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ADOBE INDESIGN CS3
®

USER GUIDE

Adobe® InDesign® CS3 User Guide for Windows® and Mac OS
If this guide is distributed with software that includes an end user agreement, this guide, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or
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Certain Spelling portions of this product are based on Proximity Linguistic Technology. ©Copyright 1990 Merriam-Webster Inc. ©Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Proximity
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©Copyright 1984 William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. ©Copyright 1988 All rights reserved.Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New
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iii

Contents
Chapter 1: Getting started
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Adobe Help

............................................................................... 2

Resources

................................................................................ 5

What’s new

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 2: Workspace
Workspace basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Customize menus and keyboard shortcuts
Toolbox

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Viewing the workspace

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Setting preferences

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Recovery and undo

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 3: Layout
Creating documents

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Creating custom page sizes
Rulers and measurement units
Grids

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Ruler guides

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Pages and spreads
Masters
Layers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Laying out frames and pages

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Numbering pages, chapters, and sections
Text variables

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 4: Working with documents
Working with files and templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Saving documents

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Converting QuarkXPress and PageMaker documents
Exporting

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Chapter 5: Text
Creating text and text frames
Adding text to frames

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Importing text

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Threading text

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Text frame properties

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Editing text

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Find/Change

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Glyphs and special characters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Spell-checking and language dictionaries
Footnotes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Chapter 6: Styles
Paragraph and character styles
Drop caps and nested styles
Object styles

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Working with styles

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Chapter 7: Combining text and objects
Anchored objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Wrapping text around objects
Creating type on a path

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Chapter 8: Typography
Formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Using fonts
Leading

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Kerning and tracking

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Formatting characters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Formatting paragraphs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Aligning text
Indents
Tabs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Bullets and numbering
Composing text

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Chapter 9: Tables
Creating tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Selecting and editing tables
Formatting tables

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Table strokes and fills
Table and cell styles

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Chapter 10: Long document features
Creating book files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Creating a table of contents
Creating an index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Working with markers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Chapter 11: Drawing
Understanding paths and shapes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Drawing with the line or shape tools
Drawing with the Pencil tool
Drawing with the Pen tool
Editing paths

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Applying line (stroke) settings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Compound paths and shapes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Chapter 12: Graphics
Understanding graphics formats

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Importing files from Adobe applications
Importing other graphics formats
Placing graphics

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Managing graphics links
Object libraries

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Chapter 13: Frames and objects
Selecting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Transforming objects

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Aligning and distributing objects

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Grouping, locking, and duplicating objects
Working with frames and objects
Clipping paths

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Chapter 14: Transparency effects
Adding transparency effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Blending colors

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Flattening transparent artwork

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Chapter 15: Color
Understanding spot and process colors
Applying color

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Working with swatches
Importing swatches
Tints

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Gradients

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Mixing inks

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Using colors from imported graphics
Chapter 16: Color management
Understanding color management
Keeping colors consistent

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Color-managing imported images

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Color-managing documents for online viewing
Proofing colors

Color-managing documents when printing
Working with color profiles
Color settings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Chapter 17: Trapping color
Trapping documents and books
Trap presets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Adjusting ink options for trapping

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Chapter 18: Creating Adobe PDF files
Exporting to Adobe PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Adobe PDF options

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Preparing PDFs for service providers
Structuring PDFs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Adding hyperlinks for PDFs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Including bookmarks in PDFs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Using movies and sounds in PDFs
Creating buttons for PDFs
Chapter 19: XML
Working with XML
Importing XML

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Tagging content for XML

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Structuring documents for XML
Exporting XML

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Chapter 20: Printing
Printing documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
Setting up a printer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Printer’s marks and bleeds

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Printing thumbnails and oversized documents
Printing in color

Printing graphics and fonts
Managing color

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Printing gradients and color blends
Print presets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Handing off files

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

Creating PostScript and EPS files
Printing booklets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Chapter 21: Color separations
Preparing to print separations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
Overprinting

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Previewing color separations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Inks, separations, and screen frequency

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Chapter 22: Automation
Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Plug-ins

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Data merge

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592

Merging records

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

vii

Chapter 23: Sharing content between InCopy and InDesign
Understanding a basic managed-file workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Sharing content

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Assignment packages

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Working with managed files
Adjusting your workflow

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

Chapter 24: Comparison of PageMaker and InDesign menus
PageMaker menu commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Chapter 25: Keyboard shortcuts
Default keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Chapter 1: Getting started
If you haven’t installed your new software, begin by reading some information on installation and other preliminaries. Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read an overview of Adobe® Help and
of the many resources available to users. You have access to instructional videos, plug-ins, templates, user communities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.

Installation
Requirements
❖ To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software, see the Read Me file

on the installation disc.

Install the software
1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.
2 Insert the installation disc into the disc drive, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Note: For more information, see the Read Me file on the installation disc.

Activate the software
If you have a single-user retail license for your Adobe software, you will be asked to activate your software; this is a
simple, anonymous process that you must complete within 30 days of starting the software.
For more information on product activation, see the Read Me file on your installation disc, or visit the Adobe website
at www.adobe.com/go/activation.
1 If the Activation dialog box isn’t already open, choose Help > Activate.
2 Follow the on-screen instructions.

Note: If you want to install the software on a different computer, you must first deactivate it on your computer. Choose
Help > Deactivate.

Register
Register your product to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates, and other services.
❖ To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install and

activate the software.
If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

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Read Me
The installation disc contains the Read Me file for your software. (This file is also copied to the application folder
during product installation.) Open the file to read important information about the following topics:

• System requirements
• Installation (including uninstalling the software)
• Activation and registration
• Font installation
• Troubleshooting
• Customer support
• Legal notices

Adobe Help
Adobe Help resources
Documentation for your Adobe software is available in a variety of formats.
In-product and LiveDocs Help

In-product Help provides access to all documentation and instructional content available at the time the software
ships. It is available through the Help menu in your Adobe software.
LiveDocs Help includes all the content from in-product Help, plus updates and links to additional instructional
content available on the web. For some products, you can also add comments to the topics in LiveDocs Help. Find
LiveDocs Help for your product in the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation.

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User Guide

Most versions of in-product and LiveDocs Help let you search across the Help systems of multiple products. Topics
may also contain links to relevant content on the web or to topics in the Help of another product.
Think of Help, both in the product and on the web, as a hub for accessing additional content and communities of
users. The most complete and up-to-date version of Help is always on the web.
Adobe PDF documentation

The in-product Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. Other documents, such as installation
guides and white papers, may also be provided as PDFs.
All PDF documentation is available through the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation. To see the PDF documentation included with your software, look in the Documents folder on the installation
or content DVD.
Printed documentation

Printed editions of the in-product Help are available for purchase in the Adobe Store, at www.adobe.com/go/store.
You can also find books published by Adobe publishing partners in the Adobe Store.
A printed workflow guide is included with all Adobe Creative Suite® 3 products, and stand-alone Adobe products
may include a printed getting started guide.

Using Help in the product
In-product Help is available through the Help menu. After you start the Adobe Help Viewer, click Browse to see Help
for additional Adobe products installed on your computer.
These Help features facilitate cross-product learning:

• Topics may contain links to the Help systems of other Adobe products or to additional content on the web.
• Some topics are shared across two or more products. For instance, if you see a Help topic with an Adobe
Photoshop® CS3 icon and an Adobe After Effects® CS3 icon, you know that the topic either describes functionality
that is similar in the two products or describes cross-product workflows.

• You can search across the Help systems of multiple products.
If you search for a phrase, such as “shape tool,” enclose it in quotation marks to see only those topics that include all
the words in the phrase.

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User Guide

C
D

Adobe Help
A. Back/Forward buttons (previously visited links) B. Expandable subtopics C. Icons indicating shared topic D. Previous/Next buttons (topics
in sequential order)

Accessibility features

Adobe Help content is accessible to people with disabilities—such as mobility impairments, blindness, and low
vision. In-product Help supports these standard accessibility features:

• The user can change text size with standard context menu commands.
• Links are underlined for easy recognition.
• If link text doesn’t match the title of the destination, the title is referenced in the Title attribute of the Anchor tag.
For example, the Previous and Next links include the titles of the previous and next topics.

• Content supports high-contrast mode.
• Graphics without captions include alternate text.
• Each frame has a title to indicate its purpose.
• Standard HTML tags define content structure for screen reading or text-to-speech tools.
• Style sheets control formatting, so there are no embedded fonts.
Keyboard shortcuts for Help toolbar controls (Windows)
Back button Alt+Left Arrow
Forward button Alt+Right Arrow
Print Ctrl+P
About button Ctrl+I
Browse menu Alt+Down Arrow or Alt+Up Arrow to view Help for another application
Search box Ctrl+S to place the insertion point in the Search box

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User Guide

Keyboard shortcuts for Help navigation (Windows)

• To move between panes, press Ctrl+Tab (forward) and Shift+Ctrl+Tab (backward).
• To move through and outline links in a pane, press Tab (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward).
• To activate an outlined link, press Enter.
• To make text bigger, press Ctrl+equal sign.
• To make text smaller, press Ctrl+hyphen.

Resources
Adobe Video Workshop
The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide range of subjects for
print, web, and video professionals.
You can use the Adobe Video Workshop to learn about any Creative Suite 3 product. Many videos show you how to
use Adobe applications together.

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When you start the Adobe Video Workshop, you choose the products you want to learn and the subjects you want
to view. You can see details about each video to focus and direct your learning.

Community of presenters

With this release, Adobe Systems invited the community of its users to share their expertise and insights. Adobe and
lynda.com present tutorials, tips, and tricks from leading designers and developers such as Joseph Lowery, Katrin
Eismann, and Chris Georgenes. You can see and hear Adobe experts such as Lynn Grillo, Greg Rewis, and Russell
Brown. In all, over 30 product experts share their knowledge.
Tutorials and source files

The Adobe Video Workshop includes training for novices and experienced users. You’ll also find videos on new
features and key techniques. Each video covers a single subject and typically runs about 3-5 minutes. Most videos
come with an illustrated tutorial and source files, so you can print detailed steps and try the tutorial on your own.
Using Adobe Video Workshop

You can access Adobe Video Workshop using the DVD included with your Creative Suite 3 product. It’s also available
online at www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials. Adobe will regularly add new videos to the online Video
Workshop, so check in to see what’s new.

InDesign CS3 videos
Adobe Video Workshop covers a wide range of subjects for Adobe InDesign® CS3, including these:

• Setting up a document
• Using the Control panel
• Importing content into InDesign
• Working with text

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User Guide

• Creating and formatting tables
Videos also show you how to use InDesign CS3 with other Adobe products:

• Using shared elements in Photoshop®, Illustrator®, InDesign, and Flash®
• Using Smart Objects and Live Color
• Designing a website with InDesign and Dreamweaver®
• Creating interactive PDF files
To access Adobe Creative Suite 3 video tutorials, visit Adobe Video Workshop at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials.

Extras
You have access to a wide variety of resources that will help you make the most of your Adobe software. Some of
these resources are installed on your computer during the setup process; additional helpful samples and documents
are included on the installation or content disc. Unique extras are also offered online by the Adobe Exchange
community, at www.adobe.com/go/exchange.
Installed resources

During software installation, a number of resources are placed in your application folder. To view those files, navigate
to the application folder on your computer.

• Windows®: [startup drive]\Program Files\Adobe\[Adobe application]
• Mac OS®: [startup drive]/Applications/[Adobe application]
The application folder may contain the following resources:
Plug-ins Plug-in modules are small software programs that extend or add features to your software. Once installed,

plug-in modules appear as options in the Import or Export menu; as file formats in the Open, Save As, and Export
Original dialog boxes; or as filters in the Filter submenus. For example, a number of special effects plug-ins are
automatically installed in the Plug-ins folder inside the Photoshop CS3 folder.
Presets Presets include a wide variety of useful tools, preferences, effects, and images. Product presets include

brushes, swatches, color groups, symbols, custom shapes, graphic and layer styles, patterns, textures, actions,
workspaces, and more. Preset content can be found throughout the user interface. Some presets (for example,
Photoshop Brush libraries) become available only when you select the corresponding tool. If you don’t want to create
an effect or image from scratch, go to the preset libraries for inspiration.
Templates Template files can be opened and viewed from Adobe Bridge CS3, opened from the Welcome Screen, or
opened directly from the File menu. Depending on the product, template files range from letterheads, newsletters,

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User Guide

and websites to DVD menus and video buttons. Each template file is professionally constructed and represents a
best-use example of product features. Templates can be a valuable resource when you need to jump-start a project.

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Samples Sample files include more complicated designs and are a great way to see new features in action. These files
demonstrate the range of creative possibilities available to you.
Fonts Several OpenType® fonts and font families are included with your Creative Suite product. Fonts are copied to

your computer during installation:

• Windows: [startup drive]\Windows\Fonts
• Mac OS X: [startup drive]/Library/Fonts
For information about installing fonts, see the Read Me file on the installation DVD.
DVD content

The installation or content DVD included with your product contains additional resources for use with your
software. The Goodies folder contains product-specific files such as templates, images, presets, actions, plug-ins, and
effects, along with subfolders for Fonts and Stock Photography. The Documentation folder contains a PDF version
of the Help, technical information, and other documents such as specimen sheets, reference guides, and specialized
feature information.
Adobe Exchange

For more free content, visit www.adobe.com/go/exchange, an online community where users download and share
thousands of free actions, extensions, plug-ins, and other content for use with Adobe products.

Bridge Home
Bridge Home, a new destination in Adobe Bridge CS3, provides up-to-date information on all your Adobe Creative
Suite 3 software in one convenient location. Start Adobe Bridge, then click the Bridge Home icon at the top of the
Favorites panel to access the latest tips, news, and resources for your Creative Suite tools.

INDESIGN CS3 9
User Guide

Note: Bridge Home may not be available in all languages.

Adobe Design Center
Adobe Design Center offers articles, inspiration, and instruction from industry experts, top designers and Adobe
publishing partners. New content is added monthly.

You can find hundreds of tutorials for design products and learn tips and techniques through videos, HTML
tutorials, and sample book chapters.

INDESIGN CS3 10
User Guide

New ideas are the heart of Think Tank, Dialog Box, and Gallery:

• Think Tank articles consider how today’s designers engage with technology and what their experiences mean for
design, design tools, and society.

• In Dialog Box, experts share new ideas in motion graphics and digital design.
• The Gallery showcases how artists communicate design in motion.
Visit Adobe Design Center at www.adobe.com/designcenter.

Adobe Developer Center
Adobe Developer Center provides samples, tutorials, articles, and community resources for developers who build
rich Internet applications, websites, mobile content, and other projects using Adobe products. The Developer Center
also contains resources for developers who develop plug-ins for Adobe products.

In addition to sample code and tutorials, you'll find RSS feeds, online seminars, SDKs, scripting guides, and other
technical resources.
Visit Adobe Developer Center at www.adobe.com/go/developer.

Customer support
Visit the Adobe Support website, at www.adobe.com/support, to find troubleshooting information for your product
and to learn about free and paid technical support options. Follow the Training link for access to Adobe Press books,
a variety of training resources, Adobe software certification programs, and more.

Downloads
Visit www.adobe.com/go/downloads to find free updates, tryouts, and other useful software. In addition, the Adobe
Store (at www.adobe.com/go/store) provides access to thousands of plug-ins from third-party developers, helping
you to automate tasks, customize workflows, create specialized professional effects, and more.

INDESIGN CS3 11
User Guide

Adobe Labs
Adobe Labs gives you the opportunity to experience and evaluate new and emerging technologies and products from
Adobe.
At Adobe Labs, you have access to resources such as these:

• Prerelease software and technologies
• Code samples and best practices to accelerate your learning
• Early versions of product and technical documentation
• Forums, wiki-based content, and other collaborative resources to help you interact with like-minded developers
Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process. In this environment, customers quickly become
productive with new products and technologies. Adobe Labs is also a forum for early feedback, which the Adobe
development teams use to create software that meets the needs and expectations of the community.
Visit Adobe Labs at www.adobe.com/go/labs.

User communities
User communities feature forums, blogs, and other avenues for users to share technologies, tools, and information.
Users can ask questions and find out how others are getting the most out of their software. User-to-user forums are
available in English, French, German, and Japanese; blogs are posted in a wide range of languages.
To participate in forums or blogs, visit www.adobe.com/communities.

What’s new
Creativity enhancements
Creative effects

Experiment with designs right on the page layout with Adobe Photoshop®-like effects. You can experiment with
blending modes, opacity, and other effects without permanently altering your objects. And you can save effects as
part of an object style for easy reuse and sharing.
Take advantage of these new creative effects:
Gradient feather effect Fade an object into the background by way of an adjustable linear or radial gradient.
Directional feather effect Enhance feathering by customizing the feather angle and the amount of feathering on

each side.
Bevel and Emboss effect Add inner highlights and shadows that create a relief effect.
Satin effect Apply interior shading that creates a satin-like finish.
Inner Shadow effect Add a shadow that falls just inside the edges of the object’s content, giving the object a recessed

appearance.
Inner Glow and Outer Glow effects Add glows that emanate from the inside and outside edges of an object.

See “Transparency effects” on page 395.

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User Guide

Finer transparency controls

Create complex visual effects by applying multiple transparency settings to a single object. You can apply transparency settings independently to an object’s fill, stroke, and content. See “Effects panel overview” on page 392.
Improved text wrap

Easily flow text around objects. Wrap to a side or according to a clipping path or alpha channel. See “Change the
shape of a text wrap” on page 197.
Convenient Glyphs panel

Use the Glyphs panel to locate recently used glyphs, filter and sort glyphs, and save glyph sets for sharing and reuse.
See “Glyphs panel overview” on page 147.
Choose Window > Workspace > New and Improved in CS3 to highlight menu commands of new and enhanced
features.

Productivity enhancements
Multi-file placing

Import several different files in one step. You can see thumbnail views of the different files and cycle through them
until you find the one you want to place. See “Place multiple graphics” on page 339.
Placed InDesign documents

Shorten the layout process and collaborate more effectively by reusing Adobe InDesign® CS3 documents. When
InDesign files are placed in the document, the Links panel provides notification of updates, eliminating the need to
save and manage interim files. See “Importing InDesign (.indd) pages” on page 333.
Expanded Quick Apply

Type a few letters into the Quick Apply panel and be able to access commands, text variables, scripts, and styles
instantly without having to rummage around in different panels. You can also customize Quick Apply searches. See
“Use Quick Apply” on page 183.
Fast frame-fitting

Set the default fit behavior of frames and assign fit options to object styles so that, as soon as you place a graphic or
other content in a frame, it fits perfectly. See “Set frame fitting options” on page 385.
Visual Pages panel

Quickly navigate a document and arrange its pages using thumbnail previews in the Pages panel. See “Add new pages
to a document” on page 59.
Nested style looping

Automatically apply a sequence of character styles within a paragraph with one click instead of manually formatting
each style change. With nested style looping, you can repeat a sequence of nested styles until the end of a paragraph.
See “Define paragraph and character styles” on page 166.

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User Guide

Table and cell styles

As well as applying styles to characters and paragraphs, apply styles to a table or to table cells. With table styles and
cell styles, you no longer have to manually format tables or individual table cells. See “About table and cell styles” on
page 268.
E-mail-based assignments for InCopy workflow

Use new e-mail-based assignments to send stories and graphics as a single assignment package to any contributor in
your small workgroup via e-mail. The e-mail package contains all of the information needed to update the layout
with the added or edited content, so it’s easy to assign tasks and integrate contributions without the need for a shared
server. See “Assignment packages” on page 615.
Export to XHTML

Quickly repurpose InDesign content for the web by exporting to XHTML. Styles can be mapped to an external CSS
to instantly format your content. See “Export content to XHTML / Dreamweaver” on page 105.
Automatically generated layouts from XML

Automate the creation and formatting of documents by integrating InDesign content into XML workflows by way
of XML rules. The conditional rules automatically adapt formatting and layout depending on content. See “XML rule
sets” on page 512.
Support for XSLT and CALS tables with XML

Apply XSLT style sheets when importing or exporting XML content to make flowing XML into InDesign pages
easier. See “Import and merge XML” on page 522.
Agate measurement units

Take advantage of agate measurement units for newspaper publishing. See “Change measurement units and rulers”
on page 46.

Support for long documents
Text variables

Automate the use of repeating elements such as headers, footers, product names, and date stamps. Running headers
and footers can be generated from the text and dynamically updated as text flows from page to page. See “Text
variables” on page 85.
Advanced bulleted and numbered lists

Create sophisticated lists with hierarchical, outline-style number sequences. Set styles, modes, alignment, indents,
and other advanced options for different levels of bulleted and numbered lists. You can interrupt lists and spread
them across different pages and stories. See “Bullets and numbering” on page 237.
More powerful Find/Change capabilities

Search and replace more efficiently with new find/change features. You can save searches, search across many
documents, enlarge the scope of a search, and use GREP expressions in searches. See “Find/Change overview” on
page 132.

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User Guide

Customizable user interface
Customized workspaces

Save your panel and menu changes as a workspace and be able to call up your personalized workspaces any time. You
can create different workspaces for different projects and tasks. See “Save workspaces” on page 21.
Customized menus

Get direct access to commonly used commands or simplify training on new workflows by color-coding or hiding
individual menu items. Save customized menus as part of a workspace. See “Customize menus” on page 24.
Enhanced Control panel

Rely on the context-sensitive Control panel to show you the most useful settings based on the objects you selected
and the type of work you are doing. You can also customize the Control panel to show only your most frequently
used options. See “Control panel overview” on page 22.
Flexible compact panels

Make more room for viewing your document while preserving instant access to your favorite features. View docked
panels as icons to keep them accessible and easily recognizable. See “Workspace basics” on page 15.

Chapter 2: Workspace
The Adobe® InDesign® CS3 workspace is arranged to help you focus on designing and producing pages efficiently.
When you first start InDesign, you see the default workspace, which you can customize to suit your needs.

Workspace basics
Workspace overview
You create and manipulate your documents and files using various elements such as panels, bars, and windows. Any
arrangement of these elements is called a workspace. When you first start an Adobe Creative Suite component, you
see the default workspace, which you can customize for the tasks you perform there. For instance, you can create one
workspace for editing and another for viewing, save them, and switch between them as you work.
You can restore the default workspace at any time by choosing the default option on the Window > Workspace menu.
Although default workspaces vary across Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, and Photoshop, you manipulate the
elements much the same way in all of them. The Photoshop default workspace is typical:

• The menu bar across the top organizes commands under menus.
• The Tools panel (called the Tools palette in Photoshop) contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork,
page elements, and so on. Related tools are grouped together.

• The Control panel (called the options bar in Photoshop) displays options for the currently selected tool. (Flash has
no Control panel.)

• The Document window (called the Stage in Flash) displays the file you’re working on.
• Panels (called palettes in Photoshop) help you monitor and modify your work. Examples include the Timeline in
Flash and the Layers palette in Photoshop. Certain panels are displayed by default, but you can add any panel by
selecting it from the Window menu. Many panels have menus with panel-specific options. Panels can be grouped,
stacked, or docked.

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User Guide

D
E
G

Default Photoshop workspace
A. Document window B. Dock of panels collapsed to icons C. Panel title bar D. Menu bar E. Options bar F. Tools palette G. Collapse To
Icons button H. Three palette (panel) groups in vertical dock

For a video on understanding the workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0187.
Hide or show all panels

• (Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, Photoshop) To hide or show all panels, including the Tools panel and options bar
or Control panel, press Tab.

• (Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, Photoshop) To hide or show all panels except the Tools panel and options bar or
Control panel, press Shift+Tab.
You can temporarily display panels hidden by these techniques by moving the pointer to the edge of the application
window (Windows) or to the edge of the monitor (Mac OS) and hovering over the strip that appears.

• (Flash) To hide or show all panels, press F4.
Display panel menu options
❖ Position the pointer on the panel menu icon

in the upper-right corner of the panel, and press the mouse

button.
(Illustrator) Adjust panel brightness
❖ In User Interface preferences, move the Brightness slider. This control affects all panels, including the Control

panel.

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User Guide

Reconfigure the Tools panel

You can display the tools in the Tools panel in a single column, or side by side in two columns.
In InDesign, you also can switch from single-column to double-column display by setting an option in Interface
preferences.
❖ Click the double arrow at the top of the Tools panel.

Customize the workspace
To create a custom workspace, move and manipulate panels (called palettes in Photoshop and in Adobe Creative
Suite 2 components).
A
B

Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked on its own above Layers panel group.
A. Title bar B. Tab C. Drop zone

You can save custom workspaces and switch among them.
In Photoshop, you can change the font size of the text in the options bar, palettes, and tool tips. Choose a size from
the UI Font Size menu in General preferences.
Note: For a video on customizing the workspace in Illustrator, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0032. For a video on customizing the workspace in InDesign, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0065.
Dock and undock panels

A dock is a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally in a vertical orientation. You dock and
undock panels by moving them into and out of a dock.
Note: Docking is not the same as stacking. A stack is a collection of free-floating panels or panel groups, joined top to
bottom.

• To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at the top, bottom, or in between other panels.
• To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.
• To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab or title bar. You can drag it into another dock
or make it free-floating.

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User Guide

Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by blue vertical highlight

Navigator panel now in its own dock

To prevent panels from filling all space in a dock, drag the bottom edge of the dock up so it no longer meets the edge
of the workspace.
Move panels

As you move panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas where you can move the panel. For example, you can
move a panel up or down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below another panel. If you
drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.

• To move a panel, drag it by its tab.
• To move a panel group or a stack of free-floating panels, drag the title bar.
Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac OS) while moving a panel to prevent it from docking.

Add and remove docks and panels

If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears. You can create new docks by moving panels to drop zones
next to existing docks or at the edges of the workspace.

• To remove a panel, click its close icon (the X at the upper-right corner of the tab), or deselect it from the Window menu.
• To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it wherever you wish.
Manipulate panel groups

• To move a panel into a group, drag the panel’s tab to the highlighted drop zone at the top of the group.

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User Guide

Adding a panel to a panel group

• To rearrange panels in a group, drag a panel’s tab to a new location in the group.
• To remove a panel from a group so that it floats freely, drag the panel by its tab outside the group.
• To make a panel appear at the front of its group, click its tab.
• To move grouped panels together, drag their title bar (above the tabs).
Stack free-floating panels

When you drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel floats freely, allowing you to position it
anywhere in the workspace. Panels may also float in the workspace when first selected from the Window menu. You
can stack free-floating panels or panel groups together so that they move as a unit when you drag the topmost title
bar. (Panels that are part of a dock cannot be stacked or moved as a unit in this way.)

Free-floating stacked panels

• To stack free-floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.
• To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by its tab.
Note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title bar.

• To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.
Resize or minimize panels

• To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel or drag the size box at its lower-right corner. Some panels, such as the
Color panel in Photoshop, cannot be resized by dragging.

• To change the width of all the panels in a dock, drag the gripper

at the top left of the dock.

• To minimize a panel, panel group, or stack of panels, click the Minimize button in its title bar.
You can open a panel menu even when the panel is minimized.

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User Guide

Minimize button

Manipulate panels collapsed to icons

Collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. (In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the
default workspace.) Click a panel icon to expand the panel. You can expand only one panel or panel group at a time.

Panels collapsed to icons

Panels expanded from icons

• To collapse or expand all panels in a dock, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.
• To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and not the labels), drag the gripper

at the top of the dock
toward the icons until the text disappears. (To display the icon text again, drag the gripper away from the panels.)

• To expand a single panel icon, click it.
• To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.
If you select Auto-Collapse Icon Panels from the Interface or User Interface Options preferences, an expanded panel
icon will collapse automatically when you click away from it.

• To add a panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically collapsed
to icons when added to an icon dock.)

• To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the bar that appears above the icon. You can drag panel icons up
and down in the dock, into other docks (where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside the dock
(where they appear as free-floating, expanded panels).

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User Guide

Save workspaces
You can save the current sizes and positions of panels and any menu changes as a custom workspace. The names of
workspaces appear in a Workspace submenu of the Window menu. You can edit the list of names by adding or
deleting a workspace.
❖ Do one of the following:

• To save the current workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace. Type a name for the new
workspace, indicate whether you want to include panel locations and customized menus as part of the saved
workspace, and click OK.

• To display a custom workspace, choose it from the Window > Workspace submenu.
• To delete a custom workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Delete Workspace. Select a workspace to delete
and click Delete.
For a video on customizing the workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0065.

See also
“Customize menus” on page 24

About view modes
You can change the visibility of the document window using the Mode buttons at the bottom of the toolbox or by
choosing commands from the View > Screen Mode menu. When the toolbox is displayed in a single column, you
can select view modes by clicking the current mode button and selecting a different mode from the menu that
appears.
Displays artwork in a standard window with all visible grids and guides showing, non-printing
objects showing, and a white pasteboard.

Normal Mode

Displays artwork as if it were output, with all non-printing elements suppressed (grids, guides,
non-printing objects), and the pasteboard set to the preview background color defined in Preferences.

Preview Mode

Displays artwork as if it were output, with all non-printing elements suppressed (grids, guides, nonprinting objects), the pasteboard set to the preview background color defined in Preferences, and any printing
elements within the document's bleed area (defined in Document Setup) showing.

Bleed Mode

Slug Mode
Displays artwork as if it were output, with all non-printing elements suppressed (grids, guides, nonprinting objects), the pasteboard set to the preview background color defined in Preferences, and any printing
elements within the document's slug area (defined in Document Setup) showing.

Using the status bar
The status bar (at the lower left of a document window) shows information about the status of a file and lets you
change the document zoom percentage or turn to a different page. Click the status bar menu to do any of the
following:

• Access Adobe Version Cue® commands.
• Show the current file in the file system by choosing Reveal In Explorer (Windows®) or Reveal In Finder (Mac OS®).
• Show the current file in Adobe® Bridge® by choosing Reveal in Bridge.

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User Guide

See also
“About Adobe Bridge” on page 93
“Adobe Version Cue” on page 94

Control panel overview
The Control panel (Window > Control) offers quick access to options, commands, and other panels related to the
current page item or objects you select. By default, the Control panel is docked to the top of the document window;
however, you can dock it to the bottom of the window, convert it to a floating panel, or hide it altogether.
Options displayed in the Control panel vary depending on the type of object you select:

• When you select a frame, the Control panel displays options for resizing, repositioning, skewing, and rotating the
frame, or applying an object style.

• When you select text inside a frame, the Control panel displays either character or paragraph options. Click the
icons on the left side of the Control panel to determine whether paragraph or character options are displayed. If
your monitor size and resolution allows, the Control panel displays additional options. For example, if Character
Formatting Controls is selected, all the character options are displayed, and some paragraph options appear on the
right of the Control panel. If you click Paragraph Formatting Controls, all paragraph options are displayed, and
some character options appear on the right.

• When you select a table cell, the Control panel displays options for adjusting row and column dimensions,
merging cells, aligning text, and adding strokes.
As the options in the Control panel change, you can get more information about each option by using tool tips—
pop-up descriptions that appear when you hover over an icon or option label with the pointer.

Control panel with tool tip displayed

Control panel menu

To open dialog boxes associated with Control panel icons, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) as you
click a Control panel icon. For example, when a frame is selected, hold down Alt or Option and click the Rotation
Angle icon to open the Rotate dialog box.
For a video on using the Control panel, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0064.

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User Guide

See also
“Keys for the Control panel” on page 643
Display the panel menu
❖ Click the icon

to the right of the Control panel.

Dock or float the Control panel
❖ Do one of the following:

• Drag the vertical bar on the left side of the Control panel until the toolbar is docked to the top or bottom of the
application window (Windows) or screen (Mac OS).

• Choose Dock At Top, Dock At Bottom, or Float from the Control panel menu.

Use the Command bar
The Command bar (previously called the PageMaker toolbar) provides quick access to a set of frequently used
features. You can show or hide the toolbar, and you can dock it to the top, bottom, or side of the document window.
Note: In InDesign, Command bar buttons are disabled if the feature isn’t available. For example, if a document has only
one page, the Remove Pages button is dimmed.

Command bar
A. Docked toolbar B. Floating toolbar

❖ Do one of the following:

• To display or hide the Command bar, choose Window > Object & Layout> Command Bar.
• To dock the Command bar, drag the vertical bar on the left of the Control bar until the bar is docked beneath the
Control panel, or to the bottom of the document window.

• To undock (float) the Command bar, drag the vertical bar on the left of Command bar away from the area where
it’s docked.

Use context menus
Unlike the menus that appear at the top of your screen, context-sensitive menus display commands related to the
active tool or selection. You can use context menus as a quick way to choose commonly used commands.
1 Position the pointer over the document, object, or panel.
2 Click the right mouse button.

Note: (Mac OS) If you don’t have a two-button mouse, you can display a context menu by pressing the Control key as
you click with the mouse.

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User Guide

Customize menus and keyboard shortcuts
Customize menus
Hiding and colorizing menu commands is a way to remove menu clutter and emphasize commands you frequently
use. Note that hiding menu commands simply removes the menu from view; it doesn’t disable any features. At any
time, you can view hidden commands by selecting the Show All Menu Items command at the bottom of a menu. You
can include customized menus in workspaces you save.
You can customize the main menu, context menus, and panel menus. Context menus appear when you right-click
(Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) an area. Panel menus appear when you click the triangle icon in the upper
right of a panel.

See also
“Save workspaces” on page 21
Create a custom menu set
1 Choose Edit > Menus.

You cannot edit the default menu set.
2 Click Save As, type the name of the menu set, and click OK.
3 From the Category menu, choose Application Menus or Context & Panel Menus to determine which menus are
customized.
4 Click the arrows to the left of the menu categories to display subcategories or menu commands. For each
command you want to customize, click the eye icon under Visibility to show or hide the command; click None under
Color to select a a color from the menu.
5 Click Save, and then click OK.
Select a custom menu set
1 Choose Edit > Menus.
2 Choose the menu set from the Set menu, and then click OK.
Edit or delete a custom menu set
1 Choose Edit > Menus.
2 Choose the menu set from the Set menu, and then do one of the following:

• To edit a menu set, change the visibility or color of menu commands, click Save, and then click OK.
• To delete a menu set, click Delete and then click Yes. If you’ve modified the menu set without saving it, you’re
prompted to save the current menu set. Click Yes to save the menu set, or click No to discard changes.
Show hidden menu items
❖ Choose Show All Menu Items at the bottom of the menu that includes hidden commands.

Holding down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and clicking a menu name temporarily displays any menu
commands you’ve hidden by customizing menus.

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User Guide

Use keyboard shortcut sets
Tool tips provide an instantaneous reference for shortcuts. InDesign also provides a shortcut editor in which you can
view and generate a list of all shortcuts, and edit or create your own shortcuts. The shortcut editor includes all the
commands that accept shortcuts, but some of these commands are undefined in the Default shortcut set.
You can also associate keyboard shortcuts with paragraph or character styles (“Define paragraph and character
styles” on page 166) or scripts (see “Scripting in InDesign” on page 590).
For a video on using keyboard shortcuts, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0066.

See also
“Default keyboard shortcuts” on page 634
Change the active shortcut set
1 Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2 Select a shortcut set in the Set menu. For example, select Shortcuts for QuarkXPress® 4.0.
3 Click OK.
View shortcuts
1 Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2 For Set, select a shortcut set.
3 For Product Area, select the area containing the commands you want to view.
4 From Commands, select a command. The shortcut is displayed in the Current Shortcut section.
Generate a list of shortcuts for printing
1 Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2 For Set, select a shortcut set.
3 Click Show Set.

A text file opens with all current and undefined shortcuts for that set.
Create a new shortcut set
1 Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2 Click New Set.
3 Type a name for the new set, select a shortcut set in the Based On Set menu, and click OK.
Create or redefine a shortcut
1 Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2 For Set, select a shortcut set or click New Set to create a new shortcut set.

Note: Do not edit the Default or the QuarkXPress shortcut sets. Instead, create a new set based on one of these sets, and
then edit the new set.
3 For Product Area, select the area containing the command you want to define or redefine.
4 In the Commands list, select the command that you want to define or redefine.

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5 In the New Shortcut box, press the keys for your new keyboard shortcut. If the key sequence is currently being
used for another command, InDesign displays that command under Current Shortcuts. You can choose to change
the original shortcut also, or try another shortcut.

Note: Do not assign single-key shortcuts to menu commands, because they interfere with the typing of text. If an
insertion point is active when you type a single-key shortcut, InDesign actives the keyboard shortcut instead of inserting
the character in the text.
6 In the Context list, select the context in which you want the keyboard shortcut to function. The context ensures

that the shortcut performs the way you intended. For example, you can assign Ctrl+G to merge table cells (Table
context) and Ctrl+G to insert special characters (Text context).
Note: Assign shortcuts in the Default context when you want them to function regardless of the current state of the
document. Shortcuts you assign in other contexts, such as Table or Text, override shortcuts assigned in the Default
context.
7 Do one of the following:

• Click Assign to create a new shortcut where none currently exists.
• Click Assign to add another shortcut to a command. Menu commands can have multiple keyboard shortcuts.
8 Click OK to close the dialog box, or click Save to keep the dialog box open while you enter more shortcuts.

Toolbox
Toolbox overview
Some tools in the toolbox are for selecting, editing, and creating page elements. Other tools are for choosing type,
shapes, lines, and gradients. You can change the overall layout of the toolbox to fit your preferred window and panel
layout. By default, the toolbox appears as two vertical columns of tools. You can also set it up as a single vertical
column or as one horizontal row. However, you can’t rearrange the positions of individual tools in the toolbox. To
move the toolbox, drag the toolbox by its title bar.
Select a tool from the default toolbox by clicking it. The toolbox also contains several hidden tools related to the
visible tools. Hidden tools are indicated by arrows to the right of the tool icons. Select a hidden tool by clicking and
holding the current tool in the toolbox and then selecting the tool that you want.

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The name of the tool and its keyboard shortcut appear when you hold the pointer over the tool—this text is called
the tool tip. You can turn off tool tips by choosing None from the Tool Tips menu in General preferences.

Toolbox overview
A

Selection tools

Rotate (R)

Direct Selection (A)
Positions (Shift+A)

Scale (S)
Shear (O)
Free Transform (E)

Drawing and Type
tools
Pen (P)
Add Anchor Point
Delete Anchor
Point
Convert Anchor
Point

Gradient (G)
Gradient Feather
(Shift+G)
D

Type (T)
Type On a Path
(Shift+T)
Pencil (N)
Smooth
Erase

Transformation tools

Selection (V)

Modification and
Navigation tools
Note
Eyedropper (I)
Measure (K)
Hand (H)
Zoom (Z)

Line (\)
Rectangle Frame (F)
Ellipse Frame
Polygon Frame
Rectangle (M)
Ellipse (L)
Polygon
Button (B)
Scissors (C)

Indicates default tool * Keyboard shortcuts appear in parenthesis

See also
“Gallery of selection tools” on page 29
“Gallery of drawing and type tools” on page 29
“Gallery of transformation tools” on page 30
“Gallery of modification and navigation tools” on page 31
Display the toolbox
❖ Choose Window > Tools.

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Display tool options
❖ Double-click a tool in the toolbox.

This procedure works only for some tools, such as the Eyedropper, Pencil, and Polygon tools.
Display and select hidden tools
1 In the toolbox, position the pointer over a tool that has hidden tools and hold down the mouse button.
2 When the hidden tools appear, select a tool.

Hidden tools menu

Change the toolbox layout
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Interface (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Interface (Mac OS).
2 Choose a layout option from the Floating Tools Panel menu and click OK.

Tools overview
Type tools Create and format type in standard or customized blocks or paths. (See “About text frames” on page 111.)
Drawing and painting tools Draw and style simple and complex objects, including rectangles, ellipses, polygons,
freeform shapes. (See “Draw basic lines and shapes” on page 301, “Draw with the Pencil tool” on page 302, and
“Drawing with the Pen tool” on page 304.)
Selection tools Select (activate) objects, points, or lines. (See “Select objects” on page 358.)
Transform tools Reshape, reorient, and resize objects. (See “Transform objects” on page 368.)
Navigation, zoom, and measuring tools Move around in, control the view of, and measure distances in a document.

(See “Zoom in and out” on page 31 and “Rulers and measurement units” on page 45.)
The Scissors tool Splits paths and frames. (See “Split a path using the Scissors tool” on page 313.)
The Button tool Creates buttons to serve as triggers for various actions in interactive documents. (See “Create

buttons” on page 503.)

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User Guide

Gallery of selection tools

Selection tool lets you select entire
objects.

Direct Selection tool lets you select
points on a path or contents within a
frame.

Position tool lets you crop and move
images in a frame.

See also
“Toolbox overview” on page 26
“Select objects” on page 358
“Overview of selection methods” on page 358

Gallery of drawing and type tools

Pen tool lets you draw
straight and curved paths.

Add Anchor Point tool lets
you add anchor points to a
path.

Delete Anchor Point tool
lets you remove anchor
points from a path.

Convert Direction Point
tool lets you convert
corner points and smooth
points.

Type tool lets you create
text frames and select text.

Type on a Path tool lets
you create and edit type
on paths.

Pencil tool lets you draw a
freeform path.

Smooth tool lets you
remove excess angles from
a path.

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User Guide

Erase tool lets you deleted
points on a path.

Line tool lets you draw a
line segment.

Rectangle Frame tool lets
you create a square or
rectangle placeholder.

Ellipse Frame tool lets you
create a circle or oval
placeholder.

Polygon Frame tool lets
you create a multi-sided
shape placeholder.

Rectangle tool lets you
create a square or
rectangle.

Ellipse tool lets you create
a circle or oval.

Polygon tool lets you
create multi-sided shape.

Shear tool lets you skew
objects around a fixed
point.

Free Transform tool lets
you rotate, scale, or shear
an object.

See also
“Toolbox overview” on page 26
“Types of paths and shapes” on page 298

Gallery of transformation tools

Rotate tool lets you rotate
objects around a fixed
point.

Scale tool lets you resize
objects around a fixed
point.

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User Guide

See also
“Toolbox overview” on page 26
“Transform objects” on page 368

Gallery of modification and navigation tools

Eyedropper tool lets you
sample color or type
attributes from objects
and apply them to other
objects.

Measure tool measures the
distance between two
points.

Gradient Swatch tool lets
you adjust the beginning
and ending points and
angle of gradients within
objects.

Gradient Feather tool lets
you fade an object into the
background.

order

Scissors tool cuts paths at
specified points.

Hand tool moves the page
view within the document
window.

Zoom tool increases and
decreases the view magnification in the document
window.

Button tool lets you create
a button that performs an
action when the document
is exported to Adobe PDF.

See also
“Toolbox overview” on page 26

Viewing the workspace
Zoom in and out
Use the Zoom tool or the Zoom commands to magnify the size of documents.

See also
“Keys for tools” on page 634

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User Guide

Zoom in or out

• To zoom in, select the Zoom tool

and click the area you want to magnify. Each click magnifies the view to the
next preset percentage, centering the display around the point you click. At maximum magnification, the center
of the Zoom tool appears blank. To zoom out, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click the area
you want to reduce. Each click reduces the view.

• To magnify to the next preset percentage, activate the window you want to view and choose View > Zoom In. To
reduce the view to the previous preset percentage, choose View > Zoom Out.

• To set a specific magnification level, type or choose a level in the Zoom text box at the lower left of the document
window.

• To zoom in or out, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while using the mouse scroll wheel or sensor.
• To magnify by dragging, select the Zoom tool and drag around the area you want to magnify.
Zoom to 100%

• Double-click the Zoom tool.
• Choose View > Actual Size.
• Type or choose a magnification level of 100 in the Zoom text box at the lower left of the document window.

Fit the page, spread, or pasteboard within the active window
• Choose View > Fit Page In Window.
• Choose View > Fit Spread In Window.
• Choose View > Entire Pasteboard.

See also
“Keys for viewing documents and document workspaces” on page 641

Use the Navigator panel
The Navigator panel (Window > Object & Layout > Navigator) contains a thumbnail of the selected spread, so that
you can quickly change the view of a document.

A
B
C

Navigator panel
A. Thumbnail B. View box C. Spread number D. Zoom edit box E. Zoom Out button F. Zoom slider G. Zoom In button

Alternate between viewing one or all open spreads
❖ Choose View Active Spread/All Spreads from the Navigator panel menu. Use the scroll bar to view spreads before

or after the current spread.

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If you decide to view all spreads, viewing may be easier if you resize the Navigator panel to make it tall and narrow.

Magnify or reduce the view using the Navigator panel
❖ Do any of the following:

• Click the Zoom In or Zoom Out buttons at the bottom of the Navigator panel.
• Drag the Zoom slider at the bottom of the panel.
• In the Zoom text box, type the magnification or reduction percentage and press Enter (Windows) or Return
(Mac OS).
Change the color of the Navigator panel view box
1 Choose Panel Options from the Navigator panel menu.
2 Choose a color:

• To use a preset color, select one from the pop-up menu.
• To specify a different color, choose Custom from the pop-up menu, and specify a color in the color picker.

Scroll the view
You can easily adjust the degree to which pages or objects are centered in the document window. These techniques
are also useful for navigating between pages.
❖ Do any of the following:

• Select the Hand tool

from the Tools panel, and then click and drag in the document window. Holding down
Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and pressing the spacebar temporarily activates the Hand tool.

