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Markdown-Import

This script for Adobe InDesign automatically imports and transforms a Markdown text into a styled document, ready for layout. It replaces Markdown tags with the corresponding paragraph and character styles, converts Markdown footnotes into actual InDesign footnotes, and now supports advanced features like tables, images, and Pandoc attributes.

Requirements

Adobe InDesign CS6 or newer (macOS/Windows)

➡️ Download latest release

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Quick Start
• Configuration with .mdconfig
• Target Story Resolution
• Markdown Support
  • Block-level
  • Inline
  • Footnotes
  • Images
  • Tables
• Cleanup & Finishing
• Changelog v1.0b11

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Installation

1. Download Markdown-Import.jsx.
2. In InDesign, open Window → Utilities → Scripts.
3. Right-click User → Reveal in Finder/Explorer, then drop the .jsx into the opened folder.
4. Double-click the script in the Scripts panel to run it.

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Quick Start

1. Prepare your target text:

   • Select a text frame or
   • Use a text frame labeled __md_import__ or
   • The script will fall back to the first story in the document

2. Run the script.

3. In the UI, map Markdown elements to your Paragraph/Character/Object styles (tabbed interface).

4. Click Apply. The text is converted, footnotes are inserted, images/tables are placed, and styles are applied.

The UI suggests likely styles automatically (French/English names).

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Configuration with .mdconfig

What it is — A JSON file that saves the mapping (by style names, not IDs) and options.

Autodetection — The script searches for a .mdconfig near your .indd (recursive up to 3 levels). If found under a config/ subfolder, the script runs in silent mode (no UI).

Example

{
  "h1":"H1",
  "quote":"Citation",
  "normal":"Body text",
  "italic":"Italic",
  "bold":"Bold",
  "note":"Footnote",
  "table":"Table style",
  "imageObject":"Image object",
  "captionObject":"Caption object",
  "captionParagraph":"Caption text",
  "removeBlankPages":true,
  "imageRatio":0,
  "maxImageHeight":200
}

Place the file next to the document or under config/ for silent mode.

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Target Story Resolution

The script chooses the target story in this order:

1. The story of the current text selection, if any
2. A text frame labeled __md_import__
3. Otherwise, the first text frame in the document

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Markdown Support

Block-level

• Headings: h1 to h6
• Blockquotes: lines starting with >
• Bulleted lists: - / * / + followed by a space
• Tables: pipe-separated Markdown tables with alignment (:---:, ---:, etc.)
• Pandoc block attributes: fenced divs :::{#id .class} … ::: → apply paragraph style(s), set frame labels

Not supported yet: ordered lists and nested lists.

Inline

• Bold: **text** / __text__
• Italic: *text* / _text_
• Bold+Italic: combined markers (***text***, _**x**_, etc.)
• Underline: [text]{.underline}
• Small caps: [text]{.smallcaps}
• Superscript: ^text^
• Subscript: ~text~
• Strikethrough: ~~text~~
• Pandoc inline attributes: [text]{#id .class} → apply character style(s), set labels

Footnotes

• Reference: [^id]
• Definition: [^id]: Note text (multi-paragraph supported)
• Converted to native InDesign footnotes with applied styles. Formatting inside footnotes is preserved.

Images

• Markdown syntax: ![alt text](path "title"){.class}
• Anchored frames with object styles
• Optional caption (from alt) below the image with paragraph style
• Configurable aspect ratio (fixed/free), max height, and base folder autodetection

Tables

• Pipe tables with header and ruler line
  • Alignment via :--- (left), :---: (center), ---: (right)
  • One row per Markdown line; leading/trailing pipes optional
• Conversion to native InDesign tables
  • Column count inferred from header, per‑column alignment preserved
  • Optional Table Style application (via UI or .mdconfig → "table")
• Notes / limitations
  • No merged cells (row/col span) or multi‑line cells
  • Tables are processed bottom‑to‑top to keep character offsets stable

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Cleanup & Finishing

• Collapse multiple line breaks to a single paragraph break
• Convert -- to an en-dash (–)
• Convert –- to an em-dash (—)
• Convert Markdown hard breaks (two spaces + return) to line breaks
• Optional: remove blank pages after the actual end of the imported story; in facing-pages documents, add a page if needed to keep spreads aligned

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Changelog v1.0b11

• Add full Markdown table support → convert to InDesign tables w/ alignment & style
• Add Pandoc attributes & classes (inline + block) → apply paragraph/character styles, set frame labels
• Add Markdown images → anchored frames, ratio fixed/free, object styles, captions from alt text
• Improve footnotes → multi-paragraph definitions, real InDesign footnotes, style mapping
• Enhance UI → tabbed interface (Paragraph, Character, Footnotes, Images), presets, load/save config
• Cleanup → support for Markdown hard line breaks
• Safer JSON polyfill, better error handling, full undo support, preflight/redraw off during import