Workiva Support Center

>> Designed Reporting Support Hub homepage

Quick guide check list

1. At the beginning of the project in Workiva

• Make sure that the margins and gutters are exactly the same in Workiva as in your InDesign document 
• Create your styles and name them so that all your content writers can understand them
• Make sure that all your style names are web compliant - so they must not start with a number or contain any spaces or strange characters
• Once you have created your styles (no spaces and must not start with a number) - then lock them
• Use 'Bodytext' spelt like this for your main body copy
• Do not use returns to control whitespace - use the style parameters instead
• If you are laying out content in Workiva but using ICML be aware that floating content will create a separate ICML. You might want to limit your use of floating content
• Make Normal the same parameters as Bodytext  (the same with TableNormal) but change the color to a highlight color. Ideally you don't want any content to be left as Normal - this includes spaces after paragraphs. This sometimes gets left and will generate extra styles in InDesign so be as tight as possible with your typesetting in Workiva
• Remember ICML does not export layout. It is just text and tables

2. ICML to InDesign

• When you send your ICML to InDesign remember to flush out all the styles first
• When you bring in your first ICMLs to InDesign, bring in enough of the document to export all the styles. One ICML will only bring over the styles in that ICML.
• You can now change the parameters of the styles in InDesign but not the style name. Any changes to the styles will remain after subsequent ICML pulls. They do not have to be changed in Workiva. Again do not change the style name in InDesign. 
• You change the font, font weight, font color and font size in the Character pallet
• All tables are based on NoRule
• Place your ICMLs in your InDesign doc just like you would place an image
• When you pull subsequent ICMLs save the ICMLs on your desktop in the same location and replace the old ones
• You will then get a yellow triangle in InDesign and you need to update the links
• You can blackline between ICMLs so you only bring in the ICMLs that have changed or you can export the entire document

Before you start - get free training from Workiva!

Find out more about Workiva's free hands-on training program. This course is aimed at professional designers and production artists.                          

Importing content into Workiva

Workiva can import content from Microsoft Word (.docx). Even if you are designing in InDesign, your content authors are working in Workiva. They can start with a blank report or you can, for example, import a previous year’s report.

Help video: Importing content into Workiva

Don’t rush this part. Take your time. Ask where did this Word file come from? Originally created in Word (great!) or a converted document from PDF (not great)? Follow these guidelines for a successful outcome when exporting out of Workiva at the finish of the project.

If you are starting with InDesign

1. Check the styles are not in folders
2. Make sure that all the styles have CSS compliant names - no spaces, do not start with a number and contain no special characters. Tip: Stick with Alphanumeric names, Camel-case or hyphened.
3. Make sure all colors are RGB not CMYK
4. Copy Content in sequential order from InDesign to MSWord

Then in MS Word

1. Check styles are applied properly in the Word file

Then in Workiva

1. Import the Word file into Workiva - File>Import
2. Make sure styles are applied properly
3. Perform any reformatting as needed

If you are starting with MS Word

1. Check if this is an original Word document - see Old document concerns below
2. Check all the styles are applied properly throughout the document
3. Import into Workiva as above

Old document concerns

Workiva can import a .docx file but designers need to be careful about where this Word file originated from. This is because it could contain:

• Hidden characters
• White space
• Tabular matter (tabs)

You might not see it in the Workiva platform, but it could create issues with exporting to ICML and XHTML later on.

If all you have is a PDF?
If all you have is a PDF document or Word document converted from a PDF, then we advise pasting the content into an ASCii text editor (Notepad++ on PC) first and highlight tabs or other whitespace characters and then open this text file in Word before importing into Workiva. You can use a search and replace to remove such items. This will take out all styling which you would then have to create and apply in Workiva. It will however remove all the potentially risky hidden code.

Typesetting

Sharing of typesetting responsibilities
Workiva is collaborative platform environment where content creators, auditors, taggers and designers can all work together. 

Help video: Introduction to structured content

Projects go more smoothly if: 

• Everyone on the teams understands the basic structure of the report, applies the styles correctly and consistently
• Designers create enough styles for the whole report. This will help stop authors either creating unnecessary new ones or applying an override to existing styles
• Designers educate the team on when to use certain styles
• Designers check typesetting throughout the reporting cycle

Typesetting takes place in the Workiva platform not in the InDesign software. In multi-channel publishing, best practice is to not use a soft return (Shift Enter). This creates a line break rather than a paragraph break. Click the Show/hide non printing characters on your Edit ribbon to see all soft and hard returns.

