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I have 250-page PDF file, which I would like to place into InDesign. Do I have to place each page separately, or is there a way to do all of them at once?

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It's hidden away but it is possible.

1) File > New > Document

Enter the number of pages of your PDF in "Number of Pages". Deselect "Facing Pages" if you want individual pages. If you know the dimensions of your PDF, set that as your document width and height now, otherwise you can edit it later using File > Document Setup.

2) Window > Utilities > Scripts

Drop down "Application", drop down "Samples" and drop down "JavaScript". Locate "PlaceMultipagePDF.jsx" and double-click it. Locate your PDF and open it. Follow the "OK" prompts and allow it to populate in inDesign.

enter image description here

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  • No problem. If this answer helped, you should mark it as the correct answer so anyone who stumbles upon it in the future will know that it works.
    – R. Arnone
    Feb 6, 2017 at 14:15
  • Is there a way to make this script place the pages in the center of the document's pages? Or would alignment be done with another script?
    – MicroMachine
    Jun 26, 2018 at 8:13
  • Beware that this method takes time to import a relatively longer documents. On my computer, quite an old one, it takes about 2 to 3 secs per page and I wanted to import 250 pages.
    – Celdor
    Apr 27, 2019 at 10:39
  • There is a better solution for this. Please read here: forums.adobe.com/thread/978578
    – Celdor
    Apr 27, 2019 at 11:00
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The built-in javascript will place one PDF page per Indesign page. However I recently had a need to place a multiple paged PDF into a grid of pre-existing image frames. I want to do this sometimes when I'm putting an existing document into a "presentation" document for review.

So I wrote an AppleScript that does this. It has the option to place not just a multiple paged PDF but also a folder of images (which may also contain PDFs). If there aren't enough picture frames selected on the page, an option lets you duplicate the original page and continue filling the boxes until all images or pages have been placed.

Try it out and give me some feedback!

http://www.drscripto.com/?p=797

Regards, David

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    While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
    – Glorfindel
    Mar 31, 2017 at 5:42
  • This script is really very nice but this method isn't editable. This script places my pdf as an image. I'm unable to edit some texts.
    – Deepak
    Mar 31, 2017 at 6:37
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    Hi Deepak, it's not possible to edit PDFs in Indesign as far as I know. They can be edited to various degrees through Preview, Adobe Acrobat and Illustrator. When Indesign places a PDF page it is always as a picture.
    – Dr Scripto
    Apr 1, 2017 at 8:56

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