A to Z of InDesign: Tips, Tricks, & Hacks!
In this InDesign tutorial, we'll take a look at 26 tips and tricks from A to Z. Use them to up your Adobe InDesign game or discover something new.
What You Will Learn
We're going to cover a lot of different topics in this article. Here's just a sample!
saving and exporting in InDesign
margins, columns, and bleeds in InDesign
digital content in InDesign
paragraphs, kerning, and text wrap
and more!
Watch along as we go through this collection of A to Z tips in this tutorial video over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:
Find New InDesign Content on Envato Elements
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Now, let's jump right into our A to Z of InDesign tips, tricks, and hacks.
A is for Autosave
Autosave can feel like a lifesaver when technical problems strike. To change where your autosave data is located, go to Edit > Preferences > File Handling on Windows, or InDesign > Preferences > File Handling on Mac.
Click on Browse to browse to a new folder on your computer if you'd like to change the location of your autosave data. You can also refer to this place if you're unsure of where your data is currently saved.
Want to learn more about how to recover documents in InDesign? Check out this helpful walkthrough.
B is for Bleed
The Bleed, in your InDesign document, is not as ominous as it sounds, but it's still plenty vital. It is the part of your document that extends outside of the trim. We often need to assign a bleed to our work if we plan to print something "full bleed'—or to the edge of the page. This would be something like a full-page print, with no borders. Having that bleed space ensures that the imagery cleanly goes right up your edges when the paper is trimmed, even if there is a slight margin of error.
When defining a bleed, InDesign gives us several choices. We can set the bleed when creating a new document. However, we can also adjust the bleed in an existing document by going to File > Document Setup. The bleed InDesign settings can be adjusted in both places.
In the example below, note the red outline outside of our document. This visually indicates our 0.25 inch bleed.
C is for Clipping Masks
There are several different techniques you can use to create a Clipping Mask InDesign effect. Keep in mind that most content in InDesign uses frames. One quick way to mask an image would be with the Pen Tool.
Use the Pen Tool to draw any shape you like. I'll create an abstract one, in this example. Then, I can place an image in this shape by going to File > Place. Adjust the shape any way you like. Use this technique for all kinds of clipping mask InDesign effects.
The red outline here illustrates the full size of the photo. The blue line indicates the boundaries of the frame I drew with the Pen Tool—our visible area.
Want to see even more examples of clipping masks in InDesign? This walkthrough is a great example.
D is for Data Merge
Data Merge allows us to easily use an external file in our InDesign document. Curious about data merge in InDesign? Here's an example to show off how useful data merge can be.
Let's say you're working with a business card template, and you want to use it for multiple employees in your business. With data merge, InDesign makes it easy to swap out this information—like name, title, contact information, and more.
Go to Window > Utilities > Data Merge to open up the Data Merge panel to get started. Then, we can choose our data source from this panel. In this example, I used a simple text file. Once I've defined and inserted these attributes, I can easily page through and preview them.
Want to learn more about using data merge in InDesign? Give this free walkthrough a try.
E is for Effects
InDesign has a host of Effects that you can apply to your content. To access this, right-click on PC (or Command-click on Mac) on your rectangle frame. Then go to Effects in the resulting menu. We can select any effect listed here, to open up the Effects menu.
Check out all the different effects we can try here. A frequent choice, for example, might be Transparency, where we can easily adjust things like the Opacity and Blending Mode. Toggle Preview On to preview your effects.
In this example, I put the blue watercolor brush stroke on top of the watercolor flower. I used Effects to set the watercolor stroke's Blending Mode to Multiply.
You can create some really awesome effects in InDesign. Looking for an InDesign tutorial to show them off? Check these out today.
F is for Fill Color
It's easy to change up the colors in Adobe InDesign. To do so, we'll need to turn to our Stroke and Fill color, in the Tools panel. Just click on either to open the Color Picker.
Think of your Fill color as actually "filling" the selected contents. Your Stroke color, on the other hand, is the color outside and around your subject, somewhat like an outline.
We can change the font color here similarly. However, we need to make sure to change what the formatting affects. We can do that right here under the Stroke and Fill color, as highlighted below.
Learn more about color in Adobe InDesign in these free InDesign tutorials:
G is for Guides
Guides can be really useful in Adobe InDesign. Use them to help you place content, align content, and more. Guides can be useful for defining things like your bleed, margins, and other important parts of your design.
