InDesign is showing way too many decimal places after measurements, and I can’t find a way to change that number of places.
This is a problem with the version of the OS you are using. With the first release of the Intel/Mac computer, there was a bug with the OS that made InDesign display a large number of decimal digits. The latest version of the OS, 10.4.8 solved that problem. If you update to 10.4.8, the problem disappears.
How can I reduce the size of my images (and therefore files) for digital copying?
Here’s one way to reduce the images to only the resolution/size that’s necessary; if done correctly, this will not affect print quality. After you complete your design, use the Direct Selection tool to select the image on the page in InDesign. When an image is selected with this tool, the Control palette will display the percentage of the original size of the image that is being implemented in the design. Copy that percentage, or remember the number. Then right-click (or Control-click on the Mac) on the image and choose Edit Original. When the image opens in Photoshop*, use the percentage number to reduce the size of the image (using the Image > Image Size command), making sure that the resolution stays at 300dpi. Save and close the image. When you go back to InDesign, the image will be smaller in size, thereby reducing your total file size, but the visual size and placement of the image will remain the same.
*If the image wasn't originally edited in Photoshop, open and save it in Photoshop, and then try again from the beginning of this suggestion.
I want to update my Master A page using the formatting from a “regular” page in my layout. I drag the page to the Master A box, but it creates a new master page, Master B. How can I get it to update Master A instead? Why do I need both a Master A and a Master B page?
There are two questions here.
First, to update your Master A page, you can make your adjustments directly on that page, as you would make changes anywhere. (You can open it by double-clicking on it in the Pages palette.) If you have already made adjustments to a regular page, and you want those to appear on the master page, then select all of the elements that you want to have on your master page, and then cut or copy them from the regular page. Go to the master page, and then choose Edit > Paste In Place. If you copied, rather than cut, the elements from the regular page, and the regular page has that master applied to it, then you should go back to the regular page and delete the original elements to avoid doubling.
Second, why do you need more than one master page? Well, you might not – but you can have as many master pages as you would like in any document, and sometimes that could be helpful. For example, you might have pages that will contain graphics, and you want those pages to have a different look than others. Or you might want to leave more space on certain pages, or have a different header. For example, if you are creating a workbook, you may have a pattern of pages: an explanation page, an example page, and then a practice page – and each might benefit from a different layout. Using a different master page for each type makes for a fast, efficient, and consistent layout.
How do I get the first spread in a document to have more than one page?
Create a new document with two or more facing pages. Select the first page in the document in the Pages palette, and choose “Keep Spread Together” from the palette menu. Still in the Pages palette, drag a second page towards the first page, and drop it when a black line appears next to that first page.
You may also want to deselect the “Allow Pages to Shuffle” option in the Pages palette menu. If the first page of a document within a Book falls on the left side of the fold of a facing page setup, you may need to use the Section Numbering options also found in the Pages palette menu.
How do I make a custom-sized gatefold layout?
Read the answer to the question above (“How do I get the first spread in a document to have more than one page?”). Follow the same instructions, but select a two-paged spread before you choose “Keep Spread together” from the Pages palette menu. After that, you can drag and drop an additional page in the same way as above.
Note that gatefolds require extra planning and communication between the designer and those responsible for final output. You need to determine the precise size of the narrow page and the method to adjust for the smaller trim.
First, depending on the weight of the stock and the binding method, the page width is usually reduced by 1/16 to 1/8 inch. For example, a text weight 6-page newsletter that folds to 8 1/2 x 11 inches will often measure 25 7/16 inches wide. The same newsletter printed on cover stock would likely measure 25 3/8 inches. Printers are usually prepared to offer specific dimensions.
The second issue can be resolved several ways, and should be determined by the preferences of both the designer and the output service. Many designers prefer to set up a 3-panel document as a single page. The printer should have no problem with this approach.
If the spread will be composed of individual pages, the complexity of the design comes to bear on the way page content is placed to compensate for the short trim. If artwork crosses over a fold, it makes sense to place the excess trim on one side of the page; i.e., only one page margin should be changed. On the other hand, when there are empty left and right margins on all pages, some printers may prefer the page content to be centered. In either case, final page margins and gutters in multicolumn text should remain consistent regardless of each pages actual width.
Finally, one tip to keep gatefold page files tidy is to place all guides on a separate layer.
Is there any way to access a history palette in InDesign, like the one in Photoshop or Illustrator?
Sorry, InDesign CS2 doesn’t have a history palette. You can get that functionality from DTPTools.com.
Why does InDesign crash so much while updating linked files? Are any of the graphics formats (JPG, PSD, TIF, etc.) more stable than others?
Sorry we can’t answer this question easily and directly. InDesign is not specifically unstable during the process of updating linked files. If that is happening with you, there is some other cause that needs to be identified. Be sure to save the crash logs in case you might want to examine them or share them with Adobe Tech Support if you contact them. Try to pinpoint whether the behavior occurs with every single file or just a certain one (or few). Do you lose content in these files?
