14 Little-Known InDesign Tips

INDESIGN TUTORIALS
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TERRY W HITE , JULY 8, 2010 / 29972 10

With each new version of InDesign (or any Creative Suite product), we usually hear about its new
features and start using them right away. However, there are always features that dont make it into
the marketing materials. So, Im going to cover 14 InDesign features you may not know about.

1 MULTIPLACE FROM BRIDGE

Although you can use File>Place in InDesign or simply drag-and-drop images into your InDesign
document, I find it much easier to bring in multiple images at once. Open Adobe Bridge, select the
images you want to use in your layout, and choose File>Place>In InDesign. This will automatically
switch you to InDesign and give you a loaded place cursor to insert your selected images. Use the
Arrow keys to cycle through the images in the cursor and simply click to place them. Then use the
Object>Fitting options, if necessary.

2 GO BETWEEN CHARACTER AND PARAGRAPH

To toggle between Character and Paragraph Formatting Controls (located in the Control panel),
press Command-Option-7 (PC: Ctrl-Alt-7). Doing this right from the keyboard without having to
reach for your mouse is very handy for verifying settings while in a text frame.

3 AUTOMATIC CONTINUED ON AND FROM

If you start text on one page and then continue it on another page, chances are youre going to
want to have continued on page [xx] or a continued from page [xx]. InDesign can manage this
for you automatically. Select the Type tool (T) and create a new text frame. Once created, drag the
new text frame to touch the original text frame. In the new text frame, type continued on page
[leave a space] or continued from page [space]. Go to Type>Insert Special
Character>Markers>Next Page Number (or Previous Page Number.) Then InDesign will
automatically insert a dynamic number.

4 CREATE AUTOCORRECT MACROS

I often have to type Adobe Systems, Inc., so I set up an Autocorrect entry that automatically
corrects ADBE to Adobe Systems, Inc. Go to InDesign (PC: Edit)>Preferences>Autocorrect. In the
Preferences dialog, click the Enable Autocorrect checkbox and click the Add button to bring up the
Add to Autocorrect List dialog. In the Misspelled Word field, type ADBE and then in the Correction
field, type Adobe Systems, Inc. Click OK. Click OK again and now every time you type ADBE,
InDesign will autocorrect it to Adobe Systems, Inc.
5 TEXT WRAP ONLY AFFECTS TEXT BENEATH
One of the most frustrating things that new InDesign users run into is when they try to place a
caption on top of a photo that has text wrap on it. By default, text wrap also tries to text wrap your
caption. Luckily theres a one-click fix. Go to InDesign (PC: Edit)>Preferences>Composition.
Enable the Text Wrap Only Affects Text Beneath checkbox and click OK. Now you can place text on
top of your images with the text wrap where you want it.

6 COMPOUND PATH FRAMES

Everyone knows that you can place a single image in a single frame. However, few know that you
can actually place a single image in multiple frames for a visual effect. Select the Rectangle,
Ellipse, or Polygon Frame tool and create two or more frames. Choose the Selection tool (V) and
Shift-click each frame. Choose Objects>Paths>Make Compound Paths. Go to File>Place, select
the image of your choice, and click Open. InDesign will automatically place the image inside your
new frames.

7 CONVERT SHAPE
It never fails. You create a rectangular frame for your image and then you decide that youd like to
see how it would look in an ellipse. Theres no need to start over. Go to Object>Convert Shape and
choose the shape of your choice. InDesign will convert your existing shape into the one you want.

8 MATH IN THE CONTROL PANEL

Lets say you have a frame with an image in it on the page and you know that it would probably fit
better if it were 1.25 bigger. No worries. In the Width field up in the Control panel, type +1.25 next
to the existing size. When youre done, press Tab or Return (PC: Enter) and InDesign will do the
math for you to adjust the size of your frame. You can also use different operations, such as
subtraction (), multiplication (*), and division (/).