To create a new guide, we can drag from the Rulers in our workspace. Don't see your Rulers? Just go to View > Show Rulers. We can hide them in the same way (View > Hide Rulers).
Or you can place specific guides by going to Layout > Create Guides.
Want to temporarily hide your guides? Go to View > Grids & Guides > Hide Guides/Show Guides.
In the below example, we can see a series of guides in action.
This InDesign resume template can be downloaded here, on Envato Elements.
Curious about ways you can work with guides or design on a grid? This design tutorial will give you the insights you're looking for.
H is for Hand Tool
The Hand Tool is a handy way to navigate around your work area (pun intended). Type H on your keyboard or select the Hand Tool from your Tools panel.
Then, you can click and drag to easily change your view in your document. This can be really useful for isolating a specific part of your work. Or maybe you just want to easily scroll around the space in a more organic way than you would with arrows. The Hand Tool is the perfect choice for that.
Download this InDesign brochure template on Envato Elements.
I is for Images
Images are such an essential part of working in InDesign. Place them, replace them, and put them in a box!
We can easily import images into our document by going to File > Place. Then, select the image from your computer, and click OK. InDesign will then prompt us to place our image. We can click and drag to draw a new rectangular frame to hold our image. Alternatively, a single click will import your image at full size.
Want to replace or import an image into an existing frame? With the Selection Tool active, select the frame, and then go to File > Place again.
Stock photography by seventyfourimages on Envato Elements
There's plenty more we can do with images in InDesign too. Check out this tutorial that uses images and text.
J is for Justification
Justification is just one of many different text alignments we can apply in InDesign. Go left, go right, it's your paragraph.
To do so, open up the Paragraph panel. You can find it by going to Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph.
Along the top of the panel, we can find the different text alignment choices. Either select your entire text box or select a specific paragraph. Then, click your selection to apply the text alignment.
Download the watercolor texture featured in this layout on Envato Elements.
You can do even more with text alignment in InDesign. This tutorial will show you even more ways to align your text.
K is for Kerning
Kerning helps keep our character spacing in line—if the kerning is off, we might end up with text that's hard to read and easy to misunderstand.
Let's open up our Character panel by going to Window > Type & Tables > Character.
With the Text Tool active, select between the letters you want to kern. Then we can adjust the kerning in the Character panel, in the Kerning dialog box. You can either shift up or down in value with the arrow keys, input a specific value, or choose from a dropdown menu.
Download this chunky display font on Envato Elements.
Kerning, tracking, and other text concerns are a big part of setting type in InDesign. Working on a text-heavy InDesign project? These tutorials might be right up your alley.
Links are an essential part of working with files in InDesign. Keep them connected so things don't fall apart!
We can check our links by going to Window > Links. This panel will show us all of the linked files that have a presence in our document. For example, this would include images that you've placed. Those images don't exist within the document itself—InDesign needs the path to this image on your computer.
This InDesign menu template can be downloaded on Envato Elements.
Links are essential when you're using an existing file or something like an InDesign template. Want to try this out for yourself? Check out this collection of free InDesign templates you can download today.
M is for Margins and Columns
Margins and columns are often an essential part of our layout designs. Thankfully, InDesign columns and margins are very easy to work with and customize.
We can set our margins when we first create a new document. To do so, go to File > New. You can also go to File > Document Setup to adjust our margins after the document has been created.
For InDesign columns, head to Layout > Margins and Columns. Here, you can set columns or adjust your margins.
Download this InDesign invitation template on Envato Elements.
N is for Numbering
Imagine adding page numbers to a 100-page document by hand—yikes! Luckily, we don't have to do that in Adobe InDesign. It can insert dynamic page numbers for us. Not only will it automatically insert the correct number, but it will also change the number if you rearrange your pages. Handy, right?
To insert a page number, go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. You could also choose Next Page Number or Previous Page Number, if you prefer. To make this even easier, make sure to use these dynamic page numbers on your Parent Pages.
Download this InDesign cookbook template today on Envato Elements.
Want to know more about page numbers? Check out this InDesign tutorial, where you'll learn how to make a table of contents that dynamically responds to your page numbers.
O is for Options
And we have a lot of options in Adobe InDesign. If you want to quickly toggle between your options, open, and close them, turn to the bottom of your Tools panel. We can click to View Options, here at the bottom.
Here, we can quickly toggle on and off things like our Ruler, Guides, Baseline Grid, and more. It can be a convenient time-saver.