• In the Navigator panel, click the thumbnail or drag the view box that represents the visible area of the current
spread.

• Click the horizontal or vertical scroll bars or drag the scroll box.
• Press Page Up or Page Down.
• Use the mouse scroll wheel or sensor to scroll up and down. To pan left or right, press Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS) as you use the mouse scroll wheel or sensor.

See also
“Keys for viewing documents and document workspaces” on page 641

Turn pages
InDesign makes it easy to jump from page to page in a document. For example, just as most web browsers provide
Back and Forward buttons to navigate through pages you’ve visited, InDesign keeps track of the order in which
you’ve viewed pages in a document.
❖ Do any of the following:

• To move through pages in the order in which you viewed them during the current session, choose Layout > Go
Back or Go Forward.

• To go to the next or previous page, click the Next Page button

or Previous Page button
the document window, or choose Layout > Next Page or Previous Page.

at the bottom of

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• To go to the first or last page, click the First Spread button

or Last Spread button
the document window, or choose Layout > First Page or Last Page.

at the lower left of

• To go to a specific page, choose Layout > Go To Page, specify the page number, and click OK. Or, click the
downward-facing arrow at the right of the page box, and then choose a page.

Choose page from page box to go to specific page

• To go to a master page, click in the page box at the lower left of the document window. Type the first few letters
of the master page name, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS). Or, in the Pages panel, double-click a
master page icon or double-click the page numbers below the icons.

Work with additional windows
You can open additional windows for the same document or for other InDesign documents. With additional
windows, you can compare different spreads simultaneously, especially spreads that aren’t adjacent. You can also
display different magnifications of the same page, so that you can work closely on details while watching how the
changes affect the overall layout. In addition, you can display a master page in one window, and pages based on it in
other windows, to see how editing the master page affects various parts of the document.
When you reopen the document, only the last-used window appears.

• To create a new window for the same document, choose Window > Arrange > New Window.
• To cascade or tile windows, choose Window > Arrange > Cascade to arrange all windows into a stack, with each
window offset slightly. Or, choose Window > Arrange > Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically to display all windows
equally without overlapping.

• To activate a window, click the window title bar. Or, choose the name of the view in the Window menu. Multiple
windows for a document are numbered in the order they were created.

• To close all windows for the active document, press Shift+Ctrl+W (Windows) or Shift+Command+W (Mac OS).
• To close all windows for all open documents, press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+W (Windows) or
Shift+Command+Option+W (Mac OS).

Use anti-aliasing for smoothing edges
Anti-aliasing smooths the jagged edges of type and bitmap images by softening the color transition between edge
pixels and background pixels. Since only the edge pixels change, no detail is lost.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Display Performance (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance
(Mac OS).
2 From the Adjust View Settings menu, choose the view setting for which you want to turn on anti-aliasing.

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You can enable or disable anti-aliasing for each of the view settings. For example, you can enable anti-aliasing for
High Quality view and disable it for Fast view.
3 Select Enable Anti-aliasing.

Greek type
When display capabilities are insufficient to show text at a small size, InDesign displays the text as a dimmed bar.
This behavior is called greeking type. Any type at or below the specified type size is replaced on-screen with nonletterforms that act as placeholders.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Display Performance (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance
(Mac OS).
2 From the Adjust View Settings menu, choose the view setting for which you want to change the Greek Type
setting.

You can specify different Greek Type values for each of the view settings.
3 For Greek Type Below, type a value.
4 To control whether to greek text and images when you scroll a document, drag the Hand Tool slider to the desired
level of performance versus quality, and then click OK.

Calculate values in panels and dialog boxes
You can perform simple math in any numerical edit box. For example, if you want to move a selected object 3 units
to the right using the current measurement units, you don’t have to work out the new horizontal position—simply
type +3 after the current value in the Transform panel.
Panels use the measurement system selected in the Preferences dialog box; however, you can specify values in
another measurement instead.
1 In a text box that accepts numerical values, do one of the following:

• To replace the entire current value with a mathematical expression, select the entire current value.
• To use the current value as part of a mathematical expression, click before or after the current value.
2 Type a simple mathematical expression using a single mathematical operator, such as + (plus), - (minus),
x (multiplication), / (division), or % (percent).

For example, 0p0+3 or 5mm + 4.
3 Press Enter or Return to apply the calculation.

In the Control panel and the Transform panel, you can duplicate the selected object and apply the calculation to the
duplicate (instead of the original). Enter the calculation and press Alt+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return
(Mac OS).

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Enter values in panels and dialog boxes
Panels and dialog boxes use the measurement units and increments defined in the Edit > Preferences > Units &
Increments (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Units & Increments (Mac OS) dialog box. However, you can
specify values using any of the supported measurement units at any time by temporarily overriding the current
preference settings.
❖ Do any of the following:

• Type a value in the box, and then press Enter or Return.
• Drag the slider.
• Drag the dial.
• Click the arrow buttons in the panel to change the value.
• Click in the box and then use the up or down arrow keys on the keyboard to change the value.
• Select a value from the menu associated with the box.
Note: When you make a change using the arrow buttons, arrow keys, or pop-up menus, InDesign applies the change
immediately.

See also
“Rulers and measurement units” on page 45

Setting preferences
About preferences and defaults
Preferences include settings such as panel positions, measurement options, and display options for graphics and
typography. Preference settings specify how InDesign documents and objects behave initially.
Default settings are used for every new document or object you create. For example, you can specify the default font
and other type specifications for all new documents or text frames.
Numerous program preferences and default settings are stored in the Adobe InDesign preferences files, called
InDesign Defaults and InDesign SavedData. Both of these defaults files are saved each time you exit from InDesign.
Note: InDesign preference settings are fully scriptable. To share a consistent set of preferences across user groups, develop
a script to set the preferences, and then have all users in the group run the script on their computers. Don’t copy and paste
one user’s preferences files onto another computer, as doing so might cause application instability. For more information
about scripting, see the Scripting Guide on the InDesign CS3 DVD.

Set general preferences
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > General (Mac OS), and then
choose the type of preferences you want to specify.
2 In the Page Numbering section, choose a page numbering method from the View menu.
3 In the Font Downloading and Embedding section, specify a threshold to trigger font subsetting based on the
number of glyphs a font contains. This setting affects font downloading options in the Print and Export dialog boxes.

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4 In the Scripting section, select Enable Attached Scripts to allow JavaScript actions to be attached to features in
InDesign. You may want to turn off this option if you’re opening an InDesign document from an unknown source.
5 Click Reset All Warning Dialogs to display all warnings, even the ones you’ve already checked not to display. (As

warnings appear, you can select a check box to prevent the warning from appearing again.)

See also
“Group styles” on page 184

Load (import) table styles from other documents
You can import table and cell styles from another InDesign document into the active document. During import, you
can determine which styles are loaded, and what should occur if a loaded style has the same name as a style in the
current document. You can also import styles from an InCopy document.
1 From the menu of the Cell Styles or Table Styles panel, choose Load Cell Styles, Load Table Styles, or Load Table
And Cell Styles.
2 Double-click the InDesign document containing the styles you want to import.
3 In the Load Styles dialog box, make sure that a check mark appears next to the styles you want to import. If any
existing style has the same name as one of the imported styles, choose one of the following options under Conflict
With Existing Style, and then click OK:
Use Incoming Style Definition Overwrites the existing style with the loaded style and applies its new attributes to all

cells in the current document that used the old style. The definitions of the incoming and existing styles appear at
the bottom of the Load Styles dialog box so you can compare them.

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Auto-Rename Renames the loaded style. For example, if both documents have a style named “Table Style 1,” the
loaded style is renamed “Table Style 1 copy” in the current document.

Apply table and cell styles
Unlike paragraph and character styles, table and cell styles do not share attributes, so applying a table style does not
override cell formatting, and applying a cell style does not override table formatting. By default, applying a cell style
removes formatting applied by any previous cell style, but does not remove local cell formatting. Similarly, applying
a table style removes formatting applied by any previous table style, but does not remove overrides made using the
Table Options dialog box.
In the Styles panel, a plus sign (+) appears next to the current cell or table style if the selected cell or table has
additional formatting that isn’t part of the applied style. Such additional formatting is called an override.
1 Position the insertion point in a table, or select the cells to which you want to apply the style.
2 Do one of the following:

• Click the table or cell style in the Table Styles or Cell Styles panel. If the style is in a style group, expand the style
group to locate the style.

• Press the shortcut you defined for the style. (Make sure that Num Lock is on.)

See also
“Use Quick Apply” on page 183
“Override table and cell styles” on page 272
“Group styles” on page 184

Base one table or cell style on another
You can create links between similar table or cell styles by creating a base, or parent, style. When you edit the parent
style, any changed attribute that appears in the child styles will change as well. By default, table styles are based on
[No Table Style], and cell styles are based on [None].
1 Create a new style.
2 In the New Table Style or New Cell Style dialog box, select the parent style in the Based On menu. The new style
becomes the child style.
3 Specify formatting for the new style to distinguish it from the parent style.

See also
“Duplicate styles or style groups” on page 183

Edit table and cell styles
One of the advantages of using styles is that when you change the definition of a style, all of the tables or cells
formatted with that style change to match the new style definition.
1 Do one of the following:

• If you don’t want the style to be applied to a selected table or cell, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS)
the style in the Styles panel, and choose Edit [style name].

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• In the Styles panel, double-click the style, or select the style and choose Style Options from the Styles panel menu.
Note that this method applies the cell style to any selected cell or the table style to any selected table. If no table is
selected, double-clicking a table style sets it as the default style for any table you create.
2 Adjust settings in the dialog box, and then click OK.

Delete table and cell styles
When you delete a style, you can select a different style to replace it, and you can choose whether to preserve the
formatting.
1 Select the style in the Styles panel.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Delete Style from the panel menu.
• Click the Delete icon

at the bottom of the panel, or drag the style to the Delete icon.

• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the style, and then choose Delete Style. This method is
especially useful for deleting a style without applying it to the selected cell or table.
3 Select the style to replace it.

If you select [No Table Style] to replace a table style or [None] to replace a cell style, select Preserve Formatting to
keep the formatting of the table or cell to which the style is applied. The table or cell preserves its formatting but is
no longer associated with a style.
4 Click OK.

Redefine table or cell styles based on current formatting
After you apply a style, you can override any of its settings. If you decide you like the changes, you can redefine the
style to retain the new formatting.
1 Place the insertion point in the table or cell that is formatted with the style you want to redefine.
2 Make changes to the table or cell as necessary.
3 Choose Redefine Style from the Styles panel menu.

Note: For cell styles, changes to only those attributes that are part of the cell style will enable the Redefine Style command.
For example, if the cell style includes a red fill and you override a cell to use a blue fill, you can redefine the style based
on that cell. But if you change an attribute that is ignored in the cell style, you can’t redefine the style with that attribute.

Override table and cell styles
After you apply a table or cell style, you can override any of its settings. To override a table style, you can change
options in the Table Options dialog box. To override a cell, you can change options in the Cell Options dialog box or
use other panels to change the stroke or fill. If you select a table or cell that has an override, a plus sign (+) appears
next to the style in the Styles panel.
You can clear table and cell overrides when you apply a style. You can also clear overrides from a table or cell to which
a style has already been applied.
If a style has a plus sign (+) next to it, hover over the style to view a description of the override attributes.

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Preserve or remove overrides while applying a table style

• To apply a table style and preserve cell styles but remove overrides, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS)
as you click the style in the Table Styles panel.

• To apply a table style and remove both cell styles and overrides, hold down Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift
(Mac OS) as you click the style in the Table Styles panel.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the style in the Table Styles panel, and then choose Apply [table
style], Clear Cell Styles to apply a style and clear cell styles.
Remove overrides while applying a cell style
❖ To apply a cell style and remove overrides, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you click the name

of the style in the Cell Styles panel.
Note: Only those attributes that are part of the cell style are considered overrides. For example, if the cell style includes
a red fill and all other attributes are ignored, changing a different cell option is not considered an override.
Clear attributes not defined by a cell style
❖ Choose Clear Attributes Not Defined By Style from the Cell Styles panel menu.

Clear table or cell overrides
1 Select the table or cells containing the overrides.
2 In the Styles panel, click the Clear Overrides In Selection icon
panel menu.

, or choose Clear Overrides from the Styles

Break the link to table or cell styles
When you break the link between tables or cells and the style applied to them, the tables or cells retain their current
formatting. However, future changes to that style won’t affect them.
1 Select the cells to which the style has been applied.
2 Choose Break Link To Style from the Styles panel menu.

274

Chapter 10: Long document features
Assemble long documents using books, tables of contents, and indexes. You can group related documents in a book
file so that you can number their pages and chapters sequentially, share styles, swatches, and master pages, and print
or export the group of documents.

Creating book files
Create a book file
A book file is a collection of documents that can share styles, swatches, master pages, and other items. 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.
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.
1 Choose File > New > Book.
2 Type a name for the book, specify a location, and then click Save.

The Book panel appears. The book file is saved with the file name extension .indb.
3 Add documents to the book file.

Add documents to a book file
When you create a book file, it opens in the Book panel. The Book panel is the working area of a book file, where
you add, remove, or rearrange documents.
1 Choose Add Document in the Book panel menu, or click the plus button

at the bottom of the Book panel.

2 Select the Adobe InDesign document or documents you want to add, and then click Open.

You can drag and drop files onto the Book panel from an Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS) window. You can
also drag a document from one book to another. Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to copy the
document.
3 If you included documents created in earlier versions of InDesign, they will be converted to Adobe InDesign CS3
format when added to the book. In the Save As dialog box, specify a new name for the converted document (or leave
the name as is), and then click Save.

Note: You must convert Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress documents before adding them to the book file.
4 If necessary, change the order of the documents in the panel by dragging them up or down to the appropriate

locations in the list.
5 To designate a document as the style source, click the box next to the document’s name in the panel.

To open a document in a book file, double-click the document name in the Book panel.

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Manage book files
Each open book file appears on its own tab in the Book panel. If multiple books are open at the same time, click a
tab to bring that book to the front and access its panel menu.
Icons in the Book panel indicate a document’s current status, such as open , missing (the document was
moved, renamed, or deleted), modified
(the document was edited or its page or section numbers changed while
the book was closed), or in use (if someone else has the document open). No icon appears next to closed
documents.
To view the pathname of any document in a book, hold the mouse pointer over the document name until a tooltip
appears. Or, choose Document Information from the Book panel menu.
Save a book file

Book files are separate from document files. For example, when you choose the Save Book command, InDesign saves
the changes to the book, not the documents in the book.
❖ Do one of the following:

• To save a book under a new name, choose Save Book As in the Book panel menu, specify a location and filename,
and click Save.

• To save an existing book under the same name, choose Save Book in the Book panel menu, or click the Save
button

at the bottom of the Book panel.

Note: If you are sharing book files over a server, make sure that you have a file management system in place so that you
don’t save over each other’s changes accidentally.
Close a book file

• To close a single book, choose Close Book in the book’s panel menu.
• To close all open books docked together in the same panel, click the close button on the Book panel’s title bar.
Remove book documents
1 Select the document in the Book panel.
2 Choose Remove Document in the Book panel menu.

Removing the document from the book file doesn’t delete the file on disk; the document is removed only from the
book file.
Replace book documents
1 Select the document in the Book panel.
2 Choose Replace Document in the Book panel menu, locate the document you want to replace it with, and then
click Open.

Synchronize book documents
When you synchronize documents in a book, the items you specify—styles, variables, master pages, trap presets,
numbering lists, and swatches—are copied from the style source to the specified documents in the book, replacing
any items that have identical names.
If items in the style source are not found in the documents being synchronized, they are added. Items that are not
included in the style source are left as is in the documents being synchronized.

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For a video on synchronizing book documents, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0216.
Select items to synchronize
1 Choose Synchronize Options in the Book panel menu.
2 Select the items you want to copy from the style source to other book documents, and then click OK.

Be sure to select all styles included in the definition of other styles. For example, an object style may contain
paragraph and character styles, which in turn include swatches.
Synchronize documents in a book file

You can synchronize the book while documents in the book are closed. InDesign opens the closed documents, makes
any changes, and then saves and closes the documents. Documents that are open when you synchronize are changed
but not saved.
1 In the Book panel, click the blank box next to the document that you want to be the style source; the style source
icon indicates which document is the style source.

Selected style source

2 Make sure that the items you want copied from the style source are selected in the Synchronize Options dialog box.
3 In the Book panel, select the documents you want to synchronize with the style source document. If no document
is selected, the entire book will be synchronized.

To make sure that no documents are selected, click the blank gray area below the booked documents—you may need
to scroll or resize the Book panel. You can also hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click a
selected document to deselect it.
4 Choose Synchronize Selected Documents or Synchronize Book from the Book panel menu, or click the
Synchronize button
at the bottom of the Book panel.

Note: Choosing Edit > Undo will undo changes only in documents that are open at the time synchronization occurs.
Synchronizing master pages

Master pages are synchronized in the same way as other items—master pages with the same name (such as A-Master)
as those in the style source are replaced. Synchronizing masters is useful for documents that use the same design
elements, such as running headers and footers. However, if you want to preserve page items on a master page in
documents other than the style source, either don’t synchronize master pages, or create master pages with different
names.
Any master page items that are overridden on document pages before you synchronize masters for the first time are
detached from the master. Therefore, if you plan on synchronizing master pages in your book, it’s a good idea to
synchronize all the documents in your book at the start of the design process. That way, overridden master page
items will maintain their connection to the master page and will continue to be updated from modified master page
items in the style source.

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It’s also a good idea to synchronize master pages using only one style source. If you synchronize from a different style
source, overridden master page items may become detached from the master page. If you need to synchronize using
a different style source, deselect the Master Pages option in the Synchronize Options dialog box before doing so.

Convert book files from previous InDesign versions
You can convert a book file created in a previous version of InDesign by opening and saving it in InDesign CS3.
When you synchronize, update numbering, print, package, or export a converted book, the documents it contains
are also converted to InDesign CS3 format. You can decide whether you want to overwrite or keep the original
document files.
Convert a book file for use with InDesign CS3
1 In InDesign CS3, choose File > Open.
2 Select the book file created in a previous version of InDesign and click OK. A warning appears if the book file
contains documents saved in a previous InDesign format.
3 Choose Save Book As from the Book panel menu. Specify a new name for the converted book file, and click Save.
Convert documents in a book file
1 Open the book file in InDesign CS3.
2 In the Book panel menu:

• If you want the original documents to be overwritten during conversion, select Automatic Document Conversion.
• If you want to keep the original documents and save the converted documents with new names, deselect
Automatic Document Conversion. (The book list will be updated to include the converted files, not the originals.)
3 Do any of the following to convert the documents:

• Choose Synchronize Book from the Book panel menu. (See “Synchronize book documents” on page 275.)
• Choose Update Numbering > Update All Numbers from the Book panel menu.
4 If Automatic Document Conversion is not selected, InDesign prompts you to save each converted document with

a new name.
Note: Documents are also converted when you print or package the book, or export the book to Adobe PDF.

Number pages, chapters, and paragraphs in a book
You can determine how pages, chapters, and paragraphs are numbered in a book. In a book file, the numbering styles
and starting numbers for pages and chapters are determined by each document’s settings in the Numbering &
Section Options dialog box. For numbered paragraphs (such as lists of figures), this is determined by the numbered
list style definition contained by the paragraph style.
The page range appears beside each document name in the Book panel. By default, InDesign updates page and
section numbering in the Book panel when you add or remove pages in booked documents, or when you make
changes to the book file, such as reordering, adding, or removing documents. You can turn off the setting to automatically update page and section numbers and update numbering in a book manually.
If a document is missing or cannot be opened, the page range is shown as “?” from the place where the missing
document should be to the end of the book, indicating that the true page range is unknown. Remove or replace the
missing document before you update numbering. If the In Use icon appears, someone using a different computer
has opened the document; the person must close the document before you can update numbering.

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For a video on numbering pages in a book, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0217.

See also
“Create a paragraph style for running lists” on page 243
“Add page, section, and chapter numbering” on page 79
Change page and chapter numbering options for each document
1 Select the document in the Book panel.
2 Choose Document Numbering Options in the Book panel menu, or double-click the document’s page numbers
in the Book panel.
3 Specify the page, section, and chapter numbering options. (See “Document numbering options” on page 83.)
4 Click OK.

Note: If you specify a starting page number in a booked document instead of selecting Automatic Page Numbering, the
booked document will begin on the specified page; all subsequent documents in the book will be renumbered accordingly.
Start numbering on an odd or even page

You can start document numbering on odd- or even-numbered pages in booked documents.
1 Choose Book Page Numbering Options in the Book panel menu.
2 Choose Continue On Next Odd Page or Continue On Next Even Page.
3 Select Insert Blank Page to add a blank page to the end of any document in which the subsequent document must
begin on an odd- or even-numbered page, and then click OK.
Turn off automatic page numbering in a book
1 Choose Book Page Numbering Options from the Book panel menu.
2 Deselect Automatically Update Page & Section Numbers, and then click OK.
3 To update page numbering manually, choose Update Numbering > Update All Numbers in the Book panel menu.

You can also update only page and section numbers or only chapter and paragraph numbers.
Use sequential paragraph numbering in books

To use sequential paragraph numbering for lists of figures, tables, or other items, you first define a numbered list that
is used in a paragraph style. The numbered list you define determines whether paragraph numbering maintains
sequential numbering across documents in a book.
1 Open the document that is used as the style source for the book.
2 Choose Type > Bulleted And Numbered Lists > Define Lists.
3 Click New to define a list or select an existing list and choose Edit.
4 Select both Continue Numbers Across Stories and Continue Numbers From Previous Document In Book.
5 Click OK.
6 Define a paragraph style that uses the number list, and apply it to the text in each document that contains the list.
(See “Create a paragraph style for running lists” on page 243.)

To make sure the same numbered list setting is used across all documents in the book, select the Paragraph Styles and
Numbered Lists options in the Synchronize Options dialog box, and then synchronize the book.

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Print or output a book file
One advantage of using a book file is that you can use a single command to output—for print, preflight, package, or
export to PDF—selected booked documents or the entire book. You can find more information about printing and
outputting InDesign files in InDesign Help.
1 In the Book panel, do one of the following:

• To output specific documents, select the desired documents.
• To output the entire book, make sure no documents are selected.
2 Choose an output command (such as Print Book or Print Selected Documents) in the Book panel menu.

See also
“Print a document or book” on page 542
“Export to PDF” on page 473

Creating a table of contents
About tables of contents
A table of contents (TOC) can list the contents of a book, magazine, or other publication; display a list of illustrations,
advertisers, or photo credits; or include other information to help readers find information in a document or book
file. One document may contain multiple tables of contents—for example, a list of chapters and a list of illustrations.
Each table of contents is a separate story consisting of a heading and a list of entries sorted either by page number or
alphabetically. Entries, including page numbers, are pulled directly from content in your document and can be
updated at any time—even across multiple documents in a book file.
The process for creating a table of contents requires three main steps. First, create and apply the paragraph styles
you’ll use as the basis for the TOC. Second, specify which styles are used in the TOC and how the TOC is formatted.
Third, flow the TOC into your document.
Table of contents entries can be automatically added to the Bookmarks panel for use in documents exported as
Adobe PDF.
Tips for planning a table of contents

Consider the following when planning a table of contents:

• Some tables of contents are built from content that does not actually appear in the published document, such as a
list of advertisers in a magazine. To do this in InDesign, enter content on a hidden layer and include it when generating a TOC.

• You can load TOC styles from other documents or books to build new tables of contents with the same settings
and formatting. (You might need to edit an imported TOC style if the names of paragraph styles in the document
do not match those in the source document.)

• You can create paragraph styles for the table of contents’ title and entries, including tab stops and leaders, if
desired. You can then apply these paragraph styles when you generate the table of contents.

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• You can create character styles to format the page numbers and the characters separating them from the entries.
For example, if you want the page numbers to be in bold, create a character style that includes the bold attribute,
and then select that character style when you create the table of contents.
For a video on creating a table of contents, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0219.

Creating tables of contents in books
For best results, be sure to do the following before creating a table of contents for a book:

• Before you create a table of contents, verify that the book list is complete, that all documents are listed in the
correct order, and that all headings have been formatted with the appropriate paragraph styles.

• Be sure to use paragraph styles consistently throughout the book. Avoid creating documents with styles that have
identical names but different definitions. If multiple styles have the same name but different style definitions,
InDesign uses the style definition in the current document (if a definition exists there), or the first occurrence of
the style in the book.

• If the necessary styles do not appear in the pop-up menus in the Table of Contents dialog box, you may need to
synchronize the book so that the styles are copied to the document containing the table of contents.

See also
“Synchronize book documents” on page 275

Generate a table of contents
Before you generate a table of contents, decide which paragraphs should be included (such as chapter titles and
section headings), and then define paragraph styles for each. Make sure that these styles are applied to all appropriate
paragraphs in the document or booked documents.
When you generate the table of contents, you can also use paragraph and character styles to format the table of
contents.

Table of contents without paragraph styles (left) and with paragraph styles applied to entries (right)

1 Do one of the following:

• If you’re creating a table of contents for a single document, you may want to add a new page at the beginning of
the document.

• If you’re creating a table of contents for multiple documents in a book, create or open the document to be used for
the table of contents, make sure that it’s included in the book, and then open the book file.
2 Choose Layout > Table Of Contents.

If you’ve defined a TOC style that has the appropriate settings for your TOC, you can choose it from the TOC Style menu.

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3 In the Title box, type a title for your TOC (such as Contents or List of Figures). This title will appear at the top of
the table of contents. To format the title, choose a style from the Style menu.
4 Select Include Book Documents to create a single table of contents for all documents in the book list, and to

renumber the book’s pages. Deselect this option if you want to generate a table of contents for the current document
only. (This option is dimmed if the current document is not part of a book file.)
5 Determine which content you want to include in the table of contents by double-clicking paragraph styles in the
Other Styles list to add them to the Include Paragraph Styles list.
6 Select Replace Existing Table Of Contents to replace all existing table of contents stories in the document. Deselect
this option if you want to generate a new table of contents, such as a list of figures.
7 Specify options to determine how each paragraph style in the table of contents is formatted. (See “Options for
formatting a table of contents” on page 282.)

It’s a good idea to define a TOC style that contains the formatting and other options for your table of contents. To do
so, click Save Style. You can also create TOC styles by choosing Layout > Table Of Contents Styles.
8 Click OK.

A loaded text cursor
losing the loaded text.

appears. Before you click, you can move to a different page or create a new page without

9 Click or drag the loaded text cursor on a page to place the new table of contents story.

Note: Avoid threading the TOC frame to other text frames in the document. If you replace the existing TOC, the entire
story will be replaced by the updated TOC.

See also
“About character and paragraph styles” on page 165

Create or import TOC styles
If you need to create different tables of contents in your document or book, or if you want to use the same TOC
formatting in another document, create a TOC style for each type of TOC. For example, you can use one TOC style
for a list of contents and another for a list of advertisers, illustrations, or photo credits.
Note: Don’t confuse TOC styles with paragraph styles that have a “TOC” prefix. TOC-prefixed paragraph styles (for
example “TOC title”) are used to format the table of contents entries themselves. In contrast, a TOC style is a collection
of settings used to automatically create a table of contents.
Create a TOC style
1 Choose Layout > Table Of Contents Styles.
2 Click New.
3 Type a name for the TOC style you are creating.
4 In the Title box, type a title for your TOC (such as Contents or List of Figures). This title will appear at the top of
the table of contents. To specify a title style, choose a style from the Style menu.
5 From the Other Styles list, select the paragraph styles that represent content you want to include in the table of
contents, then click Add to add them to the Include Paragraph Styles list.
6 Specify options to determine how each paragraph style is formatted. (See “Options for formatting a table of
contents” on page 282.)

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Import TOC styles from another document
1 Choose Layout > Table Of Contents Styles.
2 Click Load, select the InDesign file containing the TOC styles you want to copy, and then click Open.
3 Click OK.

Note: If the paragraph styles in your document do not match the paragraph styles in the TOC style you import, you’ll
need to edit the TOC style before generating a table of contents.

Options for formatting a table of contents
When generating or editing a table of contents, use these options to determine the appearance of the generated table
of contents text. Some of these options are available only when you click More Options in the dialog box.
Note: The settings in the Style section apply only to the currently style selected under Include Paragraph Styles. You can
specify different formatting options for each style.
Entry Style For each style in Include Paragraph Styles, choose a paragraph style to apply to the associated table of
contents entries.
Page Number You might want to create a character style that formats the page number. You can then select this style

in the Style pop-up list to the right of Page Number. (See “Define paragraph and character styles” on page 166.)
If you want the page numbers of the TOC to include prefixes, or to use a different numbering convention, see “Define
section numbering” on page 81.
Between Entry And Number Specify which characters you want between the table of contents entry and its page

number. The default is ^t, which tells InDesign to insert a tab. You can choose other special characters, such as Right
Indent Tab or Em Space, in the pop-up list. For a complete list of special characters and how to work with them, see
“Insert glyphs and special characters” on page 148.
Select the existing text in the box before you choose a different special character, to make sure that you don’t include
both characters.
You might want to create a character style that formats the space between the entry and the page number. You can
then select this style in the Style pop-up list to the right of Between Entry And Number. (See “Define paragraph and
character styles” on page 166.)
If the entry’s paragraph style includes a tab leader setting, and if the tab character (^t) is selected, a tab leader appears
in the generated table of contents. For more information, see “Create TOC entries with tab leaders” on page 283.

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Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Mammals
Bears
Cats
Dogs
Chapter 2
Birds
Parrots
Chapter 3
Reptiles
Lizards

1
3
3
3
8
10
26
27
29
31
32
33

You can specify a character that separates an entry and page number, as well as a style to apply to a character.

Sort Entries in Alphabetical Order Select this option to sort table of contents entries in the selected style alphabeti-

cally. This option is useful for creating simple lists, such as lists of advertisers. Nested entries (Level 2 or 3) sort alphabetically within their group (Level 1 or 2, respectively).
Note: The sort order for a table of contents is determined by the document’s default language setting. To change the
default language setting, make sure nothing is selected and then choose a language from the Language menu in the
Character panel.
Level By default, each item added to the Include Paragraph Styles box is set one level lower than the item immedi-

ately above it. You can change this hierarchy by specifying a new level number for the selected paragraph style.
Create PDF Bookmarks Select this option if you want the table of contents entries to appear in the Bookmarks panel

of Adobe Acrobat 8 or Adobe Reader® when the document is exported to PDF.
Run-in Select this option if you want all TOC entries to be run into a single paragraph. A semicolon followed by a
space (; ) separates the entries.
Include Text On Hidden Layers Select this option only if you want the paragraphs on hidden layers to be included in

your table of contents. This is useful when creating a list of advertisers or illustrations that may not appear as visible
text in the document itself. Deselect this option when you’ve used layers to store various versions or translations of
the same text.
Numbered Paragraphs If your table of contents includes a paragraph style that uses numbering, specify whether the
TOC entry includes the full paragraph (both number and text), only the numbers, or only the paragraph.

Create TOC entries with tab leaders
Entries in a table of contents are often formatted with dots or tab leaders separating the entry from its associated page
number.

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Table of contents with dot leaders

1 Create a paragraph style with a tab leader. (See “Create a paragraph style with a tab leader” on page 284.)
2 To update the table of contents settings, do one of the following:

• Choose Layout > Table Of Contents Style. Select a TOC style, and click Edit.
• Choose Layout > Table Of Contents (if you are not using a TOC style).
3 Under Include Paragraph Styles, select an item you want to appear with a tab leader in the table of contents.
4 For Entry Style, select the paragraph style that contains the tab leader.
5 Click More Options.
6 Verify that Between Entry And Number is set to ^t (representing a tab). Click OK or Save to exit.
7 Update the table of contents, if necessary, by choosing Layout > Update Table Of Contents. Otherwise, place the
new table of contents story.

Create a paragraph style with a tab leader
1 Choose Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph Styles to display the Paragraph Styles panel.
2 In the Paragraph Styles panel, do one of the following:

• Double-click the name of the paragraph style applied to entries in your table of contents.
• From the panel menu, choose New Paragraph Style.
3 Enter a name, if necessary, for the paragraph style.
4 Click Tabs.
5 Select the right-justified tab icon

, and then click on the ruler to position the tab stop.

6 For Leader, type a period (.).
7 Select other style options as desired, and click OK.

Update a table of contents
The table of contents is like a snapshot of content in your document. If page numbers in your document change, or
if you edit headings or other elements associated with table of contents entries, you’ll need to regenerate the table of
contents to update it.
1 Open the document containing the table of contents.
2 Do any of the following:

• To make changes to table of contents entries, edit your document or booked documents, not the table of contents
story itself.

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• To change the formatting applied to the table of contents title, entries, or page numbers, edit the paragraph or
character styles associated with these elements.

• To change how pages are numbered (for example, 1, 2, 3 or i, ii, iii), change section numbering in the document
or book. (See “Number pages, chapters, and paragraphs in a book” on page 277.)

• To specify a new title, include other paragraph styles in the table of contents, or further format table of contents
entries, edit the TOC style.
3 Choose Layout > Update Table Of Contents.

See also
“Edit character and paragraph styles” on page 170

Editing a table of contents
If your table of contents requires editing, edit the actual paragraphs in the document—not the table of contents
story—and then generate a new table of contents. If you edit the table of contents story, you’ll lose your revisions
when you generate a new table of contents. For the same reason, you should edit the styles used to format the table
of contents entries, rather than formatting the table of contents directly.

Creating an index
About indexing
You can create a simple keyword index or a comprehensive, detailed guide to the information in your book. To create
an index, you first place index markers in the text. You associate each index marker with the word, called a topic, that
you want to appear in the index.
When you generate the index, each topic is listed, along with the page on which it was found. The topics are sorted
alphabetically, typically under section headings (A, B, C, and so on). An index entry consists of a topic (the term
readers look up) paired with either a page reference (page number or range) or a cross-reference. A cross-reference,
preceded by “See” or “See also,” points the reader to other entries in the index, rather than to a page number.
A
B
C
D

Parts of an index
A. Title B. Section heading C. Index entry D. Subentry E. Topic F. Page reference G. Cross-reference

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Tips for creating an index

Creating a well-planned and complete index can help make the information in your document immediately accessible to your readers. Here are a few guidelines to consider:

• Think about how you want your index to look. How many topic levels will it have? Will it refer the reader to other
related topics? Will a simple keyword index suffice, or do you want a more complex index with cross-references
to related topics and a well-researched list of equivalent terms?

• Anticipate the variety of ways by which your readers might look up information. For instance, one reader may
search for information on animals by looking under beasts; another may look for wildlife or fauna.

• Add index entries when the content of your document is fairly stable. If you delete large portions of your text later,
you may lose some of your indexing work.

• A well-planned index presents topics consistently. Common indexing problems include mixing uppercase and
lowercase (cats and Cats) and singular and plural forms (cat and cats). Use a topic list to keep terms consistent.

• Review your index several times before you generate the final index. Look for duplicate entries, weak subject areas,
misspellings, and inconsistencies in capitalization and wording; for example, InDesign treats Cheetah, cheetah,
and cheetahs as separate entries.
Workflow for creating an index

To create an index, follow these basic steps:
1. Create a topic list (optional) A topic list helps you maintain consistency in your index entries. (See “Create a list
of topics for an index” on page 287.)
2. Add index markers. Add index markers on the pages in your document that you want the index entries to refer to.
(See “Add index entries” on page 288.)
3. Generate the index. Generating the index creates a set of entries for markers and their accompanying page

numbers. (See “Generate an index” on page 293.)
4. Flow the index story. Use the loaded text cursor to flow the index into a text frame. In most cases, you’ll want the
index to start on a new page. After you flow the index, you can format the pages and index.

You’ll likely repeat these steps several times as you refine your index prior to publication.
For a video on creating an index, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0220.

Index panel overview
You create, edit, and preview the index using the Index panel (Window > Type & Tables > Index). The panel includes
two modes: Reference and Topic. In Reference mode, the preview area displays complete index entries for the current
document or book. In Topic mode, the preview area displays only topics, not page numbers or cross-references.
Topic mode is used primarily for creating the index structure, whereas Reference mode is where you add your index
entries.
In Reference mode, index entries are alphabetized and divided into sections by letter. Triangles next to entries let you
expand or collapse the entry to view subentries, page numbers, and cross-references.
The following codes appear in place of page references to indicate index entries that may not be included in the
generated index:
PB Indicates index entries on the pasteboard. These entries will not appear in the generated index.

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HL Indicates index entries on a hidden layer. When you generate the index, you have the option of including these

index entries.
PN Indicates index entries in overset text. When you include these entries in the generated index, they appear
without page numbers.
Master Indicates index entries on a master page. These entries will not appear in the generated index.

Click a triangle to expand or collapse an individual entry. Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and
click a triangle to expand or collapse all subentries for that entry.
Choose Update Preview in the Index panel menu to update the preview area. This option is especially useful if you’ve
edited your document extensively or moved index markers in the document window.

Create a list of topics for an index
You can create or import a list of topics to use as a starting point when creating index entries. Later, when you add
entries to the index, you can select topics from the topic list (instead of typing them each time) to ensure that information is indexed consistently throughout your document or book.
You create and edit a topic list using the Index panel in Topic mode. Note that Topic mode displays topics only; to
preview index entries, with their associated page numbers and cross-references, use Reference mode instead.

Index panel in Reference mode (left) and Topic mode (right)

Topics in the topic list appear in the Index Entry dialog box as well. To create an index entry, simply select a topic
and then associate it with a page or cross-reference. Unused topics (those without page or cross-references) are
excluded when you generate an index.
Creating a topic list before you add index entries is optional. Each time you create an index entry, its topic is automatically added to the topic list for future use.
Add topics to the topics list
1 Choose Window > Type & Tables > Index to display the Index panel.
2 Select Topic.
3 Choose New Topic from the Index panel menu or click the Create New Index Entry icon at the bottom of the
panel.

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4 Do one of the following:

• Under Topic Levels, type the topic name (for example, animals) in the first box. To create a subtopic, type a name
(cats) in the second box. In this example, “cats” is indented under “animals.” To create a subtopic under the
subtopic, type a name (Calicos) in the third box, and so on.

• Select an existing topic. Enter subtopics in the second, third, and fourth boxes.
5 Click Add to add the topic, which will now appear in the New Topic dialog box as well as the Index panel.
6 Click Done when you’ve finished adding topics.

To delete a topic that you’ve just added, click Done, select the topic in the Index panel, and then click the Delete
Selected Entry button.
Import topics from another InDesign document
1 Choose Import Topics in the Index panel menu.
2 Select the document containing the index topics you want to import, and then click Open.
Edit an index topic

Use the Index panel to edit entries before or after you generate an index. If you make changes to the index story itself,
these changes will be lost when you regenerate the index.
1 Open a document containing the index topics.
2 In the Index panel, select Topic.
3 In the preview area, double-click a topic to edit.
4 Edit the topic as desired, and then click OK.

Add index entries
You create index entries using the Index panel in Reference mode. An index entry consists of two parts: a topic and
a reference. Topics can be defined ahead of time using a topic list. References can be page numbers or cross-references to other topics.

A
B
C

Index panel in Reference mode
A. Entry B. Subentry C. Page reference D. Cross-reference

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An index marker is inserted at the beginning of the word in which text is selected or the insertion point appears. You
can view index markers by choosing Type > Show Hidden Characters.

See also
“About markers” on page 297
Add an index entry
1 Using the Type tool

, place the insertion point where you want the index marker to appear, or select text in the
document to use as the basis for an index reference.
When selected text contains inline graphics or special characters, some characters (such as index markers and inline
graphics) are stripped out in the Topic Level box. Other characters, such as em dashes and copyright symbols, are
converted to metacharacters (for example, ^_ or ^2).
2 Choose Window > Type & Tables > Index to display the Index panel.
3 Select Reference.
4 To view index entries from any open documents in a book file, select Book.
5 Choose New Page Reference in the Index panel menu. (If this command does not appear, make sure Reference is
selected and that there is an insertion point or text selection in the document.)
6 To add text to the Topic Levels box, do any of the following:

• To create a simple index entry (such as cats), type the entry in the first Topic Levels box. (If text was selected, that
text appears in the Topic Levels box.)

• To create entries and subentries, type the parent name (for this example, animals) in the first Topic Levels box, and
type subentries (cats and Calicos) in subsequent boxes. If necessary, click the up and down arrows to change places
with the item above or below the selected item.

A
animals
bears 9
cats
Calicos 19
bears
Black 10

Index entry in the Topic Levels box (left) and resulting appearance in the Index (right)

• Double-click any topic in the list box at the bottom of the dialog box.
7 To change the way an entry is sorted in the final index, use the Sort By boxes. For example, to sort the topic de la
Vega under V (instead of D), you would type Vega in the Sort By box and de la Vega in the Topic Level box.

You can also select the sort order of numbers, symbols, and languages. (See “Change the sort order of indexes” on
page 295.)
8 Specify the type of index entry:

• To create index entries that have a page number or range (such as cats 82–87), choose an option that describes the
span of the entry in the Type pop-up menu. (See “Page range options in indexes” on page 291.)

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• To create an index entry without a page number, choose Suppress Page Range in the Type menu. Although no page
number will appear in the generated index, the page number appears in parentheses in the Index panel.

• To create an index entry which refers to another entry, select one of the cross reference options (such as See or See
also) from the Type pop-up menu, and input the entry name in the Referenced text box, or drag the existing entry
from the list at the bottom to the Referenced box. You can also customize the See and See also terms displayed in
the cross reference entries by selecting Custom Cross Reference from the Type pop-up menu. (See “Add a crossreference in an index” on page 292.)
9 To add emphasis to a particular index entry, select Number Style Override, and then specify a character style.
10 To add an entry to the index, do any of the following:

• Click Add to add current entry and leave the dialog box open for additional entries.
• Click Add All to locate all instances of the selected text in the document window and creates an index marker for
each one. Add All is available only if text in the document is selected.

• Click OK to add the index entry and close the dialog box.
Note: If you click Cancel after clicking Add, the entries you just added are not removed. Choose Edit > Undo New Page
Reference to remove these entries.
11 To close the dialog box, click OK or Done.
Index a word, phrase, or list quickly

Using an indexing shortcut, you can quickly index individual words, a phrase, or a list of words or phrases. Adobe
InDesign recognizes two indexing shortcuts: one for standard index entries; the other for proper names. The proper
name shortcut creates index entries by reversing the order of a name so it is alphabetized by the last name. In this
way, you can list a name with the first name first, but have it appear in the index sorted by last name. For example,
the name James Paul Carter would appear in the index as Carter, James Paul.
To prepare a list for indexing, separate each item you want to be indexed with any of the following: a return, a soft
return (Shift + Return key), a tab, a right-indent tab (Shift + Tab), a semicolon, or a comma. The indexing shortcut
adds a marker in front of each entry and places all the items into the index.
1 In the document window, select the word or words you want to index.
2 Do one of the following:

• For standard words or phrases, press Shift+Alt+Ctrl+[ (Windows) or Shift+Option+Command+[ (Mac OS).
• For proper names that you want indexed by the last name, press Shift+Alt+Ctrl+] (Windows) or
Shift+Option+Command+] (Mac OS).
An index marker using the default settings is added at the beginning of the selection or to the beginning of each item
selected.
To index compound last names or names with a title, include one or more nonbreaking spaces between the words.
For example, if you want to index “James Paul Carter Jr.” by “Carter” instead of “Jr.”, place a nonbreaking space
between “Carter” and “Jr.” (To insert a nonbreaking space, choose Type > Insert White Space > Nonbreaking Space.)
Create a new entry from an existing one

Often, a subject you’re indexing appears in multiple places in a document or book. When this happens, you can
create multiple index entries based on other entries already in your index to ensure consistency.
1 In the document window, click an insertion point, or select text where the index marker will appear.
2 In the Index panel, select Reference, and scroll the preview area to the entry you want to copy.

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3 Do one of the following:

• Drag an entry to the New button

to insert an index marker at the insertion point, or at the beginning of the

selection.

• Select an entry in the panel preview area, and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click the
New Entry button. The New Page Reference dialog box appears, with information about the selected entry. Make
any changes, and then click Add or OK.
Alternatively, you can create a topic list, and then select topics from the list as you create index entries.
Index every occurrence of a word automatically

Using the Add All option is an effective way to index all occurrences of a specified term in a document or a book.
When you click Add All, InDesign creates index markers at every occurrence of the words selected in the
document—not the text specified in the dialog box. (You can later delete entries that point to less significant information.)
When searching for occurrences of the selected text, InDesign considers only whole words, and searches are casesensitive. For example, if cheetah is selected, cheetahs and Cheetah will not be indexed.
1 In the document window, select the text you want to search for.
2 In the Index panel, select Reference.
3 To create index entries for any open documents in the book, select Book.
4 Choose New Page Reference in the Index panel menu.
5 Choose Add All. InDesign adds index markers to all text that matches the selected text, regardless of whether the
text has been indexed, so you may end up with multiple entries for the same word or phrase.
Edit an index entry

To change a topic (such as renaming it or applying a new sort order) and automatically update all entries that use
that topic, use the Index panel in Topic mode. To change one entry at a time, use Reference mode. In Reference mode,
you can also add cross-references or locate the index marker associated with a page reference.
1 Open the document containing the index entries.
2 In the Index panel, do one of the following:

• Select Topic to edit a topic and automatically update all entries using that topic.
• Select Reference to edit an individual entry.
3 In the preview area, select an entry or page reference. To select a page reference, select the page icon below the
entry.
4 Double-click an entry or page reference to edit.
5 Edit the entry, and then click OK.

