Tips and Techniques

The tips here rotate randomly, so be sure to come back often for more tips. You can also reload the page to get new tips. Note that we show both Macintosh and Windows keyboard shortcuts, Macintosh first.

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InDesign CS3 | InDesign CS2 | InDesign CS

InDesign CS3

Revenge of the Butterflies

The new iconography for Creative Suite is fairly boring, though many people disliked the previous versions' nature subjects. But if you miss the old InDesign butterflies, open the About box (choose InDesignAbout on the Mac, or HelpAbout in Windows) and type butterfly. Watch what happens. And the longer you let it go, the more interesting it gets! (Also see what happens when you click a butterfly.)

Interface and Operation Tips

Tip #19: InDesign doesn't care if you put spaces between numbers and the abbreviations in your measurements — 3 p is read the same as 3p, and 0.4inch is read the same as 0.4 inch, for example.

Layout, Typography, Graphics, and Output Tips

Tip #226: If you don't set a specific size for underlines and strikethroughs, the weight of an underline or strikethrough line is relative to the font size.

What's New in Version 5 (InDesign CS3)

New #38: Adobe has changed the Version Cue-enabled dialog boxes' Tools menu options considerably in Creative Suite 3. The Show File Info Area has been renamed Show Metadata Area, and Connect To has been renamed Connect to Server. The Refresh, Download, and Clear Local Files options are new. Gone are the old Share Project, Show Deleted Items, Delete, Restore, and Disconnect options. (You manage most of these functions in one of two places: The Bridge program's Tools menu or in the Edit Properties dialog box (accessed by choosing Edit Properties in the Tools drop-down menu from a Version Cue–enabled dialog box).

Notes for QuarkXPress Users

Note #8: InDesign can generate TOCs only based on paragraph styles, not on character styles. This means you can't create other kinds of lists, such as a list of companies in a magazine article or research report, based on the use of character style sheets. InDesign doesn't have a flexible Lists feature as QuarkXPress does, just the Table of Contents feature that is essentially a subset of QuarkXPress's Lists feature. However, you can use the InDesign Table of Contents feature to create some lists in addition to TOCs.

InDesign CS3 | InDesign CS2 | InDesign CS

InDesign CS2

Interface and Operation Tips

Tip #107: Control+click or right-click on a word, range of text, or a point in a text frame (using the Type tool) to get the contextual menu from which you choose Check Spelling.

Layout, Typography, and Graphics Tips

Tip #228: When you create a line, it takes on the characteristics specified in the Stroke pane (WindowStroke or F10). When you first open a document, the default line width is 1 point. If you want to change the appearance of your lines, double-click the Line tool and adjust the Weight in the Stroke pane that will appear. If you make this adjustment when no document is open, all new documents will use the new line settings.

What's New in Version 4 (InDesign CS2)

New #80: It also supports the definition of style attributes (for example, to define and apply the style ChapterStyle to the element names Title) in an imported XML file and will import and apply those attributes to imported content.

Notes for QuarkXPress Users

Note #5: You cannot print hidden layers in InDesign CS2 as you can in QuarkXPress 6. You must make them visible before printing.

InDesign CS3 | InDesign CS2 | InDesign CS

InDesign CS

Interface and Operation Tips

Tip #80: If you import a graphics file that's stored on any kind of removable media, such as a floppy disk, Zip disk, or CD, the link between the document and the graphics file will be broken when the media is removed. Generally, it's best to copy graphics files to your hard disk or to a networked file server before importing them into an InDesign document.

Layout, Typography, and Graphics Tips

Tip #338: If you're printing to a color laser, dye-sublimation, ink-jet, or thermal wax printer, don't worry about trapping. You're not getting the kind of output resolution at which this level of image fine-tuning is relevant. But if you're outputting to an imagesetter (particularly if you're outputting to negatives) for eventual printing on a standard web offset press (SWOP) or other printing press, read on.

What's New in Version 3 (InDesign CS)

New #47: You can now preview color swatches in the Table Options dialog box, rather than seeing just their names.

Notes for QuarkXPress Users

Note #27: InDesign has no equivalent to QuarkXPress's Underline Styles. Instead, specify custom underlines and strikethroughs as part of a character style sheet. To add stripes and dashed lines, open the Strokes pane (WindowStroke, or F10) and select the Stroke Styles option from the palette menu.

InDesign CS3 | InDesign CS2 | InDesign CS

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Adobe Creative Suite does not come with a printed manual for InDesign!

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