Download this InDesign magazine template on Envato Elements.
P is for Pages
Pages are a huge part of working in InDesign. Open up your Pages panel by going to Window > Pages.
From here, we get an overview of all of our pages. We can add a new page by clicking on the plus sign, at the bottom of the panel. We can also delete pages by clicking on the trash can.
Parent Pages are like special template documents. You could, for example, design a footer template in your A-Parent, and then apply it to specific pages. You can find your Parent Pages at the top of the Pages panel.
This InDesign magazine template is available for download on Envato Elements.
Q is for QR Codes
You might be thinking: wait a minute. InDesign can create QR codes? Yes, it can—and easily too.
All we need to do is go to Object > Generate QR Code. Then, we can choose the kind of content we'd like to display. For example, we could have the QR code contain an email address or a web URL.
Once you've decided what you'd like the QR code to display, just click OK. InDesign will insert your prepared QR code for you. Test it out with your smart device's camera!
InDesign isn't just for print. It can do a lot of things for web-based content. Check out these tutorials for eBooks, ePublishing, and more.
R is for Rectangle Frames
Put your images into neat, convenient boxes with Rectangle Frames. Think of them like boxes that hold your content in Adobe InDesign.
For example, let's turn to the Rectangle Frame Tool, in our Tools panel. With this tool selected, click and drag to draw a new Rectangular Frame. This is different from the Rectangle Tool, which is better suited for drawing shapes.
We can then select our Rectangle Frame and go to File > Place to insert an image, as we did earlier. Or leave them as placeholders, as you develop an InDesign template for yourself.
S is for Spell Check
If you're looking for spell check, InDesign has that too.
To get started, make sure you have some body copy in your document. Then, go to Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling, to get started.
When using spell check, InDesign will let you change it to a suggested word, skip it completely, or add it to your user dictionary.
There's even more you can do with spell check and spelling settings in Adobe InDesign. This tutorial outlines it all for you. Check it out.
T is for Text Wrap
Text wrap is a handy way to make your text flow around a design element. When you want to use text wrap, InDesign makes it easy via the Text Wrap panel. To open it up, go to Window > Text Wrap.
As an example, let's start with an Ellipse, filled with a color. Then, pair this with a large paragraph of text, set with the Type Tool. Our goal here is to have the text flow around the ellipse.
Select both the text and the design element. Then, select Wrap Around Bounding Box from your Text Wrap options, at the top of the panel. It's that easy to create a simple text wrap InDesign effect.
Want to push these concepts even further? These InDesign tutorials also work with setting text.
U is for Units and Increments
Whether you’re into inches, centimeters, picas, or pixels, InDesign has got you covered. You can choose your preferred unit of measurement when you create a new document.
However, InDesign also has Units & Increments settings. We can find this under Edit > Preferences > Units & Increments. Then, we can set our overall preferences for measurements. For example, you can display Stroke in either points or millimeters. Choose the ruler units and other measurement metrics you prefer.
These settings can be really handy when you're working with an InDesign template. Looking for some to experiment with? Check out this collection of inspiring designs.
V is for View
Take a good, long look at what you've done with the View options. Go to View at the top of the software, to begin. For example, here are some of the View options that I most frequently turn to.
Overprint Preview is a way to view your work with simulated overprint. It hides some of the extras, like the frame of rectangle frames and text boxes too.
We can also view at a simulated Actual Size.
You can Rotate your spread, change your Display Performance, and more.
This InDesign resume template is available for download on Envato Elements
W is for... What was that Tool again?
What was that tool again? We all get a little lost sometimes or forget what a particular tool is called. Thankfully, InDesign has Tool Hinting. This is a handy way to get extra info about the tools in InDesign.
To access Tool Hinting, go to Window > Utilities > Tool Hinting. This is the Tool Hinting panel, below. Notice all the extra information it gives me, with my Selection Tool active. This can be particularly handy for beginners or for times when you're just not sure about a certain tool.
X is for Export
So, you've finally made it to the finish line (for the first time, anyway), and you're ready to export. What's next?
Head to File > Export to begin the process. We can choose from a large selection of file types here, such as PDF, ePUB, EPS, JPG, and more. What you choose will largely depend on your project outcomes. Make sure to check with your printer so you can make the best selection for the job.
Not sure? Make sure to save a backup of your work by going to File > Save a Copy.
This InDesign resume template is available for download on Envato Elements.
Exporting and export settings can be a lot to take in. These free tutorials can help with questions you might have about exporting content in InDesign.
