How to Use an Excel File in InDesign

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets can be sized and formatted and the data modified inside Adobe InDesign. You do not need to have Excel in order to import spreadsheets into InDesign, although Excel is necessary to export charts and graphs to a usable format for InDesign.

Instructions

Import an Excel Spreadsheet to InDesign

1. Open the InDesign file that you want to insert the Excel spreadsheet.

2. Select "Place" from the File Menu.

3. Select the Excel document you want to import. Select the appropriate sheet if there is more than one.

4. Check the "Show Import Options" box.

5. Click the "Open" button.

6. Choose your options and formatting in the Microsoft Excel Import Options window. Click OK.

7. Click your cursor where you want to place your Excel spreadsheet inside your InDesign document to place the spreadsheet.

Modify an Excel Table in InDesign

1. Click the Type Tool from the Tool window in InDesign.

2. Hover over the cell boundaries in your table until you see a double-sided arrow. Then, click and drag on the appropriate boundary to change the width of a column or the height of a row.

3. Click and drag until you have selected all cells to make changes to all cells of the table. Change the table properties which will appear on the tool bar.

Enlarge or Shrink an Excel Table in InDesign

1. Click the Selection Tool from the Tool window in InDesign.

2. Select the Object menu, then Transform, then Scale.

3. Enter the percentage based on the original size that you want the table to be. Make sure the chain link icon is linked to keep the table in proportion. Click OK.

Tips & Warnings

• Checking the Show Import Options box will allow you to import your Excel table with its existing formatting.

• You can define and apply table styles just like paragraph styles in InDesign.

• Charts and graphs created in Excel cannot be imported into InDesign. However, you can save the specific sheets as PDF documents, and place those as you would any other file.

• Once you import an Excel spreadsheet to InDesign, both the number formatting and the formulas become text. For example, if you want to change the contents of a cell from $200 to $100, you must type the "$" sign. If any cells contained the results of a formula, you will have to manually change the result.

References

• Adobe Support: Import Excel data, charts, and graphs (InDesign 2.x, CS, CS2)

Resources

• Adobe Help Viewer
• Adobe Support: InDesign and InCopy Help and Support