Export All Your InDesign Text in One Go – Without Breaking Your Layout

Ever tried exporting text from InDesign and ended up with a dozen RTF files? It’s annoying. Yes, you can export stories one by one, but that’s going to take a loooong time. Wouldn’t it be great if you could combine everything into a single file?

I’ve got an InDesign .jsx script that does exactly that. And it won’t destroy your original layout. Here’s the gist:

1. The script checks if you’ve saved your file.
   If not, it’ll ask you to save first.
2. It creates a copy of your InDesign document (so your original stays safe).
3. All stories get merged into one big text frame on a new page in that copy.
4. It exports that combined text as a single RTF file.
   You can then open it in Word and bask in the convenience.

When the script’s finished, it closes the copy without saving (it’s just a temporary file). Your main project remains untouched. Feel free to delete the copy or keep it for reference.

Why RTF?

RTF keeps much of your formatting intact: fonts, bold, italics, and paragraph styles. It won’t preserve the original InDesign page design, but if you only need the text (with some styling), it’s perfect.

Quick Setup

• Copy the script into InDesign’s Scripts Panel folder.
• Save your InDesign file.
• Double-click the script in the Scripts panel.
• Pick where you want the RTF to land, then let it rip.

Done. One file, all your text. No more stitched-together chunks. No more manual copying. If you’re sick of messing with multiple exports, give this script a try. It’s a game-changer for editorial workflows, big projects, or whenever you need a quick text dump for some idiot someone who just wants Word.

That’s all. Grab it, run it, and enjoy never fighting a million RTFs again. If you need the exact look of your design, try exporting to PDF and converting that to Word. But if text is king for you, this script is your new best friend.