Y is for Y-Axis
The Y-Axis is your vertical axis—think of it as up and down. The X-Axis is your horizontal axis. Think of this one as left and right.
For example, with content selected, check out your Control Panel, at the top of the software. You'll notice one dialog box that says X and one dialog box that says Y. Notice what happens when we change the value in the Y dialog box. We see a vertical adjustment here—the content is moved.
Think of the X and Y axis in terms of placement and orientation.
This stylish InDesign resume template is available on Envato Elements.
Z is for Zoom Tool
Sometimes, you just need a closer look. For moments like that, we can turn to the Zoom tool. It's located in our Tools panel. To access it quickly, just type Z on your keyboard.
To zoom in, simply click on your document.
To zoom out, however, hold down Alt on PC or Option on Mac, and then click.
Download this multipage InDesign template today on Envato Elements.
Ready to Learn More About Adobe InDesign?
Love Adobe InDesign? Then you're going to love the free InDesign tutorials on Envato Tuts+. Check out these awesome free tutorials today to get started. Whether you're working on a magazine, a resume, or invitations, there's so much to see and try out.
Happy designing!
InDesign Tips I Wish I’d Known When Starting Out — Smashing Magazine
InDesign Tips I Wish I’d Known When Starting Out
13 min read
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I love Adobe InDesign. For multi-page documents, it’s the most flexible and complete application out there. Yet I remember how counter-intuitive some things were when I was learning it for the first time. Here are some tips I wish I had known when starting out, as well as some answers to questions that others often ask me. This is not intended to be a manual; some good ones are already out there (although I personally learned by doing). Hopefully, these tips will help you make the best of your day-to-day use of InDesign. If you are preparing a document for print, keep your margins and bleeds in mind from the beginning. Your printer will give you the measurements for the bleed, but generally 1⁄ 8 inch or 3 mm should suffice. Approximately the same area within the document should be kept free of text and important graphic elements (such as the logo). Set up your document for bleed in InDesign as you create it by selecting the correct settings in the document set-up box. I love Adobe InDesign. For multi-page documents, it’s the most flexible and complete application out there. Yet I remember how counter-intuitive some things were when I was learning it for the first time. Here are some tips I wish I had known when starting out, as well as some answers to questions that others often ask me. This is not intended to be a manual; some good ones are already out there (although I personally learned by doing). Hopefully, these tips will help you make the best of your day-to-day use of InDesign. If you are preparing a document for print,from the beginning. Your printer will give you the measurements for the bleed, but generallyinch or 3 mm should suffice. Approximately the same area within the document should be kept free of text and important graphic elements (such as the logo). Set up your document for bleed in InDesign as you create it by selecting the correct settings in the document set-up box.
I love Adobe InDesign. For multi-page documents, it’s the most flexible and complete application out there. Yet I remember how counter-intuitive some things were when I was learning it for the first time. Here are some tips I wish I had known when starting out, as well as some answers to questions that others often ask me.
This is not intended to be a manual; some good ones are already out there (although I personally learned by doing). Hopefully, these tips will help you make the best of your day-to-day use of InDesign.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
Margins And Bleeds
If you are preparing a document for print, keep your margins and bleeds in mind from the beginning. Your printer will give you the measurements for the bleed, but generally 1⁄ 8 inch or 3 mm should suffice. Approximately the same area within the document should be kept free of text and important graphic elements (such as the logo). Set up your document for bleed in InDesign as you create it by selecting the correct settings in the document set-up box.
Master Pages
When you have a multiple-page document, such as a brochure or catalog, using master pages will save you time. Master pages are used to automatically insert layout elements on various pages. All elements of the master page are placed onto any page you choose, and these are by default not selectable, which allows you to further develop the page without worrying about accidentally modifying the pre-defined elements (such as page numbers, grids and guides, and graphic elements).
To set them up, bring up the Pages palette and double-click on “A-Master.”
Add all of the elements that are repeated throughout most of your document: guides, page numbers, a running text box, image frames, graphic elements, etc. You can have more than one set of master pages in a document, which is particularly useful for brochures, whose content often varies (for example, with a mostly textual introduction followed by image-heavy pages).
To apply your master page to new pages, simply drag it from the Master Pages pane onto the Pages pane in the palette. If you’ve already started working on layout elements but forgot to make a master page, you can turn any page into a master page. Just drag it from the Pages pane to the Master Pages pane.