Page range options in indexes
You can create index entries that include a page range (such as cats 82–87) instead of a single page number. The Type
pop-up menu in the New Page Reference dialog box includes the following page-range options:
Current Page The page range does not extend beyond the current page.
To Next Style Change The page range extends from the index marker to the next change of paragraph style.

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To Next Use Of Style The page range extends from the index marker to the page where the next occurrence of the

paragraph style specified in the adjacent paragraph style pop-up menu appears.
To End Of Story The page range extends from the index marker to the end of the current thread of text frames that

contain text.
To End Of Document The page range extends from the index marker to the end of the document.
To End Of Section The page range extends from the index marker to the end of the current section as defined in the
Pages panel. (See “Document numbering options” on page 83.)
For Next # Of Paragraphs The page range extends from the index marker to the end of the number of paragraphs
specified in the adjacent box, or to the end of as many paragraphs as exist.
For Next # Of Pages The page range extends from the index marker to the end of the number of pages specified in
the adjacent box, or to the end of as many pages as exist.
Suppress Page Range Turn off page range.

Add a cross-reference in an index
Cross-references are index entries that point to related entries, instead of a page number. You create cross-references
using the Index panel. Cross-references can serve different purposes in an index:

• Cross-references associate common terms with equivalents used in your document or book. For example, Fauna.
See Animals. Entries with such cross-references do not contain page references; they simply point to equivalent
terms that are indexed more fully.

• Cross-references point to other entries related to, but not equivalent to, a topic. For example, Cats. See also
Wildcats. In this case, the index entry containing the cross-reference also contains page numbers and/or subentries that are directly related to the entry’s topic.

A
B

Two types of cross-references
A. Cross-reference to related information (See also) B. Cross-reference to an equivalent term (See)

When you create a cross-reference in InDesign, you can also select a cross-reference prefix. “See” and “See also” are
static text. When you choose “See [also],” InDesign automatically assigns the correct prefix to the cross-reference
each time the index is generated:

• Entries with page numbers, subentries, or both are given “See also.”
• Entries without page numbers or subentries are given “See.”
Using the “See [also]” option frees you from the task of manually updating cross-references as the contents of your
index entries change.
1 Choose Window > Type & Tables > Index.
2 Select Reference.
3 (Optional) Select Book to view index entries from any open documents in a book file.

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4 Choose New Page Reference in the Index panel menu.
5 Enter a topic or topics in the Topic Levels boxes.
6 In the Type menu, choose a cross-reference prefix (such as See also) from the bottom of the menu.
7 Type a topic in the Referenced box, or drag an existing topic from the topic list at the bottom.
8 Click Add to add the cross-reference to the index.

Cross-references appear in the Index panel and the generated index, but are not associated with index markers in the
document itself.
Cross-references with “See [also]” appear as “See [also]” in the Index panel; however, the correct prefix will appear
in the generated index story.

See also
“Add index entries” on page 288
“Index panel overview” on page 286

Generate an index
Once you’ve added index entries and previewed them in the Index panel, you’re ready to generate an index story to
place in your document for publication.
An index story can appear as a separate document or in an existing document. When you generate an index story,
InDesign compiles index entries and updates page numbers across your document or book. If you add or delete
index entries or update numbering in your document, however, you’ll need to regenerate the index to update it.
If an index marker appears in overset text when you generate the index, you are asked if you would like to include
these markers in the index. If you click Yes, the entry appears in the index without a page number.
For a video on creating an index, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0220.
1 Do one of the following:

• If you’re creating an index for a single document, you may want to add a new page at the end of the document.
• If you’re creating an index for multiple documents in a book, create or open the document to be used for the index,
and make sure that it’s included in the book.
2 Choose Generate Index in the Index panel menu. Specify settings for the following options:

• For Title, type the text that will appear at the top of the index. To determine how the title is formatted, select a style
in the Title Style pop-up menu.

• Select Replace Existing Index to update an existing index. This option is dimmed if you haven’t generated an index.
• Select Include Book Documents to create a single index for all documents in the current book list and to renumber
the book’s pages. Deselect this option if you want to generate an index for the current document only.

• Select Include Entries On Hidden Layers if you want index markers on hidden layers to be included in your index.
• To view additional index options, click More Options.
3 Click OK. If Replace Existing Index is deselected, a loaded text icon appears. Place the index story as you would

any other text.
If you edit entries in the index story, these changes are overridden when you regenerate the index. For best results,
edit the index in the Index panel, and then generate the index again.

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Index formatting options

When you click More Options in the Generate Index dialog box, formatting options appear that let you determine
the style and appearance of the generated index. InDesign includes a number of built-in paragraph and character
styles that you can select to format the generated index, or you can create and select your own styles. After you
generate the index, you can edit these styles in the Paragraph Styles and Character Styles panels.
A
B
C
D

Index with nested entries
A. Title B. Section heading C. Level 1 entry D. Level 2 subentry E. Topic F. Cross-reference

To replace the entry separators (such as the values for Following Topic or Between Entries), select the existing
separator and then type or choose a replacement character.
Nested or Run-in Select Nested if you want the index formatted in the default style, with subentries nested under an

entry as separate indented paragraphs. Select Run-in if you want all levels of an entry to appear in a single paragraph.
The Between Entries option determines which character separates the entries.
Include Index Section Headings Select this option to generate section headings consisting of alphabet characters (A,

B, C, and so on) representing the section that follows.
Include Empty Index Sections Select this option to generate section headings for all letters of the alphabet, even if
the index lacks any first-level entries that begin with a particular letter.
Level Style For each index level, choose a paragraph style to be applied to each level of index entries. You can edit
these styles in the Paragraph Styles panel after you generate the index.
Section Heading Select the paragraph style that determines the appearance of the section headings (A, B, C, and so
on) in the generated index.
Page Number Select the character style that determines the appearance of the page numbers in the generated index.

This setting does not affect index entries you formatted using the Number Style Override option.
Note: If you want the page numbers in the index to include prefixes, as in B-1 or II-1, see “Define section numbering”
on page 81.
Cross-reference Select the character style that determines the appearance of cross-reference prefixes (such as See and
See also) in the generated index.
Cross-referenced Topic Select the character style that determines the appearance of the topic being referred to (such
as beasts in See also beasts) in the generated index.
Following Topic Type or select a special character to separate the entry from the page number (such as Animals 38).

The default is two spaces. Determine formatting for this character by editing the corresponding Level Style, or by
selecting another.
Between Page Numbers Type or select a special character to separate one page number or range from another. The
default is a comma followed by an en space.

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Between Entries If Run-in is selected, type or select a special character to determine how entries and subentries are
separated. If Nested is selected, this setting determines how two cross-references under a single entry are to be
separated.
Before Cross-reference Type or select a special character that appears between a reference and a cross-reference, as
in Animals. See also beasts. The default is a period followed by a space. Determine formatting for this character by
switching or editing the corresponding level style.
Page Range Type or select a special character to separate the first and last numbers in a page range (such as

Animals 38–43). The default is an en dash. Determine formatting for this character by switching or editing the Page
Number style.
Entry End Type or select a special character to appear at the end of entries. If Run-in is selected, the specified
character appears at the end of the last cross-reference. The default is no character.

Change the sort order of indexes
You can change the sort order of languages and symbols. This is especially useful for Greek, Cyrillic, and Asian
languages.
Changing the sort order affects the sort order in the Index panel and in the index stories that are generated afterwards. For example, you can generate an index in German, change the sort order, and then generate a separate index
in Swedish — just make sure Replace Existing Index isn’t selected when you generate the index.
1 Choose Sort Options from the Index panel menu.
2 Make sure the items you want sorted are selected.
3 To change the order of a language or symbol, select it in the list, and then click the Up or Down buttons in the
lower right part of the list.

Items that are higher on the list are sorted before lower items. Any characters from languages that aren’t included in
the Sort Options dialog box are sorted under symbols. For example, if you have Greek text in your document but
don’t include Greek under Sort Options, any indexed Greek text will appear under Symbols.

Capitalize index entries
The Capitalize dialog box provides a global solution for editing the capitalization of index entries so that you don’t
have to edit entries one by one. For example, if you’ve indexed some of your entries as lowercase (cats) and others as
uppercase (Cats), these entries will be considered separate topics. You can fix this problem by capitalizing selected
entries.
1 In the preview area of the Index panel, select an entry.
2 Choose Capitalize in the Index panel menu.
3 Select whether you want to capitalize only the selected topic, the selected topic and all subtopics, all Level 1 topics,

or all topics, and then click OK.

Manage an index
After you set up your index and add index markers to your document, you can manage your index in a variety of
ways. You can view all index topics in a book, remove topics from the Topic list that aren’t used in the Reference list,
find entries in either the Reference or Topics list, and remove index markers from the document.

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See also
“About markers” on page 297
View all index topics in a book

When the Book option is selected, the Index panel displays entries from the entire book, not just the current
document.
1 Open the book file and all of the documents it contains.
2 Select Book at the top of the Index panel.

If others need to access documents in the book while the index is being created, you can create a master list of topics
in a separate document, and then import topics from the master list to each document in the book. Note that if the
master list changes, you will need to import topics to each document again.
Remove unused topics from the Topic list

Once you have created your index, you can delete topics that weren’t included in the index.
1 Choose Window > Type & Tables > Index to display the Index panel.
2 Choose Remove Unused Topics in the Index panel menu. All topics that do not have page numbers associated
with them are deleted.
Delete index markers
❖ Do either of the following:

• In the Index panel, select the entry or topic you want to delete. Click the Delete Selected Entry button

Note: If the selected entry is the heading for multiple subheadings, all subheadings are also deleted.

• In the document window, select the index marker and press Backspace or Delete.
Note: To view index markers in the document window, choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.
Find an index entry in the Index panel
1 Choose Show Find Field in the Index panel menu.
2 In the Find box, type the name of the entry you want to locate, and then click the Up Arrow or Down Arrow.
Locate index markers in a document
1 Choose Type > Show Hidden Characters to display index markers in the document window.
2 In the Index panel, click Reference, and then select the entry you want to locate.
3 Choose Go To Selected Marker in the Index panel menu. The insertion point appears to the right of the index
marker. You can then press Shift+Left Arrow to select the marker for cutting, copying, or deleting.

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Working with markers
About markers
InDesign inserts a marker in text for items such as index entries, XML tags, and hyperlink text and anchors. These
markers have no width and they don’t affect composition of text. However, you can select these markers and cut,
copy, or delete them. InDesign uses the location of the marker to produce an accurate bookmark or page reference
in table of contents, index, and exported PDF files.
You can view all markers at once, or view hyperlink or tagged text markers only. You can also view markers in Story
Editor, where they are larger and easier to identify.
Note: When you select a word, all of its markers are also selected. Keep this in mind when you are cutting, copying, or
deleting text.
A

Types of markers
A. Tagged text B. Index marker C. Hyperlink

View markers
• To display markers, choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.
• To view hyperlink markers only, choose View > Show Hyperlinks.
• To view tagged text markers only, choose View > Structure > Show Tag Markers.

Select markers
1 Choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.
2 Place the insertion point next to the marker.
3 Holding down Shift, press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to select a marker.

You can also locate markers using different methods. For example, you can locate an index marker by choosing the
Go To Selected Marker option in the Index panel menu.

298

Chapter 11: Drawing
With drawing tools, you have complete control over the shape, stroke (outline), and fill of any object you draw. All
graphics options in the Toolbox are available for any object you draw, whether it’s a path for an independent graphic
or a container frame for text or graphics. Use either Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign CS3 to draw paths, and
freely copy and paste them between applications.

Understanding paths and shapes
Types of paths and shapes
You can create paths and combine them in a variety of ways in InDesign. InDesign creates the following types of
paths and shapes:
Simple paths Simple paths are the basic building blocks of compound paths and shapes. They consist of one open

or closed path, which may be self-intersecting.
Compound paths Compound paths consist of two or more simple paths that interact with or intercept each other.

They are more basic than compound shapes and are recognized by all PostScript-compliant applications. Paths
combined in a compound path act as one object and share attributes (such as colors or stroke styles).
Compound shapes Compound shapes consist of two or more paths, compound paths, groups, blends, text outlines,

text frames, or other shapes that interact with and intercept one another to create new, editable shapes. Some
compound shapes appear as compound paths, but their component paths can be edited on a path-by-path basis and
do not need to share attributes.

Types of paths and shapes
A. Three simple paths B. Compound path C. Compound shape

For a video on working with objects, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0071.

About paths
As you draw, you create a line called a path. A path is made up of one or more straight or curved segments. The
beginning and end of each segment are marked by anchor points, which work like pins holding a wire in place. A path
can be closed (for example, a circle), or open, with distinct endpoints (for example, a wavy line).
You change the shape of a path by dragging its anchor points, the direction points at the end of direction lines that
appear at anchor points, or the path segment itself.

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D
E

Components of a path
A. Selected (solid) endpoint B. Selected anchor point C. Unselected anchor point D. Curved path segment E. Direction line F. Direction point

Paths can have two kinds of anchor points: corner points and smooth points. At a corner point, a path abruptly
changes direction. At a smooth point, path segments are connected as a continuous curve. You can draw a path using
any combination of corner and smooth points. If you draw the wrong kind of point, you can always change it.

Points on a path
A. Four corner points B. Four smooth points C. Combination of corner and smooth points

A corner point can connect any two straight or curved segments, while a smooth point always connects two curved
segments.

A corner point can connect both straight segments and curved segments.

Note: Don’t confuse corner and smooth points with straight and curved segments.
A path’s outline is called a stroke. A color or gradient applied to an open or closed path’s interior area is called a fill.
A stroke can have weight (thickness), color, and a dash pattern (Illustrator and InDesign) or a stylized line pattern
(InDesign). After you create a path or shape, you can change the characteristics of its stroke and fill.
In InDesign, each path also displays a center point, which marks the center of the shape but is not part of the actual
path. You can use this point to drag the path, to align the path with other elements, or to select all anchor points on
the path. The center point is always visible; it can’t be hidden or deleted.

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About direction lines and direction points
When you select an anchor point that connects curved segments (or select the segment itself), the anchor points of
the connecting segments display direction handles, which consist of direction lines that end in direction point. The
angle and length of the direction lines determine the shape and size of the curved segments. Moving the direction
points reshapes the curves. Direction lines don’t appear in the final output.

After selecting an anchor point (left), direction lines appear on any curved segments connected by the anchor point (right).

A smooth point always has two direction lines, which move together as a single, straight unit. When you move a
direction line on a smooth point, the curved segments on both sides of the point are adjusted simultaneously,
maintaining a continuous curve at that anchor point.
In comparison, a corner point can have two, one, or no direction lines, depending on whether it joins two, one, or
no curved segments, respectively. Corner point direction lines maintain the corner by using different angles. When
you move a direction line on a corner point, only the curve on the same side of the point as that direction line is
adjusted.

Adjusting direction lines on a smooth point (left) and a corner point (right)

Direction lines are always tangent to (perpendicular to the radius of) the curve at the anchor points. The angle of
each direction line determines the slope of the curve, and the length of each direction line determines the height, or
depth, of the curve.

Moving and resizing direction lines changes the slope of curves.

Note: In Illustrator, you can show or hide anchor points, direction lines, and direction points by choosing View > Show
Edges or View > Hide Edges.

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Drawing with the line or shape tools
Draw basic lines and shapes
1 In the toolbox, do one of the following:

• To draw a line or shape, select the Line tool

, the Ellipse tool , the Rectangle tool
(Click and hold the Rectangle tool to select either the Ellipse or Polygon tool.)

• To draw a placeholder (empty) graphics frame, select the Ellipse Frame tool
the Polygon Frame tool

, or the Polygon tool

, the Rectangle Frame tool

.
, or

2 Drag in the document window to create the path or frame. To draw from the center out, hold down Alt (Windows)
or Option (Mac OS).

To constrain a line to 45˚ angles, or to constrain the width and height of a path or frame to the same proportions,
hold down Shift as you drag.

Dragging to create a basic circle

Note: The result shown above displays a bounding box around the path. If the Selection tool was recently active, you’ll
see this bounding box. If the Direct Selection tool was more recently active, the path appears with anchor points
instead.

See also
“Selecting objects” on page 358
“Gallery of drawing and type tools” on page 29

Draw a placeholder shape
A placeholder shape is an ellipse, rectangle, or polygon that appears in the document window with an X, indicating
that it should be replaced by text or an image later.
1 In the toolbox, select the Ellipse Frame tool

, the Rectangle Frame tool

, or the Polygon Frame tool

2 Drag in the document window to create the path or frame. Hold down Shift to constrain the width and height of
the frame.

You can change the crop amount, reference point, and other fitting options for a placeholder frame by choosing
Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options.

Specify polygon settings
❖ Double-click the Polygon tool

, specify the following settings, and click OK:

• For Number of Sides, type a value for the number of sides you want for the polygon.

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• For Star Inset, type a percentage value to specify the length of a star’s spikes. The tips of the spikes touch the outer
edge of the polygon’s bounding box, and the percentage determines the depth of the depression between each
spike. Higher percentages create longer, thinner spikes.
Note: Polygon settings apply only to the next polygon you draw; you cannot apply them to a polygon you’ve already
created.

Change the shape of a path automatically
You can convert any path into a predefined shape. For example, you can convert a rectangle to a triangle. The stroke
settings for the original path remain the same for the new path. If the new path is a polygon, its shape is based on the
options in the Polygon Settings dialog box. If the new path has a corner effect, its radius size is based on the size
setting in the Corner Options dialog box.
1 Select the path.
2 Do any of the following:

• Choose Object > Convert Shape > [new shape].
• In the Pathfinder panel (Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder), click a shape button in the Convert Shape area.

Drawing with the Pencil tool
Draw with the Pencil tool
The Pencil tool works primarily the same way in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. It lets you draw open and closed
paths as if you were drawing with a pencil on paper. It is most useful for fast sketching or creating a hand-drawn look.
Once you draw a path, you can immediately change it if needed.
Anchor points are set down as you draw with the Pencil tool; you do not determine where they are positioned.
However, you can adjust them once the path is complete. The number of anchor points set down is determined by
the length and complexity of the path and by tolerance settings in the Pencil Tool Preferences dialog box. These
settings control how sensitive the Pencil tool is to the movement of your mouse or graphics-tablet stylus.
For a video on drawing with the Pencil tool in Illustrator, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0039.
Draw freeform paths with the Pencil tool
1 Select the Pencil tool
.
2 Position the tool where you want the path to begin, and drag to draw a path. The Pencil tool
x to indicate drawing a freeform path.

displays a small

As you drag, a dotted line follows the pointer. Anchor points appear at both ends of the path and at various points
along it. The path takes on the current stroke and fill attributes, and remains selected by default.
Draw closed paths with the Pencil tool
1 Select the Pencil tool.
2 Position the tool where you want the path to begin, and start dragging to draw a path.
3 After you’ve begun dragging, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS). The Pencil tool displays a small
circle (and, in InDesign, a solid eraser) to indicate that you’re creating a closed path.

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4 When the path is the size and shape you want, release the mouse button (but not the Alt or Option key). After the
path closes, release the Alt or Option key.

You don’t have to position the cursor over the starting point of the path in order to create a closed path; if you release
the mouse button in some other location, the Pencil tool will close the shape by creating the shortest possible line
back to the original point.

Edit paths with the Pencil tool
You can edit any path using the Pencil tool and add freeform lines and shapes to any shape.
Add to a path with the Pencil tool
1 Select an existing path.
2 Select the Pencil tool.
3 Position the pencil tip on an endpoint of the path.

You can tell you’re close enough to the endpoint when the small x next to the pencil tip disappears.
4 Drag to continue the path.
Connect two paths with the Pencil tool
1 Select both paths (Shift-click or drag around the two with the Selection tool).
2 Select the Pencil tool.
3 Position the pointer where you want to begin from one path, and start dragging toward the other path.
4 After you begin dragging, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS). The Pencil tool displays a small
merge symbol to indicate you’re adding to the existing path.
5 Drag onto the endpoint of the other path, release the mouse button, and then release the Ctrl or Command key.

Note: For best results, drag from one path to the other as if you were simply continuing the paths in the direction they
were created.
Reshape paths with the Pencil tool
1 Select the path you want to change.
2 Position the Pencil tool on or near the path to redraw.

You can tell you’re close enough to the path when the small x disappears from the tool.
3 Drag the tool until the path is the desired shape.

Using the Pencil tool to edit a closed shape

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Note: Depending on where you begin to redraw the path and in which direction you drag, you may get unexpected
results. For example, you may unintentionally change a closed path to an open path, change an open path to a closed
path, or lose a portion of a shape.

Pencil tool options
Double-click the Pencil tool to set any of the following options:
Fidelity Controls how far you have to move your mouse or stylus before a new anchor point is added to the path.
The higher the value, the smoother and less complex the path. The lower the value, the more the curves will match
the pointer’s movement, resulting in sharper angles. Fidelity can range from 0.5 to 20 pixels.
Smoothness Controls the amount of smoothing applied when you use the tool. Smoothness can range from 0% to

100%. The higher the value, the smoother the path. The lower the value, the more anchor points are created, and the
more the line’s irregularities are preserved.
Fill New Pencil Strokes (Illustrator only) Applies a fill to pencil strokes you draw after selecting this option, but not
to existing pencil strokes. Remember to select a fill before you draw the pencil strokes.
Keep Selected Determines whether to keep the path selected after you draw it. This option is selected by default.
Edit Selected Paths Determines whether or not you can change or merge an existing path when you are within a

certain distance of it (specified with the next option).
Within: _ pixels Determines how close your mouse or stylus must be to an existing path in order to edit the path with

the Pencil tool. This option is only available when the Edit Selected Paths option is selected.

Drawing with the Pen tool
Draw straight line segments with the Pen tool
The simplest path you can draw with the Pen tool is a straight line, made by clicking the Pen tool to create two anchor
points. By continuing to click, you create a path made of straight line segments connected by corner points.

Clicking Pen tool creates straight segments.

1 Select the Pen tool.
2 Position the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to begin, and click to define the first anchor point (do
not drag).

Note: The first segment you draw will not be visible until you click a second anchor point. (Select the Rubber Band option
in Photoshop to preview path segments.) Also, if direction lines appear, you’ve accidentally dragged the Pen tool; choose
Edit > Undo, and click again.
3 Click again where you want the segment to end (Shift-click to constrain the angle of the segment to a multiple of 45˚).

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4 Continue clicking to set anchor points for additional straight segments.

The last anchor point you add always appears as a solid square, indicating that it is selected. Previously defined
anchor points become hollow, and deselected, as you add more anchor points.
5 Complete the path by doing one of the following:

• To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen
tool pointer

when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

Note: To close a path in InDesign, you can also select the object and choose Object > Paths > Close Path.

• To leave the path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) anywhere away from all objects.
To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect in Illustrator or Edit > Deselect
All in InDesign.

Draw curves with the Pen tool
You create a curve by adding an anchor point where a curve changes direction, and dragging the direction lines that
shape the curve. The length and slope of the direction lines determine the shape of the curve.
Curves are easier to edit and your system can display and print them faster if you draw them using as few anchor
points as possible. Using too many points can also introduce unwanted bumps in a curve. Instead, draw widely
spaced anchor points, and practice shaping curves by adjusting the length and angles of the direction lines.
1 Select the Pen tool.
2 Position the Pen tool where you want the curve to begin, and hold down the mouse button.

The first anchor point appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead. (In Photoshop, the pointer
changes only after you’ve started dragging.)
3 Drag to set the slope of the curve segment you’re creating, and then release the mouse button.

In general, extend the direction line about one third of the distance to the next anchor point you plan to draw. (You
can adjust one or both sides of the direction line later.)
Hold down the Shift key to constrain the tool to multiples of 45˚.

Drawing the first point in a curve
A. Positioning Pen tool B. Starting to drag (mouse button pressed) C. Dragging to extend direction lines

4 Position the Pen tool where you want the curve segment to end, and do one of the following:

• To create a C-shaped curve, drag in a direction opposite to the previous direction line. Then release the mouse
button.

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Drawing the second point in a curve
A. Starting to drag second smooth point B. Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curve C. Result after releasing mouse
button

• To create an S-shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line. Then release the mouse
button.

Drawing an S curve
A. Starting to drag new smooth point B. Dragging in same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curve C. Result after releasing
mouse button

(Photoshop only) To change the direction of the curve sharply, release the mouse button, and then Alt-drag
(Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the direction point in the direction of the curve. Release the Alt (Windows) or
Option (Mac OS) key and the mouse button, reposition the pointer where you want the segment to end, and drag in the
opposite direction to complete the curve segment.
5 Continue dragging the Pen tool from different locations to create a series of smooth curves. Note that you are
placing anchor points at the beginning and end of each curve, not at the tip of the curve.

Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) direction lines to break out the direction lines of an anchor point.
6 Complete the path by doing one of the following:

• To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen
tool pointer

when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

Note: To close a path in InDesign, you can also select the object and choose Object > Paths > Close Path.

Reposition anchor points as you draw
❖ After you click to create an anchor point, keep the mouse button pressed down, hold down the spacebar, and drag

to reposition the anchor point.

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Finish drawing a path
❖ Complete a path in one of the following ways:

• To close a path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen
tool pointer

when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

Note: To close a path in InDesign, you can also select the object and choose Object > Paths > Close Path.

• To leave a path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) anywhere away from all objects.
To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect in Illustrator or Edit > Deselect
All in InDesign.

Draw straight lines followed by curves
1 Using the Pen tool, click corner points in two locations to create a straight segment.
2 Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. In Illustrator and InDesign, a convert-point icon appears next to
the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly (In Photoshop, a small diagonal line, or slash, appears next to the Pen
tool). To set the slope of the curved segment you’ll create next, click the anchor point, and drag the direction line
that appears.

Drawing a straight segment followed by a curved segment (part 1)
A. Straight segment completed B. Positioning Pen tool over endpoint (the Convert Point icon appears only in Illustrator and InDesign)
C. Dragging direction point

3 Position the pen where you want the next anchor point; then click (and drag, if desired) the new anchor point to

complete the curve.

Drawing a straight segment followed by a curved segment (part 2)
A. Positioning Pen tool B. Dragging direction line C. New curve segment completed

Draw curves followed by straight lines
1 Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of the curved segment, and release the mouse button.
2 Reposition the Pen tool where you want the curved segment to end, drag to complete the curve, and release the
mouse button.

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Drawing a curved segment followed by a straight segment (part 1)
A. First smooth point of curved segment completed and Pen tool positioned over endpoint B. Dragging to complete the curve

3 Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. A convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is
positioned correctly. Click the anchor point to convert the smooth point to a corner point.
4 Reposition the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to end, and click to complete the straight segment.

Drawing a curved segment followed by a straight segment (part 2)
C. Positioning Pen tool over existing endpoint D. Clicking endpoint E. Clicking next corner point

Draw two curved segments connected by a corner
1 Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of a curved segment.
2 Reposition the Pen tool and drag to create a curve with a second smooth point; then press and hold Alt (Windows)
or Option (Mac OS) and drag the direction line toward its opposing end to set the slope of the next curve. Release
the key and the mouse button.

This process converts the smooth point to a corner point by splitting the direction lines.
3 Reposition the Pen tool where you want the second curved segment to end, and drag a new smooth point to
complete the second curved segment.

Drawing two curves
A. Dragging a new smooth point B. Pressing Alt/Option to split direction lines while dragging, and swinging direction line up C. Result after
repositioning and dragging a third time

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Editing paths
Select paths, segments, and anchor points
Before you can reshape or edit a path, you need to select the path’s anchor points, segments, or a combination of both.
Select anchor points

• If you can see the points, you can click them with the Direct Selection tool

to select them. Shift-click to select

multiple points.

• Select the Direct Selection tool and drag a boundary around the anchor points. Shift-drag around additional
anchor points to select them.

• Make sure the path that contains the anchor points is not selected. Move the Direct Selection tool over the anchor
point until the pointer displays a hollow square, and then click the anchor point. Shift-click additional anchor
points to select them.

• (Illustrator only) Select the Lasso tool, and drag around the anchor points. Shift-drag around additional anchor
points to select them.
Select path segments

Do any of the following:

• Select the Direct Selection tool

, and click within 2 pixels of the segment, or drag a marquee over part of the
segment. Shift-click or Shift-drag around additional path segments to select them.

• (Illustrator only) Select the Lasso tool

, and drag around part of the path segment. Shift-drag around

additional path segments to select them.
Select all anchor points and segments in a path
1 Select the Direct Selection tool or, in Illustrator, the Lasso tool.
2 Drag around the entire path.

If the path is filled, you can also click inside the path with the Direct Selection tool to select all anchor points.
Copy a path
❖ Select a path or segment with the Selection tool or Direct Selection tool and do one of the following:

• Use the standard menu functions to copy and paste paths within or between applications.
• Press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the path to the desired position, and then release the
mouse button and Alt/Option key.

Adjust path segments
You can edit a path segment at any time, but editing existing segments is slightly different from drawing them. Keep
the following tips in mind when editing segments:

• If an anchor point connects two segments, moving that anchor point always changes both segments.
• When drawing with the Pen tool, you can temporarily activate the Direct Selection tool (InDesign and Photoshop)
so that you can adjust segments you’ve already drawn; press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while
drawing. In Illustrator, pressing Ctrl or Command while drawing activates the last-used selection tool.

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• When you initially draw a smooth point with the Pen tool, dragging the direction point changes the length of the
direction line on both sides of the point. However, when you edit an existing smooth point with the Direct
Selection tool, you change the length of the direction line only on the side you’re dragging.
Move straight segments
1 With the Direct Selection tool

, select the segment you want to adjust.

2 Drag the segment to its new position.
Adjust the length or angle of straight segments
1 With the Direct Selection tool , select an anchor point on the segment you want to adjust.
2 Drag the anchor point to the desired position. Shift-drag to constrain the adjustment to multiples of 45˚.

In Illustrator or InDesign, if you’re simply trying to make a rectangle wider or narrower, it’s easier to select it with
the Selection tool and resize it using one of the handles on the sides of its bounding box.
Adjust the position or shape of curved segments
1 With the Direct Selection tool, select a curved segment, or an anchor point on either end of the curved segment.

Direction lines appear, if any are present. (Some curved segments use just one direction line.)
2 Do any of the following:

• To adjust the position of the segment, drag the segment. Shift-drag to constrain the adjustment to multiples of 45˚.

Click to select the curve segment. Then drag to adjust.

• To adjust the shape of the segment on either side of a selected anchor point, drag the anchor point or the direction
point. Shift-drag to constrain movement to multiples of 45˚.

Drag the anchor point, or drag the direction point.

Note: You can also apply a transformation, such as scaling or rotating, to a segment or anchor point.
Delete a segment
1 Select the Direct Selection tool

, and select the segment you want to delete.

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2 Press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Mac OS) to delete the selected segment. Pressing Backspace or Delete
again erases the rest of the path.
Extend an open path
1 Using the Pen tool, position the pointer over the endpoint of the open path you want to extend. The pointer

changes when it’s precisely positioned over the endpoint.
2 Click the endpoint.
3 Do one of the following:

• To create a corner point, position the Pen tool where you want to end the new segment, and click. If you are
extending a path that ends at a smooth point, the new segment will be curved by the existing direction line.
Note: In Illustrator, if you extend a path that ends in a smooth point, the new segment will be straight.

• To create a smooth point, position the Pen tool where you want to end the new curved segment, and drag.
Connect two open paths
1 Using the Pen tool, position the pointer over the endpoint of the open path that you want to connect to another

path. The pointer changes when it’s precisely positioned over the endpoint.
2 Click the endpoint.
3 Do one of the following:

• To connect the path to another open path, click an endpoint on the other path. When you precisely position the
Pen tool over the other path’s endpoint, a small merge symbol

appears next to the pointer.

• To connect a new path to an existing path, draw the new path near the existing path, and then move the Pen tool
to the existing path’s (unselected) endpoint. Click that endpoint when you see the small merge symbol that appears
next to the pointer.
Move or nudge anchor points or segments using the keyboard
1 Select the anchor point or path segment.

Note: In Photoshop, you can move only anchor points in this manner.
2 Click or hold down any of the arrow keys on the keyboard to move 1 pixel at a time in the direction of the arrow.

Hold down the Shift key in addition to the arrow key to move 10 pixels at a time.
Note: In Illustrator and InDesign, you can change the distance of a nudge by changing the Keyboard Increment
preference. When you change the default increment, holding down Shift nudges 10 times the specified distance.

Add or delete anchor points
Adding anchor points can give you more control over a path or it can extend an open path. However, it’s a good idea
not to add more points than necessary. A path with fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce
the complexity of a path by deleting unnecessary points.
The toolbox contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool
the Delete Anchor Point tool .

, the Add Anchor Point tool

, and

By default, the Pen tool changes to the Add Anchor Point tool as you position it over a selected path, or to the Delete
Anchor Point tool as you position it over an anchor point. (In Photoshop, you must select Auto Add/Delete in the
options bar to enable the Pen tool to automatically change to the Add Anchor Point or Delete Anchor Point tool.)

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You can select and edit multiple paths simultaneously in Photoshop and InDesign; however, you can add or delete
points to only one path at a time in Illustrator. In Photoshop and InDesign, you can reshape a path while adding
anchor points by clicking and dragging as you add.
Note: Don’t use the Delete, Backspace, and Clear keys or the Edit > Cut or Edit > Clear commands to delete anchor
points: these keys and commands delete the point and the line segments that connect to that point.
Add or delete anchor points
1 Select the path you want to modify.
2 Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor Point tool.
3 To add an anchor point, position the pointer over a path segment and click. To delete an anchor point, position

the pointer over an anchor point and click.
In Illustrator, you can add anchor points to a path by selecting the object and choosing Object > Path > Add Anchor
Points.
Disable or temporarily override automatic Pen tool switching

You can override automatic switching of the Pen tool to the Add Anchor Point tool or the Delete Anchor Point tool.
This is useful when you want to start a new path on top of an existing path.

• In Photoshop, deselect Auto Add/Delete in the options bar.
• In Illustrator or InDesign, hold down Shift as you position the Pen tool over the selected path or an anchor point.
(To prevent Shift from constraining the Pen tool, release Shift before you release the mouse button.)

• In Illustrator, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS),
and select Disable Auto Add/Delete.

Convert between smooth points and corner points
Paths can have two kinds of anchor points—corner points and smooth points. At a corner point, a path abruptly
changes direction. At a smooth point, path segments are connected as a continuous curve. The Convert Direction
Point tool . lets you change an anchor point from a corner point to a smooth point or visa versa.
1 Using the Direct Selection tool

, select the path you want to modify.

2 Switch to the Convert Direction Point tool . (If necessary, position the pointer over the Pen tool and drag to
choose the Convert Direction Point tool.)
3 Position the Convert Direction Point tool over the anchor point you want to convert, and do one of the following:

• To convert a corner point to a smooth point, drag direction lines out of the corner point.

Dragging direction lines out of corner point to create smooth point

• To convert a smooth point to a corner point without using direction lines, click a smooth point.

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Clicking smooth point to create corner point

• To convert a corner point without using direction lines to a corner point with independent direction lines, first
drag direction lines out of a corner point (making it a smooth point). Release the mouse button, and then drag
either direction line.

• To convert a smooth point to a corner point with independent direction lines, drag either direction line.

Converting smooth point to corner point

To temporarily switch from the Convert Direction Point tool to the Direct Selection tool, press Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS).

See also
“About paths” on page 298
“About direction lines and direction points” on page 300
“Adjust path segments” on page 309

Split a path using the Scissors tool
You can split a path, graphics frame, or empty text frame at any anchor point or along any segment. When you split
a path, keep the following in mind:

• If you want to split a closed path into two open paths, you must slice in two places along the path. If you slice a
closed path only once, you get a single path with a gap in it.

• Any paths resulting from a split inherit the path settings of the original path, such as stroke weight and fill color.
You may need to reset stroke alignment from inside to outside.
1 (Optional) Select the path to see its current anchor points.
2 Select the Scissors tool and click the path where you want to split it. When you split the path in the middle of a
segment, the two new endpoints appear on top of the other, and one endpoint is selected.
3 Use the Direct Selection tool to adjust the new anchor point or path segment.

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Smooth out paths
Use the Smooth tool to remove excess angles from an existing path or a section of a path. The Smooth tool retains
the original shape of the path as nearly as possible. Smoothed paths generally have fewer points, which can make
them easier to edit, display, and print.

Path before and after using Smooth tool

1 Select the path.
2 Select the Smooth tool.

Note: If the Pencil tool is selected, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to temporarily change the Pencil to the
Smooth tool.
3 Drag the tool along the length of the path segment you want to smooth out.
4 Continue smoothing until the stroke or path is of the desired smoothness.
5 To change the amount of smoothing, double-click the Smooth tool and set the following options:
Fidelity Controls how far your curves can stray before you have to modify the path. With lower Fidelity values, the
curves will closely match the pointer’s movement, resulting in sharper angles. With higher Fidelity values, the path
will ignore small pointer movements, resulting in smoother curves. The pixel value range is 0.5 to 20 pixels.
Smoothness Controls the amount of smoothing applied when you use the tool. Smoothness can range from 0% to

100%; the higher the value, the smoother the path.
Keep Selected (InDesign only) Determines whether to keep the path selected after you smooth it.

Reshape closed paths or objects
1 Using the Direct Selection tool

, do one of the following:

• Drag around the anchor points you want to select.
• Hold down Shift as you click the anchor points you want to select.
2 Position the pointer over the anchor point or path segment that you want to act as a focal point (that is, a point
that pulls the selected path segments), and click the anchor point or path segment.
3 Drag the highlighted anchor points to adjust the path. The amount of movement of a given path segment is
relative to its distance from a highlighted point:

• Selected points that act as the focal point move with the selection tool during dragging.
• Selected points that aren’t the focal point move in tandem with the dragged focal point.
• Unselected anchor points are not affected by reshaping.

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Crop content using the Position tool
The Position tool
in InDesign functions similarly to the Crop tool in Adobe PageMaker. The Position tool works
in conjunction with the Selection tool to help control the placement of content within a frame as well as change
the size of the frame.
The Position tool is dynamic, automatically changing to reflect different states. When it’s placed directly over a
graphic, it changes to the Hand tool, to indicate that you can drag the content within a frame. When it’s over a text
frame, it changes to an I-beam, to indicate a text insertion point.
You can also use the Position tool to adjust inline images and nonimage content, such as text frames and buttons.
1 Put the pointer over the Direct Selection tool
Position tool
appears, select the tool.

in the toolbox, and hold down the mouse button. When the

Selecting the Position tool from the toolbox

2 Select the frame of the graphic that you want to crop.

Important: Make sure you select the frame and not the graphic itself.
3 To resize the graphics frame, place the Position tool over any handle on the frame, and drag until only the part of
the graphic you want in your document remains. To show more of the graphic, drag away from the center of the
graphic.

Resizing a graphics frame
A. Increasing frame B. Decreasing frame

4 To move the graphic within the frame, place the Position tool over the contents of the graphics frame, and drag
the contents. The Position tool automatically changes to the Hand tool
when over the content of the frame.

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Moving an image within its frame

Set Position tool options

When using the Position tool
to move a graphic, you can hold down the mouse button for a few seconds to
display a dynamic graphics preview (a ghosted-back image) of any part of the image that is outside of the frame. You
can control the display and delay of the preview.
1 Double-click the Position tool

in the toolbox.

2 From the Show Masked Portion of Image menu, select the rate at which the entire image will appear while
dragging, or select to turn it off entirely.

Applying line (stroke) settings
Set strokes
You can apply strokes, or line settings, to paths, shapes, text frames, and text outlines. The Stroke panel provides
control over the weight and appearance of the stroke, including how segments join, start and end shapes, and options
for corners. You can also select stroke settings in the Control panel when a path or frame is selected.

Applying strokes
A. Stroke applied to text frame B. Stroke applied to text outline C. Stroke applied to circle

If you frequently use the same stroke settings, you can save the settings in an object style, and quickly apply the same
settings to any object. For more information, see “About object styles” on page 177.
1 Select the path whose stroke you want to modify.

Note: When you select a path using the Selection tool , you activate a bounding box that encompasses the entire object.
If you want to see the actual path, select the path using the Direct Selection tool instead.
2 Choose Window > Stroke to display the Stroke panel.

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3 For Weight, choose a stroke weight in the menu, or type a value and press Enter or Return.

Note: Strokes thinner than 0.25 point may be too thin to see when printed on high-resolution output devices such as an
imagesetter. To remove the stroke, type a value of 0 (zero).
4 If additional options are not visible, choose Show Options from the panel menu to display the other stroke
attributes.
5 Change other stroke attributes as desired.

Note: If you want to change the stroke’s color, use the toolbox and Swatches panel. See “Apply color” on page 415.

See also
“Stroke panel options” on page 317
“Apply corner effects” on page 321

Stroke panel options
Miter Limit Specifies the limit of point length to stroke width before a mitered joint becomes a beveled square joint.

For example, a value of 9 requires the point length to be 9 times the stroke width before the point becomes beveled.
Type a value (between 1 and 500) and press Enter or Return. The Miter Limit does not apply to a round join.
Cap Select a cap style to specify the appearance of both ends of an open path:

• Butt cap
• Round cap

Creates squared ends that abut (stop at) the endpoints.
Creates semicircular ends that extend half the stroke width beyond the endpoints.

• Projecting cap Creates squared ends that extend half the stroke width beyond the endpoints. This option
makes the stroke weight extend evenly in all directions around the path.
Note: You can specify a cap option for a closed path, but the cap will not be visible unless the path is opened (for example,
by cutting with the Scissors tool). Also, cap styles are easier to see at thicker stroke weights.
Join Specify the appearance of the stroke at corner points:

• Miter join

Creates pointed corners that extend beyond the endpoint when the miter’s length is within the miter

limit.

• Round join
• Bevel join

Creates rounded corners that extend half the stroke width beyond the endpoints.
Creates squared corners that abut the endpoints.

Note: You can specify miter options for a path that doesn’t use corner points, but the miter options will not apply until
you create corner points by adding them or by converting smooth points. Also, miters are easier to see at thicker stroke
weights.
Align Stroke Click an icon to specify the position of the stroke relative to its path.
Type Choose a stroke type in the menu. If you choose Dashed, a new set of options appears.
Start Choose for the beginning of the path.
End Choose for the end of the path.
Gap Color Specify a color to appear in the space between dashes, dots, or multiple lines in a patterned stroke.
Gap Tint Specify a tint (when a gap color is specified).

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Although you can define dashed strokes in the Stroke panel, it’s easier to create a dashed stroke using a custom stroke
style. For more information, see “Define custom stroke styles” on page 318.

Add start and end shapes
Keep the following guidelines in mind as you work with start and end shapes:

• You can’t edit the available start and end shapes, but if you’ve obtained plug-in software that adds more options,
the Start and End menus in the Stroke panel can include additional shapes.

• Start and end shapes are sized in proportion to the stroke weight. However, adding a start or end shape does not
change the length of the path.

• Start and end shapes automatically rotate to match the angle of an endpoint’s direction line.
• Start and end shapes appear at endpoints of open paths only; they won’t appear on individual dashes of a dashed
stroke.

• If you apply start and end shapes to a compound path that includes open subpaths, each open subpath will use the
same start and end shapes.

• You can apply start and end shapes to a closed path, but they won’t be visible unless you open the path.

Sample start and end shapes

Add start and end shapes

Use the Start and End menus in the Stroke panel to add an arrowhead or other shape to the end of an open path.
1 Using any selection tool, select an open path.
2 In the Stroke panel, choose a style in the Start and End menus. The Start menu applies a shape to the first endpoint
of a path (as determined by the order in which the path’s points were drawn), and the End menu applies a shape to
the last endpoint.
Switch a path’s start and end shapes
1 Using the Direct Selection tool , select an anchor point.
2 Choose Object > Paths > Reverse Path.

Define custom stroke styles
You can create a custom stroke style using the Stroke panel. A custom stroke style can be dashed, dotted, or striped;
in the style, you can define the stroke’s pattern, cap, and corner attributes. You specify other stroke attributes, such
as weight, gap color, and start and end shapes, after the custom stroke style has been applied to an object.

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Custom stroke styles
A. Dashed B. Dotted C. Striped

Custom stroke styles can be saved and loaded into other InDesign documents.
1 Choose Window > Stroke to display the Stroke panel.
2 In the panel menu, choose Stroke Styles.
3 Click New.
4 Enter a name for the stroke style.
5 For Type, select one of the following:

• Dash to define a style with dashes spaced at regular or varying intervals.
• Striped to define a style with one or more parallel lines.
• Dotted to define a style with dots spaced at regular or varying intervals.
The options in the dialog box change to match your selection.
6 For Pattern Length, specify the length of the repeating pattern (dashed or dotted styles only). The ruler updates
to match the length you specify.
7 To define the stroke pattern, do any of the following:

• Click the ruler to add a new dash, dot, or stripe.
• Drag a dash, dot, or stripe to move it.
• To adjust the width of a dash, move its ruler markers

. You can also select the dash and then enter values for

Start (where the dash starts on the ruler) and Length.