Widow management
Our recommended method of widow management is the use of nbsp. This can be done in the platform easily and is exported via ICML.

Lists
Custom styles for lists can now be created in the Workiva platform. These are still treated as an override but can now be identified within the InDesign software as that custom list style. 

Help video: Helping workflow

Document setup

For the Workiva platform to interact well with the InDesign software, you need to set up your report correctly. Taking the time now will reap benefits later on in the project. 

Help video: An introduction to the Workiva platform for designers

Setting the document outline
The document outline represents the structure of the ICMLs. There is one ICML for each section or child of section. For example, if there are 100 outline (Index) items, there would be 100 ICMLs.

Create your style palette
All content in the Workiva platform should have a style attached to it. Styles can be amended on the platform to more closely align with your Design styles, if required.

For ICML export, the ‘Normal’ default style will be converted to the Bodytext style. See the section on Style Guides.

Headers and footers and ICML
Headers and footers can be generated in the Workiva platform however they do not export via ICML to the InDesign software. The export can only send content in between the grey dashed lines at the top and bottom of each page of the document.

Page formats 
It is important, in a multi-channel publishing scenario, to match the page format, margins and gutter measurements between Workiva and InDesign right from the beginning. A prominent reason for doing this, is the limitation in ICML of adjusting table and column widths. Therefore, these need to be the same in the Workiva platform as it is in the InDesign software. 

Help video: Margins and gutters

The double page spread
The concept of spreads is limited within the current iXBRL inline reader. Designers need to be careful when relying on a spread to convey information as this will be broken into two separate consecutive pages. It is possible with the help of web development to present spreads within the inline viewer so please talk to your web team if spreads are required as part of the inline viewer experience.

Mirrored margins
Often, in the case of a document going to print, the inner margin will be wider than the outer margin because of the act of stitching. This can present a problem of readability when presented digitally in both PDF and XHTML. Consider adjusting margins for digital presentation. 

Styles

Workiva is a multi-channel publishing environment. Content created within documents can export to a variety of outputs - PDF, HTML, DOCX, ICML and XHTML.

Because of this reusability of data, designers need to work with structured content and Workiva structures that content by using styles.

Style guides
A style guide is a set of standards for the design of a document that ensures formatting consistency throughout and/or across multiple documents.

Help video: Importance of a style guide

Set up the styles
There are two ways a designer can do this

1. Set up the styles in the Workiva platform
2. Create the styles in the InDesign software and import back to the Workiva platform via Microsoft Word document/software

What to call each style
You need to consider styles for all your content. When choosing a style name, it is a good idea to choose a name that reflects the use of the style, for example: 

CaptionSmallBlue or TableTextBold

This will help everyone on the team understand the structure and apply the correct style to the content. We call this semantic styling.

Style names can contain letters and numbers but should always start with a letter. 

Characters such as - !@#$%^&*()_+-={}:”<>?[];’,./`~ etc and spaces must be avoided.

Lock the styles
Once created, designers can lock the styles and their attributes. This stops authors changing an aspect of that style. You can lock:

• The font family, size, color and emphasis
• Alignment, spacing and indentation

Help video: Why have I got so many styles?

Designers can also add a note to the style. This might help your user when choosing the style. When they hover over the style in the style palette, the note appears alongside the style attributes.

Note on table styles
Table styles do not import from Word, so any Table styles will also need to be applied to at least one line of copy (outside of a table) for that style to appear in the custom style palette. Those styles will then need to be applied to all the tables on the platform.

Quicker application of styles
When starting with a whole document of un-styled content, select all and make the entire document 'Bodytext' first. This will make sure no content or white space is left as 'Normal' then apply other styles throughout.

Text can be selected in a whole section and a style applied but generally you wouldn’t want to style a whole section in one style.

If you have a style you need to apply throughout a section or an entire report quickly and consistently then the best method may be to use the format painter.

The format painter is in the Edit menu and to use, you just need to do the following:

1. Select the style you wish to copy with your cursor.
2. Click once on the Painter icon and a border will appear around it showing the style is loaded.
3. Click the copy you wish to apply that style to.

If you want to apply that style to multiple lines of copy, in more than one location, then at step 2, double- click on the Painter icon (which will give you a thicker border around the icon) and apply. The style will remain loaded and be applied until you click on the icon again to switch it off.

