InDesign Tips-N-Tricks

Started by Sparky, November 21, 2007, 08:51:01 PM

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Sparky

I thought I'd post these here since I've re-uped my subscription to ID magazine:

January 3, 2008

=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

Sorting Styles
QuoteAll styles in their panels (Object, Paragraph, Character, Table,
and Cell) are usually listed in the order they are created --
from first to  last. You can instead sort them alphabetically by
choosing Sort by Name in each of the styles panel menu. But
you can also drag styles from one position to another, letting
you customize the order in any way that makes sense to you.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Joe

Hey Sparky,

Love the tips but how about making a new post each time? The old ones are gone every time you edit and swap it for the new one. I was interested in the last one but never got around to trying it out and now it is gone.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Sparky

#2
No prob Joe, I can post post any one you want. I also posted the web site to access all of these I'm posting. I'll do it again.

=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

Place EPS Images without the "White Background"
QuoteIf you have legacy vector files saved in the EPS format (this includes Illustrator, FreeHand, and CorelDraw files), they may show up with
a white background when you place them into InDesign. There are many ways to fix the problem, but here's my favorite:

Choose Show Import Options when you place an EPS file and check the Rasterize the PostScript option under Proxy Generation. Don't
panic, you're not actually rasterizing the vector information; you're only changing how the preview appears.

From that point on, you don't have to select Show Import Options; InDesign applies the setting to all new placed images.

I prefer this solution because other methods require changing the file from EPS to AI. That's not always possible for FreeHand or Corel
files, and it can take a while to process a large library of legacy documents. My method also works with any platform and doesn't
require changing any other ID preferences.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine

Did you miss a tip? Check out past tips here:
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22813.html
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Joe

Thanks Sparky. I don't always get around to these right away. ;D
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Sparky

#4
January 11, 2008

=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

Leading like Quark?
QuoteUnlike QuarkXPress, InDesign applies leading as a character attribute. This means that you can have a paragraph with one
line at a certain leading and another with a different leading. One way prevent mis-matched leading is to make sure you
select an entire paragraph before changing any leading.

If you'd prefer that InDesign's leading work more like QuarkXPress, go to Preferences > Type and set the Type Option
for Apply Leading to Entire Paragraphs. Now when you change the leading in one line, the change applies to the entire paragraph.

Warning: Even after making the change in Preferences, it's still possible to create paragraphs with mis-matched leading: for
example, when you copy text with different leading into another paragraph. So if you copy and paste text, your next step should
be to select the entire paragraph and set the leading.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

#5
=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

More Detailed Previews in Bridge

QuoteYou can preview InDesign documents in Bridge, but most of the text may be greeked; that is, appear only as gray lines. You can create a bigger preview, with more details, from within InDesign by going to Preferences > File Handling with no document open. Under the section for Saving InDesign Files, change the Preview Size to Extra Large 1024 x 1024. From that point on, each document you save will have a more detailed preview, and most text will be visible in Bridge.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

#6
=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

January 24,2008

Dragging Effects from Object to Stroke to Fill

QuoteIt's easy to forget to target just the stroke or fill when you apply an effect such as a drop shadow to an InDesign frame. But instead of deleting the effect and then reapplying it to the correct attribute, you can drag the little "fx" label in the Effects panel from Object to Stroke or Fill.

If you want to add the effect from the stroke to the fill, hold the Opt/Alt key as you drag. You'll keep the effect on the first attribute and duplicate the effect onto the second attribute.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

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=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

Working with Layers

QuoteHave you ever had a long list of layers in the Layers panel and wanted to turn off the visibility for all except one? Instead of clicking madly up and down the list, hold the Option/Alt key and click on the layer you want to see. That layer will remain visible while the others are turned off. The same technique can be used to lock all the layers except the one you want to work on.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
Author, InDesign CS3 Visual QuickStart Guide
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

February 28, 2008

=========== T I P  O F  T H E  W E E K ===========

Moving Gradients between Illustrator and InDesign


QuoteYou may know that the Adobe Swatch Exchange format (ase) does not support transferring gradient swatches between InDesign and Illustrator. But does that mean that InDesign and Illustrator can't trade swatches? Not at all.

To get a gradient from Illustrator into InDesign, simply copy/paste or drag/drop an object that contains a gradient from Illustrator into InDesign. The gradient will automatically show up in the Swatches panel.

It's not quite as simple to get a gradient from InDesign into Illustrator. If you copy/paste or drag/drop an object from InDesign into Illustrator, the gradient will appear, but it won't be added to Illustrators Swatches panel. You'll need to ungroup and release a few clipping paths to coax the object to display the gradient in the Gradient panel.

You can add this unnamed gradient to the Swatches panel by first showing the options in the Gradient panel, then dragging the small gradient preview square from the Gradient panel into the Swatches panel. You now have a named gradient from InDesign in Illustrator's Swatches panel.

-- Sandee Cohen
Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

#9
==========TIP OF THE WEEK==========
March 7, 2008

Select and Distribute Guides

QuoteGuides are objects, but they have a few special properties when it comes to selecting them. If guides are the only objects on a layer or document, hit Cmd/Ctrl-A to Select All the guides.

However, when there are any selectable objects (frames or rules) on the page or layer, Select All won't select the guides.

Once you have selected the horizontal or vertical guides for a page, you can use the Align panel's (Window > Object & Layout > Align) Distribute command to place the guides equally on a page.
-- Sandee Cohen Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine Author, InDesign CS3 Visual QuickStart Guide http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321503066/creativeprocom
"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

Sparky

==========Tip of the Week:==========
April 4, 2008

Fitting Text Frames to Content

QuoteThe command Fit Frame to Content (Object > Fitting...) automatically expands or contracts a text frame to fit the text within. But you can also use some nifty double-clicks to accomplish even more. Double-click the control handle on the bottom of the frame to force that side to expand or contract to hold the text. Double-click the control handle on the right side of the frame to force that side to expand or contract to hold the text. And finally, double-click the control handle on the bottom right corner of the frame to force both the bottom and right sides to expand or contract to hold the text.
-- Sandee Cohen, Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine, Author, InDesign CS3 Visual QuickStart Guide

"No well engineered plan survives contact with reality"

LRob


Chelle

Due to lack of interest, today has been cancelled....

FACT OF LIFE: After Monday and Tuesday even the calendar says W T F

Tracy

just checked out all the tips
I just started using scripts, any tips on that sparky?

jwgd

Forgive me if this seems elementary, but back in the day I had to do this manually and old habits die hard I guess. :old:

Had a customer send an Indy file with 3 different seps for Pantone 269. We use a custom spot 269 on our Nexpress for them so I started re-mapping them all to the custom name. Then found this in the ink manager:

1) In the Ink Manager highlight the sep you want to remap.
2) Click the Ink Alias drop down menu and select the sep you want to remap to.
3) Click OK.
4) Verify with Separations Preview.

The remapped colors still show up in the Swatches window but should disappear from the sep preview.

I love learning new tricks!