• To adjust the position of a dot, move its ruler marker

. You can also select the dot and then enter a value for

Center (where the center of the dot is positioned).

• To adjust the thickness of a stripe, move its ruler markers

. You can also select the stripe and enter values for
Start and Width, both of which are expressed as a percentage of the stroke’s weight.

• To delete a dash, dot, or stripe, drag it out of the ruler window. (However, a custom stroke style must contain at
least one dash, dot, or stripe.)

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Creating a dashed line in New Stroke Style dialog box
A. Clicking to add a dash to the pattern B. Dragging a marker to make the dash wider C. Dragging the dash to adjust the white space between
dashes

8 To preview the stroke at different line weights, specify a line weight using the Preview Weight option.
9 For dashed and dotted patterns, use the Corners option to determine how dashes or dots are positioned to keep a
pattern regular around a corner.
10 For dashed patterns, select a style for Cap to determine the shape of the dashes. This setting overrides the Cap

setting in the Stroke panel.
11 Do one of the following:

• Click Add to save the stroke style and define another one. Click Done to exit the dialog box.
• Click OK to save the stroke style and exit the dialog box.

Save custom stroke styles
You can save custom stroke styles for use in other InDesign documents.
Save a custom stroke style
1 In the Stroke panel menu, choose Stroke Styles.
2 Select a custom stroke style and click Save.

Note: You cannot save or edit the default stroke styles (enclosed in square brackets).
3 Specify a name and location for the stroke style (.inst) file, and click OK.
To load a custom stroke style
1 In the Stroke panel menu, choose Stroke Styles.
2 Click Load.
3 Select stroke style (.inst) file that contains the custom stroke style you want to import, and click OK.
To apply a custom stroke style
❖ With a path or frame selected, choose a custom stroke style from the Type menu in the Stroke panel.

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Apply corner effects
You can use the Corner Options command to quickly apply corner styles to any path. Available corner effects range
from simple, rounded corners to fancy ornamentation.

Effects of different line weights on corner shapes
A. Fancy corner effect with no stroke B. Same effect with 1-point stroke C. Same effect with 4-point stroke

Apply corner effects
1 Using a selection tool, select a path.
2 Choose Object > Corner Options.
3 Choose a corner effect in the Effect menu.
4 For Size, type a value to specify the radius by which the corner effect extends from each corner point.
5 Select Preview if you want to see the results of the effect before applying it. Then click OK.
Tips for applying corner effects

Note the following:

• If you’ve obtained plug-in software that adds more effects, the Corner Options command in the Stroke panel can
include additional shapes.

• Corner effects appear on all of a path’s corner points, but never on smooth points. The effects change angles
automatically when you move a path’s corner points.

• If a corner effect significantly changes the path by, for example, creating a bulge inward or outward, it may affect
how a frame interacts with its contents or with other parts of the layout. Increasing the size of a corner effect may
push an existing text wrap or frame inset farther away from the frame.

• You can’t edit a corner effect, but you can change its appearance by changing the corner radius or modifying the
stroke.

• If you applied corner effects but can’t see them, make sure that the path uses corner points and that a stroke color
or gradient has been applied to it. Then increase the Size option in the Corner Options dialog box, or increase the
stroke weight in the Stroke panel.

Compound paths and shapes
About compound paths
You can combine several paths into a single object, called a compound path. Create a compound path when you want
to do any of the following:

• Add transparent holes to a path.

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• Preserve the transparent holes within some text characters, such as o and e, when you convert characters to
editable letterforms using the Create Outlines command. Using the Create Outlines command always results in
the creation of compound paths.

• Apply a gradient, or add contents that span multiple paths. Although you can also apply a gradient across multiple
objects using the Gradient tool, applying a gradient to a compound path is often a better method because you can
later edit the entire gradient by selecting any of the subpaths. With the Gradient tool, later editing requires
selecting all of the paths you originally selected.

Best practices for editing compound paths
Keep the following guidelines in mind as you edit compound paths:

• Changes to path attributes (such as stroke and fill) always alter all subpaths in a composite path—it doesn’t matter
which selection tool you use, or how many subpaths you select. To preserve the individual stroke and fill attributes
of the paths you want to combine, group them instead.

• In a compound path, any effect that is positioned relative to a path’s bounding box—such as a gradient, or an image
pasted inside—is actually positioned relative to the bounding box of the entire compound path (that is, the path
that encloses all of the subpaths).

• If you make a compound path, then change its properties and release it, using the Release command, the released
paths inherit the compound path’s properties; they don’t regain their original properties.

• If your document contains compound paths with many smooth points, some output devices may have problems
printing them. If so, simplify or eliminate the compound paths, or convert them to bitmap images using a program
such as Adobe Photoshop.

• If you apply a fill to a compound path, holes sometimes don’t appear where you expect them to. For a simple path
like a rectangle, the inside, or the area you can fill, is easy to see—it’s the area within the enclosed path. However,
with a compound path, InDesign must determine whether the intersections created by a compound path’s
subpaths are inside (filled areas) or outside (holes). The direction of each subpath—the order in which its points
were created—determines whether the area it defines is inside or outside. If a subpath is filled when you want it
to be a hole, or vice versa, reverse the direction of that subpath.

Compound path containing two subpaths with same path directions (left) and opposite path directions (right)

Create a compound path
You can create a compound path from two or more open or closed paths. When you create a compound path, all of
the originally selected paths become subpaths of the new compound path. The selected paths inherit the stroke and
fill settings of the object farthest back in the stacking order.
Note: If one or more selected objects have contents, such as text or imported images, the attributes and contents of a
compound path are set by the attributes and contents of the object farthest back. Selected objects farther behind, without
contents, won’t affect the compound path.

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You can change the shape of any part of a compound path by using the Direct Selection tool
point on one subpath.
1 Use the Selection tool

to select an anchor

to select all of the paths you want to include in the compound path.

2 Choose Object > Paths > Make Compound Path. A hole appears wherever selected paths overlap.

You can fill a hole created by a subpath or turn a subpath into a hole. Using the Direct Selection tool, select a point
on the subpath you want to change. Then select Object > Paths > Reverse Path.

Change holes to fills in a compound path
The direction of each subpath—the order in which its points were created—determines whether the area it defines
is inside (filled areas) or outside (empty). If, in your compound path, holes sometimes don’t appear where you expect
them to, you can reverse the direction of that subpath.

Two separate closed paths (left) and two subpaths of the same compound path (right); the compound path uses the center circle as a hole

1 In Illustrator, make sure that the compound path uses the nonzero winding fill rule.
2 With the Direct Selection tool, select the part of the compound path to reverse (or a point on that part). Do not
select the entire compound path.
3 Do one of the following:

• In Illustrator, in the Attributes panel, click the Reverse Path Direction Off button or the Reverse Path Direction
On button.

• In InDesign, choose Object > Paths > Reverse Path.

Break up a compound path
You can break up a compound path by releasing it, which turns each of its subpaths into an independent path.
1 Using the Selection tool

, select a compound path.

2 Choose Object > Paths > Release Compound Path.

Note: The Release command is unavailable when the selected compound path is contained inside a frame, or when the
path contains text.

Change the holes in a compound path
You can eliminate a hole created by a subpath or fill a subpath that has created a hole by reversing its direction.
1 Using the Direct Selection tool
compound path.

, select a point on the subpath you want to reverse. Don’t select the entire

2 Choose Object > Paths > Reverse Path.

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Create compound shapes
You create compound shapes using the Pathfinder panel (Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder). Compound
shapes can be made up of simple or compound paths, text frames, text outlines, or other shapes. The appearance of
the compound shape depends on which Pathfinder button you choose.

Pathfinder panel
A. Original objects B. Add C. Subtract D. Intersect E. Exclude Overlap F. Minus Back

Add Traces the outline of all objects to create a single shape.
Subtract Objects in the front “punch holes” in the backmost object.
Intersect Creates a shape from overlapping areas.
Exclude Overlap Creates a shape from areas that do not overlap.
Minus Back Objects in the back “punch holes” in the frontmost object.

In most cases, the resulting shape adopts the attributes (fill, stroke, transparency, layer, and so on) of the frontmost
object. When you subtract shapes, however, objects in the front are deleted. The resulting shape takes on the
attributes of the backmost object instead.
When you include a text frame in a compound shape, the shape of the text frame changes, but the text itself stays the
same. To alter the text itself, create a compound path using text outlines.

Compound shape used as a text frame (left) compared to one created from a text outline (right)

See also
“Create paths from text outlines” on page 325
“About compound paths” on page 321
“Selecting objects” on page 358

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Create a compound shape

You can work with a compound shape as a single unit or release its component paths to work with each separately.
For example, you might apply a gradient fill to a part of the compound shape, but leave the rest of the shape unfilled.

Gradient applied to a compound shape (left) compared to gradient applied to one part of the compound shape (right)

1 Choose Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder to open the panel.
2 Select the objects you want to combine in a compound shape.
3 Click a button on the Pathfinder panel.

You can also choose a command from the Object > Pathfinder submenu.
Release paths in a compound shape
❖ Select the compound shape. Choose Object > Paths > Release Compound Path. The compound shape is separated

into its component paths.
To regroup component paths without losing changes you’ve applied to individual paths, choose Group in the Object
menu, rather than Compound Paths > Make.

Create paths from text outlines
Use the Create Outlines command to convert selected text characters into a set of compound paths that you can edit
and manipulate as you would any other path. The Create Outlines command is useful for creating effects in large
display type, but it is rarely useful for body text or other smaller-size type.
If you simply want to apply a color stroke, or a gradient fill or stroke to text characters, you don’t need to convert the
text to outlines. You can use the toolbox and the Swatches, Color, or Gradient panels to apply colors and gradients
directly to the strokes or fills of selected characters.
The Create Outlines command gets its font outline information from the actual Type 1, TrueType, or OpenType files.
When you create outlines, characters are converted in their current positions, retaining all graphics formatting, such
as stroke and fill.
Note: Some font manufacturers block the information needed to create outlines. If you select such a protected font and
choose Type > Create Outlines, a message will explain that the font cannot be converted.
When you convert type to outlines, the type loses its hints—instructions built into outline fonts for adjusting their
shapes, so that your system displays or prints them optimally at small sizes. Therefore, type converted to outlines
may not display as well when rendered in small sizes or at low resolutions.
After converting type to outlines, you can do any of the following:

• Alter the letterforms by dragging individual anchor points using the Direct Selection tool

• Copy the outlines and use the Edit > Paste Into command to mask an image by pasting it into the converted
outlines.

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• Use the converted outlines as text frames, so that you can type or place text in them.
• Change the stroke attributes of letterforms.
• Use text outlines to create compound shapes.
&&&&&&&&
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Working with text outlines
A. Type character before conversion to text outline B. Text outline with image pasted into it C. Text outline used as a text frame

Because converted text outlines become sets of compound paths, you can edit individual subpaths of converted
outlines by using the Direct Selection tool. You can also break the character outlines into independent paths by
releasing them from the compound path.

See also
“About compound paths” on page 321
Convert text outlines to paths

By default, creating outlines from type removes the original text. However, if you prefer, you can make outlines
appear over a copy of the original text, so that none of the text is lost.
When you select type characters in a text frame and convert them to outlines, the resulting outlines become anchored
(inline) objects that flow with the text. Because the converted text is no longer true type, you will no longer be able
to highlight and edit the characters using the Type tool. In addition, typographical controls will no longer apply.
Make sure that you’re satisfied with the typographic settings of the type you convert to outlines, and be sure to create
a copy of the original text.
1 Use the Selection tool

to select a text frame, or use the Type tool to select one or more characters.

2 Choose Type > Create Outlines.
Convert a copy of text outlines to paths
1 Use the Selection tool to select a text frame, or use the Type tool to select one or more characters.
2 Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you choose Type > Create Outlines. The copy is created exactly
on top of the original; use the Selection tool to drag it away, if you like.

327

Chapter 12: Graphics
The versatile importing capabilities of Adobe InDesign CS3 make it a powerful tool for integrating graphics from
many other programs and file formats, including images from Adobe Photoshop and drawings from Adobe
Illustrator. You can even place pages from PDF files and other InDesign files in an InDesign document.

Understanding graphics formats
Choosing the right graphics format
InDesign can import a wide range of graphics file formats. Consult with the service providers who will help you
produce your document to clarify which formats to use. You can then plan your document around those formats and
the options that best apply to your project.
The following table summarizes what graphics formats would work best for the kind of document you’re designing.
Final output

Graphics type

Format

High resolution (>1000 dpi)

Vector drawings

Illustrator, EPS, PDF

Bitmap images

Photoshop, TIFF, EPS, PDF

Vector drawings

Illustrator, EPS, PDF

Color bitmap images

Photoshop, CMYK TIFF, DCS, EPS, PDF

Color-managed graphics

Illustrator, Photoshop, RGB TIFF, RGB EPS, PDF

Low-resolution printing, or PDF for
online viewing

All

Any (BMP images only)

Web

All

Any (InDesign converts graphics to JPEG and GIF when
exporting to HTML)

Process-color separations

About vector graphics
Vector graphics (sometimes called vector shapes or vector objects) are made up of lines and curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors, which describe an image according to its geometric characteristics.

3:1

24:1

Example of a vector image at different levels of magnification

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You can freely move or modify vector graphics without losing detail or clarity, because they are resolutionindependent—they maintain crisp edges when resized, printed to a PostScript printer, saved in a PDF file, or
imported into a vector-based graphics application. As a result, vector graphics are the best choice for artwork, such
as logos, that will be used at various sizes and in various output media.
The vector objects you create using the drawing and shape tools in Adobe Creative Suite are examples of vector
graphics. You can use the Copy and Paste commands to duplicate vector graphics between Creative Suite components.

See also
“About bitmap images” on page 328

About bitmap images
Bitmap images—technically called raster images—use a rectangular grid of picture elements (pixels) to represent
images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and color value. When working with bitmap images, you edit pixels
rather than objects or shapes. Bitmap images are the most common electronic medium for continuous-tone images,
such as photographs or digital paintings, because they can more efficiently represent subtle gradations of shades and
color.
Bitmap images are resolution-dependent—that is, they contain a fixed number of pixels. As a result, they can lose
detail and appear jagged if they are scaled to high magnifications on-screen or if they are printed at a lower resolution
than they were created for.

3:1

24:1

Example of a bitmap image at different levels of magnification

Bitmap images sometimes require large amounts of storage space, and often need to be compressed to keep file sizes
down when used in certain Creative Suite components. For instance, you compress an image file in its original application before you import it into a layout.
Note: In Adobe Illustrator, you can create bitmap effects in your artwork using filters, effects, and graphic styles.

See also
“About vector graphics” on page 327

Image resolution guidelines for final output
Bitmap images contain a fixed number of pixels, usually measured in pixels per inch (ppi). An image with a high
resolution contains more, and therefore smaller, pixels than an image of the same printed dimensions with a low
resolution. For example, a 1-inch-by-1-inch image with a resolution of 72 ppi contains a total of 5184 pixels (72
pixels wide x 72 pixels high = 5184). The same 1-inch-by-1-inch image with a resolution of 300 ppi would contain a
total of 90,000 pixels.

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For imported bitmap images, image resolution is determined by the source file. For bitmap effects, you can specify
a custom resolution. To determine the image resolution to use, consider the medium of final distribution for the
image. The following guidelines can help you determine your requirements for image resolution:
Commercial printing Commercial printing requires 150 to 300 ppi (or more) images, depending on the press (dpi)

and screen frequency (lpi) you’re using; always consult your prepress service provider before making production
decisions. Because commercial printing requires large, high-resolution images, which take more time to display
while you’re working with them, you may want to use low-resolution versions for layout and then replace them with
high-resolution versions at print time.
In Illustrator and InDesign, you can work with low resolution versions by using the Links panel. In InDesign you can
choose either Typical or Fast Display from the View > Display Performance menu; in Illustrator you can choose
View > Outline, or change settings in the Display Performances preferences. Alternatively, if your service provider
supports Open Prepress Interface (OPI), they may provide low-resolution images to you.
Desktop printing Desktop printing usually requires images within the range of 72 ppi (for photographs printed on

a 300 ppi printer) to 150 ppi (for photographs printed on devices up to 1000 ppi). For line art (1-bit images), make
sure that the resolution of your graphics matches the resolution of the printer.
Web publishing Because online publishing generally requires images with pixel dimensions that fit the intended

monitor, the images are usually less than 500 pixels wide and 400 pixels tall, to leave room for browser window
controls or such layout elements as captions. Creating an original image at screen resolution—96 ppi for Windows–
based images, and 72 ppi for Mac OS–based images—lets you see the image as it will likely appear when viewed from
a typical web browser. When you’re publishing online, the only times you’re likely to need resolutions above those
ranges are when you want viewers to be able to zoom in for more detail in a PDF document, or when you’re
producing a document for printing on demand.

Importing files from Adobe applications
Importing Adobe Illustrator graphics
How you import Illustrator graphics depends on how much editing the graphics require after you import them. You
can import Illustrator graphics into InDesign in their native (.ai) format.
If you want to adjust layer visibility in InDesign...

Import the graphic using the Place command, and when you want to edit it, choose Edit > Edit Original to open the
graphic in Illustrator. For example, for a multilanguage publication, you can create a single illustration that includes
one text layer for each language. You can transform the illustration as a single object in InDesign but you cannot edit
the paths, objects, or text within the illustration.

Layered file with Spanish and English layers

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If you want to edit objects and paths in InDesign...

Copy the art from Illustrator and paste it into your InDesign document. For example, in a magazine, you might use
the same design element in each issue, but change its color every month. By pasting a graphic into InDesign, you can
change objects’ color, path, and transparency using the InDesign tools designed for that purpose.

See also
“Control graphics’ display performance” on page 347
“Control layer visibility in imported images” on page 343

Create a layered PDF in Adobe Illustrator
You can save an Illustrator graphic as a layered PDF and control the visibility of layers in InDesign. Adjusting layer
visibility in InDesign lets you vary an illustration depending on context. Rather than create multiple versions of the
same illustration, say for a multilanguage publication, you can place the same illustration where needed and adjust
the visibility of the layers as appropriate.
You can transform a PDF as a single object (you can rotate or resize it, for example), but you cannot edit the paths,
objects, or text within the illustration.
Note: Don’t place layers in nested layer sets if you want to adjust layers in InDesign.
1 In Illustrator, choose File > Save As.
2 In the Save As dialog box, type a filename and choose a location for the file.
3 For Format, choose Adobe PDF (.pdf), and click Save.
4 In the Adobe PDF Options dialog box, choose Acrobat 6 (1.5) or later for Compatibility.
5 Select Create Acrobat Layers From Top-Level Layers, and click Save PDF.

See also
“Export to PDF” on page 473
“Control layer visibility in imported images” on page 343

Pasting Illustrator graphics into InDesign
When you paste a graphic from Illustrator 8.0 or later into an InDesign document, the artwork appears in InDesign
as a grouped collection of editable objects. For example, if you paste an Illustrator drawing of a soccer ball with
individually created patches into InDesign, the patches are pasted as a group, which can be ungrouped and edited
using tools in InDesign. You cannot change the visibility of layers within the illustration.

Illustration of soccer ball in Illustrator (left) and same illustration pasted into InDesign (right)

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Important: Before pasting a graphic, make sure that Illustrator is configured to copy as AICB (see Illustrator Help). In
InDesign, make sure that Prefer PDF When Pasting isn’t selected in the Clipboard Handling preferences. If these options
aren’t set properly, the Illustrator graphic cannot be edited in InDesign.
Issues you may encounter when pasting or dragging art from Illustrator to InDesign
Color Illustrator supports the Grayscale, RGB, HSB, CMYK, and Web Safe RGB color models. InDesign supports

LAB, CMYK and RGB. When you paste or drag artwork from Illustrator into InDesign, RGB and CMYK colors
convert in the expected color model. Grayscale colors are converted to the appropriate K value in a CMYK color in
InDesign. HSB and Web Safe RGB objects are converted to RGB color in InDesign. Colors in smooth shades and
gradients can be edited in InDesign.
Gradients Linear or radial gradients created in Illustrator can be modified using the Gradient tool or Gradient panel
in InDesign. Gradients with multiple spot colors or complex patterns may appear as non-editable items in InDesign.
If your illustration contains complex gradients, import it using the Place command instead.
Transparency Transparency is flattened when Illustrator art is pasted or dragged into InDesign.
Graphic styles Illustrator Graphic Styles don’t become InDesign Object Styles when art is pasted or dragged into

InDesign.
Patterns Illustrator objects filled or stroked with patterns become embedded EPS images when pasted or dragged

into InDesign.
Text If you drag text from Illustrator into InDesign, it’s converted to outlines and isn’t editable with the Text tool. If
you select text using the Text tool in Illustrator, and then copy it into a text frame in InDesign, the text loses its
formatting but is editable. If you drag the text into InDesign without a frame selected, the text loses all formatting
and isn’t editable.

When you paste text from Illustrator, the text is imported as one or more objects that can be transformed and
colorized in InDesign, but not edited. For example, if you create text on a path in Illustrator and paste it into
InDesign, the text can be colorized, rotated, and scaled, but it cannot be edited using the Type tool. If you want to
edit the text, use the Type tool and paste it into a text frame.
Artwork Artwork copied from Illustrator and pasted into InDesign is embedded in the InDesign document. No link
to the original Illustrator file is created.

See also
“About preferences and defaults” on page 36
“Paste or drag graphics” on page 345

Importing Adobe Photoshop (.PSD) files
You can place graphics created in Adobe Photoshop 4.0 and later directly into an InDesign layout.
Layers and layer comps You can adjust the visibility of the top-level layers in InDesign, as well as view different layer

comps. Changing layer visibility or layer comps in InDesign does not alter the original Photoshop file.
Paths, masks, or alpha channels If you save paths, masks, or alpha channels in a Photoshop file, InDesign can use
them to remove backgrounds, or to wrap text around graphics. Graphics that contain paths, masks, or alpha channels
act as transparent objects when imported.
ICC color management profile If you place a Photoshop image with an embedded ICC color management profile,
InDesign reads the embedded profile, provided that color management is active. You can override the embedded

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profile for the image using the Import Options dialog box or assign a different color profile to the graphic in
InDesign. Overriding the color profile in InDesign will not remove or alter the profile embedded in the Photoshop
image.
Spot-color channels Spot-color channels in Adobe Photoshop PSD or TIFF files appear in InDesign as spot colors

in the Swatches panel. If the image uses a spot color that InDesign does not recognize, the spot color may appear gray
in the InDesign document and print incorrectly as a composite. (The image will print correctly on color separations,
however.) To simulate the graphic as a composite, you can create a spot color with the correct color values, and then
alias the PSD color to this new spot color. The graphic will then print correctly as composite and display correctly
on-screen when Overprint Preview is turned on (choose View > Overprint Preview). Be sure to remove the alias
before printing separations, so that the image prints on the plate you expect.

See also
“Import options for graphics” on page 340
“Place (import) graphics” on page 337
“About color management in Adobe applications” on page 439
“Create an ink alias for a spot color” on page 584

Importing PDF pages
Using the Place command, you can specify which pages you want to import from a multipage PDF: You can place a
single page, a range of pages, or all pages. Multipage PDF files let designers combine illustrations for a publication
into a single file.
The page range options appear when you select Show Import Options in the Place dialog box. The dialog box
includes a preview, so you can view a thumbnail of the pages before you place them. As you place each page, InDesign
reloads the graphics icon with the next page, letting you place the pages one after the next. InDesign doesn’t import
movies, sound, links, or buttons when you place a PDF file.
Comparing screen and device resolution in placed PDF pages

A placed PDF page displays at the best resolution possible for the given scale and screen resolution. When printed
on a PostScript output device, a placed PDF page always prints at the resolution of the device. When printed on a
non-PostScript printer, a placed PDF page prints at the same resolution as the other InDesign objects in the
document. For example, vector (drawn) objects will print at the same resolution as other vector objects in the
document. Bitmap images will print at the best resolution supplied in the placed PDF.
Linking to placed PDFs

A placed PDF page appears in the InDesign document as an on-screen preview, which is linked to a specific page in
the original PDF. After placing a PDF page, you may break links by doing any of the following:

• If you add a password to the original PDF that has been placed in an InDesign document, and you update the link,
you’ll be prompted to enter the password.

• If you delete pages in the original PDF, the placed PDF page changes to the page that now falls on the originally
placed page number.

• If you reorder the pages in the original PDF file and update the link, the placed PDF page may be different from
what you expect. When that happens, place the page again.

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Color in placed PDF pages

InDesign preserves colors embedded in PDF pages, even if the color comes from a color library not installed with
InDesign (such as the PANTONE Hexachrome® library). In addition, any color traps included in a placed PDF page
are preserved.
When color management is active, InDesign displays the placed PDF using its embedded ICC or output intent profile
(PDF/X only). When color management is turned off, or when you place a PDF that doesn’t contain an ICC or output
intent profile, colors in the placed PDF are calibrated using the color profile in the InDesign document.
When you export or print the document, you can preserve the ICC profile embedded in the placed PDF or replace
it with the document profile instead. Output intent profiles are used for display and are included when you export
as PDF/X; they aren’t used when you print the document, and they aren’t included when you export to any other
format.
Security settings in placed PDF pages

Because a placed PDF page is linked to the original PDF, the placed page also includes the security settings of the
original file. If someone later changes the security settings in the original file, the security settings are updated in the
placed PDF page when you update the links.
If you correctly enter a required master password when placing a PDF page, you override any restrictions in the PDF
page, enabling the placed PDF page to export as expected.

See also
“About Adobe PDF” on page 472
“Control layer visibility in imported images” on page 343
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

Importing InDesign (.indd) pages
Using the Place command, you can import pages from one InDesign document into another. You can import a page,
a page range, or all of the pages in the document. The pages are imported as objects (much the same way that PDFs
are imported).
Add pages in your document to hold the pages you want to import. After you choose File > Place and select an INDD
file, you can choose Show Import Options and then choose which pages to import, which layers to make visible, and
how to crop the imported pages. You can scroll in the Preview window to examine the thumbnail pages closely. The
page or pages you select are loaded in the graphics icon. As you click to import each page, InDesign loads the
graphics icon with the following page so you can import pages one after the other.
Note: The Links panel lists the names of each page you imported. If a page you imported contains a graphic or other item
that was imported into it, this item is listed as well in the Links panel. The names of these secondary imported items are
indented in the Links panel to distinguish them from imported pages.

See also
“Place (import) graphics” on page 337
“Control layer visibility in imported images” on page 343

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Importing other graphics formats
About other graphics formats
InDesign supports a variety of graphics formats, including bitmap formats such as TIFF, GIF, JPEG, and BMP, and
vector formats such as EPS. Other supported formats include DCS, PICT, WMF, EMF, PCX, PNG, and Scitex CT
(.sct). You can import an SWF file as a movie file.

See also
“Add movies and sound files to documents” on page 499

Using Adobe Stock Photos in InDesign
The Adobe Stock Photos area of Adobe Bridge allows you to search Adobe Stock Photo libraries and download
images directly into your InDesign document. (Click the Go To Bridge icon on the Control panel to open Bridge
from within InDesign.)
After downloading an image and placing it in an InDesign document, it appears in the Links panel with an Adobe
Stock Photos Comp icon . From the Links panel menu you can choose Purchase This Image to connect directly
to the purchase area of Bridge. Unpurchased Adobe Stock Photos appear in the Preflight dialog box as problem links.
You need to purchase the files before printing or packaging.

See also
“About Adobe Bridge” on page 93
“Links panel overview” on page 349
“Perform a preflight check” on page 562

TIFF (.tif) files
TIFF is a flexible bitmap image format supported by virtually all painting, image-editing, and page-layout applications. Also, virtually all desktop scanners can produce TIFF images.
The TIFF format supports CMYK, RGB, grayscale, Lab, indexed-color, and bitmap files with alpha and spot-color
channels. You can select an alpha channel when you place a TIFF file. Spot-color channels appear in InDesign as spot
colors in the Swatches panel.
You can use an image-editing program such as Photoshop to create a clipping path to create a transparent
background for a TIFF image. InDesign supports clipping paths in TIFF images and recognizes encoded OPI
comments.

See also
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

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Graphics Interchange Format (.gif) files
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a standard for displaying graphics on the World Wide Web and other online
services. Because it compresses image data without losing detail, its compression method is called lossless. Such
compression works well with graphics that use a limited number of solid colors such as logos and charts; however,
GIF cannot display more than 256 colors. For this reason it is less effective for displaying photographs online (use
JPEG instead) and is not recommended for commercial printing. If an imported GIF file contains transparency, the
graphic interacts only where the background is transparent.

JPEG (.jpg) files
The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format is commonly used to display photographs and other
continuous-tone images in HTML files over the web and in other online media. The JPEG format supports CMYK,
RGB, and grayscale color modes. Unlike GIF, JPEG retains all of the color information in an RGB image.
JPEG uses an adjustable, lossy compression scheme that effectively reduces file size by identifying and discarding
extra data not essential to the display of the image. A higher level of compression results in lower image quality; a
lower level of compression results in better image quality, but a larger file size. In most cases, compressing an image
using the Maximum quality option produces a result that is indistinguishable from the original. Opening a JPEG
image automatically decompresses it.
Note: JPEG encoding, which can be performed on an EPS or DCS file in an image-editing application such as Photoshop,
does not create a JPEG file. Instead, it compresses the file using the JPEG compression scheme explained above.
JPEG works well for photographs, but solid-color JPEG images (images that contain large expanses of one color) tend
to lose sharpness. InDesign recognizes and supports clipping paths in JPEG files created in Photoshop. JPEG can be
used for both online and commercially printed documents; work with your prepress service provider to preserve
JPEG quality in printing.

See also
“Export to JPEG format” on page 104

Bitmap (.bmp) files
BMP is the standard Windows bitmap image format on DOS and Windows-compatible computers. However, BMP
does not support CMYK, and its color support is limited to 1, 4, 8, or 24 bits. It is less than ideal for commercially
printed or online documents, and it is not supported by some web browsers. BMP graphics can provide acceptable
quality when printed on low-resolution or non-PostScript printers.

See also
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) files
The Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file format is used to transfer PostScript language artwork between applications,
and is supported by most illustration and page-layout programs. Typically, EPS files represent single illustrations or
tables that are placed into your layout, but an EPS file can also represent a complete page.

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Because they are based on the PostScript language, EPS files can contain both vector and bitmap graphics. Since
PostScript cannot normally be displayed on-screen, InDesign creates a bitmap preview for an EPS file for on-screen
display. If you print a page with an EPS file to a non-PostScript printer, only this screen-resolution preview will be
printed. InDesign recognizes clipping paths in Photoshop-created EPS files.
When you import an EPS file, any spot colors it contains are added to the Swatches panel in InDesign. EPS allows
for prepress-quality resolution, precision, and color. This format includes all of the color and image data required to
color-separate DCS images embedded in the EPS graphic. EPS isn’t ideal for online publishing in HTML, but it works
well for online publishing in PDF.
EPS files can contain Open Prepress Interface (OPI) comments, which let you use fast, low-resolution versions
(proxies) of images for positioning on a page. For final output, either InDesign or your prepress service provider can
automatically replace the proxies with high-resolution versions.

See also
“Import swatches” on page 424
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

Desktop Color Separations (.dcs) files
Desktop Color Separations (DCS), developed by Quark, is a version of the standard EPS format. The DCS 2.0 format
supports multichannel CMYK files with multiple spot channels. (These spot channels appear as spot colors in the
Swatches panel in InDesign.) The DCS 1.0 format supports CMYK files without spot channels. InDesign recognizes
clipping paths in Photoshop-created DCS 1.0 and DCS 2.0 files.
DCS files are intended to be used in a preseparated, host-based workflow. In most cases, color separations files
associated with a DCS image are excluded when you export or print a composite to a PDF, EPS, or PostScript file.
(The sole exception is made for 8-bit DCS files that were created in Photoshop and that do not contain vector
graphics.)
InDesign can rebuild a composite image from DCS 2.0 or 1.0 separations files, if the files were created in Photoshop.
For best results, do not include DCS 1.0 files or DCS 2.0 files created in programs other than Photoshop when you
are creating high-resolution color composite proofs or separating a document in-RIP or from a composite file.

Macintosh PICT (.pict) files
The Macintosh PICT (or Picture) format is widely used for Mac OS graphics and page-layout applications, and for
transferring files between applications. The PICT format is especially effective in compressing images that contain
large areas of solid color. InDesign for both Windows and Mac OS imports PICT files created from Mac OS screenshots and a variety of other applications, including clip art collections.
InDesign supports RGB PICT images with variable resolutions and embedded QuickTime images. PICT graphics
do not support color separations, are device-dependent, and are not recommended for high-resolution commercial
printing. The PICT format can provide acceptable quality only when printed on low-resolution or non-PostScript
printers.

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Windows Metafile Format (.wmf) and Enhanced Metafile Format (.emf) files
Windows Metafile Format (WMF) and Windows Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) are native Windows formats
used primarily for vector graphics, such as clip art, shared between Windows applications. Metafiles may contain
raster image information; InDesign recognizes the vector information and provides limited support for raster operations. Color support is limited to 16-bit RGB, and neither format supports color separations. Metafile formats are
not an ideal choice for commercially printed or online documents; they provide acceptable quality only when printed
on low-resolution or non-PostScript printers from a Windows desktop.

PCX (.pcx) files
The PCX format is commonly used in Windows systems. Most Windows software supports version 5 of the PCX
format.
The PCX format supports RGB, indexed-color, grayscale, and bitmap color modes, as well as the RLE compression
method, which is lossless. It does not support alpha channels. Images can have a bit depth of 1, 4, 8, or 24 bits.
However, PCX is not ideal for commercially printed or online documents. PCX graphics can provide acceptable
quality only when printed on low-resolution or non-PostScript printers.

Portable Network Graphics (.png) files
The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format uses adjustable, lossless compression to display 24-bit photographs
or solid-color images on the World Wide Web and in other online media. PNG was developed as a patent-free alternative to the GIF file format. It supports transparency in an alpha channel or a designated color. PNG is best used
for online documents, although its color support makes it better for printed documents than GIF. However, color
PNG graphics placed in an InDesign document are RGB bitmap images, so they print only as composites, not on
color separations.

See also
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

Scitex CT (.sct) files
The Scitex Continuous Tone (CT) format is used for high-end image processing on Scitex computers. Scitex CT files
often come from Scitex scanners, which produce high-quality scans for commercial printing. The Scitex CT format
supports CMYK, RGB, and grayscale files, but does not support alpha channels. Contact Scitex to obtain utilities for
transferring files saved in the Scitex CT format to a Scitex system.

Placing graphics
Place (import) graphics
The Place command is the primary method used to import graphics into InDesign because it provides the highest
level of support for resolution, file formats, multipage PDFs, and color. If you’re creating a document in which those
characteristics aren’t critical, you can copy and paste to import your graphic into InDesign. Pasting, however, embeds
a graphic in a document; the link to the original graphic file is broken, and you can’t update the graphic from the
original file.

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The options available to you when you place a graphics file depend on the type of graphic. These options appear
when you select Show Import Options in the Place dialog box. If you don’t select Show Import Options, InDesign
applies the default settings or the last settings used in placing a graphics file of that type.
The names of graphics you’ve placed (imported) appear in the Links panel.
Note: If you place or drag a graphic from a removable media, such as a CD-ROM, the link will break when you remove
that media from your system.
For a video on importing content into InDesign, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0067.
1 Do one of the following:

• To import a graphic without first creating a frame, make sure that nothing in the document is selected.
• To import a graphic into an existing frame, select the frame. If the new image is larger than the frame, you can refit
the frame later by choosing Object > Fitting > [fitting command].

• To replace an existing image, select its graphics frame.
2 Choose File > Place and select one or more graphics files of any available format.

If you select multiple files, you can click or drag in the document to place the selected files one at a time. (See “Place
multiple graphics” on page 339.)
To view Adobe Version Cue options, click Use Adobe Dialog.
3 To replace an object you selected, select Replace Selected Item.
4 To set format-specific import options, do one of the following:

• Select Show Import Options, and then click Open.
• Hold down Shift as you click Open or Shift-double-click a file name.
Note: When you place a graphic created in Illustrator 9.0 or later by using the Show Import Options dialog box, the
options are identical to those for PDFs. When you place an Illustrator 5.5–8.x graphic, the options are identical to those
for EPS files.
5 If the Place dialog box appears (because you chose to set format-specific import options), select import options
and click OK. (See “Import options for graphics” on page 340.)
6 Do one of the following:

• To import into a new frame, click the loaded graphics icon

in the layout at the place where you want the upper

left corner of the graphic to appear.

• To replace an existing graphic, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click the loaded graphics icon
on the graphic you want to replace.

• To place all the specified pages of a multipage PDF at the same time, one overlapping another, hold down Alt
(Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click the loaded graphics icon where you want the pages to appear.
If you accidently replace an existing graphic with an image you’re placing, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z
(Mac OS) to return the original image to the frame and display the loaded graphics icon.

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7 To place the next graphic or the next page of a multipage PDF, click the loaded graphics icon in the layout where
desired. If necessary, you can scroll to a different location or change pages without losing the loaded graphics icon.

See also
“About links and embedded graphics” on page 349
“Choosing the right graphics format” on page 327

Place multiple graphics
The Place command lets you import more than one item at a time.
1 Create frames for the graphics if you want to place some or all of them in frames.
2 Choose File > Place, and select files.

You can select graphics files, text files, InDesign files, and other files you can add to InDesign documents.
3 Optionally, select Show Import Options, click Open, and specify the import options for each file. (See “Import
options for graphics” on page 340.)

A thumbnail image of the first graphic you selected appears next to the loaded graphics icon. A number next to the
loaded graphics icon tells you how many graphics are ready for importing. The names of the graphics appear in the
Links panel, with the letters LP (for “loaded in place cursor”) next to the frontmost graphic.

Placing four files into placeholder frames

Press an arrow key to cycle through the graphics; press Esc to unload the frontmost graphic from the loaded graphics
icon without placing it in InDesign.
Note: You can keep thumbnail images from appearing in the loaded graphics icon if displaying the images slows down
your computer. In the Interface area of the Preferences dialog box, deselect Show Thumbnails On Place.
4 Do one of the following:

• To import into a new frame, click the loaded graphics icon where you want the upper left corner of the graphic to
appear.

• To create a frame of a certain size and import the graphic into the frame, drag-click to define the frame.
• To import into an existing frame, click the loaded graphics icon in the frame.
• To import all the graphics in a cascade, Ctrl+Shift-click (Windows) Command+Shift-click (Mac OS).
Note: You can load more graphics by choosing File > Place while the graphics icon is displayed.

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Import options for graphics
The options for importing graphics vary depending on the type of image being imported.
Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) import options

When you place an EPS graphic (or a file saved with Illustrator 8.0 or earlier) and select Show Import Options in the
Place dialog box, you’ll see a dialog box containing these options:
Read Embedded OPI Image Links This option tells InDesign to read links from OPI comments for images included

(or nested) in the graphic.
Deselect this option if you’re using a proxy-based workflow and plan to have your service providers perform the
image replacement using their OPI software. When this option is deselected, InDesign preserves the OPI links but
does not read them. When you print or export, the proxy and the links are passed on to the output file.
Select this option if you’re using a proxy-based workflow and you want InDesign, instead of your service provider,
to perform image replacement when you output the final file. When you select this option, the OPI links appear in
the Links panel.
Also select this option when you import EPS files containing OPI comments that are not part of a proxy-based
workflow. For example, if you import an EPS file containing OPI comments for an omitted TIFF or bitmap image,
you’ll want to select this option so that InDesign can access the TIFF information when you output the file.
Apply Photoshop Clipping Path Select this option to apply a clipping path from a Photoshop EPS file. Not all the

paths you created in Photoshop appear when placing EPS files. Only one clipping path displays, so make sure you
convert the desired path to a clipping path in Photoshop before saving as EPS. (To preserve editable clipping paths,
save the file as a PSD instead.)
Proxy Generation This creates a low-resolution bitmap representation of an image when drawing the file to the

screen. The following settings control how the proxy will be generated:

• Use TIFF or PICT Preview Some EPS images contain an embedded preview. Select Use TIFF or PICT Preview to
generate the proxy image of the existing preview. If a preview does not exist, the proxy will be generated by rasterizing
the EPS to an offscreen bitmap.
• Rasterize the PostScript Select this option to ignore the embedded preview. This option is typically slower but
provides the highest-quality results.
Note: When your import more than one single file into the same document, all instances share the proxy setting of the
first instance of the imported file.
Bitmap import options

You can apply color-management options to individual imported graphics when using color-management tools with
a document. You can also import a clipping path or an alpha channel saved with an image created in Photoshop.
Doing so lets you directly select an image and modify its path without changing the graphic frame.
When you place a PSD, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, or BMP file and select Show Import Options in the Place dialog box, you’ll
see a dialog box containing these options:
Apply Photoshop Clipping Path If this option isn’t available, the image wasn’t saved with a clipping path, or the file

format doesn’t support clipping paths. If the bitmap image doesn’t have a clipping path, you can create one in
InDesign.
Alpha channel Select an alpha channel to import the area of the image saved as an alpha channel in Photoshop.
InDesign uses the alpha channel to create a transparent mask on the image. This option is available only for images
that contain at least one alpha channel.

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Image imported without clipping path (left) and with clipping path (right)

Click the Color tab to view the following options:
Profile If Use Document Default is selected, leave this option unchanged. Otherwise, choose a color source profile

that matches the gamut of the device or software used to create the graphic. This profile enables InDesign to properly
translate its color to the gamut of the output device.
Rendering Intent Choose a method for scaling the color range of the graphic to the color range of the output device.

Typically, you’ll choose Perceptual (Images) because it accurately represents colors in photographs. The Saturation
(Graphics), Relative Colorimetric, and Absolute Colorimetric options are better for areas of solid color; they don’t
reproduce photographs well. Rendering Intent options aren’t available for bitmap, grayscale, and index-color mode
images.
Portable Network Graphics (.png) import options

When you place a PNG image and select Show Import Options in the Place dialog box, you’ll see a dialog box with
three sections of import settings. Two sections contain the same options available for other bitmap image formats.
The other section, PNG Settings, contains the following settings:
Use Transparency Information This option is enabled by default when a PNG graphic includes transparency. If an

imported PNG file contains transparency, the graphic interacts only where the background is transparent.
White Background If a PNG graphic does not contain a file-defined background color, this option will be selected
by default. However, it is only enabled if Use Transparency Information is activated. If this option is selected, white
is used as the background color when applying transparency information.
File Defined Background Color If a PNG graphic was saved with a non-white background color, and Use Transparency Information is selected, this option is selected by default. If you don’t want to use the default background
color, click White Background to import the graphic with a white background, or deselect Use Transparency Information to import the graphic without any transparency (displaying areas of the graphic that are currently transparent). Some image-editing programs can’t specify a non-white background color for PNG graphics.
Apply Gamma Correction Select this option to adjust the gamma (midtone) values of a PNG graphic as you place it.

This option lets you match image gamma to the gamma of the device you will use to print or display the graphic (such
as a low-resolution or non-PostScript printer or computer monitor). Deselect this option to place the image without
applying any gamma correction. By default, this option is selected if the PNG graphic was saved with a gamma value.
Gamma Value This option, available only if Apply Gamma Correction is selected, displays the gamma value that was

saved with the graphic. To change the value, type a positive number from 0.01 to 3.0.
When PNG files are imported, the settings in the Image Import Options dialog box are always based on the selected
file, not on the default or last-used settings.
Acrobat (.pdf) import options

The layout, graphics, and typography in a placed PDF are preserved. As with other placed graphics, you cannot edit
a placed PDF page within InDesign. You can control the visibility of layers in a layered PDF. You can also place more
than one page of a multipage PDF.

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When you place a PDF that was saved with passwords, you’ll be prompted to enter the required passwords. If the PDF
file was saved with usage restrictions (for example, no editing or printing), but no passwords, you can place the file.
When you place a PDF (or a file saved with Illustrator 9.0 or later) and select Show Import Options in the Place dialog
box, you’ll see a dialog box containing the following options:
Show preview Preview a page in the PDF before you place it. If you’re placing a page from a PDF that contains

multiple pages, click the arrows, or type a page number under the preview image to preview a specific page.
Pages Specify the pages you want to place: the page displayed in the preview, all pages, or a range of pages.
Crop to Specify how much of the PDF page to place:

• Bounding box Places the PDF page’s bounding box, or the minimum area that encloses the objects on the page,
including page marks.
• Art Places the PDF only in the area defined by a rectangle that the author created as a placeable artwork (for
example, clip art).
• Crop Places the PDF only in the area that is displayed or printed by Adobe Acrobat.
• Trim Identifies the place where the final produced page will be physically cut in the production process, if trim
marks are present.
• Bleed Places only the area that represents where all page content should be clipped, if a bleed area is present. This
information is useful if the page is being output in a production environment. Note that the printed page may include
page marks that fall outside the bleed area.
• Media Places the area that represents the physical paper size of the original PDF document (for example, the
dimensions of an A4 sheet of paper), including page marks.