Help video: Rogue styles

Tables and ICML

Cell styles
The Workiva platform does not use cell styles. The ICML and XHTML exports contain an algorithm that summarises design parameters into cell styles for InDesign and CSS respectively. 

Note: The automatically generated cell styles within the exported ICML are built around the following parameters: 

• Cell vertical alignment (Top Middle or Bottom)
• Cell edge weight and color (all 4 edges are unique)
• Cell fill

Every unique variation will create a separate style. So consistent styling and alignment is key to limiting the generated cell styles to as few as possible. 

Help video:  Successful Workiva table formatting and InDesign

Inheritance
The ICML export now uses the concept of inheritance or ‘Based on’ in both character, paragraph and cell styles. This is extremely useful for designers to be able to control large amounts of styles efficiently. Particularly the auto-generated styles. 

Cell types in Workiva
Designers new to the Workiva platform need to be aware that the cells are active in terms of content formatting. For instance, cells can be nominated as accountancy, text or number with decimal places automatically attributed. 

Table and column widths
Designers need to be aware that table and column widths cannot be altered in linked ICMLs. These need to be correct in the Workiva platform. 

Colored brackets
You may see Colored brackets around financial figures when you place your ICML files. These are placeholders for the XBRL tagging and do not hinder your design capabilities at all. You can just ignore them.

Color Management and Fonts

For XHTML, only RGB colors must be used as RGB is the only color format supported on the web. The InDesign software uses CMYK and Pantone spot colors for the printing of ink on paper. 

The web cannot use these color formats as RGB is the default color space of the web. If the InDesign software is being used to author and this content is to be converted to XHTML then RGB (Red, Blue, Green) colors must be used.

Converting CMYK to RGB is not straightforward. So it is best that designers specify RGB in their InDesign documents so accuracy is maintained and there are no surprises when converting.

Hex is another way of describing RGB color in base 8 (hexadecimal). Pantone colors (spot) are used in printing. The ink used is the actual color specified instead of being made up of CMYK colors. They are often specified in branding guidelines for a corporate color because of their accuracy. It is advisable to always check branding guidelines for specific colors rather than relying on conversion.

Custom Colors
The platform color palette has 64 standard colors but beneath that is a custom color area which allows for up to 16 custom colors to be stored and displayed at any one time.
The custom color area would be where you would add document specific colors.
A color palette is only linked to a users own account and therefore to give additional users the same custom colors, it is necessary to input them into each users’ own custom palette separately.
The same color palette will be displayed for any platform function that requires a color choice.

Adding custom colors
To add a custom color to your palette you only need to open any color palette from the main menu (i.e. Text Color, Highlight, Background Color, etc) and in the Custom Colors box add your Hex reference for your desired color and then click add.

This will add the color to the top left custom color box and move all the existing colors along one. If there are already 16 colors then the last color will drop off the end of the list. See more information here.

File colors
File colors stay with the document, not just the user. See more information here.

Font Licensing
For publishing in XHTML, companies need to own the web usage rights of any font weight being used in their iXBRL/XHTML file.

At the moment an iXBRL filing constitutes web usage. It is recommended that companies check the licensing status of all fonts they are using. Also, issuers cannot rely on suppliers to do this for them or indeed hold such a licence on behalf of the issuer. In addition, licensing is based on a per font ‘weight’ basis so if you are only using two weights of a font family you only need to comply for those weights. 

If the font is available in the Workiva platform, then the font is open source or has the appropriate license in place. We advise designers to check with their client regarding font usage if they are not in the Workiva platform.

Google fonts and other ‘free to use’ fonts may be worth considering not only for cost reasons but because they are especially tailored for the web. See Web safe fonts and Supported fonts

Web fonts (woff and woff2)
Web Open Font Format is now the standard for font usage in browsers and OTF and TTF fonts will be converted to these formats at upload time. Supported browsers and versions are below. Discussion is taking place re TTF support for older versions of these browsers.

Renaming of fonts
Please be aware that renaming fonts can render them inoperable or cause them not to appear.

Exporting ICML files

Exporting ICML is done by choosing Save As > InDesign (.icml) from the file menu but here we will walk through the process with an example section.

Here is a section called ‘Company information’ which has content over 3 pages and a couple of pictures uploaded onto it.

To export this as ICML, do the following:

From the File menu, choose Save As / InDesign (.icml). 

