InDesign

Day 1: Modules 1 & 2

Course Reference Handout

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InDesign CC DAY 1  Cloning Objects: Hold Alt/Option while
dragging with the Selection tool.
Navigation Shortcuts
 100% view: Double-click the Zoom tool or Ctrl
Grouping Objects
1
To lock together pieces of an illustrator together,
 Fit in Window view: Double-click the Hand
select the objects, then choose Group from the object
tool or Ctrl 0.
menu.
 Hand tool: Hold the spacebar and drag when
using any tool except the text tool.
Groups allow you to:
 Hold Alt/Option and drag to access the Hand
 Scale, rotate, or move objects together.
tool when using the Text tool.
 Use the Direct Selection tool to choose
 Zoom in: Ctrl + Zoom out: Ctrl –
member of a group.
 Double-clicking on the group with the
Using Panels
Selection Tool also allows you to choose
Many Panels are stored in the Window menu, but
members of a group. When finished just
InDesign also stores Panels in many other menus, too.
double-click on a blank area to deselect and
have the objects grouped again.
 Expand/Contract Dock: Click on the double
 Choose Ungroup if you wish to break the
white arrows on top of the Panels.
group apart again, but remember to ungroup
 Separate Panels by dragging from the name of
as many times as you group.
the Panel.
 Group Panels together by dragging from the
To Group Objects Together: Ctrl G, or go to Object
name of the Panel to the middle of any other
menu > Group OR Right-click and Choose Group
Panel.
 Stack Panels by dragging to the bottom of
To Ungroup Objects: Shift Ctrl G, or go to Object
another Panel.
menu > Ungroup
 Tab: Hide/show all Panels
 Shift-Tab: Hide all Panels except Tools and
Deleting Objects
Control Panel.
To delete an object, select it, and then choose Delete
 Access Panel Menus by clicking on the triangle
on the keyboard.
in the upper right-hand corner of a Panel.
 Save Panel Arrangements: Window >
Workspace > Save Workspace>Name Panel. Applying Fill and Stroke Color
To change the Fill Color of Shape:
 Select the object.
Using Tools
 Double-click on the Fill color button in the
To learn a shortcut or to view the name of a tool, just
lower part of the toolbar to activate Color
hover your cursor over a tool until a tool tip appears.
Picker > Choose Color (or add color code).
The letter displayed in parenthesis can be pressed to
 Choose a color from the Color Panel or
quickly choose a tool. For example, press H to choose
Swatches Panel.
the Hand tool, or Z to access the Zoom tool.
To change the Stroke Color of an object:
 Hidden Tools: To access tool hidden below
 Select the Object.
other tools, right-click on a tool icon.
 Double-click on the Stroke color button in the
toolbar
Selecting Multiple Objects:
 Choose a color.
Use the Selection tool (or hold Control) and click on
the first object. Hold Shift and click to add additional
objects to the selection. Shift can also deselect if you
click on an object that is already selected. You can also
drag around objects to select multiple objects.
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New Document When placing text, hold Shift to activate Autoflow,
 Create new documents by choosing New which will continue to place text into threaded text
Document in the File menu (or Ctrl/Cmd+N). frames and add pages until the entire text file has
 Choose page size, orientation, facing pages, been completely placed into the document.
margins, bleeds and slugs. To change these
settings later, use the Properties Panel. Text Wrapping
 Document Presets: Click Save in the New Select objects and click on buttons in the Text Wrap
Document dialog box to save settings. Panel or Properties Panel to force text to flow around
objects automatically.
Ruler Guides
 Turn Rule on: View>Show Ruler (Ctrl/Cmd+R) Default Preferences
 Create ruler guides by dragging from the Change preferences when NO DOCUMENT IS OPEN
horizontal or vertical ruler. and the preference settings will become the default
 To delete a guide, click on it with the Selection preferences for all future new documents.
tool, then click Delete.
 To position a guide precisely, use the Default Swatches and Text Styles
Transform Panel. Select the guide and then
Create new color swatches or text styles when NO
type in x or y values. Hit Enter to make it take
DOCUMENT IS OPEN and the new styles and swatches
effect.
will appear in any new documents you create.