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Options for cropping placed PDFs
A. Media B. Content C. Bleed D. Trim E. Crop F. Art

Transparent Background Select this option to reveal text or graphics that fall beneath the PDF page in the InDesign
layout. Deselect this option to place the PDF page with an opaque white background.

If you make the background transparent in a frame containing a PDF graphic, you can make it opaque later by
adding a fill to the frame.
InDesign (.indd) import options

InDesign preserves the layout, graphics, and typography in a placed INDD file. However, the file is treated as an
object, and you can’t edit it, although you can control the visibility of layers and choose which pages of a multi-page
INDD file to import.
When you place an InDesign file and select Show Import Options in the Place dialog box, you’ll see a dialog box
containing the following options:
Show preview Preview a page before you place it. You can type a page number or click the arrows to preview a page
in a multi-page document.
Pages Specify the pages you want to place: the page displayed in the preview, all pages, or a range of pages.
Crop to Specify how much of the page or pages to place, the page itself or the bleed or slug areas on the pasteboard.

Control layer visibility in imported images
When you import Photoshop PSD files, layered PDFs, and INDD files, you can control the visibility of top-level
layers. Adjusting layer visibility in InDesign lets you vary an illustration depending on context. For example, in a
multilanguage publication, you can create a single illustration that includes one text layer for each language.

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You can adjust layer visibility either when you place a file or by using the Object Layer Options dialog box. In
addition, if the Photoshop file contains layer comps, you can display the desired comp.

See also
“Importing Adobe Illustrator graphics” on page 329
“Create a layered PDF in Adobe Illustrator” on page 330
“Importing Adobe Photoshop (.PSD) files” on page 331
Set layer visibility
1 Do one of the following:

• To import a graphic without first creating a frame, make sure that nothing in the document is selected.
• To import a graphic into an existing frame, select the frame.
• To replace an existing image, select the graphics frame.
2 Choose File > Place and select a graphics file.

To view Version Cue options, click Use Adobe Dialog.
3 To replace a selected object, select Replace Selected Item.
4 Select Show Import Options, and then click Open.
5 In the Image Import Options or Place dialog box, click the Layers tab.
6 To view a preview of the image, click Show Preview.
7 (PDFs only) If you’re placing a page from a multipage PDF, click the arrows, or type a page number under the
preview image to preview a specific page.
8 (Photoshop PSD files only) If the image contains layer comps, choose the layer comp you want to display from the
Layer Comp pop-up menu.
9 Do one of the following:

• To open or close a layer set, click the triangle to the left of the folder icon.
• To hide a layer or layer set, click the eye icon next to the layer or layer set.
• To display the layer or layer set, click the empty eye column next to the layer or layer set.
• To display only the content of a particular layer or layer set, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) its eye
icon. Alt-click or Option-click the eye icon again to restore the original visibility settings of the other layers.

• To change the visibility of multiple items, drag through the eye column.
10 Set the When Updating Link option as desired:
Use Photoshop’s/PDF’s Layer Visibility Matches the layer visibility settings to those of the linked file when you

update the link.
Keep Layer Visibility Overrides Maintains the layer visibility settings as specified in the InDesign document.

11 Click OK, and do one of the following:

• To import into a new frame, click the loaded graphics icon
left corner of the graphic to appear.

in the layout at the place where you want the upper

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• To import into an existing, unselected frame, click the loaded graphics icon anywhere in that frame.
• To import into an existing selected frame, you don’t need to do anything. The image automatically appears in that
frame.
If you accidently replace an existing graphic with an image you’re placing, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z
(Mac OS) to return the original image to the frame and display the loaded graphics icon.
Set layer visibility for placed AI, PSD, PDF, and INDD files

After you place a Photoshop PSD or layered PDF, an Illustrator AI file, or an InDesign INDD file, you can control
the visibility of its layers by using the Object Layer Options dialog box. If the Photoshop PSD file contains layer
comps, you can choose which comp you want to display. In addition, you can choose whether to maintain the
visibility settings or match the settings of the original file each time you update the link.
1 Select the file in the InDesigndocument.
2 Choose Object > Object Layer Options.
3 To view a preview of the image, select Preview.
4 (Photoshop PSD files only) If the image contains layer comps, choose the layer comp you want to display from the

Layer Comp pop-up menu.
5 Do one of the following:

• To change the visibility of multiple items, drag through the eye column.
6 Set the Updating Link Options as desired:
Use Layer Visibility Matches the layer visibility settings to those of the linked file when you update the link.
Keep Layer Visibility Overrides Maintains the layer visibility settings as specified in the InDesign document.

7 Click OK.

Paste or drag graphics
When you copy and paste or drag a graphic into an InDesign document, some attributes of the original object may
be lost, depending on the limitations of the operating system and the range of data types the other application makes
available for transfer, and the InDesign Clipboard preferences. Pasting or dragging Illustrator graphics lets you select
and edit paths within the graphic.
Copying and pasting or dragging between two InDesign documents, or within a single document, however,
preserves all of the graphics attributes that were imported or applied. For example, if you copy a graphic from one
InDesign document and paste it into another, the new copy will be an exact duplicate of the original, even including
the original’s link information, so that you can update the graphic when the file on disk changes.

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See also
“About links and embedded graphics” on page 349
“Pasting Illustrator graphics into InDesign” on page 330
Copy and paste graphics

When copying and pasting a graphic from another document into an InDesign document, InDesign does not create
a link to the graphic in the Links panel. The graphic may be converted by the system clipboard during the transfer,
so both image quality and print quality may be lower in InDesign than in the graphic’s original application.
1 In InDesign or another program, select the original graphic, and choose Edit > Copy.
2 Switch to an InDesign document window, and choose Edit > Paste.
Drag and drop graphics

The drag-and-drop method works like the Place command, with images appearing in the Links panel after they’re
imported. You cannot set import options for the files you drag and drop; however, you can drag and drop multiple
files at once (the files are loaded in the graphics icon when you drag and drop more than one).
Select a graphic from Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Bridge, Explorer (Windows), the Finder (Mac OS), or your desktop,
and drag it into InDesign. The image must be in a format that InDesign can import.
After dragging and dropping a file from any location other than Illustrator, it appears in the Links panel in InDesign.
Using the Links panel, you can control versions and update as necessary.
1 Select the original graphic.
2 Drag the graphic into an open InDesign document window.

Note: In Windows, if you try to drag an item from an application that does not support drag and drop, the pointer
displays the Prohibited icon.
To cancel dragging a graphic, drop the graphic onto any panel title bar or the document title bar.

Create snippets
A snippet is a file that holds objects and describes their location relative to one another on a page or page spread. Use
snippets to conveniently reuse and position page objects. Create a snippet by saving objects in a snippet file, which
has the .INDS extension. When you place the snippet file in InDesign, you can determine whether the objects land
in their original positions or where you click. You can store snippets in the Object library and Adobe Bridge as well
as on your hard disk.
Snippets contents retain their layer associations when you place them. When a snippet contains resource definitions
and these definitions are also present in the document to which it is copied, the snippet uses the resource definitions
in the document.
❖ Do one of the following:

• Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then choose File > Export. From the Save As Type
(Windows) or Format (Mac OS) menu, choose InDesign Snippet. Type a name for the file and click Save.

• Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then drag the selection to your desktop. A snippet file is
created. Rename the file.

• Drag an item from Structure View to your desktop.

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See also
“About XML” on page 510
“Add an object or page to a library” on page 355

Add snippets to a document
1 Choose File > Place.
2 Select one or more snippet (*.INDS) files.
3 Click the loaded snippet cursor where you want the upper left corner of the snippet file to be.

All objects remain selected after you place the snippet. By dragging, you can adjust the position of all objects.
4 If you loaded more than one snippet, scroll and click the loaded snippet cursor to place the others.

You can drag a snippet file from your desktop into the InDesign document and click where you want the upper left
corner of the snippet to be.
Choose how to place snippets

Rather than place snippet objects according to where you click on a page, you can place them in their original
locations. For example, a text frame that appeared in the middle of a page when it was made part of a snippet can
appear in the same location when you place it as a snippet.

• In File Handling preferences, choose Position At Original Location to preserve objects’ original locations in
snippets; choose Position At Cursor Location to place snippets according to where you click a page.
You can press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) to override the Position setting you selected for handling snippets. For
example, if you selected Position At Cursor Location but you want to place snippet objects in their original locations,
hold down the Alt/option key when you click the loaded snippet cursor on the page.

Control graphics’ display performance
You can control the resolution of graphics placed in your document. You can change the display settings for the entire
document or for individual graphics. You can also change a setting that either allows or overrides the display settings
for individual documents.
Change a document’s display performance

A document always opens using the default Display Performance preferences. You can change the display performance of a document while it is open, but the setting won’t be saved with the document.
If you’ve set the display performance of any images separately, you can override the settings so all objects use the
same settings.
1 Choose View > Display Performance, and select an option from the submenu.
2 To force objects that you have set individually to display using the document setting, deselect View > Display
Performance > Allow Object-Level Display Settings. (A check mark indicates it is selected.)
Change an object’s display performance
1 To preserve the display performance for individual objects when the document is closed and reopened, make sure

Preserve Object-Level Display Settings is selected in Display Performance preferences.
2 Choose View > Display Performance, and make sure Allow Object-Level Display Settings is selected.

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3 With the Selection tool

or Direct Selection tool

, select an imported graphic.

4 Do one of the following:

• Select Object > Display Performance, and choose a display setting.
• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the image, and choose a display setting from the Display
Performance submenu.
To remove an object’s local display setting, choose Use View Setting in the Display Performance submenu. To remove
local display settings for all graphics in the document, select Clear Object-Level Display Settings in the View >
Display Performance submenu.
Display performance options

These options control how graphics are displayed on the screen, but they do not affect the print quality or exported
output.
Use Display Performance preferences to set the default option used to open all documents, and customize the
settings that define those options. Each display option has separate settings for displaying raster images, vector
graphics, and transparencies.
Fast Draws a raster image or vector graphic as a gray box (default). Use this option when you want to quickly page

through spreads that have lots of images or transparency effects.
Typical Draws a low-resolution proxy image (default) appropriate for identifying and positioning an image or vector

graphic. Typical is the default option, and is the fastest way to display an identifiable image.
High Quality Draws a raster image or vector graphic at High Resolution (default). This option provides the highest

quality but the slowest performance. Use this option when you want to fine-tune an image.
Note: Image display options don’t affect output resolution when exporting or printing images within a document. When
printing to a PostScript device, exporting to XHTML, or exporting to EPS or PDF, the final image resolution depends on
the output options you choose when you print or export the file.
Set default display performance

The Display Performance preferences let you set the default display option, which InDesign uses for every document.
You can change a document’s display performance using the View menu, or change the setting for individual objects
using the Object menu. For example, if you work on projects that contain numerous high-resolution photos (such as
a catalog), you may prefer to have all your documents open quickly. You can set the default display option to Fast.
When you want to see the images in more detail, you can switch the document view to Typical or High Quality
(leaving the preference set to Fast).
You can also choose to view or override display settings applied to individual objects. If Preserve Object-Level
Display Settings is selected, any settings applied to objects are saved with the document.
1 Select Edit > Preferences > Display Performance (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance
(Mac OS).
2 For Default View, select Typical, Fast, or High Quality. The display option you choose applies to all documents
you open or create.
3 Do one of the following, and click OK:

• To save display settings applied to individual objects, select Preserve Object-Level Display Settings.
• To display all graphics using the default display option, deselect Preserve Object-Level Display Settings.

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4 For Adjust View Settings, choose the display option you want to customize, and then move the slider for Raster
Images or Vector Graphics to the desired setting.

Each display option has separate settings for raster (bitmap) images, vector graphics, and transparency effects.

Managing graphics links
About links and embedded graphics
When you place a graphic, you will see a screen-resolution version of the file in the layout, so that you can view and
position it, but the actual graphic file may be either linked or embedded.

• Linked artwork is connected to, but remains independent of, the document, resulting in a smaller document. You
can modify linked artwork using transformation tools and effects; however, you cannot select and edit individual
components in the artwork. You can use the linked graphic many times without significantly increasing the size
of the document; you can also update all links at once. When you export or print, the original graphic is retrieved,
creating the final output from the full resolution of the originals.

• Embedded artwork is copied into the document at full resolution, resulting in a larger document. You can control
versions and update the file whenever you like; as long as the artwork is embedded, your document is self-sufficient.
To determine if artwork is linked or embedded, or change its status from one to the other, use the Links panel.
If the bitmap image you place is 48K or smaller, InDesign automatically embeds the full-resolution image instead of
the screen-resolution version in your layout. InDesign displays these images in the Links panel, so that you can
control versions and update the file whenever you like; however, the link is not necessary for optimal output.
Note: If you move a document to another folder or disk (for example, if you take it to a service provider), be sure you
also move the linked graphics files; they are not stored inside the document. You can copy all related files automatically,
using the Preflight and Package features.

See also
“Perform a preflight check” on page 562
“Package files” on page 563

Links panel overview
All files placed in a document are listed in the Links panel. This includes both local (on disk) files and assets that are
managed on a server. However, files that are pasted from a website in Internet Explorer do not display in this panel.
Note: If you’re working with files from an Adobe Version Cue project, the Links panel displays additional file information.

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A
B
C
D

E
F
G
H
I

Links panel
A. Linked graphic file name B. Page containing linked graphic C. Embedded-link icon D. Modified-link icon E. Image from linked .indd file
F. Missing-link icon G. Layer Visibility Override icon H. Adobe Stock Photos Comp icon I. Relink button J. Go To Link button K. Update
Link button L. Edit Original button

A linked file can appear in the Links panel in any of the following ways:
Up-to-date An up-to-date file displays only the file’s name and its page in the document.
Modified This icon means that the version of the file on disk is more recent than the version in your document. For
example, this icon will appear if you import a Photoshop graphic into InDesign, and then another artist edits and
saves the original graphic in Photoshop.
Missing The graphic is no longer in the location from which it was imported, although it may still exist somewhere.

This can happen if someone moves the original file to a different folder or server after it’s been imported into an
InDesign document. You can’t know whether a missing file is up to date until its original is located. If you print or
export a document when this icon is displayed, the file may not print or export at full resolution.
Embedded Embedding the contents of a linked file suspends management operations for that link. If the selected

link is currently in an “edit in place” operation, this option is not enabled. Unembedding the file restores
management operations to the link.

See also
“Adobe Version Cue” on page 94
“Using Adobe Stock Photos in InDesign” on page 334
Use the Links panel

• To display the Links panel, Choose Window > Links. Each linked file and automatically embedded file is identified
by name.

• To select and view a linked graphic, select a link in the Links panel and then click the Go To Link button

, or

choose Go To Link in the Links panel menu. InDesign centers the display around the selected graphic.

• To sort links in the panel, choose Sort By Status, Sort By Name, Sort By Page, or Sort By Type in the Links panel
menu or the context menu.

• To purchase a linked Adobe Stock Photo, select the photo and choose Purchase This Image from the Links panel
menu. Then follow the prompts in Adobe Bridge.

Display link information
The Link Information dialog box lists information about the selected linked file. The Date, Time, and Size sections
specify information about the linked file at the time it was last placed or updated.

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The Link Needed section specifies whether a link to a full-resolution version of the file is needed. Files that are
automatically embedded at import (those under 48K and text files) don’t require links.
Note: If you work with files from an Adobe Version Cue project, the Links panel displays additional file information.
1 Double-click a link, or select a link and choose Link Information from the Links panel menu.
2 Do any of the following:

• To view the linked file in the document, click Go To Link.
• To replace or update the current file (listed under the Name option), click Relink, locate and select a file, and then
click OK.

• Click Next or Previous to see information for the other links in the Links panel.
3 Click Done.

See also
“Adobe Version Cue” on page 94

View and save metadata via the Links panel
If a linked or embedded file contains metadata, you can view the metadata using the Links panel. You cannot edit or
replace metadata associated with a linked file; however, you can save a copy of the metadata in a template and apply
it to other files.
1 Select a file in the Links panel and choose Link File Info from the panel menu.
2 To save the metadata as a template, choose Save Metadata Template in the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog
box showing the metadata.

In InDesign, you can also view metadata in the Info panel. Select the object whose metadata you want to view, and
choose File Info from the Info panel menu.

Embed an image within the document
Rather than link to a file that you’ve placed in a document, you can embed (or store) the file within the document.
When you embed a file, you break the link to the original. Without the link, the Links panel doesn’t alert you when
the original has changed, and you cannot update the file automatically.
Embedding a file increases the document file size.
1 Select a file in the Links panel.
2 Choose Embed File in the Links panel menu. The file remains in the Links panel marked with the embedded-link
icon .

Note: For a text file that appears in the Links panel, select Unlink in the Links panel menu. When you embed a text file,
its name is removed from the Links panel.

Unembed a linked file
1 Select one or more embedded files in the Links panel.
2 Do one of the following:

• Select Unembed in the Links panel menu.

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• Click the Relink button

or select Relink in the Links panel menu.

3 Choose to link the file to the original file or to a folder InDesign creates from the embedded data stored in the
document.

Updating, restoring, and replacing links
Use the Links panel to check the status of any link, or to replace files with updated or alternate files.
When you update or reestablish (relink) a link to a file, any transformations performed in InDesign are preserved (if
you choose Relink Preserved Dimensions in the File Handling preferences). For example, if you import a square
graphic and rotate it 30˚, and then you relink it to an unrotated graphic, InDesign rotates it 30˚ to match the layout
of the graphic it’s replacing.
Note: Placed EPS files may contain OPI links, which will appear in the Links panel. Don’t relink OPI links to files other
than those originally intended by the creator of the EPS file; doing so can cause problems with font downloading and
color separations.
Choose how relinked graphics are scaled

When you relink to replace one graphic with a different source file, you can keep the image dimensions of the file
that’s being replaced or you can display the incoming file in its actual dimensions.
1 Choose InDesign > Preferences > File Handling (Mac OS) or Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows).
2 Choose Relink Preserves Dimensions if you want images to appear at the same size as the images they’re replacing;
deselect this option to have relinked images appear at their actual size.
Update modified links
1 In the Links panel, do one of the following:

• To update specific links, select one or more links marked with the modified-link icon

• To update all modified links, deselect all links by clicking the bottom of the Links panel.
2 Click the Update Link button

, or choose Update Link from the Links panel menu.

Replace a link with a different source file
1 Select any link in the Links panel, and click the Relink button

or choose Relink from the Links panel menu.

2 In the dialog box that appears, select Relink All Instances if more than one copy of the same file is in the document
and you want to relink each copy to the same new source file.
3 Choose Show Import Options if you’ve selected only one link and you want to control how the new source file is
imported.
4 Locate and double-click the new source file.
5 Choose import options if you clicked the Show Import options check box.(See “Import options for graphics” on
page 340.)

Note: If all of the missing files are in the same folder, you can restore all of them at once. First select all the missing links
(or select nothing) and restore one link. All of the remaining missing links are restored automatically.
Restore a single missing link
1 To restore a missing link, select any link marked with the missing link icon

Relink button

in the Links panel, and click the

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2 In the dialog box that appears, locate and double-click a file.

• Deselect all links by clicking the bottom of the Links panel.
• Select all missing links.
2 Click the Relink button, or choose Relink from the Links panel menu.
3 In the dialog box that appears, locate the file, and then click Open.
4 Repeat step 3 for every file that you want to restore.
Replace an imported file using the Place command
1 Do one of the following:

• To replace the contents of a graphics frame, such as an imported graphic, use the Selection tool

to select the

frame.

• To replace the contents of a text frame, use the Type tool to click an insertion point in a text frame, and choose
Edit > Select All.
2 Choose File > Place.
3 Locate and select the new file.
4 Make sure that Replace Selected Item is selected, and then click Open.

Edit original artwork
The Edit Original command lets you open most graphics in the application in which you created them so that you
can modify it as necessary. Once you save the original file, the document in which you linked it is updated with the
new version.
Note: In InDesign, if you check out and select a managed graphics frame (one that has been exported to InCopy), rather
than the graphic itself, the graphic opens in InCopy.
1 Do any of the following:

• In the Links panel, select the link and click the Edit Original button

. Alternatively, choose Edit Original from

the panel menu.

• Select the linked artwork on the page, and choose Edit > Edit Original.
• In Illustrator, select the linked artwork on the page, and click the Edit Original button in the Control panel.
2 After making changes in the original application, save the file.

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Object libraries
About object libraries
Object libraries help you organize the graphics, text, and pages you use most often. You can also add ruler guides,
grids, drawn shapes, and grouped images to a library. You can create as many libraries as you need—for example, you
can create different object libraries for varied projects or clients.
During a work session, you can open as many libraries as system memory will allow. Object libraries can be shared
across servers, and across platforms, but only one person can have the library open at a time. If an object library
includes text files, make sure that the file’s fonts are available and active on all systems that will access the library.
When you add a page element, such as a graphic, to an object library, InDesign preserves all attributes that were
imported or applied. For example, if you add a graphic from an InDesign document to a library, the library copy will
duplicate the original, including the original’s link information, so that you can update the graphic when the file on
disk changes.
If you delete the object from the InDesign document, the object’s thumbnail will still appear in the Library panel,
and all of the link information will remain intact. If you move or delete the original object, a missing link icon will
appear next to the object’s name in the Links panel the next time you place it in your document from the Library
panel.
Within each object library, you can identify and search for an item by title, by the date it was added to the library, or
by keywords. You can also simplify the view of an object library by sorting the library items and displaying their
subsets. For example, you can hide all items except EPS files.

Object library in Library panel
A. Object thumbnail and name B. Library Item Information button C. Show Library Subset button D. New Library Item button E. Delete
Library Item button

When adding an item to an object library, InDesign saves all page, text, and image attributes, and maintains interrelationships among library objects and other page elements in the following ways:

• Elements grouped in an InDesign document when dragged to the Library panel stay grouped when dragged out
of the Library panel.

• Text retains its formatting.
• Paragraph styles, character styles, and object styles that have the same name as styles used in the destination
document are converted to the destination document’s styles; those that have different names are added to the
document.

• The original layers of an object are preserved when the Paste Remembers Layers option is selected in the Layers
panel menu.

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Create an object library
An object library exists as a named file on disk. When you create an object library, you specify where to store it. When
you open a library, it appears as a panel that you can group with any other panel; the object library’s file name appears
in its panel tab. Closing an object library removes it from the current session, but doesn’t delete its file.
You can add or remove objects, selected page elements, or an entire page of elements to or from an object library. You
can also add or move library objects from one library to another.
1 Choose File > New > Library.
2 Specify a location and name for the library, and click Save. Remember that the name you specify becomes the
name of the library’s panel tab.
Open an existing library
❖ Do one of the following:

• If you’ve already opened a library in the current session (and haven’t closed it), choose the library file in the
Window menu.

• If you have not opened a library, choose File > Open, and select one or more libraries. In Windows, library files
use the INDL extension. InDesign converts newly opened libraries from previous versions of the program to the
new library format; you are asked to save these libraries under a new name.
Close a library
1 Click the tab for the library you want to close.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Close Library in the Object Library panel menu.
• Choose the library file name on the Window menu.
Delete a library
❖ In Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS), drag a library file to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).

In Windows, library files have the INDL extension.

Add an object or page to a library
❖ Do any of the following:

• Drag one or more objects from a document window to an active Object Library panel.
• Select one or more objects in a document window, and click the New Library Item button in the Object Library
panel.

• Select one or more objects in a document window, and choose Add Item in the Object Library panel menu.
• Choose Add Items On Page [number] As Separate Objects in the Object Library panel menu to add all the objects
as separate library objects.

• Choose Add Items On Page [number] in the Object Library panel menu to add all the objects as one library object.
• Drag an element from the Structure pane to an active Object Library panel.
If you hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while you perform any of the above commands, the Item Information dialog box appears as the item is added to the library.

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Add an object from a library to a document
❖ Do one of the following:

• Drag an object from the Object Library panel to a document window.
• In the Object Library panel, select an object, and choose Place Item(s) in the Object Library panel menu. This
method places the object at its original X,Y coordinates.

• Drag an XML element to a parent element in the Structure pane or to the page.

Manage library objects
Use the Object Library panel to manage objects.
Update a library object with a new item
1 In the document window, select the item you want to add to the Library panel.
2 In the Library panel, select the object you want to replace, and then choose Update Library Item from the Object

Library panel menu.
Copy or move an object from one library to another
1 Drag one library’s panel tab out of the Object Library panel group to separate them, so you can see both libraries

at the same time.
2 Do one of the following:

• To copy an object from one library to another, drag an item from one Library panel tab to the other.
• To move an object out of one library into another, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and drag an
item from one Library panel tab to the other.
Delete an object from an object library
❖ In the Object Library panel, select an object, and do one of the following:

• Click the Delete Library Item button.
• Drag the item to the Delete Library Item button.
• Choose Delete Item(s) in the Object Library panel menu.
Change the object library display

The object library displays objects as thumbnails or as a text list. You can sort the thumbnails or list by object name,
age, or type. The list view and sorting options work best if you’ve cataloged the objects.
❖ Do any of the following:

• To view objects as thumbnails, choose Thumbnail View or Large Thumbnail View from the Object Library
panel menu.

• To view objects as a text list, choose List View from the Object Library panel menu.
• To sort the objects, choose Sort Items from the Object Library panel menu, and choose a sort method.
View all objects
❖ Choose Show All in the Object Library panel menu.

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View, add, or edit library information

With large or numerous object libraries, library information can be cataloged using the display objects’ names, by
type of object, or words in a description.
1 In the Object Library panel, do one of the following:

• Double-click any object.
• Select an object, and click the Library Item Information button.
• Select an object, and choose Item Information in the Object Library panel menu.
2 View or change the Item Name, Object Type, or Description options as necessary, and click OK.

Find objects in a library
When you search for objects, all objects except the results of your search are hidden from view. You can also use the
search feature to show and hide specific categories of objects. For example, you can display only object items with
the word “star” in their names.
1 Choose Show Subset in the Object Library panel menu, or click the Show Library Subset button.
2 Do one of the following:

• To search all objects in the library, select Search Entire Library.
• To search only within the objects currently listed in the library (refining a previous search), select Search Currently
Shown Items.
3 Choose a category in the first menu in the Parameters section.
4 In the second menu, specify whether the category you chose in the first menu must be contained in or excluded
from the search.
5 To the right of the second menu, type a word or phrase you want to search for within the category you specified.
6 To add search criteria, click More Choices up to five times; each click adds one search term. To remove search

criteria, click Fewer Choices as necessary; each click removes one search term.
7 To display only those objects that match all search criteria, select Match All. To display objects that match any of
the criteria, select Match Any One.
8 Click OK to begin the search.

To show all objects again, choose Show All in the Object Library panel menu.

358

Chapter 13: Frames and objects
Laying out your artwork in Adobe InDesign CS3 is made easy using tools that let you select, stack, and transform
objects precisely. Create complex shapes and appearances by combining or masking objects.

Selecting objects
Overview of selection methods
InDesign provides the following selection methods and tools:
Selection tool

Allows you to select text and graphics frames, and work with an object using its bounding box.

Allows you to select the contents of a frame, such as a placed graphic, or work directly with
editable objects, such as paths, rectangles, or type that has been converted to a text outline.

Direct Selection tool

Type tool

Allows you to select text in a text frame, on a path, or in a table.

Select submenu Allows you to select an object’s container (or frame) and its contents. The Select submenu also lets

you select objects based on their position relative to other objects. To view the Select submenu, choose Object >
Select. You can also right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) an object to display its context menu, and then
choose Select.
Select buttons on the Control panel Lets you the select the content using the Select Content button

or the
container using the Select Container button . You can also use the Select Next Object or Select Previous Object to
select the next or previous objects in a group or on a spread.

Allows you to resize an image, move an image within a frame, and move both the frame and the
image to a new location in the document.

Position tool

Select All and Deselect All commands Allow you to select or deselect all objects on the spread and pasteboard,

depending on which tool is active and what is already selected. Choose Edit > Select All or Edit > Deselect All.
Double-click an object to switch between the selection tools. Double-click a text frame to place the insertion point
and switch to the Type tool.

See also
“Keys for selecting and moving objects” on page 635

Select objects
An object is any printable element on a page or on the pasteboard, such as a path or an imported graphic. A frame or
path is a shape you draw or a container for text or graphics. A bounding box is a rectangle with eight selection handles
that represents an objects vertical and horizontal dimensions. Before you can modify an object, you must select it
using a selection tool.
For a video on selecting objects, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0070.
There are two ways to select an object in InDesign:

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Path with bounding box selected (left), path selected (middle), and path with anchor point selected (right)

• You can use the Selection tool

to select the object’s bounding box for performing general layout tasks, such as

positioning and sizing objects.

• You can use the Direct Selection tool

to select the contents of a container (such as an imported graphic) or
individual points on a path for tasks involving resizing imported graphics, drawing and editing paths, and editing text.

Note: An imported graphic is always contained within a frame. It’s possible to select the graphic and its frame, the graphic
only, or its frame only. The frame and bounding box of an imported graphic can be different sizes. To see how InDesign
indicates what’s selected, see “Modifying objects using graphics frames” on page 383.

Bounding box selected (left) compared to rectangular path selected (right)

With rectangular objects, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the object’s bounding box and the path of
the object itself. A bounding box always displays eight large hollow anchor points. A rectangular path always displays
four small anchor points (which can be hollow or solid).

See also
“About paths and frames” on page 75
“Understanding paths and shapes” on page 298
“Select ruler guides” on page 54
“Keys for selecting and moving objects” on page 635
Select a bounding box

For any object, you can select its bounding box—a rectangle that represents the object’s horizontal and vertical
dimensions. (For grouped objects, the bounding box is a dashed rectangle.) The bounding box makes it possible to
quickly move, duplicate, and scale the object without having to use any other tool. For paths, the bounding box
makes it easy to work with an entire object without accidentally altering the anchor points that determine its shape.

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Note: For more precise moving and scaling, and for other modifications such as rotation, use the Control panel or the
Transform panel.
❖ Using the Selection tool

, do one of the following:

• Click the object. If the object is an unfilled path, click its edge.
• Drag a dotted selection rectangle or marquee around part or all of the object.
• With a graphic object or nested content selected, click the Select Container button

on the Control panel.

When you select one or more objects with the Selection tool, you see a bounding box that indicates the size of each
object. If you don’t see a bounding box when an object is selected, you may have selected the object using the Direct
Selection tool .
If you click a frame and it is not selected, the frame may be on a locked layer or master page. If the frame is on a
locked layer, a pencil icon appears. If the frame is on a master page, you can override it to select it.
Select a path or points on a path

Paths in InDesign are defined by anchor points, end points, and direction lines. You select anchor points and end
points using the Direct Selection tool.

A path with a single point selected (left) and multiple points selected (right)

1 Using the Direct Selection tool

, click the path to select it.

Notice how the tool changes when it’s above a path

or a point

2 Do any of the following:

• To select an individual point, click it.
• To select multiple points on the path, press Shift as you click each point.
• To select all of a path’s points at once, click the point at the center of the object, or hold down Alt (Windows) or
Option (Mac OS) and click the path. If you direct-select any part of the object, the Select All command also selects
all the points.
Select text inside a frame

• To select text by dragging, click on a text frame using the Type tool. An insertion point appears.
• To create an insertion point in text, double-click a text frame using any selection tool. InDesign switches to the
Type tool automatically.

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Select an object inside a frame
❖ Do any of the following:

• Click the object using the Direct Selection tool

. The Direct Selection tool automatically changes to the Hand
tool when placed over a graphic object inside a frame (but not when placed over a non-graphic object, such as a
path).

• With a frame selected, choose Select > Content from the Object menu or the frame’s context menu.
• With a frame selected, click the Select Content button

on the Control panel.

Select multiple objects

• To select all the objects in a rectangular area, use the Selection tool

to drag a marquee over the objects you want

to select.

• To select nonadjacent objects, use the Selection tool to select an object and then press Shift as you click additional
objects. Clicking selected objects deselects them.

• To add more objects to a selection, press Shift as you use the Selection tool to drag a marquee over additional
objects. Dragging over selected objects deselects them.
You can use these same techniques with the Direct Selection tool to select objects nested inside groups or frames.

Select or deselect all objects

To deselect all objects on the spread and its pasteboard, choose Edit > Deselect All. Or, with the Selection tool or
Direct Selection tool, click at least 3 pixels away from any object.
The Select All command has a different effect depending on the situation:

• If the Selection tool

is active, all paths and frames on the spread and pasteboard are selected, with their

bounding boxes active.

• If the Direct Selection tool

is active and an object is direct-selected, Select All selects all the anchor points of
that object but does not select any other object. If nothing is selected, Select All selects all the path objects on the
spread and pasteboard.

• If the Type tool is active and there is an insertion point in a text frame (indicated by a flashing vertical line), Select
All selects all text in that text frame and any text frames threaded to it, but selects no other objects.

• If an object in a group is selected, Select All selects the rest of the objects in the group but no other objects on the
spread.
1 Select the tool you want to use. If desired, select an object or place the insertion point in a text frame.
2 Choose Edit > Select All.

Note: The Select All command doesn’t select nested objects, objects that are positioned on locked or hidden layers, master
page items that are not overridden on document pages, or objects on other spreads and pasteboards (except for threaded
text).

Select nested or overlapping objects
When a frame contains an object, the contained object is said to be nested inside a container, or frame. Three
common kinds of nesting are: paths inside frames, frames inside frames, and groups inside groups. Always be aware
of exactly which objects or object attributes you need to select, which ones are currently selected, and which selection
tools to use to modify selections.

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You control selections in nested groups using the Direct Selection and Selection tools, as well as the Select Content
and Select Container buttons. You can select text characters using the Type tool at any time, no matter how deeply a
text frame is nested.
Select nested, grouped, or overlapping objects

When you nest objects or place objects on top of each other on the same layer, it can be difficult to select a single
object or frame. The Object menu and context menu contain selection options to make it easier to select the object
you want.

Selecting nested objects
A. Image selected B. Path of the frame containing the image is selected C. Group containing frame selected

Opening the Info panel makes it easier to see which object is selected.
1 Using the Direct Selection tool, click the nested or grouped object.
2 If you can’t select the object you want, use one of the following techniques:

• Choose Object > Select, and choose one of the selection options.
• Position the pointer over the object you want to select and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) to
display the context menu. Then choose Select and the desired selection option.
Note: Selecting objects using the context menu commands is not the same as using the Object > Select menu commands.
From the context menu, the selections are based on the exact point where you clicked to display the context menu. This
means that the next object above or below the mouse click would be selected, rather than the next object in the stacking
order.

• Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and then click the same place repeatedly until you’ve selected
the frame or group you want. (Do not click an anchor point.)

• To select all objects in a group individually, use the Selection tool to select the group, click the Select Content
button

on the Control panel, and then choose Select All.

3 To progressively drill down or up through a stack of objects, do one of the following:

• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS), and then choose an option from the Select context menu.
Choose Object > Select > Next Object Below or Next Object Above repeatedly until the object you want is selected.
When you reach the beginning or end of the stack, the selection doesn’t change.

• Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click the stack to drill down from the top of the stack.
When you reach the end of the stack, the selection starts over at the top of the stack. To drill up from the bottom
of the stack, hold down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac OS) and click the stack using the
Selection tool.
Note: The context menu options are sensitive to the location of the pointer.

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Select multiple nested objects
1 Using the Direct Selection tool

, click the nested object.

2 Hold down Shift as you click each additional nested object you want to select.
Selection options

Options on the Select submenu (choose Object > Select or choose Select on the context menu) help you select
overlapping, nested, or grouped objects. The availability of some options depends on the type of objects you’re
working with. When using the context menu, the object selected depends on the position of the pointer.
First Object Above Selects the object at the top of the stack.
Next Object Above Selects the object just above the current object.
Next Object Below Selects the object just below the current object.
Last Object Below Selects the object at the bottom of the stack.
Content Selects the content of the selected graphics frame, or, if a group is selected, selects an object within the
group. You can also click the Select Content button in the Control panel.
Container Selects the frame enclosing the selected object, or, if an object within a group is selected, selects the group

that contains it. You can also click the Select Container button in the Control panel.
Previous Object / Next Object Selects the next or previous object in the group if the selected object is part of a group,

or, if an ungrouped object is selected, selects the next or previous object on the spread. Shift-click to skip by five. Ctrlclick (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select the first or last object in a stack.

Arrange objects in a stack
Overlapping objects are stacked in the order in which they are created or imported. You can use the Arrange
submenu to change the stacking order of objects.
Arranging objects is not the same as using the Layers panel. A separate stack of objects exists within each named
layer, and the Object > Arrange menu commands control stacking only within each named layer. If you haven’t
created any named layers, your document contains just one stack of objects on the single default layer. Objects on
masters exist at the back of each named layer.
Note: Grouping objects might change their stacking order (in relation to ungrouped objects).
1 Select the object you want to move forwards or backwards in a stack.
2 Do any of the following:

• To move a selected object to the front or back of a stack, choose either Object > Arrange > Bring to Front or
Object > Arrange > Send to Back.

• To move a selected object forward or backward past the next object in a stack, choose either Object > Arrange >
Bring Forward or Object > Arrange > Send Backward.

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Transforming objects
Transform panel overview
Use the Transform panel to view or specify geometric information for any selected object, including values for
position, size, rotation, and shearing. Commands in the Transform panel menu provide additional options and quick
ways to rotate or reflect objects.
Note: The buttons and panel menu commands in the Transform panel are also available in the Control panel.
C
A

Transform panel
A. Reference point locator B. Constrain Proportions icon C. Panel menu

Display the Transform panel
❖ Choose Window > Object & Layout > Transform.

View geometric information about objects

When you select an object, its geometric information appears in the Transform and Control panels. If you select
multiple objects, the information represents all selected objects as a unit.
❖ Select one or more objects, and display the Transform panel (Window > Object & Layout > Transform).

Position information is relative to the ruler origin and the reference point of the object. Angle information is relative
to the pasteboard, where a horizontal line has an angle of 0˚.

Change transformation settings
The Transform panel includes several options that determine how objects are transformed and how transformations
are displayed in the Transform and Control panels.

See also
“Keys for transforming objects” on page 636
Change the reference point for selected objects

All transformations originate from a fixed point on or near the object, called the reference point. The reference point
is marked by an icon
when a transformation tool, such as the Scale tool, is active.

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Reference point moved to center (left), and object scaled (right)

❖ Do one of the following:

• To specify a different reference point for the selected object, click any of the nine points on the reference point
locator

in the Transform or Control panel.

As you click different reference points on the Transform or Control panel (top left and right), the reference point for the selected object changes
(bottom left and right).

• To move the selected object’s reference point to a specific location, select the Rotate tool

, the Scale tool , or
the Shear tool , position the tool over the reference point icon, and then drag it to a new location. Or, with one
of these tools selected, click anywhere on the object or page. The reference point moves to that location.

Note: When a transform tool is selected, clicking away from the object does not deselect it— it moves the reference point.
Choose Edit > Deselect All to deselect an object.
The last-selected reference point on the reference point locator becomes the new default reference point for all tools
and objects. If you drag an object’s reference point icon to a custom location (not on an anchor point), the panel
reference point returns to the default position once the current object is no longer selected. InDesign preserves the
default reference point position for new documents so you don’t have to reset it.
Change the information displayed for nested objects

The Transform panel orients an object to a spread’s pasteboard, where a horizontal line has a rotation angle of 0˚. By
default, this is true even if the object is nested inside a transformed container object (that is, if the object is part of a
transformed group or pasted inside a transformed frame). For example, if you paste an unrotated graphic inside a
frame, rotate the frame 10˚ with the graphic inside, and then select the graphic using the Direct Selection tool, the
Transform panel displays the graphic’s rotation angle as 10˚.

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Object’s rotation angle displayed relative to pasteboard

If you prefer, you can deselect the Transformations Are Totals command to see the same information relative to the
nested object’s container. In the example above, if you deselect Transformations Are Totals, the Transform panel
displays the graphic’s rotation angle as zero (the angle it has relative to its rotated container).

Object’s rotation angle displayed relative to container object

1 Open the Transform panel or Control panel.
2 In the Transform or Control panel menus, do one of the following:

• Leave Transformations Are Totals selected (the default) to display transformation values for nested objects relative
to the pasteboard.

• Deselect Transformations Are Totals to display rotate, scale, and shear values for nested objects relative to the
container object.
Measure the position of selected objects

The Show Content Offset command determines the appearance of the X and Y values in the Transform panel for
nested objects selected with the Direct Selection tool . The selected reference point in the reference point locator
of the Transform and Control panels determines which of the nine reference points on the selected object is being
compared to the zero point of the document or to the zero point of a container frame. The zero point of a container
frame is always its upper left corner.
The position of selected objects is measured from three positions:

• The position of the container frame in relation to the zero point of the document. With Show Content Offset
turned on or off, select the container frame using the Selection tool.

• The position of the nested object in relation to the zero point of the document. Turn off Show Content Offset and
select the nested object using the Direct Selection tool.

• The position of the nested object in relation to the zero point (upper-left corner) of its container frame. Turn on
Show Content Offset and select the nested object using the Direct Selection tool.

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Parent frame’s position displayed relative to zero point of document

Nested object’s position displayed relative to zero point of document

Nested object’s position displayed relative to container frame

If Show Content Offset is selected, the X and Y values of the embedded object appear relative to the container object,
and the X/Y icons in the Transform panel change to X+/Y+. If this command is deselected, the nested object values
appear relative to the rulers.
❖ In the Transform or Control panel menu, select or deselect Show Content Offset.

Include or exclude stroke weight in measurements

Stroke weight can affect an object’s size and position. You can change the stroke’s alignment and then choose whether
the Transform panel measures an object’s size and position from the center or from the edge of its stroke. For information on changing stroke alignment, see “Stroke panel options” on page 317.

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Note: This option does not change how stroke weights are affected when scaling a frame, only whether any changes affect
measurements.
❖ In the Transform or Control panel menu, do one of the following:

• Select Dimensions Include Stroke Weight when you want panel measurements to represent the outer edge of an
object’s stroke. For example, if one frame is 2 points shorter than the other, but the shorter frame’s stroke is 2 points
thicker, this setting will cause both frames to display the same height values in the Transform and Control panels.

• Deselect Dimensions Include Stroke Weight when you want the panel measurements to represent an object’s path
or frame regardless of its stroke weight. For example, two frames of the same height will display the same height
values in the Transform and Control panels, regardless of differences in their stroke weights.

Transform objects
You can modify an object’s size or shape, and change its orientation on the pasteboard, by using tools and commands.
The toolbox includes four transformation tools—the Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Free Transform tools. All transformations, with the addition of reflection, are available in the Transform and Control panels, where you can precisely
specify transformations.

C
B

Transformation tools (top) compared to Transform panel (bottom)
A. Rotation options B. Shearing options C. Scaling options

When transforming objects, note the following:

• The results of a transformation can differ significantly, depending on which selection tool you use. Use the
Selection tool to transform an entire path and its content; use the Direct Selection tool to transform just the
path without its content or the content without its path. To transform the content without its path, make sure that
all anchor points are selected.

• A transformation affects all selected objects as a single unit. For example, if you select multiple objects and rotate
them 30˚, they all rotate around one reference point. If you want to rotate each selected object 30˚ around its own
reference point, you must select and rotate them individually.

• When transforming type, you can use either of two selection methods: Use the Selection or Direct Selection tool
to select an entire text frame or text converted to outlines, and then use the transformation tools; or use the Type
tool to select text or to click an insertion point in a text frame, and then specify transformations in the Transform
panel, Control panel, or dialog boxes available when you double-click a tool. In both cases, the transformation
affects the entire text frame.

• When you rotate, skew, or scale a group, the settings apply to the entire group, as well as to the individual objects
in the group. For example, if you rotate a group 30˚, the rotation value in the Transform or Control panel is 30˚
whether you select the group itself or direct-select an object in the group.
For a video on working with objects, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0071.

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See also
“Change transformation settings” on page 364
“Gallery of transformation tools” on page 30
“Keys for transforming objects” on page 636
Transform objects with the Transform panel

InDesign no longer includes a Transform Content command. Instead, use the selection tools to determine whether
the content and frame are transformed together or separately.
1 Choose Window > Object & Layout > Transform.
2 Select an object to transform.

• To transform both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame.
• To transform the content without transforming its frame, direct-select the object.
• To transform a frame without transforming the content, direct-select the frame, and select all the anchor points.
3 In the Transform panel, specify the reference point for the transformation.

All values in the panel refer to the bounding boxes of the objects. X and Y values refer to the selected reference point
on the bounding box relative to the ruler origin.
4 Do any of the following:

• Enter new values in the text boxes.
• Choose values from available pop-up menus.
• Choose commands from the panel menu.
Note: To maintain the object’s proportions when using the Scale X Percentage and Scale Y Percentage options, click the
Constrain Proportions icon
in the panel. When the option is not selected, dots appear on both sides of the icon (like
a broken chain link).
5 Press Tab, Enter (Windows), or Return (Mac OS) to apply the change.
Transform objects with the Free Transform tool

The Free Transform tool works the same way it does in Adobe Photoshopand Adobe Illustrator, by providing a way
to perform any transformation with just one tool. You can combine transformations, such as rotating and scaling,
while the Free Transform tool is active.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to instantly switch among the Free Transform tool (press E), the Selection tool (V),
and the Direct Selection tool (A).
1 Using the appropriate selection tool, select the object or objects to transform.
2 Select the Free Transform tool

• To move objects, click anywhere within the bounding box, and then drag.
• To scale objects, drag any bounding box handle until the object is the desired size. Shift-drag the handle to
preserve the selection’s proportions.