This opens up the ICML Export Options window.

Here you have the option to export in the following ways:

1. Entire Document - As the name suggests, this will export the whole Project to ICML. ICMLs are exported within a folder structure that represents the Workiva platform outline for easy identification. When initially linking a project’s ICML to your InDesign file, it is a good idea to export the Entire document, as this will be your folder structure  going forward. 

2. Current Section - This will be the section you currently have selected in the Index, in our example we have ‘Company Information’ selected in the Index.

3. Select Sections - This allows specific sections to be selected. Clicking on Select Sections will open up a menu where all the sections are listed and you can select whichever sections you wish to export.

Advanced settings
The Advanced menu sits under the export options and allows for some further tweaks to your export.

1. Combine Subsections into Parent Section - This will combine child sections with a parent section. Consider carefully the pros and cons of combining sections. Top tip: If sections are combined, you would need to do this every time you export those section to get the same ICML content.
2. Use Fixed Row Heights - This will export table rows with a fixed height, based upon the height set on the platform for each row, as opposed to row heights being changeable through the cell styles in InDesign. Top tip: If row heights are fixed in the ICML export then if there is overmatter in a table, it will also be obscured in InDesign. Always preflight your InDesign file to spot this.
3. Use CMYK Colorspace -This will convert all text and tint colors from RGB to CMYK in the ICML. There is no control over the conversion, so if you plan to color correct your ICML in the future then you are probably best off sticking to an RGB workflow.
4. Export gutters - This positions currency symbols in nested tables into a separate cell for alignment. This is generally only used for US customers.

Once you have selected your options you, click Export and your chosen ICML will be downloaded to your Downloads folder. The zip filename will always be the same as the document it was exported from.

The zip file will contain folders named, as per the sections your chosen ICML were contained in. The zip will also contain the ICML files and any images contained within the sections.

In our example section we had 2 images. In an InDesign/ICML workflow, you would normally use the images contained within your artwork file as opposed to the versions exported with any ICML.

The downloaded ICML and/or folders can now be moved to where your ICML are to be stored for the remainder of the project.

Place ICMLs
To place an ICML file you can either, in your InDesign document, go to File>Place and navigate to your ICML file or simply drag and drop the ICML file straight into InDesign. You can also place ICML straight into pre-created text boxes (as long as no other content already resides in them).

Once placed, the ICML can fill one or multiple linked text frames and a link to the ICML will be created in InDesign. It works similar to how a picture would link.

Below we have a sample ICML, laid our in our InDesign file. Some text styles have been modified and imagery added. 

The lines that can be seen running from the selected text frame to the others on the page are called Threads and these show the flow of the content between linked text frames. These can be switched on and off though the main menu View>Extras> Show text threads. 

The text frames holding the ICML content can be placed at whatever size and position the designer requires but the ICML content will always flow in the same order.

Maintain the links
Once the InDesign document is built and the ICML are linked, your Links panel is the easiest place to see which ICML is which. If you right-click on a link in this panel and select Go to link then InDesign will jump to the link’s location.

For data assurance and so that you don’t need to worry about versions or checking of content, make sure you don’t break the links of your ICMLs. 

Update the links
When new ICMLs are exported from the platform, it is best practice to overwrite the previous linked ICML. This is because you don’t then need to relink the ICML in InDesign but instead can just update the link.

To do this you need to:

1. Export your new ICMLs
2. Unzip the new ICML zip file in your downloads folder
3. Locate the ICML folder that InDesign is linking to
4. Either replace folders with folders or individual ICML with individual ICML. The main thing here is not to break the structure as each ICML linked. InDesign will retain the network path and that is what you don’t want to break.
5. An updated ICML will appear in your InDesign file with a small Triangle next to its name.

6. Right-clicking on an updated ICML or group of ICMLs in the Links panel will bring up a window where you can choose to ‘Update Link’. Clicking this will update the ICML in InDesign.

It is up to the designer whether you wish to keep all previous ICML exports but the history of changes is also stored on the platform with the source content.
Updating the ICML will only bring through the fresh content for that section. All your design values will remain in place.

Style changes
Each ICML will bring with it the styles used on the platform for that section. They will only come in with the first ICML import and will not be overwritten by subsequent imports. 