And yes, you can modify master page elements on a particular page if you need to. Triple-click on the element — that is, click on it while holding down Shift + Command (on a Mac) or Shift + Control (Windows). Now you can select and edit it on the page you are working on while leaving it unchanged on all other pages.
Frames
InDesign places your content in frames. This goes for both text and images as well as databases and interactive content.
There are two types of frames: text and image.
The text frame is fairly self-explanatory. After creating the shape for a text frame (typically a rectangle, but it could be a circle or a custom shape drawn with the Pen tool), you have two options: either type directly in the frame or import content from another document. To import, go to the File menu and choose Place (or use the shortcut: Command + D on a Mac and Control + D on Windows).
Image frames work in a similar way. After creating an image frame (either by selecting one of the default shapes or drawing one yourself), you can fill it with color or place an image from your computer inside it. Again, this is done by going to File → Place (or using the shortcut).
Another way to import images and text is to simply drag them onto the document (from Mac’s Finder or Windows Explorer). This will automatically create an image or text frame, import the content and create a link to that file. If you drag content on top of an existing frame, it will replace the existing content but leave the size and cropping intact.
Resizing Content in a Frame
The set of shortcuts for fitting an image to a frame is also useful, and with it you can easily adapt content the way you want. To keep the frame the same size and fit the content proportionally, press Command + Option + Shift + E . (Note that if the image and frame have different proportions, then some white space will be left.)
To fill the frame proportionally, use Command + Option + Shift + C . (If the image and frame have different proportions, then the image will be resized and end up larger than the frame, being cropped the edges.)
To center the content in the frame, use Command + Shift + E . And if you want the image to stay the same and resize the frame instead, then fit the frame to the content with Command + Option + C .
Selecting Frames
Selecting the top frame is easy, but if a lot of frames are overlapping or one is on top of the other, you can cycle through them by holding Command on Mac and Control on Windows and then clicking on the frames to select the lower one. Keep clicking to cycle through them if you have several frames.
Image Formats
InDesign can import many image formats (including JPEG, PNG, EPS, PICT, PDF, PSD and TIFF). If you are preparing a file for print, make sure the images are in an acceptable format. If you’re using a file format that allows for low-resolution settings, such as JPEG, check that the images have a resolution of 300 pixels per inch (PPI) and are saved in CMYK color mode.
Place images at no higher than 100% of their size. That is, if your original image is 3 × 5 inches, don’t blow it up to 12 × 20, because the results would be obviously pixelated.
To be on the safe side, avoid JPEG altogether, and stick with formats that are intended for print, such as EPS and TIFF.
Importing PSD Files
The PSD image format deserves special mention. Being able to import PSD files into InDesign is extremely useful when working with elaborate graphics that have transparent or semi-transparent elements, especially if they are to be placed over colored backgrounds or textures. Another useful feature is the ability to turn the layers in a PSD file on and off directly in InDesign without having to open Photoshop).
PSDs take up significant memory, which can sometime cause problems when exporting as PDF. I would recommend avoiding PSD files for simple images that could just as easily be flattened when saved as TIFF or EPS. But in cases where using a PSD file really solves a problem, make sure it is 300 PPI and in CMYK color mode, and keep it at its actual size. And when exporting to PDF, double-check that the transparency flattening is set to high.
Transparency Flattening Presets
You can create custom transparency settings by going to Edit → Transparency Flattener Presets :
In most cases, the “High Resolution” setting will suffice. You can make sure this preset is used when exporting to PDF by going to File → Export , selecting PDF and then clicking on the “Advanced” tab. You can now set the “Transparency Flattener” option to “High Resolution” by default.
Should You Copy And Paste?
One feature of the Adobe Creative Suite is the ability to copy and paste between its applications. But just because you can do this doesn’t mean you should. Vector files should still be created in Illustrator, and raster images should be saved in Photoshop. Not only will you be able to maintain control of these elements, but you’ll be saved from having to update every single occurrence of a given element in multi-page documents. Keep a given graphic in a separate Illustrator or Photoshop file, and you’ll be able to update all occurrences of it with one click.
Every image in an InDesign document can be viewed from the Links palette. Bring it up by going to Window → Links or by pressing Command/Control + Shift + D .
You can update placed images or check their locations directly from the Links palette. To bring up the Links menu, select the name of the image and click on the arrow to the right.
