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Setting up export to InDesign in AutogenAI

Updated

Export to InDesign lets you export your AutogenAI proposal content directly into an Adobe InDesign template, so your proposal keeps its full branded layout instead of a standard Word/PowerPoint export. It's aimed primarily at clients (e.g. in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) and design-led industries) who already produce proposals in InDesign.

Unlike the Word export, which creates a new document and copies styles across, InDesign export takes your existing InDesign template and fills it with your AutogenAI content in place — because InDesign layouts are far more layout-specific than Word documents.

How it works, at a glance

  1. Your organization prepares (or receives) an InDesign template with placeholder tokens for where content should flow.
  2. An admin uploads the packaged template to AutogenAI.
  3. Users export a Project or Editor document to that template.
  4. AutogenAI returns a downloadable InDesign package (IDML + linked assets) that opens in Adobe InDesign for final polishing.

Step 1: prepare your InDesign template

Templates must be built and configured in Adobe InDesign before they can be uploaded:

  • Add placeholder tokens into the text frames where AutogenAI content should be inserted — for example {{MAIN_TEXT_AREA}} and {{SECTION_TITLE}}. Content flows into these tokens (and any text boxes connected to them); you don't need to leave blank boxes.
  • Set up paragraph and character styles so AutogenAI can detect them correctly:
    • A clear body/normal style for regular paragraphs (styles containing "body" in the name are prioritized).
    • Heading styles grouped together in a styles panel group (e.g. a "Headings" folder) so H1–H6 equivalents are detected as a set.
    • List styles with the bulletAndNumberingListType field explicitly set to Bullet or Numbered.
  • Package the template: In InDesign, use File > Package to bundle the IDML file together with its fonts and linked assets into a single zip (a "template bundle").

For existing client templates, this usually means retrofitting an existing InDesign file with the placeholder tokens above rather than building from scratch.

Step 2: upload the template to AutogenAI

  1. Go to Settings > Templates > Adobe InDesign.
  2. Select Browse Files and choose your packaged template zip.
  3. This step requires Document Manager or Admin permissions in the Knowledge Hub (see the related article on Library Permissions).

Once uploaded, the template becomes available as an export option at both Project and Editor level.

Step 3: export a document to InDesign

  1. From Projects or the Editor, open the Export menu.
  2. Choose Export to InDesign and select the template you uploaded.
  3. AutogenAI will generate a downloadable package. This is a zip file containing your updated InDesign package plus a Links folder with any images from your document — extract it before opening in InDesign.

Known limitations

  • No live sync: InDesign works offline from AutogenAI. If you edit content in the Editor after exporting, you need to export again — changes don't push through automatically.
  • No auto-pagination: Unlike Word, InDesign doesn't automatically create new pages when content overflows a text frame — it silently disappears instead. AutogenAI estimates the space your content will need in advance, but it's worth reviewing the exported file closely for any dropped content, especially with unusual fonts or narrow columns.
  • Images sit in fixed frames: images don't automatically reposition if the text before them grows or shrinks.
  • Style detection can occasionally pick the wrong style (e.g. if multiple heading-like style groups exist). A manual style picker/override is available if this happens.
  • No native InDesign add-in: this is an export-only integration; there's no in-app InDesign plugin equivalent to the Word add-in.
  • Existing templates can be reused with modification (adding the required placeholder tokens and repackaging), but AutogenAI can't read native .indd files directly — only the packaged/IDML format.

FAQs

Can images embedded in a Word document carry over automatically when exporting to InDesign?

Images from the AutogenAI Editor carry through into the export, in the package's Links folder — this isn't a Word-to-InDesign conversion; content comes directly from the Editor.

Do you need one template per section, or one for the whole document?

Content is structured by section during export (each section can start a new page), but this is packaged within a single template bundle.

Can customers upload their own existing InDesign templates?

Yes, provided they're updated with the required placeholder tokens and repackaged as described in Step 1.

Will InDesign files be uploadable to the AutogenAI library?

Not currently — InDesign files are handled as export templates, not library content, and there's no roadmap item to change this. A common workaround is to convert the InDesign file to PDF for library upload.

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