Using Text Frames

Text is contained within boxes called Text Frames. Placing Pictures
Create text frames by:  Use Ctrl/Cmd+D or choose Place in the File
menu and choose any number of pictures.
 Dragging with the Text tool if you wish to type
or paste text.  Click in the document to place the picture. A
rectangular picture frame is generated
 You can also create text frames automatically
automatically, unless you click on a shape
when you place text files. (Choose Place in the
(which turns the shape into a picture frame).
File menu, choose a text file and click in the
upper corner of the margins.)  Click and drag the cursor on the canvas to
draw the size and placement of placed image.
Creating Threaded Text Frames
 Click on a text box with the Selection tool, and  You can also create a Frame from the Tools
use the In Port and Out Port (lower right of Panel and place the image inside the Frame.
text frame) to create additional text frames
that precede or follow a text frame. Working with Pictures
Viewing Text Threads  Images in InDesign consist of the Frame and
 Choose View Text Threads in the View menu, Image object. When selecting an image, the
and select a text frame. frame is chosen by default. If you want to
Placing Text Files choose the image, click on the “circle” in the
 Use Ctrl/Cmd+D or choose Place in the File center. This will isolate the image from the
menu and choose a text file. frame.
 Click in the document to place the text file. A  In order to select BOTH Frame and Image,
rectangular text frame is generated choose “Autofit” from the Properties Panel OR
automatically, unless you click on a shape use the Selection tool with Ctrl Shift to resize
(which turns the shape into a text frame). the picture and frame proportionally.
 To rotate an image move cursor outside of
corner bounding box and drag in a circular
Autoflowing Text direction of where you want to rotate image.

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Shape Tools Transparency Panel
When using the Ellipse, Rectangle, Polygon tool: Use the Transparency Panel to change the opacity of
 Click on the Shape icon you want to create. objects or to apply Blending Modes to objects. You
 Drag to create a shape, or click and let go to can also change Transparency from the Control Panel
enter values in a dialog box to create a shape and Properties Panel.
with a precise size. (Double-click the polygon
tool to change its settings, such as the number Feathered Edges
of sides) To create soft edges on shapes (such as rectangles,
 Hold Shift to constrain the height and width to ellipses, or polygons) select the object, then choose
equal amounts. Feather from the Fx menu on the Control Panel or
 Hold Alt/Option + Shift to draw a shape from Properties Panel. To change settings or remove
its center point. feathering, select the object and choose Feather again
 The Polygon tool also creates Stars. Double- from the Fx menu.
click the tool to change settings, or use Arrow
keys while dragging with the Polygon tool. Drop Shadows
Up and Down arrows change the number of To create soft shadows on shapes, text, or picture
points on a star, or the frames select the object, then choose Drop Shadow
number of sides in a polygon. The left and from the Fx menu. To change settings or remove drop
right arrows change the shadows, select the object and choose Drop Shadow
amount of star angle. again from the Fx menu.

Control Panel Working with Master Pages

Use the New Control Panel to choose options from the Use Master Pages to automate the creation of
following Panels: Character, Paragraph, Stroke, Table, documents with any objects that repeat throughout
Align, and Transform Panels. Access from Window the document. Master pages are commonly used for
Menu. page numbers, headers, footers, background colors,
background graphics, and decorative borders.
Stroke Panel  Every new document has one master page by
Use the Stroke Panel to choose line weights and default.
options such as double lines, dotted lines and dashed  Use the pages Panel to create additional
lines for any path. This could affect any shape, pen or master pages.
pencil path, text or picture frame. Access from  Choose Duplicate or New Master in the Page
Window Menu. Panel submenu.
 To name a master page, select it, and then go
Align Panel to the Pages Panel submenu and choose
Use the Align Panel (Window > Object & Layout Master Page Options.
menu) to center or line up edges or distribute the
Page Numbering
spacing between objects.
To insert an automatic page number:
 Go to the Master page.
Transform Panel  Create a Text Frame with the Text tool.
Use the Transform Panel to change the width and
 Choose Type menu > Insert Special Character
height of objects, scale by percentage or rotate or
> Markers > Current Page Number.
skew objects.
Pages Panel
Shortcut: To scale to a set width or height while
Use the Pages Panel to create pages, navigate to
maintaining proportions, type in either the height or
pages, sort pages, and assign master pages to
width into the Transform Panel and type
document pages.
Ctrl/Cmd+Enter to scale in proportion.
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  Create pages by dragging a master page icon
into the Pages Panel, or by choosing Insert
Pages in the Pages Panel submenu.
 Double-click to navigate to a page in the Pages
Panel.
 To assign master pages to a page, drag the
master on top of the page in the Pages Panel.

Shortcuts
 Alternate between preview mode and normal
mode: W
 Presentation Mode: Shift+W
 Increase text size: Ctrl/Cmd+Shift-Alt/Option-
>
 Decrease text size:
Ctrl/Cmd+Shift-Alt/Option-<

NOTES

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