9 COPY EFFECTS TO ANOTHER OBJECT

If youve spent a bunch of time creating the perfect effect on an object and then decided that you
want that exact same effect settings on a different object, my first advice would be to create an
object style (Window>Object Styles). However, if its a one-time thing then it may be easier to copy
the effects to the other object. Select the object you want to copy, then open the Effects panel
(Window>Effects). Click-and-drag the Object effects icon (fx) onto your new object. Release your
cursor and both of your objects will have the same effects.

10 STORY EDITOR SHOWS OVERSET TEXT

When youre doing layout, more times than not youre going to place text into your document and
there will be more text than fits your design. However, the real question is how much more text is
there. You can find this out quickly and easily by bringing up the Story Editor from Edit>Edit in Story
Editor (or Command-Y [PC: Ctrl-Y]). Look for the red line to the left of your text. Everything next to
this line is overset text.

11 CONTROL YOUR PHOTOSHOP LAYERS

Its great that InDesign can place and output layered Photoshop files, but what makes it even better
is that you can turn on and off layers in that placed PSD directly within InDesign. You can even
have the same PSD in your document multiple times with different layers turned on and off for
different looks. Go to File>Place, navigate to your PSD, and click Open. Now choose
Object>Object Layer Options and in the dialog that appears, turn on Preview, and click the Eye icon
on and off next to the desired layer to control visibility.

12 PLACE INDESIGN DOCS IN INDESIGN

One of the most powerful collaboration features in InDesign is the ability to place InDesign
documents into other InDesign documents. This means that you could be working on one master
document while your colleagues work on other sections. Once theyre done, you can place their
InDesign documents into yours as you would any other graphics (File;Place). If you need to edit the
placed InDesign document, choose Edit;Edit original.

13 ROTATE YOUR SPREADS

I often get the question, Can InDesign do vertical spreads for say a calendar layout? The answer
is no; however, now you can do a typical left and right spread, and rotate your spreads by 90 to
make it easier to lay out your content. This way you can still lay out the calendar as it would look,
but it would still be a left and right spread on the press. To rotate your spreads go to View>Rotate
Spread and make your selection from the list.

14 CUSTOMIZE YOUR LINKS PANEL

The Links panel (Window>Links) has always been useful; however, in InDesign CS4 it became
much more customizable to show you not only more info about your links, but exactly and only the
information that you want to see. Click the Links panels flyout menu and select Panel Options.
Click on the checkboxes of the info that you want to see in the Links panel, and click OK to apply
your changes.
InDesign Tip: Easily Turn Text
Into Outlines
Gone are the days when designers who wanted to manipulate type for design
purposes were required to use applications such as Illustrator to first convert that
type into paths. InDesigns Create Outlines feature does just that. When you
select Type>Create Outlines, InDesign will convert text selected with the Type
tool into a set of compound paths that can be manipulated.
When you use the Direct Selection tool to hover over type that has been converted
to outlines, InDesign displays the path and path points. You can simply drag the
point you want to edit. The Pathfinder feature provides options to add, subtract,
intersect, exclude overlap, and minus-back in a path. The Pathfinder panel, found
under Window>Object & Layout>Pathfinder, features the same options found
under Object>Paths, Object>Pathfinder, Object>Convert Shape,
and Object>Convert Point.

Key points to note:

A text box or one or more characters can be selected to convert to outlines.

When selecting a character(s) from a word or paragraph to convert to outlines, the
outlines are grouped and become anchored (inline) objects that ow with the text.
When converting text to outlines, the outlines are grouped and become anchored
(inline) objects that ow with the text.
To edit individual letters when outlines are created from multiple letters, copy and paste
the anchored text box that contains the outlines to create an unanchored box. Select
the outline group and choose Object>Ungroup.
Hold down the Option (ALT) key as you choose Type>Create Outlines to create a copy
of the selected text, as outlines, directly on top of the original.
Because the converted text is no longer true type, the characters can no longer be
edited using the Type tool. In addition, typographical controls will no longer apply.

So if you have type that needs your creative touch and has to be manipulated and
enhanced, use Create Outlines and start designing!