Right-click (or control-click with one-button mouse) on it, choose Swatch Options, and change it’s name to something else.Īnd of course, once it’s there, you can apply the gradient to any object or text on your InDesign page.

When you paste it into InDesign, it appears as “New Gradient Swatch”. Yes, you just need to copy an object (one with the gradient, of course) from Illustrator to InDesign.

When I choose one of these, it opens the swatch library (as a palette on screen) and I can apply the colors to objects.īut if I can’t use ASE, how on earth can I use those gradients in InDesign? I’m embarassed to admit that I don’t remember who told me the answer to this, but it was during the recent Creative Suite conference in Chicago… perhaps Mordy Golding? Sandee Cohen? Anne-Marie? Well, whichever genius it was, I give thanks, because the answer is painfully simple, yet I had never considered it: Copy and Paste. Now, I’m now Illustrator expert, but I know that I can find great gradient swatches in Illustrator’s Swatches panel flyout menu. This is too bad, because Adobe Illustrator ships with some really cool gradients. But some swatches won’t come along for the ride… notably gradients. Using the Place method allows you to edit the original, in Illustrator, then the link will update. While copy/pasting is certainly possible from Illustrator to InDesign, the paste can sometimes be problematic to edit later depending upon the actual artwork. As Pariah mentioned a while back, the ASE (adobe swatch exchange) system is great for moving color swatches back and forth among the Suite programs. Using InDesign and linking to external files via File > Place is generally the best method.

Export from illustrator to indesign