Working With Color
InDesign is set up exactly like Illustrator in terms of using colors. You have the option of working with color sliders directly, and in either RGB or CMYK mode (remember to use CMYK if creating a document for print!). Press F5 to bring up the Color palette, and adjust the CMYK values in the sliders to change the color of the fill or stroke.
You could also select a color from the Swatches palette or add a new swatch. Bring up the Swatches palette by pressing F6 . Saving a color as a swatch makes sense if you use it frequently. Alternatively, you could import swatches that you’ve already created in Illustrator or Photoshop.
You can also select spot colors from existing libraries, such as Pantone’s. But keep this in mind: if the document will be printed in CMYK only, without using Pantone colors, then you’re better off converting the colors to CMYK so that you get an accurate preview of the result.
Use The Right Black
There seems to be some confusion about the use of rich black, which is made up of all CMYK colors (for example, 40, 40, 30, 100). Rich black is excellent for large areas of black, such as logos and black backgrounds. It prevents fading (to a dull gray), which is especially useful for outdoor posters and flyers.
However, body text should always be in process black 100% K) to avoid trapping problems. For the same reason, registration black (which is composed of 100% CMYK) should never be used for body text or thin lines.
Paragraph and Character Styles
The ability to create custom paragraph and character styles is an excellent time-saving feature. This pane is visible in the work area by default, and if you’ve hidden it for some reason, you can bring it up by pressing Command/Control + F11 . You can create styles exactly to your liking using many options; and then you can apply them to a portion of text with just one click.
Character styles work in a similar way, but they don’t have to be separated by the paragraph indents. This is very useful for highlighting words and phrases in a paragraph. You can even embed a character style in a paragraph and then define variables to apply it to certain words or before certain characters.
Special Characters
Special characters — an apparently underused InDesign feature — include things like date, page numbers and the “page 1 of (x)” format. Special characters free you from having to insert this data by hand (or having to modify it by hand whenever significant changes are in order).
In small documents, minor changes are not a major undertaking, but imagine working on a 164-page catalog or a 200-page book. Manually changing all of the page numbers would be a big hassle (trust me: I know from personal experience). To insert special characters, go to the Edit menu.
Alternatively, simply right-click on active text to bring up the menu. Explore the options; you can insert a variety of symbols, dashes, spaces and indents through this menu, including the very useful “Indent to here.”
Glyphs
These are worth mentioning. With them, you can explore all of the characters in a font, which is handy when you’re looking for a particular symbol or working in a language that has accented characters.
Use Find/Change
Another extremely useful feature for text-heavy documents is Find/Change. I don’t know about you, but in my experience, the longer the text, the greater the chance that the client will ask me to replace all occurrences of a certain phrase or title. When you have a fully laid-out 192-page book with footnotes, glossary and index, the task of manually replacing phrases is rather daunting.
In such cases, smart use of Find/Change comes to the rescue. You can find it under the Edit menu or press Command/Control + F . If it’s an unusual phrase or title, this is fairly easy: type the original phrase and the new one, and hit “Replace all.” There are advanced options to replace hyphens, em dashes and quotation marks as well.
If it’s something complex, such as a word that has to be changed only in titles, you can use the advanced options to isolate some distinguishing feature. For example, if the titles are in a different font than the body text, you can use that. Use the font options in the “Find format” box.
You could include things like empty spaces and paragraph breaks in your search if you know, for example, that the word that has to change is followed by a space. Insert these special characters by clicking the “@” arrow to the right of the Find box, or search for a particular glyph by going to the Glyph tab. Replacing glyphs one by one might be best, so that you can monitor your work and progress.
You can even search for objects by using specific formatting options. For example, if all of your frames have a black stroke, and would like to remove the stroke, you can do so by selecting the appropriate options in the Object tab of the Find/Change box.
Of course, if you use Object Styles, which work like Paragraph Styles, then you don’t need this feature. Still, it’s the fastest way to do it if you’ve forgotten to save the style, or if you’re working on a document created by someone else or if you want to change one detail that’s common to several different saved styles.
Toggle The Preview
Instead of hiding all the guides, you can hit the W key (make sure the text tool isn’t active) to quickly toggle between the document view and the working (or “Normal”) view, which has all of the margins, guides and outlines. I frequently use it for composition checks, because guides tend to distract from the big picture.
Data Import Feature
Few people think this feature is handy. Yet many of us frequently work with tables given to us by clients. The one I run into most often is the Excel spreadsheet of price listings and item features, which I have to make presentable for a catalog or sales collateral. Many designers recreate these tables from scratch to make them clean and attractive, but this can be time-consuming, especially with large tables.