One thing it can be very helpful to do is try to identify corrupt elements in your file by isolation. For example, if you’re having trouble with one multipage file, start by creating copies of it and then “splitting” it by removing the first half of the pages from one copy and the other half of the pages from a second copy. If one of the halves “behaves properly,” then the problem is somewhere in the other half. You can continue to split the file until you find the problem element, which may have become corrupted.
Also remember to perform “basic system maintenance” to be sure you are working from a clean base. Restart your system, empty the trash, make sure you’ve got enough free disk space and memory. See if the problem occurs with a new, simple, small file with basic elements (one imported graphic, only system fonts, etc.).
When I open a PC version of an InDesign document on a Mac, I get so many file and font problems. 1 out of 4 times we switch operating systems, InDesign messes up the file.
Again, sorry we can’t give you a quick, one-size-fits-all solution for this. And, again, InDesign is not specifically unstable during the process of cross-platform file transfer. But until the advent of OpenType, fonts have not been notoriously compatible across platforms. In other words, fonts – even PostScript fonts, which were the gold standard for quite a long time – were different on Mac and PC. For “identical transfer” you would have had to be sure to have the fonts installed properly (and, it need not be said, completely separately) on both platforms, and even then, the same typeface might behave slightly differently or have different spacing on the different platforms.
OpenType fonts are cross-platform compatible and should not give you those problems (though the still need to be installed correctly on either platform, and the proper installation and location of fonts is another whole subject for another night, but search the IDUG message archives for some good information on font management).
You might also want to make sure that nothing else is interfering with the proper transfer of files. See the question above for some quick tips about isolating problem elements in files and trying to get “clean” files to help identify problems.
Finally, consider using the interchange (.inx) format (File >Export) to transfer your file. This may provide you with a simpler, “cleaner” file.
How do I combine documents?
Open both documents and, in the Pages palette, select any or all of the pages from the second document. Drag and drop them to the main window of the first document.
How do I get “hanging quotes”?
You can “hang” the quotes outside the text block or column by using the Optical Margin Alignment command (choose Type > Story and then check the checkbox).
Or, you can use the Indent To Here command. Insert your text cursor after the first quotation mark, and choose Type > Insert Special Character > Insert To Here, or just press Command/Ctrl + \ .
Can I insert PDFs from various sources into my InDesign booklet layout?
You can place a one-page PDF file into your InDesign document just as you would any other graphic or text file, using File > Place.
How do I know I’m using the right colors (both number of colors and the correct PMS colors) when outputting?
Most importantly, pay attention to the Swatches palette. This is the primary place for seeing what you’ve got, and what you’ve got to change or get rid of. Choose Select All Unused from the Swatches palette menu. You can delete these unused colors before sending the file to your printer. You can map duplicate spot colors or convert them to CMYK using the Ink Manager (from the Separations Preview palette menu or from the Swatches palette menu). Use Separations Preview (Window > Output > Separations Preview) to find where colors were used.
You’ll be able to see for yourself if you’ve got duplicate colors, which might result in undesired extra plates. To know if you’re using the correct colors, you might need to talk with your print service provider.
Is there a way to search for a color that is not used in text (for example, a table or a rule)?
There is not a specific search function that will tell you this information (though, as a reminder, the Find/Change function lets you search for various formats and styles as well as perform specifically character-based searches).
But you might be able to determine colors that are not used by seeing very specifically what colors are used; open the Separations Preview palette to see what plates would be generated in your InDesign file.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the book function?
A book file is a collection of documents that can share styles and swatches. You can sequentially number pages in booked documents, print selected documents in a book, or export them to PDF. One document can belong to multiple book files. Using the book feature can help you keep the parts of a long document consistent yet also makes it very easy to make global changes. Most people agree that the benefits are more than worth the setup time.
One of the documents added to a book file is the style source. By default, the style source is the first document in the book, but you can select a new style source at any time. When you synchronize documents in a book, the specified styles and swatches from the style source replace those in other booked documents.
For more information on how to work with the Book feature, go to the Help Menu in InDesign and select InDesign Help. In the search field, type “book files.”
You can learn more about this feature from Michael Murphy’s “The insider” video podcasts. Michael recorded a series of 3 podcasts on this subject.
theInDesigner.com
To Track or Not to Track
theindesigner.com
theInDesigner Podcast on iTunes
Direct link to the podcast through iTunes
Podcast
Is there a way to change the default table style or style multiple tables all at once?
If you do a lot of table formatting, take a look at the plug-in “TableStyles and CellStyles” from Teacup Software.
How do I create auto page numbers that show the total number, i.e. “page # of X pages”?
InDesign has no built-in feature to achieve the required result. Recommendation from a group member: InDesign is fully scriptable, so you might be a able to create a JavaScript that looks for the total number of pages in a document and inserts that value in a “Total number” variable.
If you’re not interested in scripting, you can still use the “Insert special character” feature to add an auto page number, and then manually type of the total number of pages, all within a text box on the master page.