This allows the designer the freedom to modify the styles parameters in InDesign (but not the name, as that is required to perform the handshake with the ICML on where the styles are applied). So, for example Heading1 can be changed in InDesign to a different color and all Heading1s in InDesign will appear that color and any new ICML pulls will still appear with that color. 

This does not change the color settings on the platform file however and if styles are to match then the same change would need to be made there. Also, as ICML styles do not overwrite in InDesign then changing the color of Heading1 on the platform first will not overwrite the style settings in InDesign.

Apart from with the first ICML import, the only other time a style will come in new, is if it was renamed on the platform or a newly named style is added (you can see the importance of names). So changing a style attribute in the Workiva platform will not update the corresponding style in the InDesign software.

Milestones and blacklines

When you have decided, with your client, dates for ICML imports to the InDesign software, it is a good idea to create a milestone in the Workiva platform. This means you can track content changes between the subsequent ICML pulls by creating a blackline.

This is also really useful for seeing what sections have changed, as you may only need to export a few sections as opposed to the whole document and it can also help to show where large content changes have been made, which can help you to potentially re-layout a section before a proofing date.

Towards the end of the project, we advise doing one whole ICML pull of the whole document to absolutely make sure every ICML is the current one.

Creating a milestone
To create a milestone in a Workiva document you need to access the document History panel. It will be one of the tabs to the right of your screen.

From here you can either create a brand-new Milestone by clicking ‘Create Milestone’ or you can select any existing date and time and create a milestone there. This is done from the dropdown alongside the date.

The milestone will ask you to give it a name (‘Proof’ has been used for this example) and add any remarks (optional). Then click Create and the milestone is created.

The milestones standout in the History list, as they have a small diamond next to them and the History list can also be filtered to only display milestones.

Creating a blackline
To create a blackline on the platform, go to the History panel of your document (a tab on the right-hand side of the screen) and click the dropdown menu for either a date and time (revision) or a milestone and select Create Blackline.

This will open up a box at the top of the History panel with your selected revision/milestone at the top and a space for the comparison revision/milestone. 

Any revision/milestone can be just dragged and dropped into the ‘Drop Milestones and Revisions Here’ box.

Also, if you only want to see what sections have been amended between the two points in time then you can tick ‘Only include sections with changes’.

When you have made your selection, click Create to generate the blackline.

The blackline will appear in the Blacklines menu. It should automatically jump to this menu but if not then it can be found in the tabs along the right-hand side of the screen. To open your Blackline, hover over it and use the dropdown to select Open.

The Blackline will open in a new tab and you can scroll through the document to see all the changes.

To the left of the page view is a list of all the Sections that changes have been made in. If you are generating the blackline to identify what sections to download as ICML, then this list is where you get those names from.

You can also use this as a quick visual guide to how extensive the changes are and to make sure you have updated the ICML correctly.

File size

Note: For ESEF many regulators are now stating a file size limit of 100 MB max.

How do you stop a filing or download nightmare? How can you reduce the size of your report? Read on for tips for designers can use to optimise their file size.

For the designer in InDesign
Here are things the designer needs to do to reduce the final file size in Adobe InDesign software:

1. Avoid empty paragraphs to achieve extra space in your document.
2. Make sure all content has a style name attached.
3. Make sure you crop all your images to the correct size, 100% and RGB
4. Review your font embedding in SVGs, or make sure you are using common web fonts, or just outline your text.
5. Review your SVGs carefully, and make sure you are using the optimal points to create a shape.
6. We were able to reduce a world map SVG from 5mb to 200k by optimising the number of points it used in Adobe Illustrator software without creating any visual difference.
7. Think carefully if all of your images are necessary.
8. Make sure you have reduced your images to 72 dpi—the resolution for websites.

Downloadable help guides

[Download the Document setup datasheet]   [Detailed guide on InDesign to Word import]	[Download Your first ICML pull datasheet]	[Download the RGB and CMYK workflow datasheet]

Full design off platform guidelines PDF in English, French and Spanish

InDesign and Workiva integration This guide supports design using content from Workiva with design created in InDesign Guide du concepteur pour l’intégration d’InDesign à Workiva Le guide Le Widget – InDesign contient lesinformations relatives à l’utilisation ducontenu issu de Workiva et à la création dela conception à l’aide d’InDesign. InDesign con Workiva Las directrices de Widget InDesigncontienen información sobre cómoutilizar contenidos de Workiva y haceruso de InDesign para elaborar susmaquetas.

Additional resource

• Workiva for Design Reporting