There is a better way. InDesign has an “Import table” feature. You can import the client’s table from Excel and style it however you want. Use the “Place file” option in the File menu (or Command/Control + D ), select “Show import options,” and you’ll be able to define the cells to import on the next screen and then style them as a group.
Learn By Doing
Theory is great, and articles like this one can give you quick useful tips, but the best way to learn is by practice. If you are new to InDesign, try this: use an existing layout as a guide (anything you want: a page from a magazine, a poster or a business card), and try to recreate it from scratch. Familiarize yourself with the tools, menus and options. If you get stuck, you can always search for tips and tutorials or ask a friend.
Adobe InDesign is a versatile application, and there is always something new to learn. Have fun exploring it!
Want To Know More?
Here are a few articles that go into more detail on some of the topics we just covered:
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InDesign Tips and Tricks to speed up your designing process
I am pretty obsessed with optimization. Optimizing your processes means that you save time that you can then use to focus on what matters and have the freedom to improve your skills and creativity, which is what you should be doing rather than repeating the same task over and over.
I am constantly working with teams from all over the world, helping them to organize the way they produce their marketing material, and there are a few things I always mention before actually digging into my favorite topic – multilingual projects.
InDesign gives you many tools that can both improve your work experience with little effort and save precious time.
Update: I wrote a document with 30 practical tips, you can download it for free by clicking on the banner below:
30 practical tips for InDesign users Download the free ebook
Well begun is half done
Using Aristotle’s words, if you do something well at the beginning, you are halfway to a successful end.
1. Create a Style Sheet for your styles
Paragraph Styles are the single most useful feature in InDesign. Integrating this feature can improve your productivity tremendously and reduce the time you spend on laying out your documents. If you haven’t mastered them already, you should learn them ASAP (check out our tutorial on InDesign Paragraph Styles).
Although paragraph styles are very practical, help you with creating a better layout and save lots of time, many InDesign users don’t use them – even when they know them and they understand the advantages. Why is that?
Creating all the styles in a document might be a huge effort and sometimes it might look like it makes little sense. But styles are very important for keeping your layout consistent, applying changes effectively, or using features like Table of Contents or Hyperlinks.
Over the years, I came up with a very practical way of structuring my styles, and I noticed I kept repeating the same structure over and over in all my documents. Despite having a regular format, it generally took me from 3 to 4 hours to structure my styles on an average project.
That was a complete waste of time because I was literally always creating the same identical structure. The little things that were always changing were the Font Families used for the titles and the body (and of course some smallest things like spaces before paragraphs and so on).
So I created a Style Sheet that I could use as a starting point for any of my projects. You can download it from this post where I also explained how my InDesign paragraph styles are structured.
You can start your projects directly from the Style Sheet, or you can use it as a reference to create your InDesign document and import the styles from the document.
Besides the time you’ll save at start-up – this first InDesign tip reduced my start-up time from 3, 4 hours to 1 hour or even less – you’ll make sure your styles are set up correctly and no setting is missing (hyphenation, language, etc.), and by setting up “based on” and “next style” in your paragraph styles, you’ll be able to speed up the entire creation of the document.
2. Use InDesign templates
If you often work in documents that have the same layout or even content (like a user manual, a magazine, or a newsletter, etc.), you might want to expand the Style Sheet concept we’ve seen above into templates and add master pages, margins, grid lines, common parts, etc.
A template is an InDesign document that when opened, it opens as a new untitled document.
Starting your projects from a template has a clear time benefit, but it’s also great when you are working in a team because it ensures that everybody starts the project from the same place, and a consistent structure among all the files produced by the team allows each participant to work on the document more efficiently.
Clearly, you don't need to work only on your documents, but you can also download an InDesign template (in the link you'll find the best I found online) and start working from there.
Layout the content quickly
Next step after creating a solid base for your project is to import the content into your document quickly. Paragraph Styles really make a huge difference here, but there are other features that can help you, whether you are working on a book, a user manual, a catalog, or you are typing directly in InDesign.
3. Use primary text option
Most of the time, especially with books or user manuals, the text comes from a pre-formatted document either as a Word file or an RTF file.
Your job is then to import this text into your document and give it the right style.
If you’ve done it before, you know how much time it takes to create all the pages and the text flow correctly in the document.
