next Change button .
    3. Do one of the following:

      • To accept the highlighted change and incorporate it into the text flow, click the Accept Change button .

      • To reject the change and revert to the original text, click the Reject Change button .

      • To move back to the previous change, click the Previous Change button .

      • To skip over a change and move to the next one, click the Next Change button .

    Note: If you change your mind about accepting or rejecting a change, you can undo the change by choosing Edit > Undo or pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS).

    Accept or reject a change

    1. In Galley or Story view, click anywhere within the block of changed text.
    2. To accept the change, do one of the following:

      • Choose Changes > Accept Change.

      • Click the Accept Change button  on the Track Changes toolbar.

    3. To reject the change, do one of the following:

      • Choose Changes > Reject Change.

      • Click the Reject Change button  on the Track Changes toolbar. 

    Partially accept or reject a change

    1. Using the Type tool , select the portion of the text you want to accept.
    2. To accept the selected portion of the change, do one of the following:

      • Choose Changes > Accept Change.

      • Click the Accept Change button  on the Track Changes toolbar.

    3. To reject the selected portion of the change, do one of the following:

      • Choose Changes > Reject Change.

      • Click the Reject Change button  on the Track Changes toolbar.

    Accept or reject all changes without reviewing

    1. In Galley or Story view, click anywhere within the block of changed text.
    2. Choose Changes > Accept All Changes or Reject All Changes.
    3. In the message that appears asking whether you want to accept or reject all changes, click OK.

    Choosing Accept All Changes or Reject All Changes also applies to hidden conditional text.

    To display Accept All Changes and Reject All Changes buttons on the Track Changes toolbar, choose Customize from the toolbar menu, select Accept All/Reject All, and then click OK.

    Set Track Changes preferences

    Preference settings let you control many tracking options. You can choose a color to identify your changes and select what changes you want tracked: adding, deleting, or moving text. You can also set the appearance of each type of tracked change, and you can have changes identified with colored change bars in the margins.

    1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Track Changes (Windows) or InCopy > Preferences > Track Changes (Mac OS).
    2. Select each type of change that you want to track.
    3. For each type of change, specify the text color, background color, and marking method.

      By default, all three types of change use the text color and background user color. Deleted text is marked with a strikethrough, and moved text is marked with an outline. Added text is marked with the user color. (For information on changing the user color, see Change the user name and color.)

    4. To show change bars, select the Change Bars option. Choose a color from the Change Bar Color menu, and specify whether you want change bars to appear in the left or right margin.
    5. Select Include Deleted Text When Spellchecking if you want to spell-check text marked to be deleted.

      This option affects only the spell-checking of deleted text in Galley View or Story View. You cannot find deleted text in Layout View.

    6. Click OK.

    Change the user name and color

    1. Close all open stories.
    2. Choose File > User.
    3. Specify the user name and color to be used for change-tracking and notes, and then click OK.