• To scale objects from the center of the bounding box, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS).
• To rotate objects, position the pointer anywhere outside the bounding box. When pointer changes to
until the selection is at the desired angle of rotation.

, drag

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• To reflect objects, drag a handle of the bounding box past the opposite edge or handle, until the object is at the
desired level of reflection.

• To shear objects, begin dragging a handle, and then hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS). Hold
down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Command+Option to shear from both sides of the object.

Rotate objects
You can rotate objects using any of several methods.
Rotate an object using the Rotate tool
1 Select an object to rotate. To rotate both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To

rotate the content without rotating its frame, direct-select the object. To rotate a frame without rotating the content,
direct-select the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 Select the Rotate tool

3 If you want to use a different reference point for the rotation, click where you want the reference point to appear.
4 Position the tool away from the reference point, and drag around it. To constrain the tool to multiples of 45˚, hold
down Shift as you drag. For finer control, drag farther from the object’s reference point.

You can also rotate by using the Free Transform tool.

Rotate an object using the Transform or Control panel
1 Select an object to rotate. To rotate both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To

• To rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in 90˚ increments, click either of the Rotate buttons in the Control panel.
• To rotate by preset angle, choose an angle from the Rotation Angle

pop-up menu in the Transform or Control

panel.

• In the Rotation Angle

box on the Transform or Control panel, type a positive angle to rotate selected objects
counterclockwise, or type a negative angle to rotate selected objects clockwise, and then press Enter (Windows) or
Return (Mac OS).

• To create a copy of the object with the new rotation applied to the copy, type a value in the width or height fields
on the Transform panel and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you press Enter.
When you rotate a single object, the specified value remains displayed in the Transform or Control panel. When you
rotate multiple objects, the Rotation Angle is reset to 0 degrees, even though the objects are rotated.
Rotate an object using the Rotate command

You can use the Rotate command to rotate an object by a specific amount. This command also lets you rotate a copy
of the selected object, leaving the original in place.
1 Select an object to rotate. To rotate both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To
rotate the content without rotating its frame, direct-select the object. To rotate a frame without rotating the content,
direct-select the frame, and select all the anchor points.

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2 Do one of the following to open the Rotate dialog box:

• Choose Object > Transform > Rotate.
• Double-click the Rotate tool

• Select the Rotate tool and Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) on or near the object to select a new
reference point.
3 Enter the rotation angle, in degrees, in the Angle box. Enter a negative angle to rotate the object clockwise; enter
a positive angle to rotate the object counterclockwise.
4 Do one of the following:

• To preview the effect before you apply it, select Preview.
• To rotate the object, click OK.
• To rotate a copy of the object, click Copy.

Move objects
You can move objects by cutting them from one spot and pasting them into another, by entering new horizontal and
vertical coordinates, or by dragging them. Dragging also allows you to move a copy of an object or to copy objects
between software applications.

See also
“Transform objects” on page 368
“Create masters” on page 63
Move objects

Use the Selection tool to move both the frame and its content; use the Direct Selection tool to move either the frame
or its content.
Note: For best results, use the Selection tool to move multiple objects. If you use the Direct Selection tool to select multiple
objects or paths, dragging moves only the selected graphic, path, or anchor points.
1 Select an object to move. To move both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To
move the content without moving its frame, direct-select the object. To move a frame without moving the content,
direct-select the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 Do one of the following:

• To paste the object (or a copy of it) in a new location, choose Edit > Cut or Edit > Copy. Target the destination
spread, and choose Edit > Paste. The objects appear in the center of the target spread.

• To paste a copy at the same position as the original, choose Edit > Copy. Then, choose Edit > Paste In Place. (To
offset the copy from the original, nudge it using the arrow keys.)
If you want an object to appear in the same position on many pages, consider creating a master page and paste the
object on it.

• To move an object to a specific numeric location, type a value for each of the X (horizontal) or Y (vertical) position
options in the Transform or Control panel. Then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

• To nudge an object slightly in one direction, press or hold an arrow key; to nudge an object ten times as far, hold
down Shift as you press an arrow key.

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• To move an object by dragging, drag the object to a new position. Shift-drag to constrain the movement of the
object horizontally, vertically, or diagonally (in multiples of 45˚).
Move objects by a precise amount

You can use the Move command to move an object by a specific amount. This command also lets you move a copy
of the selected object, leaving the original in place.
1 Select an object to move. To move both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To
move the content without moving its frame, direct-select the object. To move a frame without moving the content,
direct-select the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 Choose Object > Transform > Move, or double-click the icon for the Selection or Direct Selection tool in the
toolbox.
3 In the Move dialog box, do one of the following:

• Enter the horizontal and vertical distances that you want the object to move. Positive values move the object down
and to the right of the x axis; negative values move the object up and to the left.

• To move an object a precise distance and angle, enter the distance and angle for the move. The angle you enter is
calculated in degrees from the x axis. Positive angles specify a counterclockwise move; negative angles specify a
clockwise move. You can also enter values between 180˚ and 360˚; these values are converted to their corresponding negative values (for example, a value of 270˚ is converted to –90˚).
4 Do any of the following:

• To preview the effect before you apply it, select Preview.
• To move the object, click OK.
• To move a copy of the object, click Copy.
Move objects to a precise location
1 Select an object to move.
2 If you want to use a different reference point for the move, click where you want the reference point to appear.

For example, if you want to move the object to the upper left corner of the page, select the upper left reference point.
3 In the X and Y fields on the Transform panel, enter the coordinates where you want the selection to be moved.
Specify the distance objects move when nudged
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Increments (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Units & Increments

(Mac OS).
2 For Cursor Key, specify the distance you want each press of an arrow key to move selected objects, and then
click OK.

If you hold down Shift while moving a selection, the selection moves ten times the distance you specify here.

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Resize objects
When you drag the handle of a frame that includes contents, such as an imported graphic, you may expect the
contents to be resized as well. It’s important to understand that the content and the container frame are separate
items, each with its own bounding box. Simply dragging the frame of an imported graphic will either crop the
graphic or leave a blank space outside the graphic, depending on which direction you drag. Being able to modify the
frame apart from the contents adds flexibility, but it may take some time to get used to.
Note: There is a difference between resizing and scaling objects, even though the difference may not always be apparent.
The best way to see the difference is to resize and scale a text frame that has a stroke applied to it. When you double the
size of the text frame, the text size and stroke weight remain the same. When you double the scale of the text frame, the
text size and stroke weight also double.

Resizing an imported graphic
A. Frame selected with Selection tool B. Frame resized C. Frame and content scaled

• To resize a frame, drag any handle using the Selection tool. If you hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command
(Mac OS) while dragging, the frame and the content are scaled. Adding the Shift key scales proportionally.

• To resize the content of a graphics frame, use the Direct Selection tool, select the graphic, and then drag any of the
graphic frame handles.

• To resize a frame or its content to a precise size, select the object and enter the size in the width (W) or height (H)
fields on the Transform panel. (You can also use the Control panel.)
To maintain the original proportions of the object when using the Transform panel, make sure the Constrain Proportions icon is selected.

• To resize a frame or its content to a percentage of its current size, select the object and enter the percentage in the
width or height fields on the Transform panel.

• To create a copy of the selected object with the new size applied to the copy, type a value in the width or height
fields on the Transform panel and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you press Enter.
After you resize a frame or object, you can use a fitting option (Object > Fitting) to fit the content to the frame or the
frame to the content.

See also
“Scale objects” on page 373

Scale objects
Scaling an object enlarges or reduces it horizontally (along the x axis), vertically (along the y axis), or both horizontally and vertically, relative to the reference point you specify.

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By default, InDesign scales strokes. For example, if you scale a selected object with a 4-point stroke by 200%, the
Stroke panel indicates an 8-point stroke and the stroke visibly doubles in size. You can change the default stroke
behavior by deselecting Adjust Stroke Weight When Scaling in the Transform or Control panel menu. You can
change the default tracking behavior by selecting Adjust Scaling Percentage in General preferences.

See also
“Scale type” on page 220
“Keys for transforming objects” on page 636
Scale an object using the Selection tool
❖ To scale the content and frame simultaneously, use the Selection tool and hold down Ctrl (Windows) or

Command (Mac OS). Add the Shift key to resize the object proportionally.
Scale an object using the Scale tool
1 Select an object to scale. To scale both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To scale

the content without scaling its frame, direct-select the object. To scale a frame without scaling the content, directselect the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 Select the Scale tool

3 Position the Scale tool away from the reference point and drag. To scale the x or y axis only, start dragging the
Scale tool along one axis only. To scale proportionally, hold down Shift as you drag the Scale tool. For finer control,
start dragging farther from the object’s reference point.

You can also scale by using the Free Transform tool.

Scale an object using the Transform panel

To maintain the original proportions of the object when using the Transform panel, make sure the Constrain Proportions icon is selected.
1 Select an object to scale. To scale both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To scale

the content without scaling its frame, direct-select the object. To scale a frame without scaling the content, directselect the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 In the Transform or Control panel, do one of the following:

• Choose a preset percentage value in the Scale X Percentage

or Scale Y Percentage

pop-up menu.

• Type a percentage value, or a specific distance (such as 10p) in the Scale X Percentage or Scale Y Percentage box,
and then press Enter or Return.
If the Apply To Content preference option is selected in General preferences, scaling values are reset to 100% in the
Transform panel after the object is scaled. If Adjust Scaling Percentage is selected, scaling values remain as specified
(such as 125%). With multiple objects selected, the scaling value will always display as 100%; however, you can select
objects individually to see the applied effect of the transform (such as 125%) if Adjust Scaling Percentage is selected.
Scale an object using the Scale command
1 Select an object to scale. To scale both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To scale

the content without scaling its frame, direct-select the object. To scale a frame without scaling the content, directselect the frame, and select all the anchor points.

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2 Do one of the following to open the Scale dialog box:

• Choose Object > Transform > Scale.
• Double-click the Scale tool

• Select the Scale tool and Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) on or near the object to select a new
reference point.
3 Type a percentage value in the Scale X or Scale Y box.

To maintain the original proportions of the object when using the Transform panel, make sure the Constrain Proportions icon is selected is selected.
4 Do any of the following:

• To preview the effect before you apply it, select Preview.
• To scale the object, click OK.
• To scale a copy of the object, click Copy.
Adjust stroke weight when objects are scaled
❖ Select the Adjust Stroke Weight When Scaling option in the Transform or Control panel.

For example, if you scale a 4-point stroke by 200% when this option is turned on, the stroke weight becomes 8 points.
If you turn off this option, the object doubles in size but its stroke weight remains 4 points.
If this option is turned on and you scale an object disproportionally, InDesign applies the smallest stroke weight to
all sides. For example, suppose that you scale a selected object with a 4-point stroke only in the X direction by 200%.
Instead of applying an 8-point stroke in the X direction and a 4-point stroke in the Y direction, InDesign applies the
smaller value (4 points) to all sides.
Reset scaling value to 100%

In some cases, you may want to reset the Scale X and Scale Y values of an object to 100% without resizing the object.
For example, you may have opened a document from a previous version of InDesign that has non-100% scaling
values, or you may have scaled an object with the Adjust Scaling Percentage preference setting selected. When you
choose this command, the scaling values for all selected frames are reset to 100%. Choosing this command does not
change the size or appearance of objects.
1 Select one or more objects that have a non-100% scaling values.

This command is dimmed if you direct-select an imported image or if an object has 100% scaling values.
2 Choose Redefine Scaling As 100% from the Transform or Control panel menu.

Note: Choosing this command may result in unexpected behavior with objects in transformed groups.

Reflect (flip) objects
Reflecting an object flips the object across an invisible axis at the reference point you specify. (See “Change transformation settings” on page 364.)

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Original object (top) reflected using Flip Horizontal (middle) and Flip Vertical (bottom)

The flip/rotate indicator (P) in the middle of the Control panel appears white with a black outline if an object is
flipped. If the object is not flipped, the indicator is solid black.
1 Select an object to flip. To flip both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To flip the
content without its frame, direct-select the object. To flip a frame without its content, direct-select the frame, and
select all the anchor points.
2 Do one of the following:

• To reflect using the reference point as a horizontal axis, click the Flip Horizontal button in the Control panel.
• To reflect using the reference point as a vertical axis, click the Flip Vertical button in the Control panel.
You can also reflect objects by using the Selection tool or Free Transform tool to pull one side of an object’s bounding
box past the opposite side, or by typing negative values into the Scale X Percentage or Scale Y Percentage options in
the Transform or Control panel.

Shear (skew) objects
Shearing an object slants or skews it along its horizontal or vertical axis, and can also rotate both of the object’s axes.
Shearing is useful for:

• Simulating some types of perspective, such as isometric projection.
• Slanting a text frame.
• Creating cast shadows when you shear a copy of an object.

See also
“Change transformation settings” on page 364
Shear an object
1 Select an object to shear. To shear both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To

shear the content without its frame, direct-select the object. To shear a frame without scaling the content, directselect the frame, and select all the anchor points.

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2 If you want to use a different reference point for the shearing, click where you want the reference point to appear.
3 Do one of the following:

• To shear selected objects by dragging, select the Shear tool

. Then position the Shear tool away from the
reference point, and drag. Shift-drag to constrain shearing to a perpendicular vertical or horizontal axis. If you
start to drag at a non-perpendicular angle and then hold down the Shift key, shearing is constrained to that angle.

Object being sheared by dragging Shear tool with reference point placed in center

You can also shear by using the Free Transform tool.

• To shear using a preset value, in the Transform or Control panel, choose an angle from the Shear pop-up

menu.

• To shear using a specific value, in the Transform or Control panel, type a positive or negative angle in the
Shear

box, and press Enter or Return.

• To create a copy of the object with the new shear applied to the copy, type a value in the width or height fields on
the Transform panel and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you press Enter.
When you shear a single object, the specified value remains displayed in the Transform or Control panel. When you
shear multiple objects, the Shear Angle value is reset to 0 degrees, even though the objects are sheared.
Shear an object using the Shear command

You can shear an object by a specific amount by using the Shear command. This command also lets you shear a copy
of the selected object, leaving the original in place.
1 Select an object to shear. To shear both the frame and its content, use the Selection tool to select the frame. To
shear the content without its frame, direct-select the object. To shear a frame without scaling the content, directselect the frame, and select all the anchor points.
2 Do one of the following to open the Shear dialog box:

• Select Object > Transform > Shear.
• Double-click the Shear tool

• Select the Shear tool and Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to select a new reference point.
3 Type a new shear angle.

The shear angle is the amount of slant to be applied to the object, relative to a line perpendicular to the shear axis.
(Shear angle is calculated clockwise from the current axis.)
4 Specify the axis along which the object is to be sheared. You can shear an object along a horizontal, vertical, or
angled axis.
5 Do any of the following:

• To preview the effect before you apply it, select Preview.

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• To shear the object, click OK.
• To shear a copy of the object, click Copy.

Repeat transformations
You can repeat transformations, such as moving, scaling, rotating, resizing, reflecting, shearing, and fitting. You can
repeat either a single transformation or a sequence of transformations, and you can apply those transformations to
more than one object at a time. InDesign remembers all transformations until you select a different object or perform
a different task.
Note: Not all transformations are recorded. For example, modifying a path or its points is not recorded as a transformation.
1 Select one or more objects, and perform all the transformations you want to repeat.
2 Select the object or objects to which you want to apply the same transformations.
3 Choose Object > Transform Again and then select one of the following options:
Transform Again Applies the last single transform operation to the selection.
Transform Again Individually Applies the last single transform operation to each selected object individually, rather

than as a group.
Transform Sequence Again Applies the last sequence of transform operations to the selection.
Transform Sequence Again Individually Applies the last sequence of transform operations to each selected object

individually.

Clear transformations
1 Select the object or objects that have been transformed.
2 Choose Clear Transformations from the Transform or Control panel menu.

Unless all values are the default values, clearing transformations results in a change of appearance for the objects.
Note: If the Scale values were reset at 100%, clearing the transformations will not change the scale.

Aligning and distributing objects
Align panel overview
You use the Align panel (Window > Object & Layout > Align) to align or distribute objects horizontally or vertically
along the selection, margins, page, or spread. Consider the following when working with the Align panel:

• The Align panel doesn’t affect objects to which you’ve applied the Lock Position command, and doesn’t change
alignment of text paragraphs within their frames.

• Text alignment is not affected by the Align Objects options. (See “Align or justify text” on page 227.)
• You can use the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box (Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts) to create custom align and distribute
shortcuts. (Under Product Area, select Object Editing.)

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Align panel
A. Vertical alignment buttons B. Vertical distribution buttons C. Use Spacing distribution D. Horizontal alignment buttons E. Horizontal
distribution buttons F. Alignment location options

See also
“Use keyboard shortcut sets” on page 25

Align or distribute objects
You can use the Align panel to align or space selected objects horizontally or vertically to the selection, margins,
page, or spread.

Objects distributed horizontally to selection (top) and to margins (bottom)

To show or hide additional panel options, choose Show Options or Hide Options from the panel menu.
1 Select the objects to align or distribute.
2 Choose Window > Object & Layout > Align to display the Align panel.
3 From the menu at the bottom of the panel, specify whether you want to align or distribute objects based on the
selection, margins, page, or spread.
4 Do one of the following:

• To align objects, click the button for the type of alignment you want.
• To distribute objects, click the button for the type of distribution you want. For example, if you click the Distribute
Left Edges button when Align To Selection is turned on, InDesign makes sure that there is an equal amount of
space from left edge to left edge of each selected object.

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Using the Distribute Horizontal Centers option for even spacing
A. Creates even spacing between the centers of each object B. Keeps the overall width the same as before the transformation

• To set the space between objects, either center to center or edge to matching edge, select Use Spacing under
Distribute Objects, and then type the amount of space you want to apply. Click a button to distribute the selected
objects along their horizontal or vertical axes.

Using the Distribute Horizontal Centers option and adding a value for Use Spacing
A. Spaces the objects evenly from their centers by a specified value B. Changes the overall width of the objects as a whole

• To set the space between objects (facing edge to facing edge), under Distribute Spacing, select Use Spacing and
type the amount of space you want between the objects. (If Distribute Spacing is not visible, choose Show Options
in the Align Panel menu.) Then, click the Distribute Spacing button to distribute the objects either along their
horizontal or vertical axes.

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A
B

Using the Distribute Horizontal Space option and adding a value for Use Spacing
A. Creates spaces of a specified value between each object B. Changes the overall width of the objects as a whole

When you use spacing with vertical distribution, selected objects are spaced from top to bottom, starting with the
top-most object. When you use spacing with horizontal distribution, selected objects are spaced from left to right,
starting from the left-most object.

Grouping, locking, and duplicating objects
Group or ungroup objects
You can combine several objects into a group so that they are treated as a single unit. You can then move or transform
the objects without affecting their individual positions or attributes. For example, you might group the objects in a
logo design so that you can move and scale the logo as one unit.

Grouped object

Groups can also be nested—grouped into subgroups within larger groups. Use the Selection, Direct Selection, and
Group Selection tools to select different levels of a nested group’s hierarchy.
If you’re working with a stack of overlapping objects, and you group some objects that aren’t adjacent in the stacking
order, the selected objects will be pulled together in the stacking order, right behind the frontmost selected object.
(For example, when objects are stacked as A, B, C, D from front to back, and you group B and D together, the stacking
order becomes A, B, D, C.) If you group objects that exist on different named layers, all of the objects move to the
frontmost layer on which you selected an object. Also, the objects you select must either be all locked or all unlocked.
1 Select multiple objects to be grouped or ungrouped. Selecting part of an object (for example, an anchor point) will
group the entire object.
2 Choose either Object > Group or Object > Ungroup.

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If you’re not sure if an object is part of a group, select it using the Selection tool
the Object > Ungroup command is available, you’ve selected a group.

and look at the Object menu. If

See also
“Arrange objects in a stack” on page 363
“Select nested or overlapping objects” on page 361

Lock or unlock objects
You can use the Lock Position command to specify that you don’t want certain objects to move in your document.
As long as an object is locked, it cannot be moved, although you can still select it and change other attributes such as
color. Locked objects stay locked when a document is saved, closed, and then reopened.
1 Select the object or objects that you want to lock in place.
2 Do one of the following:

• To lock the objects, choose Object > Lock Position.
• To unlock the objects, choose Object > Unlock Position.
You can also use the Layers panel to lock one or more layers. This locks the positions of all objects on a layer, and
also prevents them from being selected.

See also
“Lock or unlock layers” on page 74

Duplicate objects
You can duplicate objects using a number of different methods.
Duplicate an object using the Duplicate command

Use the Duplicate command to replicate a selected object instantly. The new copy appears on the layout slightly offset
down and to the right from the original.
❖ Select an object or objects, and choose Edit > Duplicate.

Duplicate a selected object as you transform

You can duplicate an object each time you change its position, orientation, or proportions. For example, you can
create a flower by drawing one petal, setting its reference point at the base of the petal, and repeatedly rotating at
incremental angles, simultaneously duplicating to leave behind a new copy of the petal at each angle.
❖ During a transformation, do one of the following:

• If you’re dragging the Selection tool

, the Rotate tool , the Scale tool , or the Shear tool , start dragging,
and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) after you begin dragging. To constrain the duplicate’s
transformation, Alt+Shift-drag (Windows) or Option+Shift-drag (Mac OS).

• If you’re specifying a value in the Transform or Control panel, press Alt+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return
(Mac OS) after you’ve typed the value.

• If you’re pressing arrow keys to move objects, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you press the keys.

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Duplicate objects into rows or columns

Use the Step and Repeat command to instantly create rows or columns of duplicates. For example, you can fill a page
with evenly spaced duplicates of a single business card design.
1 Select the object or objects you want to duplicate.
2 Choose Edit > Step and Repeat.
3 For Repeat Count, specify how many duplicates you want to make, not counting the original.
4 For Horizontal Offset and Vertical Offset, specify how far to shift the position of each new duplicate from the
previous duplicate along the x and y axes, respectively, and click OK.

To create a page full of duplicates, first use Step and Repeat with Vertical Offset set to 0 (zero); this will create one
row of duplicates. Then select the entire row and use Step and Repeat with Horizontal Offset set to 0; this will repeat
the row down the page.

Create nonprinting objects
You might want to create objects that appear onscreen, but will not be printed or appear in portable versions of the
document.
You can also use layers to selectively hide or show elements in a document, and you can assign layers a non-printing
status.
1 Select the object or text frame that you don’t want to be printed.
2 Open the Attributes panel (Window > Attributes).
3 In the Attributes panel, select Nonprinting.

See also
“Set a layer as nonprinting” on page 74

Working with frames and objects
Modifying objects using graphics frames
Adobe InDesign objects include any item you can add or create in the document window, including open paths,
closed paths, compound shapes and paths, type, rasterized artwork, 3D objects, and any placed file, such as an image.
If a graphic exists inside a frame (as all imported graphics do), you can modify it by changing its relationship to its
frame, as in the following examples:

• Crop a graphic by making its frame smaller.
• Create various masking and layout effects by pasting an object into a frame.
• Add a keyline or outline to a graphic by changing the stroke weight and color of its frame.
• Center a graphic against a background rectangle by enlarging its frame and setting the frame’s fill color.

Paste an object into a frame
Use the Paste Into command to nest graphics within container frames. You can even nest graphics into nested frames.

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Background image pasted into a frame

1 Do one of the following:

• To paste one object inside a frame, select the object.
• To paste two or more objects inside a frame, group them first, because a frame can contain only one object.
• To paste a text frame inside another frame and preserve its current appearance, select the entire text frame using
the Selection tool

or Direct Selection tool

, not the Type tool.

2 Choose Edit > Copy (or Edit > Cut, if you don’t want to keep the original).
3 Select a path or frame, and then choose Edit > Paste Into.

Remove a frame’s content
1 Do one of the following:

• If you’re removing a graphic or a text frame, select the object with the Direct Selection tool
• If you’re removing text characters, select them with the Type tool

2 Do one of the following:

• To permanently remove the content, press Delete or Backspace, or drag items to the Delete icon.
• To place the content elsewhere on the layout, choose Edit > Cut, deselect the frame, and then choose Edit > Paste.
Note: An imported image cannot exist without a frame. If you cut an imported image from its frame and paste it
elsewhere within a document, a new frame will be created for it automatically.

Fit an object to its frame
When you place or paste an object into a frame, it appears at the upper-left corner of the frame by default. If the frame
and its content are different sizes, you can use the Fitting commands to achieve a perfect fit automatically.
Frame alignment options apply to frames that contain either a graphic or another text frame (text frames nested
within another frame), but they do not affect paragraphs inside a text frame—you control alignment and positioning
of text itself using the Text Frame Options command and the Paragraph, Paragraph Styles, and Story panels.
Note: Fitting commands are also available as buttons on the Control panel; use tool tips to view the names of the buttons.
1 Select the frame of the object.
2 Choose Object > Fitting and one of the following options:
Fit Content To Frame Resizes content to fit a frame and allows the content proportions to be changed. The frame will
not change, but the content may appear to be stretched if the content and the frame have different proportions.
Fit Frame To Content Resizes a frame to fit its content. The frame’s proportions are altered to match the content
proportions, if necessary. This is useful for resetting a graphics frame that you accidentally altered.

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To fit a frame to its content quickly, double-click any corner handle on the frame. The frame resizes away from the
point you click. If you click a side handle, the frame resizes only in that dimension.

Aligning an object within a graphics frame
A. Original B. Frame resized to fit content C. Content resized to fit frame

Center Content Centers content within a frame. The proportions of the frame and its content are preserved. The size

of the content and frame are unaltered.
Fit Content Proportionally Resizes content to fit a frame while preserving the content proportions. The frame’s

dimensions are not changed. If the content and the frame have different proportions, some empty space will result.
Fill Frame Proportionally Resizes content to fill the entire frame while preserving the content’s proportions. The

frame’s dimensions are not changed. If the content and the frame have different proportions, some of the content will
be cropped by the bounding box of the frame.
Note: The Fitting commands fit the outer edges of the content to the center of the frame’s stroke. If the frame has a thick
stroke weight, outer edges of the content will be obscured. You can adjust the frame’s stroke alignment to the center, inside,
or outside of a frame edge. (See “Set strokes” on page 316.)

Set frame fitting options
You can associate a fitting option to a placeholder frame so that whenever new content is placed in that frame, the
fitting command is applied.
1 Select a frame.
2 Choose Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options.
3 Specify the following options, and then click OK:
Reference Point Specify a reference point for the cropping and fitting actions. For example, if you select the upper
right corner for a reference point and choose Fit Content Proportionally, the image may be cropped on either the left
or bottom side (away from the reference point).
Crop Amount Specify the location of the image’s bounding box in relation to the frame. Use positive values to crop
the image. For example, you may want to exclude a border that surrounds the placed image. Use negative values to
add space between the image’s bounding box and the frame. For example, you may want white space to appear
between the image and the frame.

If you enter crop values that cause the image not to be visible, those values are ignored, but the fitting option is still
implemented.
Fitting On Empty Frame Specify whether you want to fit the content to the frame (which may cause the image to be

skewed), fit the content proportionally (some empty space may result), or fill the frame proportionally (one or more
sides may be cropped).
The fitting action is applied only when content is placed into an empty frame. If you resize the frame, the fitting
option is not automatically reapplied.

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See also
“Using placeholders to design pages” on page 76
“Define object styles” on page 178

Move a graphics frame or its content
When you move a frame using the Selection tool, the frame’s content moves with it. The following techniques include
ways to move a frame or its content independent of each other. These techniques are useful for adjusting how a
graphic is cropped or masked by its frame. For information about using the Position tool, see “Crop content using
the Position tool” on page 315.
If a selection tool doesn’t work the way you expect it to, try deselecting everything first. Do this by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows) or Command+Shift+A (Mac OS).
❖ Do any of the following:

• To move a frame together with its content, use the Selection tool

• To move imported content without moving the frame (that is, to pan content behind its frame), use the Direct
Selection tool . The Direct Selection tool automatically changes to the Hand tool when placed over an imported
graphic, but not when placed over text or vector graphics created in InDesign.

Moving the content, but not its frame

Note: If you hold down the mouse button on a graphic before you move it, a dynamic graphics preview (a ghosted-back
image) of the outside of the frame appears, but the preview of the image that moves inside the frame is not ghosted. This
makes it easier to see how you are positioning the entire image within a frame.

• To move a frame without moving its content, select the Direct Selection tool, click the frame, click its center point
to make all of the anchor points solid, and then drag the frame. Don’t drag any of the frame’s anchor points; doing
so changes the shape of the frame.

Moving the frame, but not its content

• To move multiple frames, use the Selection tool to select the objects, and then drag them. If you use the Direct
Selection tool to select multiple objects, only the item you drag is affected.

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Create a border or background
A graphics frame is ideally suited for use as a border or background for its content, because you can change the
frame’s stroke and fill independent of the content.

Adding borders to graphics frames
A. Photo in graphics frame B. Frame with stroke applied C. Frame enlarged with both stroke and fill applied

1 Using the Selection tool

, click an imported graphic to select its frame.

2 To enlarge the frame without resizing the graphic, drag any bounding box handle outward. To maintain frame

proportions, hold down Shift as you drag.
3 Use the Swatches panel and the toolbox to apply a stroke and fill color.
4 Use the Stroke panel to adjust the frame’s stroke weight, style, or alignment.

You can quickly enlarge a frame equally around all sides by using the Transform or Control panel. Select the frame
with the Direct Selection tool , set the panel reference point locator
to the center point, and enter new values
for the width and height.

See also
“Set strokes” on page 316
“Apply color” on page 415

Crop or mask objects
Cropping and masking are both terms that describe hiding part of an object. In general, the difference is that cropping
uses a rectangle to trim the edges of an image, and masking uses an arbitrary shape to make an object’s background
transparent. A common example of a mask is a clipping path, which is a mask made for a specific image.
Use graphics frames to crop or mask objects. Because an imported graphic is automatically contained within a frame,
you can crop or mask it immediately without having to create a frame for it. If you haven’t created a frame for an
imported graphic manually, the frame is automatically created at the same size as the graphic, so it may not be
obvious that the frame is there.
Note: For efficient printing, only the data for the visible parts of cropped or masked images is sent when you output the
document. However, you will still save disk space and RAM if you crop or mask images to their desired shapes and sizes
before importing them into your document.

• To crop an imported image or any other graphic already inside a rectangular frame, click the object using the
Selection tool and drag any handle on the bounding box that appears. Press Shift as you drag to preserve the
frame’s original proportions.

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Cropping an image using a graphics frame

• To crop or mask any object, use the Selection or Direct Selection tool

to select one object you want to mask.
Choose Edit > Copy, select an empty path or frame smaller than the object, and choose Edit > Paste Into.

• To crop frame content precisely, select the frame with the Direct Selection tool, and use the Transform or Control
panel to change the size of the frame.

• To specify crop settings for an empty placeholder frame, choose Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options, and
then specify the crop amount.
With an imported graphic, you can also create a mask by using the drawing tools to change the shape of the graphic’s
existing frame.

Clipping paths
Clipping paths
Clipping paths crop part of the artwork so that only a portion of the artwork appears through the shape or shapes you
create. You can create clipping paths to hide unwanted parts of an image, creating both a path for the image and a
frame for the graphic. By keeping the clipping path and graphics frame separate, you can freely modify the clipping
path without affecting the graphics frame by using the Direct Selection tool and other drawing tools in the toolbox.
You can create clipping paths in the following ways:

• Place already-saved graphics with paths or alpha (mask) channels, which InDesign can use automatically. You can
add paths and alpha channels to graphics using a program such as Adobe Photoshop.

• Use the Detect Edges option in the Clipping Path command to generate a clipping path for a graphic that was saved
without one.

• Use the Pen tool to draw a path in the shape you want, and then use the Paste Into command to paste the graphic
into the path.
When you use one of InDesign’s automatic methods to generate a clipping path, the clipping path is attached to the
image, resulting in an image that is clipped by the path and cropped by the frame.
Note: The graphic frame displays the color of the layer it appears on, and the clipping path is drawn in the inverse color
of the layer. For example, if the layer color is blue, the graphic frame will appear as blue, and the clipping path will appear
as orange.

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Crop using a graphic’s path or alpha channel
InDesign can crop an imported EPS, TIFF, or Photoshop graphic using the clipping path or alpha channel saved with
the file. When an imported graphic includes more than one path or alpha channel, you can choose which path or
alpha channel to use for the clipping path.
An alpha channel is an invisible channel that defines transparent areas of a graphic. It’s stored inside a graphic with
the RGB or CMYK channels. Alpha channels are commonly used in video-effects applications. InDesign automatically recognizes Photoshop’s default transparency (the checkerboard background) as an alpha channel. If the graphic
has an opaque background, you must use Photoshop to remove the background, or create and save one or more alpha
channels with the graphic. You can create alpha channels using background-removal features in Adobe Photoshop,
such as layer masks, the Channels panel, the Background Eraser, or the Magic Eraser.

Results of using alpha channels and embedded paths
A. Original graphic B. Alpha channel C. Placed graphic D. Original graphic E. Graphic with embedded path F. Placed graphic

When you place a Photoshop file, the Image Import Options dialog box lets you choose to use the default clipping
path or to select an alpha channel for clipping.
1 Select an imported graphic, and choose Object > Clipping Path.
2 In the Clipping Path dialog box, choose either Photoshop Path or Alpha Channel from the Type menu.
3 Choose the desired path or alpha channel from either the Path or Alpha menu.

Note: If the Alpha Channel menu command is not available, no alpha channels were saved with the graphic.
4 To inset the clipping path, specify a value for Inset Frame.
5 To switch the visible and hidden areas, select Invert.
6 If you chose an alpha channel, specify any other desired clipping path options, and click OK.

To turn off the clipping path, select the imported graphic, and choose Object > Clipping Path. Choose None in the
Type menu, and click OK.

Create a clipping path automatically
If you want to remove the background from a graphic that wasn’t saved with a clipping path, you can do it automatically using the Detect Edges option in the Clipping Path dialog box. The Detect Edges option hides the lightest or
darkest areas of a graphic, so it works best when the subject is set against a solid white or black background.

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Good (left) and bad (right) candidates for automatic clipping path

1 Select an imported graphic, and choose Object > Clipping Path.
2 In the Clipping Path dialog box, choose Detect Edges in the Type menu. By default, the lightest tones are excluded;
to exclude the darkest tones, also select the Invert option.
3 Specify the clipping path options, and click OK.
Clipping path options
Threshold Specifies the darkest pixel value that will define the resulting clipping path. Increasing this value makes
more pixels transparent by extending the range of lightness values added to the hidden area, starting from 0 (white).
For example, if you want to remove a very light drop shadow when using Detect Edges, try increasing the Threshold
until the shadow disappears. If light pixels that should be visible are invisible, the Threshold is too high.

Threshold levels at 25 (left) and 55 (right)

Tolerance Specifies how similar a pixel’s lightness value can be to the Threshold value before the pixel is hidden by

the clipping path. Increasing the Tolerance value is useful for removing unwanted bumps caused by stray pixels that
are darker than, but close to the lightness value of, the Threshold value. Higher Tolerance values usually create a
smoother, looser clipping path, by increasing the range of values near the Tolerance value within which stray darker
pixels are included. Decreasing the Tolerance value is like tightening the clipping path around smaller variations in
value. Lower Tolerance values create a rougher clipping path by adding anchor points, which may make it harder to
print the image.

Tolerance levels at 0 (left) and 5 (right)

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Inset Frame Shrinks the resulting clipping path relative to the clipping path defined by the Threshold and Tolerance

values. Unlike Threshold and Tolerance, the Inset Frame value does not take lightness values into account; instead,
it uniformly shrinks the shape of the clipping path. Adjusting the Inset Frame value slightly may help hide stray pixels
that could not be eliminated by using the Threshold and Tolerance values. Enter a negative value to make the
resulting clipping path larger than the clipping path defined by the Threshold and Tolerance values.

Inset frame at -0p1 (left) and 0p3 (right)

Invert Switches the visible and hidden areas, by starting the clipping path with the darkest tones.
Include Inside Edges Makes areas transparent if they exist inside the original clipping path, and if their lightness

values are within the Threshold and Tolerance ranges. By default, the Clipping Path command makes only the outer
areas transparent, so use Include Inside Edges to correctly represent “holes” in a graphic. This option works best
when the brightness levels of areas you want to make transparent don’t match any areas that must be visible. For
example, if you choose Include Inside Edges for a graphic of silver eyeglasses, and the lenses become transparent,
very light areas of the eyeglass frame may also become transparent. If areas become transparent when that wasn’t
your intent, try adjusting the Threshold, Tolerance, and Inset Frame values.
Restrict to Frame Creates a clipping path that stops at the visible edge of the graphic. This can result in a simpler path
when you use the graphic’s frame to crop the graphic.
Use High Resolution Image Calculates transparent areas using the actual file, for maximum precision. Deselect this
option to calculate transparency based on the screen display resolution, which is faster but less precise. This option
isn’t available if you chose Alpha Channel, because InDesign always uses an alpha channel at its actual resolution.
(See “About transparency” on page 392.)

Convert a clipping path to a graphic frame

• Choose Object > Clipping Path > Convert Clipping Path To Frame.

392

Chapter 14: Transparency effects
When you create an object in Adobe InDesign CS3, by default it appears solid; that is, it has an opacity of 100%. You
can apply effects to objects using opacity and blends. Overlap objects, add transparency to objects, or knock out
shapes behind objects.

Adding transparency effects
About transparency
When you create an object or stroke, when you apply a fill, or when you enter text, by default these items appear solid;
that is, they have an opacity of 100%. You can make the items transparent in a variety of ways. For example, you can
vary the opacity from 100% (completely opaque) to 0% (completely transparent). When you decrease opacity, the
underlying artwork becomes visible through the surface of the object, stroke, fill, or text.
You use the Effects panel to specify the opacity an object, its stroke, its fill, or its text, You can decide how the object
itself, its stroke, fill, or text blend with objects beneath. Where objects are concerned, you can choose to isolate
blending to specific objects so that only some objects in a group blend with objects below them, or you can have
objects knock out rather than blend with objects in a group.
For information on getting started with transparency (PDF), see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_transparency_bp.

Areas of underlying objects appear through transparent object.

See also
“About flattening” on page 404

Effects panel overview
Use the Effects panel (Window > Effects) to specify the opacity and blending mode of objects and groups, isolate
blending to a particular group, knock out objects inside a group, or apply a transparency effect.

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Add and edit transparency effects in the Effects panel
A. Blending mode B. Levels C. FX icon D. Clear effects E. FX button

Blending Mode Specifies how colors in transparent objects interact with the objects behind them. (See “Specify how
colors blend” on page 401.)
Opacity Determines the opacity of an object, stroke, fill, or text. (See “Set the opacity of an object” on page 399.)
Level Tells you the Object, Stroke, Fill, and Text opacity settings of the object, as well as whether transparency effects

have been applied. Click the triangle to the left of the word Object (or Group or Graphic) to hide or display these level
settings. The FX icon appears on a level after you apply transparency settings there, and you can double-click the FX
icon to edit the settings.
Isolate Blending Applies a blending mode to a selected group of objects. (See “Isolate blending modes” on page 402.)
Knockout Group Makes the opacity and blending attributes of every object in a group knock out, or block out,

underlying objects in the group. (See “Knock out objects within a group” on page 403.)
Clear All button Clears effects—stroke, fill, or text— from an object, sets the blend mode to Normal, and changes
the Opacity setting to 100% throughout the object.
FX button Displays a list of transparency effects. (See “Apply transparency effects” on page 393.)

Display Effects panel options
❖ Choose Window > Effects and, if necessary, open the Effects panel menu and choose Show Options.

The Effects panel options are also available in the Effects dialog box (select an object and choose Object > Effects >
Transparency) and, in simplified form, on the Control panel.

Apply transparency effects
1 Select an object. To apply effects to a graphic, select the graphic with the Direct Selection tool.
2 Choose Window > Effects to display the Effects panel.
3 Select a level to designate which parts or part of the object you want to change:
Object Affects the entire object—its stroke, fill, and text.
Graphic Affects only the graphic selected with the Direct Selection tool. Effects you apply to the graphic remain with
it when you paste the graphic to a different frame.

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Group Affects all objects and text in the group. (Use the Direct Selection tool to apply effects to objects within a

group.
Stroke Affects only the object’s stroke (including its gap color).
Fill Affects only the object’s fill.
Text Affects only text inside the object, not the text frame. Effects you apply to text affect all the text in the object;

you can’t apply an effect to individual words or letters.
You can also choose a level setting in the Control panel: Click the Apply Effect To Object button
Object, Stroke, Fill, or Text.

and select

4 Do any of the following to open the Effects dialog box:

• In the Effects panel or Control panel, click the FX button

and choose an effect from the menu.

• From the Effects panel menu, choose Effects and then an effect name.
• From the context menu, choose Effects and then an effect name.
• Choose Object > Effects, and then choose an effect name.
• On the Effects panel, click the triangle to display level settings if necessary, and then double-click a level setting—
Object, Stroke, Fill, or Text—on the Effects panel. By double-clicking, you both open the Effects dialog box and
choose a level setting.
5 Choose options and settings for the effect. (See “Common transparency settings and options” on page 398.)
6 Click OK.

See also
“Set the opacity of an object” on page 399
Edit a transparency effect
1 Do one of the following to open the Effects dialog box.

• On the Effects panel, double-click the FX icon. (You may need to click the triangle next to the word Object to
display the FX icon.)

• Select the level with the effect you want to edit, click the FX button

in the Effects panel, and choose the name

of an effect.
2 Edit the effect.
Copy transparency effects
❖ Do any of the following to copy transparency effects:

• To copy effects between objects, select the object with the effect you want to copy, select the object’s FX icon
in the Effects panel, and drag the FX icon to the other object. You can drag and drop effects between objects only
to and from the same level.

• To copy effects between objects selectively, use the Eyedropper tool

. To control which transparency stroke, fill,
and object settings are copied with the Eyedropper tool, double-click the tool to open the Eyedropper Options
dialog box. Then select or deselect options in the Stroke Settings, Fill Settings, and Object Settings areas.

• To copy effects from one level to another in the same object, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the
FX icon from one level to another (Stroke, Fill, or Text) on the Effects panel.

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You can move effects from one level to another in the same object by dragging the FX icon.

Clear transparency effects from an object
❖ Do any of the following:

• To clear all effects from an object as well as change the blending mode to Normal and the Opacity setting to 100%,
click the Clear All Effects button

in the Effects panel or choose Clear All Transparency on the Effect panel menu.

• To clear all effects but maintain the blending and opacity settings, select a level and choose Clear Effects on the
Effects panel menu or drag the FX icon

from the Stroke, Fill, or Text level in the Effects panel to the Trash icon.

• To remove an individual effect from an object, open the Effects dialog box and deselect a Transparency effect.

Transparency effects
InDesign offers nine transparency effects. Many of the settings and options for creating these effects are similar.

Effects
A. Drop Shadow B. Inner Shadow C. Outer Glow D. Inner Glow E. Bevel and Emboss F. Satin G. Basic Feather H. Directional Feather
I. Gradient Feather

Drop Shadow Adds a shadow that falls behind the object, stroke, fill, or text.
Inner Shadow Adds a shadow that falls just inside the edges of the object, stroke, fill, or text, giving it a recessed

appearance.
Outer Glow and Inner Glow Add glows that emanate from the outside or inside edges of the object, stroke, fill, or text.
Bevel and Emboss Adds various combinations of highlights and shadows to give text and images a three-dimen-

sional appearance.
Satin Adds interior shading that makes a satiny finish.
Basic Feather, Directional Feather, and Gradient Feather Soften the edges of an object by fading them to transparent.

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Note: In addition to the descriptions covered here, see “Common transparency settings and options” on page 398.
Drop Shadow

The Drop Shadow effect creates a three-dimensional shadow. You can offset the drop shadow along the x or y axis,
as well as vary the blending mode, color, opacity, distance, angle, and size of the drop shadow. Use these options to
determine how the drop shadow interacts with objects and transparency effects:
Object Knocks Out Shadow The object appears in front of the drop shadow that it casts.
Shadow Honors Other Effects The drop shadow factors in other transparency effects. For example, if the object is

feathered on one side, you can make the drop-shadow disregard the feathering such that the shadow doesn’t fade out,
or make the shadow look feathered in the same way as the object is feathered.
Click the Drop Shadow button
on the Control panel to quickly apply a drop shadow to or remove a drop shadow
from an object, a stroke, a fill, or text.
To select a color for a drop shadow, click the Set Shadow Color button (next to the Blending Mode menu) and choose
a color.
For a video on creating drop shadows, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0085.
Inner Shadow

The Inner Shadow effect places the shadow inside the object, giving the impression that the object is recessed. You
can offset the inner shadow along different axes and vary the blending mode, opacity, distance, angle, size, noise, and
choke of the shadow.
Outer Glow

The Outer Glow effect makes the glow emanate from under the object. You can set the blending mode, opacity,
technique, noise, size, and spread.
Inner Glow

The Inner Glow effect causes an object to glow from the inside out. Choose the blending mode, opacity, technique,
size, noise and choke settings, as well as the Source setting:
Source Specifies the source for the glow. Choose Center to apply a glow that emanates from the center; choose Edge
to apply a glow that emanates from the object’s boundaries.

