Understanding InDesign files and Asset Templates in AEM Assets

This video tutorial walks through defining an InDesign file, and all the accompanying considerations, for use in AEM Assets’ Asset Templates feature.

Constructing the InDesign template file

1. Download and Open the InDesign file template

2. Open the Tags panel, review the Tag naming convention, and note that the author-able elements in the InDesign file are already tagged. Remember, only tagged elements are editable in AEM.

   • Window > Utilities > Tags

3. On Page, Add a new text element, provide the text “Header” and apply the Heading Paragraph Style.

   • Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles

   Then, create and apply a new Tag named Page2Heading.

4. Add the FPO Logo image (provided in the zip) to the Logo element on the Master page.

   • Right click and select Fitting > Frame Fitting Options… > Content Fitting > Fill Frame Proportionally

   Learn more about Frame Fitting options, and which is right for your use case.

5. Copy down the header (Logo and Company Name) from the Master template in Page and Page via Paste In Place.

   • On Page 1, Shift-Cmd-Click on macOS or Shift-Alt-Click on Windows, to select the Header exposed from the Master page, and delete it.
   • From the Master page, copy the header into Page 1 via Paste in Place
   • Repeat the steps for Page 2

6. Open the Structure panel, by double-clicking on each, ensure all structural elements correspond to real elements in the InDesign file. Remove any un-used or un-needed elements. Ensure all tagging is semantic and elements are tagged properly.

   NOTE

   Remember, a poorly constructed InDesign file is the most common cause for issues with AEM Asset Templates, so ensure the tagging and structure is clean and correct.

Creating and authoring an Asset Template in AEM Assets

1. Start InDesign Server on port 8080.

2. Ensure the AEM Author instance is configured to interact with your InDesign Server(and vice-versa).

   • IDS Worker Cloud Service configuration
   • Cloud Proxy Cloud Service configuration
   • AEM Externalizer OSGi configuration

3. Uploaded the InDesign file to AEM Assets and allow AEM Workflow and InDesign Server to fully process the assets.

4. Create a new Template under Assets > Templates and select the InDesign file uploaded to AEM in Step #4.

5. Edit the Asset Template created in Step #5, and author the editable fields.

6. Click Done to generate the final high-fidelity renditions of the Asset Template.

7. Click on the Asset Template card to open, and review the Asset Renditions to download the high-fidelity renditions.

Additional Resources

InDesign template file and supporting Images

Download InDesign template file and supporting Images

• InDesign CC trial download
• InDesign Server trial download