This task is something that InDesign can do itself – with just a few clicks you can import the text and let InDesign automatically create the pages and the threaded text-frames. Like magic!
To do so, you need to set up your master pages, create a text-frame in each page of the master, thread the text, and activate the “Primary Text Frame” function. Next, you can import the text in InDesign. Find the step-by-step tutorial in this post about master pages in InDesign.
This procedure can save you loads of time and almost completely automate the process of importing your text.
If you have to work with a Word file, you might want to check out our tutorial on how to import a Word file to InDesign.
4. Data merge
Data merge is an amazing timesaver, and it is one of those features that many InDesign users don’t know about.
With data merge you can instantly layout hundreds of pages that have a “repetitive layout” – like business cards, certificates or even catalogs – starting from a spreadsheet and a template.
I use it every time I create a catalog because:
It makes the creation faster
It ensures my layout is consistent
It prevents mistakes
It allows me to outsource some tasks to my client
Next time you are creating a catalog, analyze the layout of your document and where you are going to place each piece of information. Break the document down into several parts if you need more templates. Make your client (or colleague) fill out an Excel file with the data you need (Prepare the Excel document so that you can use it in the data merge process).
I already wrote a step-by-step guide on how to use data merge in InDesign – have a look if you want to understand more about this amazing feature.
5. Use “Next Style”
We’ve seen how to import text or data inside your InDesign document but what if you pasted some text and you’d like to set up the styles quickly?
This is another of those times in which Paragraph Styles come to the rescue and makes everything easier and faster. We’ve seen above that you can make your text look consistent and great by applying paragraph styles to your text.
With the function “Next Style” you can apply different styles to many selected paragraphs (see here how).
“Next Style” also works when typing in InDesign. Hit “return” and InDesign will use the selected “Next Style” in the new paragraph.
6. Learn how to use Anchored Object
Anchoring objects allows you to create amazing automations in InDesign. For example, you could create a label that automatically resize its width when the text changes.
InDesign tips to improve cooperation
7. Use book files
Book files is another of those features that very few people use. A book is a special type of file that works as a collector to which you can link your InDesign documents.
You can use book files to break down a publication so that it’s lighter to work on, and also it allows other coworkers to work on the same document since it’s divided into separate files.
Check out this tutorial on how InDesign book files work and how you can use them to their best.
Create the final documents quickly
8. Use conditional text
Conditional text is a nice solution when you need to create different versions of the same document.
In an InDesign document, you can apply conditions to parts of a text, and then decide to show or hide these parts.
Starting from pricing lists, to user manuals, conditional text is very handy.
If you had to create a Mac and a Windows version of a given document, you could create a condition for Mac and one for Windows, and activate one of the two when necessary. Or if you had a catalog or a price list, you could insert prices into different currencies and then set conditions in order to visualize Euros, Dollars, Pounds, etc.
You can even use conditions to hide or show entire sections of a document. Let’s say you are working on a user manual of an Air Conditioner. These machines are often produced with two types of motors (EC and Inverter). You could use conditional text to hide or show the instructions for one of the two motors.
Check this video to get a better understanding of how conditional text works and how to use it.
Here alternatively is the official Adobe User Guide.
9. Use PDF presets
A PDF preset is a group of settings that affect the creation of a PDF. InDesign already has a few presets, but they don’t always fit a designer’s needs.
If you find yourself needing to frequently change the PDF export setting (like adding Marks or Bleeds to the PDF), then you might want to create your own preset.
From the PDF export window, you can easily create a customized preset. Edit the settings and then click on “Save Preset.”
This simple tip might not save hours in a single use, but it’s going to be a consistent timesaving tip. Also, you’ll make sure you won’t forget to change any setting.
10. Batch export PDFs
This InDesign tip is the one that people generally appreciate the most.
Do you ever have to convert several InDesign files to PDF?
That is a tedious job and a complete waste of your time!
Luckily, there is a solution for that, and it’s a script that batch converts your document contained into a folder.
Check the script here.
Take a course to learn all the tips
The best way of learning all the new InDesign tips and features is to take a course from an expert guru. I know, there are so many choices out there, and you never know which instructor you should trust. But luckily for you, I just made a list of the best InDesign courses there are out there (I already took them, so you are safe)! Even more, here is a helpful list with 48 different InDesign tutorials.
Share your InDesign Tips
Do you have any tips you’d love to share?
Drop it as a comment so that we can add it to this post and make sure that everybody who reads this list will learn about it!