Bevel and Emboss

Use the Bevel and Emboss effect to give objects a realistic, three-dimensional look. The Structure settings determine
the object’s size and shape:
Style Specifies the bevel style: Outer Bevel creates the bevel on the outside edges of the object; Inner Bevel creates

the bevel on the inside edges; Emboss simulates the effect of embossing the object against underlying objects; Pillow
Emboss simulates the effect of stamping the edges of the object into underlying objects.
Size Determines the size of the bevel or emboss effect.
Technique Determines how the edge of the bevel or emboss effect interacts with background colors: Smooth blurs

the edges slightly (and doesn’t preserve detailed features at larger sizes); Chisel Soft blurs the edges, but not as much
as the Smooth technique (it preserves detailed features better than the Smooth technique but not as well as the Chisel
Hard technique); Chisel Hard provides a harder, more conspicuous edge (it preserves detailed features better than
the Smooth or Chisel Soft techniques).

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Soften In addition to the Technique setting, blurs the effect to reduce unwanted artifacts and rough edges.
Direction Choose Up or Down to make the effect appear pushed up or down.
Depth Specifies the depth of the bevel or emboss effect.

The Shading settings determine how light interacts with the object:
Angle and Altitude Sets the height of the light source. A setting of 0 is equivalent to ground level; 90 is directly above

the object.
Use Global Light Applies the global light source as specified for all transparency effects. Choosing this option
overrides any Angle and Altitude settings.
Highlight and Shadow Specifies the blending mode for the bevel or emboss highlight and shadow.

Satin

Use the Satin effect to give objects a smooth, satin-like finish. Choose the blending mode, opacity, angle, distance,
and size settings, as well as whether to invert colors and transparencies:
Invert Select this option to reverse the colored and transparent areas of the object.

Basic Feather

The Feather effect softens (fades) the edges of an object over a distance that you specify:
Feather Width Sets the distance over which the object fades from opaque to transparent.
Choke Along with the Feather Width setting, determines how much of the softening glow is opaque and how much

is transparent; a large setting increases opacity and a small setting increases transparency.
Corners Choose Sharp, Rounded, or Diffused:

• Sharp Follows the outer edge of the shape, including sharp corners. This option is appropriate for star-like objects
and a special effect on a rectangular shape.

• Rounded Rounds the corner by the feather radius; essentially, the shape is first inset, then outset, to form the two
contours. This option works well with rectangles.
• Diffused Uses the Adobe Illustrator method, which makes the edges of the object fade from opaque to transparent.
For a video on feathering, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0086.
Noise Specifies the amount of random elements in the softening glow. Use this option to soften the glow.

Directional Feather

The Directional Feather effect softens the edges of an object by fading the edges to transparent from directions that
you specify. For example, you can apply feathering to the top and bottom of the object, not the left or right side.
Feather Widths Set the distance over which the top, bottom, left side, and right side of the object fade to transparent.

Select the Lock option to fade each side of the object by the same distance.
Noise Specifies the amount of random elements in the softening glow. Use this option to create a softer glow.
Choke Along with the Width settings, determines how much of the glow is opaque and how much is transparent;

large settings increase opacity and small settings increase transparency.
Shape Choose an option—First Edge Only, Leading Edges, or All Edges—to demarcate the object’s original shape.

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Angle Rotates the frame of reference for the feathering effect such that, as long as you don’t enter a multiple of 90
degrees, the feathering edges are skewed rather than parallel to the object.

Gradient Feather

Use the Gradient Feather effect to soften the areas of an object by fading them to transparent.
Gradient Stops Create one gradient stop for each gradation in transparency that you want for your object.

• To create a gradient stop, click below the Gradient Slider (drag a gradient stop away from the slider to remove a
stop).

• To adjust the position of a stop, drag it left or right, or select it and then drag the Location slider.
• To adjust the mid-point between two opacity stops, drag a diamond above the Gradient Slider. Where the
diamond is located determines how abrupt or gradual the transition between stops is.
Reverse Gradient Click to reverse the direction of the gradations. This box is located to the right of the Gradient

Slider.
Opacity Specifies the transparency between gradient points. Select a point and drag the Opacity slider.
Location Adjusts the position of a gradient stop. Select a gradient stop before dragging the slider or entering a
measurement.
Type Linear shades from the starting gradient point to the ending gradient point in a straight line; Radial shades

from the starting point to the ending point in a circular pattern.
Angle For linear gradients, establishes the angle of the gradation lines. At 90 degrees, for example, the lines run
horizontally; at 180 degrees, the lines run vertically.

Common transparency settings and options
Many transparency effect settings and options are the same across different effects. Common transparency settings
and options include the following:
Angle and Altitude Determine the lighting angle at which a lighting effect is applied. A setting of 0 is equivalent to

ground level; 90 is directly above the object. Click the angle radius or enter a degree measurement. Select Use Global
Light if you want a uniform lighting angle for all objects. Used by the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Bevel and
Emboss, Satin, and Feather effects.
Blending Mode Specifies how colors in transparent objects interact with the objects behind them. Used by the Drop
Shadow, Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and Satin effects. (See “Specify how colors blend” on page 401.)
Choke Along with the Size setting, determines how much of the shadow or glow is opaque and how much is trans-

parent; large settings increase opacity and small settings increase transparency. Used by the Inner Shadow, Inner
Glow, and Feather effects.
Distance Specifies the offset distance for the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, or Satin effect.
Noise Specifies the amount of random elements in the opacity of a glow or shadow as you enter a value or drag the
slider. Used by the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and Feather effects.
Opacity Determines the opacity of an effect; drag the slider or enter a percentage measurement. (See “Set the opacity

of an object” on page 399.) Used by the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and Satin effects.
Size Specifies the amount of shadow or glow. Used by the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and

Satin effects.

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Spread Determines the transparency of the blur within the shadow or glow effect as established by the Size setting.
A higher percentage makes the blur more opaque. Used by the Drop Shadow and Outer Glow.
Technique These settings determine how the edge of a transparency effect interacts with background colors. Softer

and Precise are available for the Outer Glow and Inner Glow effects:

• Softer Applies a blur to the edge of the effect. At larger sizes, doesn’t preserve detailed features.
• Precise Preserves the edge of the effect, including its corners and other sharp details. Preserves features better
than the Softer technique.
Use Global Light Applies the global light setting to the shadow. Used by the Drop Shadow, Bevel and Emboss, and
Inner Shadow effects.
X Offset and Y Offset Offsets the shadow on the x- or y-axis by the amount you specify. Used by the Drop Shadow
and Inner Shadow effects.

Use Global Light

You can apply a uniform lighting angle to transparency effects in which shading is a factor: Drop Shadow, Inner
Shadow, and Bevel and Emboss. When you choose Use Global Light with these effects, lighting is determined by the
global setting in the Global Light dialog box.
1 Do any of the following to open the Global Light dialog box:

• Choose Global Light from the Effects panel menu.
• Choose Object > Effects > Global Light.
2 Enter a value or drag the angle radius to set the Angle and Altitude, and click OK.

Set the opacity of an object
You can apply transparency to a single object or selected objects (including graphics and text frames), but not to
individual text characters or layers. However, imported graphics with those types of transparency effects will appear
and print correctly.
For videos on adding opacity, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0087 and www.adobe.com/go/vid0088.
1 Select the object or objects.

The word mixed appears in the Effects panel if you select multiple objects and their opacity settings conflict. For
example, if the Fill opacity setting is different in objects you selected, the Transparency palette reads, “Fill: Opacity
(mixed).”
2 Choose Object, Stroke, Fill, or Text with any of these techniques:

• Click the Apply Effects button

on the Control panel and choose an option.

• Click an option on the Effects panel (click the triangle next to the word Object, if necessary, to see the options).
3 On the Control panel or Effects panel, type a value for Opacity or click the arrow next to the Opacity setting and
drag the slider. As the opacity value of objects is reduced, the transparency increases.

Note: If you direct-select and cut or copy an object from a transparent group in InDesign, and then paste the object
somewhere else in the document, the pasted object won’t be transparent unless it was previously selected individually and
had transparency applied.

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See also
“Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications” on page 441
“Applying transparency to groups” on page 400

Applying transparency to groups
Besides applying transparency effects to single objects, you can apply them to groups.
If you simply select objects and change their individual opacity settings, the selected objects’ opacity will change
relative to that of the others. Any overlapping areas will show an accumulated opacity.
In contrast, if you target a group that has been created with the Group command, and then change the opacity, the
group is treated as a single object by the Effects panel (the Effects panel shows only one level option—Group), and
the opacities within the group don’t change. In other words, objects within the group don’t interact with each other
in transparency.

Individual objects selected and set to 50% opacity (left) and group selected and set to 50% opacity (right)

Change the appearance of transparent artwork on-screen
Use the Display Performance dialog box to set transparency preferences. These preferences determine the on-screen
quality of transparent objects in new documents and in documents saved with modified preferences. You can also
set the preferences to turn on or off the display of transparency in the document. Turning off transparency in the
display preferences doesn’t turn off transparency when printing or exporting the file.
Note: Before you print a file containing transparency effects, make sure that you check the transparency preferences first.
Printing automatically flattens the artwork, and may affect the appearance of the transparency effects.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Display Performance (Windows) or Adobe InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance (Mac OS).
2 Select an option (Fast, Typical, High Quality) in the Adjust View Settings section to determine the on-screen
resolution of any effect in the document. The settings you change apply only to the option you select here:

• Fast turns off transparency and sets the resolution to 24 dpi.
• Typical displays low-resolution effects and sets the resolution to 72 dpi.
• High Quality improves the display of effects, especially in PDF and EPS files, and sets the resolution to 144 dpi.
3 Drag the Transparency slider. The default setting is Medium Quality, which displays drop shadows and feathering.
4 Click OK.
5 When inks overlap with blend modes, choose View > Overprint Preview. This option ensures that you can see onscreen how any inks interact with transparency.

Use the View menu to quickly change transparency display between Fast Display, Typical Display, and High Quality
Display.

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See also
“Control graphics’ display performance” on page 347

Stop displaying transparency
To improve display performance, you can turn off the display of transparency. Turning off transparency on-screen
doesn’t turn off transparency for printing or exporting the file.
❖ Choose View > Display Performance > Fast Display.

Blending colors
Specify how colors blend
Blend the colors between two overlapping objects by using blending modes. Blending modes let you vary the ways
in which the colors of stacked objects blend.
1 Select one or more objects or a group.
2 Do one of the following:

• In the Effects panel, choose a blending mode, such as Normal or Overlay, from the menu.
• In the Transparency area of the Effects dialog box, choose a blending mode from the menu.
Blending mode options

The blending modes control how the base color, the underlying color in the artwork, interacts with the blend color,
the color of the selected object or group of objects. The resulting color is the color resulting from the blend.
Normal Colors the selection with the blend color, without interaction with the base color. This is the default mode.
Multiply Multiplies the base color by the blend color. The resulting color is always a darker color. Multiplying any

color with black produces black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged. The effect is similar
to drawing on a page with multiple magic markers.
Screen Multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The resulting color is always a lighter color. Screening
with black leaves the color unchanged. Screening with white produces white. The effect is similar to projecting
multiple slide images on top of each other.
Overlay Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the base color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing artwork,

preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color while mixing in the blend color to reflect the lightness or
darkness of the original color.
Soft Light Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a diffused

spotlight on the artwork.
If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the artwork is lightened, as if it were dodged. If the blend
color is darker than 50% gray, the artwork is darkened, as if it were burned in. Painting with pure black or white
produces a distinctly darker or lighter area, but does not result in pure black or white.
Hard Light Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a harsh

spotlight on the artwork.
If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the artwork is lightened, as if it were screened. This is useful
for adding highlights to artwork. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the artwork is darkened, as if it were

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multiplied. This is useful for adding shadows to artwork. Painting with pure black or white results in pure black or
white.
Color Dodge Brightens the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with black produces no change.
Color Burn Darkens the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with white produces no change.
Darken Selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as the resulting color. Areas lighter than the blend

color are replaced, and areas darker than the blend color do not change.
Lighten Selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the resulting color. Areas darker than the blend

color are replaced, and areas lighter than the blend color do not change.
Difference Subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on
which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts the base color values; blending with black
produces no change.
Exclusion Creates an effect similar to, but lower in contrast than, the Difference mode. Blending with white inverts

the base color components. Blending with black produces no change.
Hue Creates a color with the luminance and saturation of the base color and the hue of the blend color.
Saturation Creates a color with the luminance and hue of the base color and the saturation of the blend color.
Painting with this mode in an area with no saturation (gray) produces no change.
Color Creates a color with the luminance of the base color and the hue and saturation of the blend color. This

preserves the gray levels in the artwork, and is useful for coloring monochrome artwork and for tinting color
artwork.
Luminosity Creates a color with the hue and saturation of the base color and the luminance of the blend color. This
mode creates an inverse effect from that of the Color mode.

Note: Avoid applying the Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Color, and Luminosity blending modes to objects with
spot colors; doing so can add unwanted colors to a document. For more information, see “Best practices when creating
transparency” on page 410.

Isolate blending modes
When you apply a blending mode to an object, its colors blend with all objects beneath it. If you want to limit the
blending to specific objects, you can group those objects and then apply the Isolate Blending option to the group.
The Isolate Blending option confines the blending to within the group, preventing objects beneath the group from
being affected. (It is useful for objects that have a blending mode other than Normal applied to them.)

Group (star and circle) with Isolate Blending option deselected (left) compared to selected (right)

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It is important to understand that you apply the blending modes to the individual objects, but apply the Isolate
Blending option to the group. The option isolates blending interactions within the group. It doesn’t affect blending
modes applied directly to the group itself.
1 Apply the blending modes and opacity settings to the individual objects whose blending you want to isolate.
2 Using the Selection tool, select the objects you want to isolate.
3 Choose Object > Group.
4 In the Effects panel, select Isolate Blending. (If the option is not visible, select Show Options in the Effects panel
menu.)

You can isolate the blending of objects in a PDF file that contains blending modes. First, place the PDF file with the
Transparent Background option selected in the Place PDF dialog box. Then apply the Isolate Blending option.

Knock out objects within a group
You use the Knockout Group option in the Effects panel to make the opacity and blending attributes of every object
in the selected group knock out—that is, visually block out—underlying objects in the group. Only objects within the
selected group are knocked out. Objects beneath the selected group are still affected by the blending or opacity that
you apply to objects within the group.
It is important to understand that you apply the blending modes and opacity to the individual objects, but apply the
Knockout Group option to the group.

Group with Knockout Group option deselected (left) compared to selected (right)

1 Apply the blending modes and opacity settings to the individual objects that you want to knock out.
2 Using the Selection tool, select the objects that you want to knock out.
3 Choose Object > Group.
4 In the Effects panel, select Knockout Group. (If the option is not visible, select Show Options in the Effects panel
menu.)

Specify a color space for blending transparent objects
To blend the colors of transparent objects on a spread, InDesign converts the colors of all objects to a common color
space using either the CMYK or RGB color profile for the document. This blending space enables objects of multiple
color spaces to blend when interacting transparently. To avoid color mismatches between different areas of the
objects on-screen and in print, the blending space is applied for screen and in the flattener.
The blending space is applied only to those spreads that contain transparency.
❖ Choose Edit > Transparency Blend Space, and then choose one of the document’s color spaces.

Note: For a typical print workflow, choose the Document CMYK color space.

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See also
“About flattening” on page 404

Flattening transparent artwork
About flattening
If your document or artwork contains transparency, to be output it usually needs to undergo a process called
flattening. Flattening divides transparent artwork into vector-based areas and rasterized areas. As artwork becomes
more complex (mixing images, vectors, type, spot colors, overprinting, and so on), so does the flattening and its
results.
Flattening may be necessary when you print or when you save or export to other formats that don’t support transparency. To retain transparency without flattening when you create PDF files, save your file as Adobe PDF 1.4
(Acrobat 5.0) or later.
You can specify flattening settings and then save and apply them as transparency flattener presets. Transparent
objects are flattened according to the settings in the selected flattener preset.
Note: Transparency flattening cannot be undone after the file is saved.

Overlapping art is divided when flattened.

For more information on transparency output issues, see the Print Service Provider Resources page of the Adobe
Solutions Network (ASN) (English only), available on the Adobe website.

About transparency flattener presets
If you regularly print or export documents that contain transparency, you can automate the flattening process by
saving flattening settings in a transparency flattener preset. You can then apply these settings for print output as well
as for saving and exporting files to PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4.0) and EPS and PostScript formats. In addition, in Illustrator
you can apply them when saving files to earlier versions of Illustrator or when copying to the clipboard; in InDesign
you can also apply them when exporting to SVG format; in Acrobat, you can also apply them when optimizing PDFs.
These settings also control how flattening occurs when you export to formats that don’t support transparency.

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You can choose a flattener preset in the Advanced panel of the Print dialog box or of the format-specific dialog box
that appears after the initial Export or Save As dialog box. You can create your own flattener presets or choose from
the default options provided with the software. The settings of each of these defaults are designed to match the
quality and speed of the flattening with an appropriate resolution for rasterized transparent areas, depending on the
document’s intended use:
[High Resolution] is for final press output and for high-quality proofs, such as separations-based color proofs.
[Medium Resolution] is for desktop proofs and print-on-demand documents that will be printed on PostScript color

printers.
[Low Resolution] is for quick proofs that will be printed on black-and-white desktop printers and for documents that
will be published on the web or exported to SVG.

Apply a flattener preset for output
You can choose a flattener preset in the Print dialog box, or in the format-specific dialog box that appears after the
initial Export dialog box.
If you regularly export or print documents that contain transparency, you can automate the flattening process by
saving flattener settings in a transparency flattener preset. You can then apply these settings when you print or export
to PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4.0), SVG, or EPS formats.
❖ In the Advanced panel of the Print, Export EPS, or Export Adobe PDF dialog box, or in the SVG Options dialog

box, choose a custom preset or one of the following default preset:
[Low Resolution] Use for quick proofs that will be printed on black-and-white desktop printers, and for documents
that will be published on the web or exported to SVG.
[Medium Resolution] Use for desktop proofs and print-on-demand documents that will be printed on Adobe
PostScript color printers.
[High Resolution] Use for final press output, and for high-quality proofs such as separations-based color proofs.

Note: The flattening settings are used only if the artwork contains transparency or if Simulate Overprint is selected in
the Output area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box.

Create or edit a transparency flattener preset
You can save transparency flattener presets in a separate file, making it easy to back them up or to make them
available to your service providers, clients, or others in your workgroup. In InDesign, transparency flattener preset
files have an .flst extension.
1 Choose Edit > Transparency Flattener Presets.
2 Do one of the following:

• To create a new preset, click New.
• To base a preset on a predefined preset, select one in the list and click New.
• To edit an existing preset, select the preset and click Edit.
Note: You can’t edit the default flattener presets.
3 Set flattening options.
4 Click OK to return to the Transparency Flattener Presets dialog box, and click OK again.

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Export and import a custom transparency flattener preset
You can export and import transparency flattener presets in order to share them with your service providers, your
clients, or others in your workgroup.
1 Choose Edit > Transparency Flattener Presets.
2 Select a preset in the list.
3 Do one of the following:

• To export a preset to a separate file, click Save (InDesign) or Export (Illustrator), specify a name and location, and
then click Save.
Consider saving the preset outside of the application’s preferences folder. That way, it won’t be lost if you delete your
preferences.

• To import presets from a file, click Load (InDesign) or Import (Illustrator). Locate and select the file containing
the preset you want to load, and then click Open.

Rename or delete a custom transparency flattener preset
1 Choose Edit > Transparency Flattener Presets.
2 Select a preset in the list.
3 Do one of the following:

• To rename an existing preset, click Edit, type a new name, and then click OK.
• To delete a preset, click Delete, and then click OK to confirm the deletion.
Note: You cannot delete the default presets.

Flatten an individual spread
You can apply flattener settings to individual spreads in a document, overriding the flattener preset you’ve set for the
entire document or book. This is useful for controlling the flattening quality in documents with a mix of highresolution images with lots of transparency and low-resolution images. In this case, you can flatten the complex
spread at a high quality, and use a faster and lower-quality flattener preset on the other spreads.
At print or export time, you can revert to the flattener settings for the document or book.
1 Display the spread in the Document window.
2 Choose Spread Flattening in the Pages panel menu.
3 Choose any of the following, and then click OK:
Default Uses the document flattening preset for this spread.
None (Ignore Transparency) Ignores transparency for the spread. This option is useful for troubleshooting by the

service provider.
Custom Opens the Custom Spread Flattener Settings dialog box for specifying settings.

Ignore the flattener preset on an individual spread
❖ Select Ignore Spread Overrides from any of the following locations in InDesign:

• The Flattener Preview panel (Window > Output > Flattener).
• The Advanced area of the Print or Export Adobe PDF dialog box.

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• The SVG Options dialog box with More Options selected.

Transparency Flattener options
You can set Transparency Flattener options when creating, editing, or previewing flattener presets in Illustrator,
InDesign, or Acrobat.
Highlight (preview) options
None (Color Preview) Disables previewing.
Rasterized Complex Regions Highlights the areas that will be rasterized for performance reasons (as determined by
the Rasters/Vectors slider). Keep in mind that the boundary of the highlight area has a higher probability of
producing stitching problems (depending on the print-driver settings and the rasterization resolution). To minimize
stitching problems, select Clip Complex Regions.
Transparent Objects Highlights the objects that are sources of transparency, such as objects with partial opacity
(including images with alpha channels), objects with blending modes, and objects with opacity masks. In addition,
note that styles and effects may contain transparency, and overprinted objects may be treated as sources of transparency if they are involved in transparency or if the overprint needs to be flattened.
All Affected Objects Highlights all objects that are involved in transparency, including transparent objects and

objects that are overlapped by transparent objects. The highlighted objects will be affected by the flattening process—
their strokes or patterns will be expanded, portions of them may get rasterized, and so on.
Affected Linked EPS Files (Illustrator only) Highlights all linked EPS files that are affected by transparency.
Affected Graphics (InDesign only) Highlights all placed content affected by transparency or transparency effects.

This option is useful for service providers who need to see graphics that require attention to print properly.
Expanded Patterns (Illustrator and Acrobat) Highlights all patterns that will be expanded if involved in trans-

parency.
Outlined Strokes Highlights all strokes that will be outlined if involved in transparency or because Convert All
Strokes To Outlines is selected.
Outlined Text (Illustrator and InDesign) Highlights all text that will be outlined if involved in transparency or

because Convert All Text To Outlines is selected.
Note: In the final output, outlined strokes and text may appear slightly different from native ones, especially very thin
strokes and very small text. However, the Flattener Preview doesn’t highlight this altered appearance.
Raster-Fill Text And Strokes (InDesign only) Highlights text and strokes that have rasterized fills as a result of

flattening.
All Rasterized Regions (Illustrator and InDesign) Highlights objects and intersections of objects that will be

rasterized because there is no other way of representing them in PostScript or because they are more complex than
the threshold specified by the Rasters/Vectors slider. For example, the intersection of two transparent gradients will
always be rasterized, even if the Rasters/Vectors value is 100. The All Rasterized Regions option also shows raster
graphics (such as Photoshop files) involved in transparency, and raster effects such as drop shadows and feathers.
Note that this option takes longer to process than the others.
Transparency Flattener Preset options
Name/Preset Specifies the name of the preset. Depending on the dialog box, you can type a name in the Name text

box or accept the default. You can enter the name of an existing preset to edit that preset. However, you can’t edit the
default presets.

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Raster/Vector balance Specifies the amount of vector information that will be preserved. Higher settings preserve

more vector objects, while lower settings rasterize more vector objects; intermediate settings preserve simple areas
in vector form and rasterize complex ones. Select the lowest setting to rasterize all the artwork.
Note: The amount of rasterization that occurs depends on the complexity of the page and the types of overlapping objects.
Line Art And Text Resolution Rasterizes all objects, including images, vector artwork, text, and gradients, to the
specified resolution. Acrobat and InDesign allow a maximum of 9600 pixels per inch (ppi) for line art, and 1200 ppi
for gradient mesh. Illustrator allows a maximum of 9600 ppi for both line art and gradient mesh. The resolution
affects the precision of intersections when flattened. Line Art and Text Resolution should generally be set to
600-1200 to provide high-quality rasterization, especially on serif or small point sized type.
Gradient And Mesh Resolution Specifies the resolution for gradients and Illustrator mesh objects rasterized as a

result of flattening, from 72 to 2400 ppi. The resolution affects the precision of intersections when flattened. Gradient
and mesh resolution should generally be set between 150 and 300 ppi, because the quality of the gradients, drop
shadows, and feathers do not improve with higher resolutions, but printing time and file size increase.
Convert All Text To Outlines Converts all type objects (point type, area type, and path type) to outlines and discards
all type glyph information on pages containing transparency. This option ensures that the width of text stays
consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option will cause small fonts to appear slightly thicker when
viewed in Acrobat or printed on low-resolution desktop printers. It doesn’t affect the quality of the type printed on
high-resolution printers or imagesetters.
Convert All Strokes To Outlines Converts all strokes to simple filled paths on pages containing transparency. This
option ensures that the width of strokes stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option causes thin
strokes to appear slightly thicker and may degrade flattening performance.
Clip Complex Regions Ensures that the boundaries between vector artwork and rasterized artwork fall along object

paths. This option reduces stitching artifacts that result when part of an object is rasterized while another part of the
object remains in vector form. However, selecting this option may result in paths that are too complex for the printer
to handle.

Stitching, where rasters and vectors meet.

Note: Some print drivers process raster and vector art differently, sometimes resulting in color stitching. You may be able
to minimize stitching problems by disabling some print-driver specific color-management settings. These settings vary
with each printer, so see the documentation that came with your printer for details.
(Illustrator only) Select Preserve Alpha Transparency (Flatten Transparency dialog box only) Preserves the overall
opacity of flattened objects. With this option, blending modes and overprints are lost, but their appearance is
retained within the processed artwork, along with the level of alpha transparency (as when you rasterize artwork
using a transparent background). Preserve Alpha Transparency can be useful if you are exporting to SWF or SVG,
since both of these formats support alpha transparency.
(Illustrator only) Select Preserve Spot Colors And Overprints (Flatten Transparency dialog box only) Generally
preserves spot colors. It also preserves overprinting for objects that aren’t involved in transparency. Select this option

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when printing separations if the document contains spot colors and overprinted objects. Deselect this option when
saving files for use in page-layout applications. With this option selected, overprinted areas that interact with transparency are flattened, while overprinting in other areas is preserved. The results are unpredictable when the file is
output from a page-layout application.
Preserve Overprint (Acrobat only) Blends the color of transparent artwork with the background color to create an

overprint effect.

Preview which areas of artwork will be flattened
Use the preview options in the Flattener Preview to highlight areas that are affected by flattening. You can use this
color-coded information to adjust flattening options.
Note: The Flattener Preview is not intended for precise previewing of spot colors, overprints, and blending modes.
Instead, use Overprint Preview mode for those purposes.
1 Display the Flattener Preview panel (or dialog box):

• In Illustrator, choose Window > Flattener Preview.
• In Acrobat, choose Advanced > Print Production > Flattener Preview.
• In InDesign, choose Window > Output > Flattener Preview.
2 From the Highlight menu, choose the kind of areas you want to highlight. The availability of options depends on
the content of the artwork.
3 Select the flattening settings you want to use: Either choose a preset or, if available, set specific options.

Note: (Illustrator) If the flattening settings aren’t visible, select Show Options from the panel menu to display them.
4 If the artwork contains overprinted objects that interact with transparent objects, in Illustrator, select an option
from the Overprints menu. You can preserve, simulate, or discard overprints. In Acrobat, choose Preserve Overprint
to blend the color of transparent artwork with the background color to create an overprint effect.
5 At any time, click Refresh to display a fresh preview version based on your settings. Depending on the complexity
of the artwork, you may need to wait a few seconds for the preview image to appear. In InDesign, you can also choose
Auto Refresh Highlight.

In Illustrator and Acrobat, to magnify the preview, click in the preview area. To zoom out, Alt-click/Option-click in
the preview area. To pan the preview, hold down the spacebar and drag in the preview area.

See also
“About flattening” on page 404

Refresh the preview in the Flattener Preview panel
• To automatically update the display whenever it is out of date and idle, select Auto Refresh Highlight.
• To manually update the display, click Refresh.
In both cases, the display is updated in the document window according to the transparency flattening settings you
chose.

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Best practices when creating transparency
In most cases, flattening produces excellent results when you use an appropriate predefined flattener preset, or create
a preset with settings appropriate for your final output. For a complete reference and troubleshooting guide on how
transparency affects output, see the document “Achieving Reliable Print Output with Transparency” (English only)
on the Adobe website.
However, if your document contains complex, overlapping areas and you require high-resolution output, you can
achieve more reliable print output by following a few basic guidelines:
Important: If you’re applying transparency to documents intended for high-resolution output, be sure to discuss your
plans with your service provider. Good communication between you and your service provider will help you achieve the
results you expect.
Overprinting objects

Although flattened objects may look transparent, they are actually opaque and don’t allow other objects beneath
them to show through. However, if you don’t apply overprint simulation, the transparency flattener may be able to
preserve basic overprinting of objects when exporting to PDF or printing. In this case, recipients of the resulting PDF
file should select Overprint Preview in Acrobat 5.0 or later to accurately view the results of overprinting.
Conversely, if you apply overprint simulation, the transparency flattener provides a simulation of what the overprints
look like, and this simulation results in all opaque objects. In PDF output, this simulation converts spot colors to
process color equivalents. Therefore, Simulate Overprint should not be selected for output that will be color
separated later.
Spot colors and blending modes

Using spot colors with certain blending modes sometimes produces unexpected results. This is because InDesign
uses process color equivalents on-screen, but uses spot colors in print. In addition, isolated blending in an imported
graphic could create knockouts in the active document.
If you use blending, check your design periodically using Overprint Preview in the View menu. Overprint Preview
gives an approximation of how spot inks that overprint or interact with transparent objects will appear. If the visual
effect is not what you want, do any of the following:

• Use a different blending mode or no blending mode. Avoid these blending modes when working with spot colors:
Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Color, and Luminosity.

• Use a process color where possible.
Blend space

If you apply transparency to objects on a spread, all colors on that spread convert to the transparency blend space
you’ve chosen (Edit > Transparency Blend Space), either Document RGB or Document CMYK, even if they’re not
involved with transparency. Converting all the colors results in consistency across any two same-colored objects on
a spread, and avoids more dramatic color behavior at the edges of transparency. Colors are converted “on the fly” as
you draw objects. Colors in placed graphics that interact with transparency are also converted to the blend space.
This affects how the colors appear on-screen and in print, but not how the colors are defined in the document.
Depending on your workflow, do one of the following:

• If you create documents for print only, choose Document CMYK for the blend space.
• If you create documents for web only, choose Document RGB.
• If you create documents for both print and web, decide which is most important, and then choose the blend space
that matches the final output.

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• If you create a high-resolution print piece that you’ll also publish as a high-profile PDF document on a website,
you may need to switch the blending space back and forth before final output. In this case, be sure to reproof the
color on every spread that has transparency, and avoid using the Difference and Exclusion blend modes—these
modes can change the appearance dramatically.
Type

When type is close to transparent objects, it may interact with transparent objects in unexpected ways. For example,
type that wraps around a transparent object may not actually overlap the object, but the glyphs may be close enough
to interact with the transparency. In this case, the flattener may convert the glyphs to outlines, resulting in thickened
stroke widths on the glyphs only.
If this happens, do either of the following:

• Move the text to the top of the stacking order. Use the Selection tool to select the text frame, and then choose
Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.

• Expand all text to outlines for a consistent effect throughout the document. To expand all text to outlines, select
Convert All Text To Outlines in the Transparency Flattener Preset Options dialog box. Selecting this option may
affect processing speed.
Image replacement

The flattener requires high-resolution data to accurately process a document with transparency. However, in an OPI
proxy workflow, placeholder or proxy images are used, for later replacement with high-resolution versions by an OPI
server. If the flattener doesn’t have access to the high-resolution data, then no OPI comments are produced and only
the low-resolution proxy images are output, resulting in low-resolution images at final output.
If you work in an OPI workflow, consider using InDesign to substitute images before saving the document as
PostScript. To do this, you must specify settings both when you place the EPS graphic and when you output it. When
you place the EPS graphic, select Read Embedded OPI Image Links in the EPS Import Options dialog box. When
you output, select OPI Image Replacement in the Advanced area of either the Print or Export EPS dialog box.
Color conversions

If a transparent object overlaps a spot color object, undesirable results may occur when you export to EPS format,
and then convert spot colors to process colors upon printing or create color separations in an application other than
InDesign.
To prevent problems in these cases, use the Ink Manager to convert spot colors to process color equivalents as
necessary prior to exporting from InDesign. Another way to prevent problems is to make sure that your spot inks
are consistent in both the original application (for example, Adobe Illustrator) and InDesign. This may mean that
you’ll need to open an Illustrator document, convert a spot color to process color, export it again to EPS, and then
place the EPS file in your InDesign layout.
Adobe PDF files

Exporting to Acrobat 4.0 (Adobe PDF 1.3) always flattens a document with transparency, which may affect the
appearance of its transparent objects. Nontransparent content is not flattened unless Simulate Overprint is selected
in the Output area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box. Therefore, when you export an InDesign document with
transparency to Adobe PDF, do any of the following:

• Whenever possible, choose Acrobat 5.0 (Adobe PDF 1.4), Acrobat 6.0 (Adobe PDF 1.5), or Acrobat 7.0
(Adobe PDF 1.6) compatibility in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box to preserve transparency in a live and fully
editable form. Make sure that your service provider can handle Acrobat 5.0, Acrobat 6.0, or Acrobat 7.0 files.

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• If you must use Acrobat 4.0 compatibility, your document contains spot colors, and you want to create a PDF file
for on-screen viewing (such as a client review), you may want to select the Simulate Overprint option in the
Output area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box. This option properly simulates the spot and transparent areas;
recipients of the PDF file won’t have to select Overprint Preview in Acrobat to see how the document will look
when printed. However, the Simulate Overprint option converts all spot colors to process color equivalents in the
resulting PDF file, so be sure to deselect this option when you create the PDF for final production.

• Consider using the predefined [Press Quality] Adobe PDF preset. This preset contains flattener settings appropriate for complex documents intended for high-resolution output.
Trapping

Flattening may convert vectors to rasterized areas. Traps applied to artwork in Adobe Illustrator using strokes and
placed in InDesign will be preserved. Traps applied to vector artwork drawn in InDesign and then rasterized may
not be preserved.
To keep as many objects vector as possible, select the [High Resolution] transparency flattener preset in the
Advanced area of the Print or Export Adobe PDF dialog box.

See also
“About transparency flattener presets” on page 404
“Options for omitting graphics” on page 557
“Ink Manager overview” on page 583

413

Chapter 15: Color
Applying colors and gradients to paths, frames, and type is a common publishing task, whether you’re publishing in
print or exporting to the web. When applying color, keep in mind the final medium in which the artwork will be
published so that you can apply color using the most appropriate color mode.

Understanding spot and process colors
About spot and process colors
You can designate colors as either spot or process color types, which correspond to the two main ink types used in
commercial printing. In the Swatches panel, you can identify the color type of a color using icons that appear next
to the name of the color.
When applying color to paths and frames, keep in mind the final medium in which the artwork will be published,
so that you apply color using the most appropriate color mode.
If your color workflow involves transferring documents among devices, you may want to use a color-management
system (CMS) to help maintain and regulate colors throughout the process.

About spot colors
A spot color is a special premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks, and that requires
its own printing plate on a printing press. Use spot color when few colors are specified and color accuracy is critical.
Spot color inks can accurately reproduce colors that are outside the gamut of process colors. However, the exact
appearance of the printed spot color is determined by the combination of the ink as mixed by the commercial printer
and the paper it’s printed on, not by color values you specify or by color management. When you specify spot color
values, you’re describing the simulated appearance of the color for your monitor and composite printer only (subject
to the gamut limitations of those devices).
Keep the following guidelines in mind when specifying a spot color:

• For best results in printed documents, specify a spot color from a color-matching system supported by your
commercial printer. Several color-matching system libraries are included with the software.

• Minimize the number of spot colors you use. Each spot color you create will generate an additional spot color
printing plate for a printing press, increasing your printing costs. If you think you might require more than four
colors, consider printing your document using process colors.

• If an object contains spot colors and overlaps another object containing transparency, undesirable results may
occur when exporting to EPS format, when converting spot colors to process colors using the Print dialog box,
or when creating color separations in an application other than Illustrator or InDesign. For best results, use the
Flattener Preview or the Separations Preview to soft proof the effects of flattening transparency before printing.
In addition, you can convert the spot colors to process colors by using the Ink Manager in InDesign before printing
or exporting.

• You can use a spot color printing plate to apply a varnish over areas of a process color job. In this case, your print
job would use a total of five inks—four process inks and one spot varnish.

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About process colors
A process color is printed using a combination of the four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
(CMYK). Use process colors when a job requires so many colors that using individual spot inks would be expensive
or impractical, as when printing color photographs.
Keep the following guidelines in mind when specifying a process color:

• For best results in a high-quality printed document, specify process colors using CMYK values printed in process
color reference charts, such as those available from a commercial printer.

• The final color values of a process color are its values in CMYK, so if you specify a process color using RGB (or
LAB, in InDesign), those color values will be converted to CMYK when you print color separations. These conversions differ based on your color-management settings and document profile.

• Don’t specify a process color based on how it looks on your monitor, unless you are sure you have set up a colormanagement system properly, and you understand its limitations for previewing color.

• Avoid using process colors in documents intended for online viewing only, because CMYK has a smaller color
gamut than that of a typical monitor.

• Illustrator and InDesign let you specify a process color as either global or non-global. In Illustrator, global process
colors remain linked to a swatch in the Swatches panel, so that if you modify the swatch of a global process color,
all objects using that color are updated. Non-global process colors do not automatically update throughout the
document when the color is edited. Process colors are non-global by default. In InDesign, when you apply a swatch
to objects, the swatch is automatically applied as a global process color. Non-global swatches are unnamed colors,
which you can edit in the Color panel.
Note: Global and non-global process colors only affect how a particular color is applied to objects, never how colors
separate or behave when you move them between applications.

Using spot and process colors together
Sometimes it’s practical to use process and spot inks in the same job. For example, you might use one spot ink to
print the exact color of a company logo on the same pages of an annual report where photographs are reproduced
using process color. You can also use a spot color printing plate to apply a varnish over areas of a process color job.
In both cases, your print job would use a total of five inks—four process inks and one spot ink or varnish.
In InDesign, you can mix process and spot colors together to create mixed ink colors.

Comparing colors in InDesign and Illustrator
Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator use slightly different methods for applying named colors. Illustrator lets you
specify a named color as either global or nonglobal, and InDesign treats all unnamed colors as nonglobal, process
colors.
The InDesign equivalents to global colors are swatches. Swatches make it easier to modify color schemes without
having to locate and adjust each individual object. This is especially useful in standardized, production-driven
documents like magazines. Because InDesign colors are linked to swatches in the Swatches panel, any change to a
swatch affects all objects to which a color is applied.
The InDesign equivalents to nonglobal swatches are unnamed colors. Unnamed colors do not appear in the Swatches
panel, and they do not automatically update throughout the document when the color is edited in the Color panel.
You can, however, add an unnamed color to the Swatches panel later.

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Named and unnamed colors only affect how a particular color updates in your document, never how colors separate
or behave when you move them between applications.

Applying color
Apply color
Adobe InDesign CS3 provides a number of tools for applying color, including the Toolbox, the Swatches panel, the
Color panel, and the Color Picker.
1 Select the object you want to color by doing one of the following:

• For a path or frame, use the Selection tool

or the Direct Selection tool

, as necessary.

• For a grayscale or monochrome (1-bit) image, use the Direct Selection tool. You can only apply two colors to a
grayscale or monochrome image.

• For text characters, use the Type tool

to change the text color of a single word or the entire text within a frame.

To change the color of gaps in a dashed, dotted, or striped stroke, use the Stroke panel.
2 In the Toolbox or in the Color or Swatches panels, select the Formatting Affects Text or Formatting Affects
Container to determine whether color is applied to the text or the text frame.
3 In the Toolbox or in the Color or Swatches panels, select the Fill box or the Stroke box to specify the fill or stroke

of the object. (If you selected an image, the Stroke box has no effect.)
A
B

Fill and stroke area of the Toolbox
A. Fill box B. Stroke box

4 Do one of the following:

• Select a color, tint, or gradient using the Swatches or Gradient panels.
• Double-click either the Fill or Stroke box in the Toolbox or the Color panel to open the Color Picker. Select the
desired color, and click OK.
You can apply color to any grayscale image, provided it does not contain alpha or spot channels. If you imported an
image with a clipping path, select the clipping path using the Direct Selection tool to apply color to the clipped area only.

Select a color with the Color Picker
The Color Picker lets you choose colors from a color spectrum or specify colors numerically. You can define colors
using the RGB, Lab, or CMYK color model.
1 Double-click either the Fill or Stroke box in the Toolbox or the Color panel to open the Color Picker.
2 To change the color spectrum displayed in the Color Picker, click a letter: R (Red), G (Green), or B (Blue); or L
(luminance), a (green-red axis), or b (blue-yellow axis).

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D E

Color Picker
A. Previous color B. Current color C. Color spectrum D. Color slider triangles E. Color slider

3 To define a color, do any of the following:

• Click or drag inside the color spectrum. Cross-hairs indicate the color’s position in the spectrum.
• Drag the triangles along the color slider or click inside the color slider.
• Enter values in any of the text boxes.
4 To save the color as a swatch, click Add CMYK Swatch, Add RGB Swatch, or Add Lab Swatch. InDesign adds the
color to the Swatches panel, using the color values as its name.
5 Click OK.

Apply the last used color
The Toolbox displays the last color or gradient you applied. You can apply this color or gradient directly from the
Toolbox.
1 Select the object or text you want to color.
2 In the Toolbox, click the Fill button or Stroke button depending on which portion of the text or object you want
to color.
3 In the Toolbox, do one of the following:

• Click the Color button
• Click the Gradient button
• Click the None button

to apply the last selected solid color in the Swatches or Color panel.
to apply the last selected gradient in the Swatches or Gradient panel.
to remove the object’s fill or stroke.

Remove fill or stroke color
1 Select the text or object whose color you want to remove.
2 In the Toolbox, click the Fill button or Stroke button depending on which portion of the text or object you want
to change.

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3 Click the None button

to remove the object’s fill or stroke.

Applying colors by dragging and dropping
An easy way to apply colors or gradients is to drag them from a color source to an object or panel. Dragging and
dropping lets you apply colors or gradients to objects without first selecting the objects. You can drag the following:

• The Fill or Stroke box in the Toolbox or a panel.
• The Gradient box in the Gradient panel.
• Swatches from the Swatches panel.
• The last-used, in-gamut color swatch located next to the out-of-gamut icon

in a panel.

You can drop colors or gradients on the following objects and panels:

• The fill or stroke of a path. To drop color on a fill or stroke, position the center of the drag icon precisely over the
path’s fill or stroke while you drag a color, and then release the mouse button.

• The Swatches panel.
If you drag one or more Swatches panel swatches, or the color swatch next to an out-of-gamut icon, you can drop
them into another InDesign document window, which adds the swatches to that document’s Swatches panel.

Apply a color or gradient swatch
1 Using the Selection tool

, select a text or object frame; or using the Text tool

, select a range of text.

2 If the Swatches panel is not open, choose Window > Swatches.
3 In the Swatches panel, select the Fill box or the Stroke box.
4 Do one of the following:

• To apply color to selected text, click the Text button

• To apply color to a selected object or text container (such as a frame or a table), click the Object button

5 Click a color or gradient swatch. The selected color or gradient is applied to any selected text or object, and it
appears in the Color panel and in the Fill box or Stroke box in the Toolbox.

You can set the default fill or stroke colors the same way you set other InDesign defaults. Choose Edit > Deselect All
to make sure that no objects are selected, and then choose a color.

Apply color using the Color panel
Although the Swatches panel is the recommended panel for working with colors, you can also mix colors by using
the Color panel; you may be familiar with it if you use other Adobe products, such as Adobe Illustrator.
You can add the current Color panel color to the Swatches panel at any time. The Color panel is most useful for
mixing unnamed colors.
Note: If you select an object that currently uses a named swatch, editing its color using the Color panel will change the
color of that object only. If you want to edit the color throughout the document, double-click its swatch in the Swatches
panel.
Edit the fill or stroke color
1 Select the object or text you want to change.
2 If the Color panel is not displayed, choose Window > Color.

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3 Select the Fill box or the Stroke box in the Color panel.

