InDesign Importer for the CE.SDK

Overview

The InDesign Importer for the CE.SDK allows you to seamlessly integrate InDesign files into the editor while retaining essential design attributes.

Here’s an overview of the main features:

• File Format Translation: The importer converts IDML files from Adobe InDesign into the CE.SDK scene file format. The resulting scene archive includes all required assets for immediate use.
• Bulk Importing: The codebase is adaptable for bulk importing, streamlining large-scale projects.
• Color Translation: While CMYK support is in progress, CMYK colors from InDesign are translated into RGB.

The following InDesign design elements will be preserved by the import:

• Element grouping: grouped elements will be preserved and treated as a single unit.
• Positioning and Rotation: Elements’ positioning and rotation are accurately transferred.
• Image Elements: Embedded images are supported, while image cropping is not yet available.
• Text Elements: Font family continuity is maintained, with options to supply font URIs or use Google fonts. Only bold and italic styles are currently supported.
• Shapes: Rect, Oval, Polygon, and Line shapes are supported, along with custom shapes that might experience minor distortion.
• Colors and Strokes: Gradient and solid colors, stroke weight, color, and alignment are faithfully reproduced.
• Transparency: Transparency is preserved for seamless integration.

This InDesign Importer bridges the gap between InDesign files and CE.SDK scenes, enabling efficient transitions while retaining crucial design details. Your input is invaluable as we continue to refine and improve the importer’s capabilities.

Installation

You can install @imgly/idml-importer via npm or yarn. Use the following commands to install the package:

npm install @imgly/idml-importer
yarn add @imgly/idml-importer

How to prepare your InDesign file:

• Make sure to embed all images in your InDesign file. The importer does not support linked images.

Browser Quick-Start Example

import CreativeEngine from "@cesdk/engine";
import { IDMLParser } from "@imgly/idml-importer";

const blob = await fetch(
  "https://img.ly/showcases/cesdk/cases/indesign-template-import/socialmedia.idml"
).then((res) => res.blob());
const engine = await CreativeEngine.init({
  license: "YOUR_LICENSE",
});
const parser = await IDMLParser.fromFile(engine, blob, (content) =>
  new DOMParser().parseFromString(content, "text/xml")
);

await parser.parse();

const image = await engine.block.export(
  engine.block.findByType("//ly.img.ubq/page")[0],
  "image/png"
);
const sceneExportUrl = window.URL.createObjectURL(image);
console.log("The imported IDML file looks like:", sceneExportUrl);
// You can now e.g export the scene as archive with engine.scene.saveToArchive()

NodeJS Quick-Start Example

When using in NodeJS, you need to provide a DOM implementation. We recommend using JSDOM.

// index.mjs
// We currently only support ES Modules in NodeJS
import CreativeEngine from "@cesdk/node";
import { promises as fs } from "fs";
import { JSDOM } from "jsdom";
import { IDMLParser } from "@imgly/idml-importer";

async function main() {
  const engine = await CreativeEngine.init({
    license: "YOUR_LICENSE",
  });

  const idmlSampleUrl =
    "https://img.ly/showcases/cesdk/cases/indesign-template-import/socialmedia.idml";
  const idmlSample = await fetch(idmlSampleUrl).then((res) => res.blob());
  const idmlSampleBuffer = await idmlSample.arrayBuffer();
  const parser = await IDMLParser.fromFile(
    engine,
    idmlSampleBuffer,
    (content) => {
      return new JSDOM(content, {
        contentType: "text/xml",
        storageQuota: 10000000,
        url: "http://localhost",
      }).window.document;
    }
  );
  await parser.parse();

  const image = await engine.block.export(
    engine.block.findByType("//ly.img.ubq/page")[0],
    "image/png"
  );
  const imageBuffer = await image.arrayBuffer();
  await fs.writeFile("./example.png", Buffer.from(imageBuffer));

  engine.dispose();
}
main();