A
B

Color panel
A. Fill box B. Stroke box

4 If you selected a text frame, select the Container box
text within the frame.

or Text box

to change the color of either the fill or

5 Do one of the following:

• Adjust the Tint slider, which appears by default if the object uses a swatch from the Swatches panel.
• Choose a Lab, CMYK, or RGB color model in the Color panel menu, and use the sliders to change the color values.
You can also enter numeric values in the text boxes next to the color sliders.

• Position the pointer over the color bar, and click.
• Double-click the Fill or Stroke box, and select a color from the Color Picker. Then click OK.
6 If an out-of-gamut alert icon
appears, and you want to use the CMYK color values closest to the color you
originally specified, click the small color box next to the alert icon.

Create a swatch from a color in the Color panel
1 In the Color panel, make sure that the active Fill or Stroke box displays the color you want to add.
2 Choose Add To Swatches in the panel menu.

Cycle through color modes
❖ Do one of the following:

• In the Color panel, Shift-click the color bar at the bottom of the panel.
• In the New Color Swatch or Swatch Options dialog box, Shift-click the color box.
• In the New Gradient or Gradient Options dialog box, select a gradient stop, make sure that RGB, LAB, or CMYK
is selected in the Stop Color menu, and then Shift-click the color box.

Apply colors using the Eyedropper tool
Use the Eyedropper tool
to copy fill and stroke attributes, such as color, from any object in an InDesign file,
including an imported graphic. By default, the Eyedropper tool loads all available fill and stroke attributes of an
object and sets the default fill and stroke attributes of any new objects you draw. You can use the Eyedropper Options
dialog box to change the attributes the Eyedropper tool copies. You can also use the Eyedropper tool to copy type
and transparency attributes.
Note: If an attribute is not listed in the Eyedropper Options dialog box, it can’t be copied with the Eyedropper tool.
Apply colors using the Eyedropper tool
1 Select one or more objects that have the fill and stroke attributes you want to change.
2 Select the Eyedropper tool

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3 Click any object that has the fill and stroke attributes you want to sample. A loaded eyedropper appears
the selected objects are automatically updated with the fill and stroke attributes of the object you clicked.

, and

4 To change other objects to the same attributes, click the objects with the loaded eyedropper. If an object is stroked

and not filled, be sure to click the object’s outline.
Pick up new attributes when the Eyedropper tool is loaded
1 Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while the Eyedropper tool

direction, and appears empty

is loaded. The Eyedropper tool reverses
, to indicate that it’s ready to pick up new attributes.

2 Without releasing the Alt or Option key, click an object containing the attributes that you want to copy, and then
release the Alt or Option key so that you can drop the new attributes on another object.
Change Eyedropper tool settings
1 In the Toolbox, double-click the Eyedropper tool

2 Choose Fill And Stroke Settings from the menu at the top of the Eyedropper Options dialog box.
3 Select the fill and stroke attributes you want to copy with the Eyedropper tool, and then click OK.

To pick up only the fill or stroke color of an object and no other attributes, Shift-click the object with the Eyedropper
tool. When you apply the color to another object, only the fill or stroke color is applied, depending on whether the
stroke or fill is on top in the toolbar.

Working with swatches
Swatches panel overview
The Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) lets you create and name colors, gradients, or tints, and quickly apply
them to your document. Swatches are similar to paragraph and character styles; any change you make to a swatch
affects all objects to which the swatch is applied. Swatches make it easier to modify color schemes without having to
locate and adjust each individual object.
When the fill or stroke of selected text or an object contains a color or gradient applied from the Swatches panel, the
applied swatch is highlighted in the Swatches panel. Swatches you create are associated only with the current
document. Each document can have a different set of swatches stored in its Swatches panel.
When working with a prepress service provider, swatches let you clearly identify spot colors.
Six CMYK-defined colors appear in the default Swatches panel: cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, and blue.
Note: When you print a book whose chapters contain conflicting swatches, you can instruct InDesign to synchronize
settings with the master document. (See “Synchronize book documents” on page 275.)

See also
“Understanding spot and process colors” on page 413
“Import swatches” on page 424
“Mixing inks” on page 433
“Create and edit tints” on page 427

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Swatch types

The Swatches panel stores the following types of swatches:
Colors Icons on the Swatches panel identify the spot

CMYK

, and Mixed Ink

and process

color types, and LAB

, RGB

color modes.

Tints A percentage value next to a swatch in the Swatches panel indicates a tint of a spot or process color.
Gradients An icon on the Swatches panel indicates whether a gradient is radial

or linear

None The None swatch removes the stroke or fill from an object. You can’t edit or remove this swatch.
Paper Paper is a built-in swatch that simulates the paper color on which you’re printing. Objects behind a paper-

colored object won’t print where the paper-colored object overlaps them. Instead, the color of the paper on which
you print shows through. You can edit the Paper color to match your paper stock by double-clicking it in the
Swatches panel. Use the Paper color for previewing only—it will not be printed on a composite printer or in color
separations. You can’t remove this swatch. Do not apply the Paper swatch to remove color from an object. Use the
None swatch instead.
Note: If the Paper color is not working as described, and you are printing to a non-PostScript printer, try switching your
printer driver to Raster Graphics mode.
Black Black is a built-in, 100% process color black defined using the CMYK color model. You can’t edit or remove

this swatch. By default, all occurrences of Black overprint (print on top of) underlying inks, including text characters
at any size. You can disable this behavior.
Registration Registration
is a built-in swatch that causes objects to print on every separation from a PostScript
printer. For example, registration marks use the Registration color, so that printing plates can be aligned precisely on
a press. You cannot edit or remove this swatch.

You can also add colors from any color library to the Swatches panel so that they are saved with your document.

Create color swatches
Swatches can include spot or process colors, mixed inks (process colors mixed with one or more spot colors), RGB
or Lab colors, gradients, or tints.
When you place an image that contains spot colors, the colors are automatically added as swatches to the Swatches
panel. You can apply these swatches to objects in your document, but you cannot redefine or delete the swatches.
The selected color or gradient appears in the Swatches panel and in the Fill box or Stroke box in the Toolbox, and is
applied to the fill or stroke of all selected objects.

See also
“Using colors from imported graphics” on page 435
Create a new color swatch
1 Choose New Color Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.
2 For Color Type, choose the method you’ll use to print document colors on a printing press.
3 For Swatch Name, do one of the following:

• If you chose Process as the color type and you want the name always to describe the color values, make sure that
Name With Color Value is selected.

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• If you chose Process as the color type and you want to name the color yourself, make sure that Name With Color
Value is deselected, and type a Swatch Name.

• If you chose Spot, type a Swatch Name.
4 For Color Mode, choose the mode you want to use in defining the color. Avoid changing the mode after you define
a color.
5 Do one of the following:

• Drag the sliders to change the color values. You can also enter numeric values in the text boxes next to the color
sliders.

• For spot colors, choose from color libraries in the Color Mode menu.
6 If an out-of-gamut alert icon
appears, and you want to use the in-gamut color closest to the color you originally specified, click the small color box next to the alert icon.
7 Do one of the following:

• Click Add to add the swatch and define another one. Click Done when finished.
• Click OK to add the swatch and exit the dialog box.
To directly define a spot color using the New Swatch button in the Swatches panel, make sure that no swatches are
selected, and then hold down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac OS) as you click the New Swatch
button
.
Create a swatch based on the color of an object
1 Select the object.
2 In the Toolbox or Swatches panel, select the Fill box or the Stroke box.
3 In the Swatches panel, do one of the following:

• Click the New Swatch button

and double-click the resulting new swatch.

• Choose New Color Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.

Add unnamed colors to the Swatches panel
While you can create colors using the Color panel or Color Picker, unnamed colors are more difficult to edit later
and to use consistently. Use the Add Unnamed Colors option to search for unnamed colors applied to objects within
the document, and then add them to the Swatches panel. Colors are automatically named according to their CMYK,
RGB, or Lab components.
❖ In the Swatches panel, choose Add Unnamed Colors.

Edit the default colors in the Swatches panel
You can change the swatches that appear by default in new documents.
1 Close all open documents.
2 Edit the swatches you want to change in the Swatches panel.

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Duplicate a swatch
Duplicating swatches can be useful when you want to create a warmer or cooler variation of an existing color. Note
that duplicating a spot color will result in an additional spot color printing plate.
❖ Do one of the following:

• Select a swatch, and choose Duplicate Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.
• Select a swatch, and click the New Swatch button

at the bottom of the panel.

• Drag a swatch to the New Swatch button on the bottom of the panel.

Edit a swatch
You can change individual attributes of a swatch by using the Swatch Options dialog box. Additional options are
available when editing mixed ink swatches and mixed ink groups.
1 In the Swatches panel, select a swatch, and do one of the following:

• Double-click the swatch.
• Choose Swatch Options in the Swatches panel menu.
2 Adjust settings as desired, and click OK.

See also
“Mixing inks” on page 433

Control swatch names
By default, the name of a process color swatch is derived from the values of the color’s components. For example, if
you create a red process color using 10% cyan, 75% magenta, 100% yellow, and 0% black, its swatch will be named
C=10 M=75 Y=100 K=0 by default. This makes it easier to identify the composition of process colors.
By default, the name of a process color swatch automatically updates when you change its CMYK values; you can
switch this option off or on for individual swatches as needed. As with any swatch you define, you can change the
name of a process color swatch at any time.
1 Double-click a process color in the Swatches panel.
2 Do one of the following, and click OK:

• To let InDesign rename the swatch when you adjust its CMYK percentages, make sure that the Name With Color
Value option is selected.

• To rename a swatch when you adjust its CMYK values, make sure that the Name With Color Value option is
deselected.
Note: The new swatch is automatically renamed New Color Swatch (this has a number following it if more than one New
Color Swatch exists) when this option is deselected. You can change this name manually.

See also
“Edit a swatch” on page 422

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Customize swatch display
You can control the size of swatches and whether the name displays with the swatch.
1 In the Swatches panel menu, choose one of the following:

• Name displays a small swatch next to the name of the swatch. The icons to the right of the name show the color
model (CMYK, RGB, and so on), and whether the color is a spot color, process color, registration color, or none.

• Small Name displays compacted swatch panel rows.
• Small Swatch or Large Swatch displays only the swatch. A triangle with a dot in the corner of the swatch indicates
that the color is a spot color. A triangle without a dot indicates a process color.
2 To set what type of swatches display, click one of the following buttons at the bottom of the Swatches panel:

• Show All Swatches

displays all color, tint, and gradient swatches.

• Show Color Swatches

displays only process color, spot color, mixed ink color, and tint swatches.

• Show Gradient Swatches

displays only gradient swatches.

Note: The None swatch is always displayed regardless of which button you click.

Delete swatches
When you delete a swatch that has been applied to an object in the document, InDesign prompts you for a
replacement swatch. You can designate an existing or unnamed swatch. If you delete a swatch used as the basis of a
tint or mixed ink, you will be prompted to choose a replacement.
Delete individual swatches
1 Select one or more swatches.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Delete Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.
• Click the Delete icon at the bottom of the Swatches panel.
Note: You cannot delete spot colors that are used by placed graphics in the document. To delete these colors, you must
first delete the graphic.
3 InDesign asks you how to replace the swatch you’re deleting. Do one of the following, and click OK:

• To replace all instances of the swatch with another swatch, click Defined Swatch, and choose a swatch in the menu.
• To replace all instances of the swatch with an equivalent unnamed color, click Unnamed Swatch.
Delete all unused swatches
1 Choose Select All Unused in the Swatches panel menu. Only swatches that are not currently used in the active file

will be selected.
2 Click the Delete icon.

Save swatches for use in other documents
To use your color swatches in other files or to share them with other designers, you can save swatches in an Adobe
Swatch Exchange (.ase) file. InDesign, as well as Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, can import swatches from a
Colorbook file.
1 In the Swatches panel, select the swatches you want to save.

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2 Choose Save Swatches For Exchange in the Swatches panel menu.
3 Specify a name and location for the file, and click Save.

See also
“Import swatches” on page 424

Share swatches between applications
You can share the solid swatches you create in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign by saving a swatch library for
exchange. The colors appear exactly the same across applications as long as your color settings are synchronized.
1 In the Swatches panel, create the process and spot color swatches you want to share, and remove any swatches you
don’t want to share.

Note: You cannot share the following types of swatches between applications: patterns, gradients, and the Registration
swatch from Illustrator or InDesign; and book color references, HSB, XYZ, duotone, monitorRGB, opacity, total ink, and
webRGB swatches from Photoshop. These types of swatches are automatically excluded when you save swatches for
exchange.
2 Select Save Swatches For Exchange from the Swatches panel menu, and save the swatch libraries in an easily acces-

sible location.
3 Load the swatch library into the Swatches panel for Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign.

Importing swatches
Import swatches
You can import colors and gradients from other documents, adding either all or some of the swatches to the Swatches
panel. You can load swatches from InDesign files (.indd), InDesign templates (.indt), Illustrator files (.ai or .eps), and
Adobe Swatch Exchange files (.ase) created by InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop. Adobe Swatch Exchange files
contain swatches saved in the Adobe Swatch Exchange format.
InDesign also includes color libraries from other color systems, such as the PANTONE Process Color System®.
Note: Spot colors used by imported EPS, PDF, TIFF, and Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files are also added to the Swatches
panel.
Import selected swatches from a file
1 Choose New Color Swatch from the Swatches panel menu.
2 Choose Other Library from the Color Mode list, and then select the file from which you want to import swatches.
3 Click Open (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).
4 Select the swatches you want import.
5 Click OK.
Import all swatches from a file
1 From the Swatches panel menu, choose Load Swatches.
2 Double-click an InDesign document.

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Copy swatches between InDesign documents
You can copy or drag a swatch (or objects with a swatch applied) from one document to another. When you do so,
the swatch is added to the destination document’s Swatches panel. If you want to copy the swatch’s tints and gradients
as well, you need to copy the original object, not just the swatch.
❖ Do one of the following:

• Copy an object into the current document using drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste.
• Select the swatches you want to copy and drag them from the Swatches panel to the document window of another
InDesign document.
Note: If you drag a swatch that has an identical name as an existing swatch (including capitalization) but has different
color values, InDesign renames the swatch “[original swatch name] 2.”

Load swatches from predefined custom color libraries
You can select from a range of color libraries—including the PANTONE Process Color System, Toyo™ Ink Electronic
Color Finder™ 1050, the Focoltone® color system, the Trumatch™ color swatch system, the DIC Process Color Note,
and libraries created especially for web use. Before using swatches from a color matching system, consult with your
prepress service providers to determine which ones they support.
1 Choose New Color Swatch from the Swatches panel menu.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose the library file from the Color Mode list.
• Choose Other Library from the Color Mode list, locate the library file, and then click Open (Windows) or Choose
(Mac OS).
3 Select one or more swatches from the library, and click Add. (To exit the dialog box without adding swatches,

click OK.)
4 When you are done adding swatches, click Done.

Color libraries installed with InDesign
InDesign installs color libraries for the color matching systems described below. You can install additional color
libraries and load swatches from them in InDesign.
DIC Color Provides 1280 CMYK spot colors from the DIC Process Color Note. Colors may be matched against the
DIC Color Guide, published by Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, Inc. For more information, contact Dainippon Ink &
Chemicals, Inc., in Tokyo, Japan.
Focoltone Consists of 763 CMYK colors. You can use Focoltone colors to help avoid prepress trapping and regis-

tration problems by viewing the Focoltone charts that show the overprints that make up the colors.
A swatch book with specifications for process and spot colors, overprint charts, and a chip book for marking up
layouts are available from Focoltone. For more information, contact Focoltone International, Ltd., in Stafford, United
Kingdom.
HKS Use when your job specifies colors from the HKS color system, which is used in Europe.
PANTONE® PANTONE® Colors are the worldwide standards for spot color reproduction. In 2000, a major revision
was made to the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® Color guides. 147 new solid colors and seven additional
metallic colors have been added to the System to now include a total of 1,114 colors. PANTONE Color guides and

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chip books are now printed on coated, uncoated, and matte paper stocks to ensure accurate visualization of the
printed result and better on-press control.
You can print a solid PANTONE Color in CMYK. To compare a solid PANTONE Color to its closest process color
match, use the PANTONE solid to process guide. The CMYK screen tint percentages are printed under each color.
The guide is now printed on a brighter coated stock and includes comparisons of the 147 new solid colors to CMYK.
PANTONE process guides let you choose from over 3,000 process combinations now printed on coated and
uncoated stocks. Displayed in chromatic order in fan-guide format, it's easy to select colors and specify CMYK
screen values.
For more information, contact Pantone, Inc., in Carlstadt, New Jersey, U.S.A.
System (Windows) Includes 256 colors of the Windows default 8-bit panel, which is based on a uniform sampling of

RGB colors.
System (Mac OS) Includes 256 colors of the Mac OS default 8-bit panel, which is based on a uniform sampling of

RGB colors.
Toyo Color Finder 1050 Consists of more than 1,000 colors based on the most common printing inks used in Japan.

The TOYO Color Finder 1050 Book contains printed samples of Toyo colors and is available from printers and graphic
arts supply stores. For more information, contact Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan.
Trumatch Provides predictable CMYK color matching with over 2000 achievable, computer-generated colors.

Trumatch colors cover the visible spectrum of the CMYK gamut in even steps. The Trumatch Color Finder displays
up to 40 tints and shades of each hue, each originally created in four-color process and each reproducible in four
colors on electronic imagesetters. In addition, four-color grays using different hues are included. For more information, contact Trumatch Inc., in New York, New York, U.S.A.
Web Includes the 216 RGB web-safe colors most often used by web browsers to display 8-bit images. This library

helps you create artwork for the web using colors that display consistently across Windows and Macintosh systems.

Tints
About tints
A tint is a screened (lighter) version of a color. Tinting is an economical way to make additional spot color variations
without having to pay for additional spot color inks. Tinting is also a quick way to create lighter versions of process
colors, although it doesn’t reduce the cost of printing process colors. As with non-tinted colors, it’s best to name and
store tints in the Swatches panel so that you can easily edit all instances of that tint in your document.

Spot color and tints

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A tint of a spot color is printed on the same printing plate as the spot color. A tint of a process color multiplies each
of the CMYK process inks by the tint percentage; for example, an 80% tint of C10 M20 Y40 K10 results in C8 M16
Y32 K8.
Because colors and tints update together, if you edit a swatch, all objects that use a tint of that swatch update accordingly. You can also edit the base swatch of a named tint using the Swatch Options command in the Swatches panel
menu; this updates any other tints based on the same swatch.
The tint range in Adobe Creative Suite 3 is 0% to 100%; the lower the number, the lighter the tint.

Create and edit tints
You can adjust the tint of an individual object, or create tints by using the Tint slider in the Swatches panel or Color
panel. The tint range is from 0% to 100%; the lower the number, the lighter the tint will be.
Because colors and tints update together, if you edit a swatch, all objects that use a tint of that swatch update accordingly. You can also edit the base swatch of a named tint using the Swatch Options command in the Swatches panel
menu; this updates any other tints based on the same swatch.
Create a tint swatch using the Swatches panel
1 In the Swatches panel, select a color swatch.
2 Select the arrow next to the Tint box.
3 Drag the Tint slider, and click the New Swatch button

or select New Tint Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.

The tint appears in the Swatches panel with the name of its base color and the percentage of the tint.
Create a tint swatch using the Color panel
1 In the Swatches panel, select a swatch.
2 In the Color panel, drag the Tint slider, or enter a tint value in the Percentage box.
3 In the Color panel menu, click Add To Swatches.

Drag the Tint slider and then click Add To Swatches.

Create an unnamed tint
1 In the Swatches panel, select the Fill box or the Stroke box.
2 Drag the Tint slider, or enter a tint value in the percentage box.
Edit a tint or base color swatch
1 In the Swatches panel, double-click the tint swatch.

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2 Do one of the following, and click OK:

• To edit the tint, change the Tint value. This updates all objects using that tint swatch.
• To edit the tint’s base color swatch, change the Color Mode or the Color Mode values. This also updates all other
tints based on that same color swatch.

Gradients
About gradients
A gradient is a graduated blend between two or more colors or between two tints of the same color. The output device
you use affects how gradients color-separate.
Gradients can include Paper, process colors, spot colors, or mixed ink colors using any color mode. Gradients are
defined by a series of color stops in the gradient bar. A stop is the point at which a gradient changes from one color
to the next, and is identified by a color square under the gradient bar. By default, a gradient starts with two colors
and a midpoint at 50%.
Note: When you create a gradient using colors of different modes and then print or color separate the gradient, all colors
are converted to CMYK process colors. Because of the color mode change, colors may shift. For best results, specify
gradients using CMYK colors.

See also
“About printing” on page 541

Create a gradient swatch
You can create, name, and edit gradients using the same Swatches panel you use to work with solid colors and tints.
You can also create unnamed gradients using the Gradient panel.
1 Choose New Gradient Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.
2 For Swatch Name, type a name for the gradient.
3 For Type, choose Linear or Radial.
4 Select the first color stop in the gradient.

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First color stop

5 For Stop Color, do one of the following:

• To choose a color that’s already in the Swatches panel, choose Swatches, and select a color from the list.
• To mix a new unnamed color for the gradient, choose a color mode, and enter color values or drag the sliders.
Note: By default, the first stop of the gradient is set to white. To make it transparent, apply the Paper swatch.
6 To change the last color in the gradient, select the last color stop, and repeat step 5.
7 To adjust the position of gradient colors, do one of the following:

• Drag the color stops located under the bar.
• Select a color stop under the bar, and enter a Location value to set the position of that color. This position represents the percentage of distance between the previous color and the next color.
8 To adjust the midpoint between two gradient colors (the point at which the colors are at 50%), do one of the
following:

• Drag the diamond icon located above the bar.
• Select the diamond icon above the bar, and enter a Location value to set the position of that color. This position
represents the percentage of distance between the previous color and the next color.
9 Click OK or Add. The gradient is stored in the Swatches panel with its name.

Apply an unnamed gradient using the Gradient panel
Although the Swatches panel is the recommended panel for creating and storing gradients, you can also work with
gradients by using the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient), with which you may be familiar if you also use Adobe
Illustrator. You can add the current gradient to the Swatches panel at any time. The Gradient panel is useful for
creating an unnamed gradient that won’t be used often.

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Gradient panel
A. Gradient fill B. Gradient type menu C. Reverse button D. Starting color stop E. Midpoint F. Ending color stop

Note: If you select an object that currently uses a named gradient, editing the gradient by using the Gradient panel will
change the color of that object only. To edit every instance of a named gradient, double-click its swatch in the Swatches
panel.
1 Select the object or objects you want to change.
2 Click the Fill or Stroke box in the Swatches panel or the Toolbox. (If the Gradient Fill box is not visible, choose
Show Options in the Gradient panel menu.)
3 To open the Gradient panel, choose Window > Gradient, or double-click the Gradient tool

in the Toolbox.

4 To define the starting color of a gradient, click the leftmost color stop below the gradient bar, and then do one of
the following:

• Drag a swatch from the Swatches panel and drop it on the color stop.
• Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) a color swatch in the Swatches panel.
• In the Color panel, create a color using the sliders or the color bar.
5 To define the ending color of the gradient, click the rightmost color stop below the gradient bar. Then choose the
color you like, as described in the previous step.
6 Select either Linear or Radial in the Type menu, and adjust color and midpoint positions as explained in “Create
a gradient swatch” on page 428.

Note: When you change the gradient type, it will reset the gradient’s starting and ending points to its original default for
the currently selected object.
7 To adjust the gradient angle, type a value for Angle.

Modify gradients
You can modify gradients by adding colors to create multicolor gradients, and by adjusting color stops and
midpoints. It’s a good idea to fill an object with the gradient you plan to adjust, so that you can preview the effect on
the object while you adjust the gradient.
You can modify gradients pasted from Adobe Illustrator, provided that the gradient was pasted using AICB (Adobe
Illustrator Clipboard) format. (See “Pasting Illustrator graphics into InDesign” on page 330.) To select the gradient,
use the Direct Selection tool.
Note: If you edit a color swatch, any gradient stops that use that swatch will update accordingly, changing the gradient.
Add intermediate colors to a gradient
1 Double-click a gradient swatch in the Swatches panel, or display the Gradient panel.

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2 Click anywhere below the gradient bar to define a new color stop. The new color stop is automatically defined by
the color values at that position along the existing gradient.
3 Adjust the new color stop.

You can also drag a swatch from the Swatches panel onto the gradient bar in the Gradient panel to define a new color
stop.
Remove an intermediate color from a gradient
❖ Select the intermediate color stop, and drag it to the edge of the panel.

Reverse a gradient’s color progression
1 Activate a gradient.
2 In the Gradient panel, click the Reverse button

Adjust a gradient with the Gradient tools
Once you have filled an object with a gradient, you can modify the gradient by using the Gradient Swatch tool
or the Gradient Feather tool
to “repaint” the fill by dragging along an imaginary line. The Gradient tools let you
change the direction of a gradient, change its beginning point and endpoint, and apply a gradient across multiple
objects. The Gradient Feather tool lets you soften the gradient in the direction in which you drag.
1 In the Swatches panel or Toolbox, select the Fill box or the Stroke box, depending on where the original gradient
was applied.
2 Select the Gradient Swatch or Gradient Feather tool, and position it at the place where you want to define the
beginning point of the gradient. Drag across the object in the direction you want the gradient to be applied. Hold
down Shift to constrain the tool to multiples of 45˚.

Dragging the Gradient Feather tool across the gradient progressively softens the colors in the gradient within the area
you drag.
3 Release the mouse button at the place where you want to define the endpoint of the gradient.

Apply a gradient across multiple objects
1 Make sure that all selected objects already use a gradient.
2 In the Toolbox, select the Fill box or the Stroke box.
3 Select the Gradient tool
, and position it where you want to define the beginning point of the gradient. Drag
across the object in the direction you want the gradient to be applied. Hold down Shift to constrain the tool to
multiples of 45˚.
4 Release the mouse button at the place where you want to define the endpoint of the gradient.

Default gradient fill (left) and gradient applied across objects (right)

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If a compound path with a gradient is selected, you can edit the gradient across all of its subpaths by using the
Gradient panel alone, without having to use the Gradient tool.

Applying gradients to text
Within a single text frame, you can create multiple ranges of gradient text alongside default black text and color text.
A gradient’s endpoints are always anchored in relation to the bounding box of the gradient’s path or text frame.
Individual text characters display the part of the gradient over which they are positioned. If you resize the text frame
or make other changes that cause text characters to reflow, the characters are redistributed across the gradient, and
the colors of individual characters change accordingly.

Working with gradient-filled text characters
A. Underlying gradient fill B. Text characters with gradient applied C. Text added, and text shifting position relative to gradient fill

If you want to adjust a gradient so that its complete color range spans a specific range of text characters, you have
two options:

• Use the Gradient tool to reset the gradient’s endpoints, so that they span only the characters you selected when
you applied the gradient.

• Select the text and convert it to outlines (editable paths), and then apply a gradient to the resulting outlines. This
is the best option for a short run of display type in its own text frame. The gradient will be permanently anchored
to the outlines, not the text frame, and the outlines will continue to flow with the rest of the text. However, the
outlines will function as a single inline graphic within the text frame, so you won’t be able to edit the text. Also,
typographic options will no longer apply; for example, text converted to outlines will not hyphenate.

By default, type that shifts position will change relative to its gradient (left); when type is converted to outlines, an applied gradient moves with
the type (right).

For information on converting text outlines to paths, see “Create paths from text outlines” on page 325.

See also
“Change the color and gradient of text” on page 217

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Multiple gradients in a single text frame
Within a single text frame, you can select different ranges of text and apply a unique gradient to each range. Each
gradient is added to the text frame and tracked separately with the characters you selected when you applied each
gradient. However, the endpoints of the gradient are still anchored to the text frame’s bounding box, not to individual
ranges of text.

Mixing inks
About mixing inks
When you need to achieve the maximum number of printed colors with the fewest number of inks, you can create
new ink swatches by mixing two spot inks or by mixing a spot ink with one or more process inks. Using mixed ink
colors lets you increase the number of colors available without increasing the number of separations used to print
the document.
You can create a single mixed ink swatch or use a mixed ink group to generate multiple swatches at once. A mixed
ink group contains a series of colors created from incremental percentages of different process and spot color inks.
For example, mixing four tints of process cyan (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) with five tints of a spot color (10%, 20%,
30%, 40%, and 50%) results in a mixed ink group that contains 20 different swatches.

A
B
C

Swatches panel with mixed ink swatches
A. Parent of mixed ink group B. Child in mixed ink group C. Mixed ink swatch (standalone)

Before you can create a mixed ink swatch or a mixed ink group, you must add at least one spot color to the Swatches
panel.

See also
“Create color swatches” on page 420

Create a mixed ink swatch
1 From the Swatches panel menu, choose New Mixed Ink Swatch. (This option is dimmed until you add a spot color
to the Swatches panel.)
2 Type a name for the swatch.
3 To include an ink in the mixed ink swatch, click the empty box next to its name. An ink icon
ink swatch must contain at least one spot color.

appears. A mixed

4 Adjust the percentage of each ink included in the swatch by using the slider bar or typing a value in the percentage box.
5 To add the mixed ink to the Swatches panel, click Add or OK.

Colors on a monitor often look different when they print. For best results, ask your commercial printer to output a
sample of any mixed inks you want to print.

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Create a mixed ink group
1 From the Swatches panel menu, choose New Mixed Ink Group. (This option is dimmed until you add a spot color
to the Swatches panel.)
2 Type a name for the Mixed Ink Group. Colors in the group will use this name followed by an incremented Swatch
suffix (Swatch 1, Swatch 2, and so on).
3 To include an ink in the mixed ink group, click the empty box next to its name.
4 For each ink you select, do the following:

• For Initial, enter the percentage of ink you want to start mixing to create the group.
• For Repeat, specify the number of times you want to increment the ink percentage.
• For Increment, specify the percentage of ink you want to add for each repetition.
5 Click Preview Swatches to generate the swatches without closing the dialog box; you can then see whether your
current ink selections and values produce the results you want, and make adjustments if they don’t.

Note: An alert appears if the values you enter for Initial, Repeat, and Increment add up to more than 100% of any one
ink. If you decide to proceed anyway, InDesign caps the ink percentages at 100%.
6 Click OK to add all inks in the mixed ink group to the Swatches panel.

Edit mixed ink swatches
You modify a mixed ink swatch using the same methods used to edit other swatches. As you edit a mixed ink swatch
or group, be aware of the following:

• If you use the Swatches panel to delete an ink that is used in a mixed ink swatch, InDesign prompts you for a
replacement. A mixed ink must contain at least one spot color, or it will be converted to a process color.

• Changes you make to the parent

of a mixed ink group apply to all mixed inks in that group. (Changes you
make to a swatch in a mixed ink group apply to that swatch only.)

• Converting a mixed ink to a process or spot color removes its association with its mixed ink group.
• Deleting the parent of a mixed ink group deletes all swatches in the group.
1 In the Swatches panel, double-click the parent

of the mixed ink group you want to change.

2 Do any of the following:

• Select a new ink to replace an existing component ink.
• Click the box next to an ink to exclude or include it as a component of the mixed ink group.
Note: You cannot change the initial percentages, repeats, or increments used to create the mixed ink group.
3 Click OK.

See also
“Edit a swatch” on page 422
“Manage mixed ink groups” on page 434

Manage mixed ink groups
Use the Swatches panel to delete mixed ink groups, add swatches, and convert mixed ink swatches to process colors.

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Delete mixed ink groups
❖ In the Swatches panel, select the parent of the mixed ink group you want to delete, and click the Delete button.

Add a swatch to a mixed ink group
1 In the Swatches panel, select the parent of the mixed ink group.
2 Choose New Color Swatch from the panel menu.
3 Specify a name for the swatch, if desired.
4 For each ink listed, specify the percentage you want in the mixed ink swatch. (You cannot add or delete inks.)
5 Click OK.
Convert a single mixed ink swatch to a process color

You can convert mixed inks to process colors to reduce printing costs. When you convert the parent of a mixed ink
group to process, the parent swatch disappears, and the other swatches in the mixed ink group are converted to
process colors.
1 Double-click the mixed ink swatch you want to convert.
2 For Color Type, select Process, and then click OK.
Convert all inks in a mixed ink group to process
❖ Double-click the parent

of the mixed ink group, and select Convert Mixed Ink Swatches To Process in the

dialog box that appears.

Using colors from imported graphics
Using colors from imported graphics
InDesign provides various ways for you to sample and redefine colors from the graphics you import into your
document. Spot colors from placed PDF or EPS files and spot-color channels in Adobe Photoshop (PSD) and TIFF
files appear as spot colors in the Swatches panel. You can apply these colors to objects in your document or convert
them to process colors; however, you cannot redefine the color values or delete the imported swatches. If you delete
the placed graphic, the colors remain but are converted to native InDesign colors, which can then be edited or
deleted.

Using the Eyedropper tool to sample colors
You can use the Eyedropper tool
to add colors from imported graphics to your document, or to apply them to
objects in your document. This is useful for coordinating layout colors with images.
For best results with color separations, you may want to make sure that color names, types (such as spot and process),
and models (such as RGB and CMYK) of the colors sampled in InDesign are consistent with the color definitions in
the imported graphics. If you’re not sure about the best settings to use, consult with your prepress service provider.

See also
“Apply colors using the Eyedropper tool” on page 418

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Working with spot-color channels in an Adobe Photoshop (PSD) file
When you place a native Photoshop file (PSD) or TIFF file in InDesign, any spot-color channels the file contains
appear in the Swatches panel as spot-color inks. You can select and apply these swatches to other objects in your
document; to delete these swatches, however, you must first delete the placed image.
If you import a file that has a spot-color channel with the same name as a spot color in your document, but with
different color values, you will be asked whether you want to use the color values in the placed file or the ones in the
document.

Working with colors from EPS or PDF files
When you place a PDF file, EPS graphic, or Adobe Illustrator (.AI) file, names of spot colors used in the graphic are
added to the Swatches panel in your document, so that you can be aware that they can cause additional printing costs
later, and also so that you can use the spot colors in your document.
If the graphic you are importing contains a spot color with the same name as a spot color in your document but
different color values, you will be asked whether you want to use the color values in the imported file or the ones in
the document.

Change an imported spot color to a process color
When you import an EPS, PSD, TIFF or PDF graphic containing a spot color (or a spot-color channel), InDesign
adds the spot color name and definition to the Swatches panel. You can change an imported spot color swatch to a
process color swatch. This provides flexibility for adapting colors—even those in imported graphics—to your
current output requirements.
1 In the Swatches panel, double-click the swatch you want to edit.
2 In the Swatch Options dialog box, choose Process in the Color Type menu.

Note: This changes the color type in the InDesign document only. To permanently change the color type of colors within
a graphic, open the graphic in the program in which it was created, and then edit the color in that program.

437

Chapter 16: Color management
A color management system reconciles color differences among devices so that you can be reasonably certain of the
colors your system ultimately produces. Viewing color accurately allows you to make sound color decisions
throughout your workflow, from digital capture through final output. Color management also allows you to create
output based on ISO, SWOP, and Japan Color print production standards.

Understanding color management
Why colors sometimes don’t match
No device in a publishing system is capable of reproducing the full range of colors viewable to the human eye. Each
device operates within a specific color space that can produce a certain range, or gamut, of colors.
A color model determines the relationship between values, and the color space defines the absolute meaning of those
values as colors. Some color models (such as CIE L*a*b) have a fixed color space because they relate directly to the
way humans perceive color. These models are described as being device-independent. Other color models (RGB,
HSL, HSB, CMYK, and so forth) can have many different color spaces. Because these models vary with each
associated color space or device, they are described as being device-dependent.
Because of these varying color spaces, colors can shift in appearance as you transfer documents between different
devices. Color variations can result from differences in image sources; the way software applications define color;
print media (newsprint paper reproduces a smaller gamut than magazine-quality paper); and other natural variations, such as manufacturing differences in monitors or monitor age.
RGB
CMYK
A

Color gamuts of various devices and documents
A. Lab color space B. Documents (working space) C. Devices

What is a color management system?
Color-matching problems result from various devices and software using different color spaces. One solution is to
have a system that interprets and translates color accurately between devices. A color management system (CMS)
compares the color space in which a color was created to the color space in which the same color will be output, and
makes the necessary adjustments to represent the color as consistently as possible among different devices.

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A color management system translates colors with the help of color profiles. A profile is a mathematical description
of a device’s color space. For example, a scanner profile tells a color management system how your scanner “sees”
colors. Adobe color management uses ICC profiles, a format defined by the International Color Consortium (ICC)
as a cross-platform standard.
Because no single color-translation method is ideal for all types of graphics, a color management system provides a
choice of rendering intents, or translation methods, so that you can apply a method appropriate to a particular
graphics element. For example, a color translation method that preserves correct relationships among colors in a
wildlife photograph may alter the colors in a logo containing flat tints of color.
Note: Don’t confuse color management with color correction. A color management system won’t correct an image that
was saved with tonal or color balance problems. It provides an environment where you can evaluate images reliably in
the context of your final output.

See also
“About color profiles” on page 450
“About rendering intents” on page 458

Do you need color management?
Without a color management system, your color specifications are device-dependent. You might not need color
management if your production process is tightly controlled for one medium only. For example, you or your print
service provider can tailor CMYK images and specify color values for a known, specific set of printing conditions.
The value of color management increases when you have more variables in your production process. Color
management is recommended if you anticipate reusing color graphics for print and online media, using various
kinds of devices within a single medium (such as different printing presses), or if you manage multiple workstations.
You will benefit from a color management system if you need to accomplish any of the following:

• Get predictable and consistent color output on multiple output devices including color separations, your desktop
printer, and your monitor. Color management is especially useful for adjusting color for devices with a relatively
limited gamut, such as a four-color process printing press.

• Accurately soft-proof (preview) a color document on your monitor by making it simulate a specific output device.
(Soft-proofing is subject to the limitations of monitor display, and other factors such as room lighting conditions.)

• Accurately evaluate and consistently incorporate color graphics from many different sources if they also use color
management, and even in some cases if they don’t.

• Send color documents to different output devices and media without having to manually adjust colors in
documents or original graphics. This is valuable when creating images that will eventually be used both in print
and online.

• Print color correctly to an unknown color output device; for example, you could store a document online for
consistently reproducible on-demand color printing anywhere in the world.

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Creating a viewing environment for color management
Your work environment influences how you see color on your monitor and on printed output. For best results,
control the colors and light in your work environment by doing the following:

• View your documents in an environment that provides a consistent light level and color temperature. For example,
the color characteristics of sunlight change throughout the day and alter the way colors appear on your screen, so
keep shades closed or work in a windowless room. To eliminate the blue-green cast from fluorescent lighting, you
can install D50 (5000˚ Kelvin) lighting. You can also view printed documents using a D50 lightbox.

• View your document in a room with neutral-colored walls and ceiling. A room’s color can affect the perception of
both monitor color and printed color. The best color for a viewing room is neutral gray. Also, the color of your
clothing reflecting off the glass of your monitor may affect the appearance of colors on-screen.

• Remove colorful background patterns on your monitor desktop. Busy or bright patterns surrounding a document
interfere with accurate color perception. Set your desktop to display neutral grays only.

• View document proofs in the real-world conditions under which your audience will see the final piece. For
example, you might want to see how a housewares catalog looks under the incandescent light bulbs used in homes,
or view an office furniture catalog under the fluorescent lighting used in offices. However, always make final color
judgements under the lighting conditions specified by the legal requirements for contract proofs in your country.

Keeping colors consistent
About color management in Adobe applications
Adobe color management helps you maintain the appearance of colors as you bring images in from external sources,
edit documents and transfer them between Adobe applications, and output your finished compositions. This system
is based on conventions developed by the International Color Consortium, a group responsible for standardizing
profile formats and procedures so that consistent and accurate color can be achieved throughout a workflow.
By default, color management is turned on in color-managed Adobe applications. If you purchased the Adobe
Creative Suite, color settings are synchronized across applications to provide consistent display for RGB and CMYK
colors. This means that colors look the same no matter which application you view them in.

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Color settings for Adobe Creative Suite are synchronized in a central location through Adobe Bridge.

If you decide to change the default settings, easy-to-use presets let you configure Adobe color management to match
common output conditions. You can also customize color settings to meet the demands of your particular color
workflow.
Keep in mind that the kinds of images you work with and your output requirements influence how you use color
management. For example, there are different color-consistency issues for an RGB photo printing workflow, a
CMYK commercial printing workflow, a mixed RGB/CMYK digital printing workflow, and an Internet publishing
workflow.

Basic steps for producing consistent color
1. Consult with your production partners (if you have any) to ensure that all aspects of your color
management workflow integrate seamlessly with theirs.

Discuss how the color workflow will be integrated with your workgroups and service providers, how software and
hardware will be configured for integration into the color management system, and at what level color management
will be implemented. (See “Do you need color management?” on page 438.)
2. Calibrate and profile your monitor.

A monitor profile is the first profile you should create. Seeing accurate color is essential if you are making creative
decisions involving the color you specify in your document. (See “Calibrate and profile your monitor” on page 452.)
3. Add color profiles to your system for any input and output devices you plan to use, such as scanners and
printers.

The color management system uses profiles to know how a device produces color and what the actual colors in a
document are. Device profiles are often installed when a device is added to your system. You can also use third-party
software and hardware to create more accurate profiles for specific devices and conditions. If your document will be
commercially printed, contact your service provider to determine the profile for the printing device or press
condition. (See “About color profiles” on page 450 and “Install a color profile” on page 452.)

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4. Set up color management in Adobe applications.

The default color settings are sufficient for most users. However, you can change the color settings by doing one of
the following:

• If you use multiple Adobe applications, use Adobe® Bridge CS3 to choose a standard color management configuration and synchronize color settings across applications before working with documents. (See “Synchronize color
settings across Adobe applications” on page 441.)

• If you use only one Adobe application, or if you want to customize advanced color management options, you can
change color settings for a specific application. (See “Set up color management” on page 441.)
5. (Optional) Preview colors using a soft proof.

After you create a document, you can use a soft proof to preview how colors will look when printed or viewed on a
specific device. (See “Soft-proofing colors” on page 446.)
Note: A soft proof alone doesn’t let you preview how overprinting will look when printed on an offset press. If you work
with documents that contain overprinting, turn on Overprint Preview to accurately preview overprints in a soft proof.
6. Use color management when printing and saving files.

Keeping the appearance of colors consistent across all of the devices in your workflow is the goal of color
management. Leave color management options enabled when printing documents, saving files, and preparing files
for online viewing. (See “Printing with color management” on page 448 and “Color-managing documents for online
viewing” on page 445.)

Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications
If you use Adobe Creative Suite, you can use Adobe Bridge to automatically synchronize color settings across applications. This synchronization ensures that colors look the same in all color-managed Adobe applications.
If color settings are not synchronized, a warning message appears at the top of the Color Settings dialog box in each
application. Adobe recommends that you synchronize color settings before you work with new or existing
documents.
1 Open Bridge.

To open Bridge from a Creative Suite application, choose File > Browse. To open Bridge directly, either choose Adobe
Bridge from the Start menu (Windows) or double-click the Adobe Bridge icon (Mac OS).
2 Choose Edit > Creative Suite Color Settings.
3 Select a color setting from the list, and click Apply.

If none of the default settings meet your requirements, select Show Expanded List Of Color Setting Files to view
additional settings. To install a custom settings file, such as a file you received from a print service provider, click
Show Saved Color Settings Files.

Set up color management
1 Do one of the following:

• (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop) Choose Edit > Color Settings.
• (Acrobat) Select the Color Management category of the Preferences dialog box.
2 Select a color setting from the Settings menu, and click OK.

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The setting you select determines which color working spaces are used by the application, what happens when you
open and import files with embedded profiles, and how the color management system converts colors. To view a
description of a setting, select the setting and then position the pointer over the setting name. The description
appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
Note: Acrobat color settings are a subset of those used in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
In certain situations, such as if your service provider supplies you with a custom output profile, you may need to
customize specific options in the Color Settings dialog box. However, customizing is recommended for advanced
users only.
Note: If you work with more than one Adobe application, it is highly recommended that you synchronize your color
settings across applications. (See “Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications” on page 441.)

See also
“Customize color settings” on page 455

Change the appearance of CMYK black (Illustrator, InDesign)
Pure CMYK black (K=100) appears jet black (or rich black) when viewed on-screen, printed to a non-PostScript
desktop printer, or exported to an RGB file format. If you prefer to see the difference between pure black and rich
black as it will appear when printed on a commercial press, you can change the Appearance Of Black preferences.
These preferences do not change the color values in a document.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Appearance Of Black (Windows) or [application name] > Preferences > Appearance
Of Black (Mac OS).
2 Choose an option for On Screen:
Display All Blacks Accurately Displays pure CMYK black as dark gray. This setting allows you to see the difference

between pure black and rich black.
Display All Blacks As Rich Black Displays pure CMYK black as jet black (RGB=000). This setting makes pure black

and rich black appear the same on-screen.
3 Choose an option for Printing/Exporting:
Output All Blacks Accurately When printing to a non-PostScript desktop printer or exporting to an RGB file format,
outputs pure CMYK black using the color numbers in the document. This setting allows you to see the difference
between pure black and rich black.
Output All Blacks As Rich Black When printing to a non-PostScript desktop printer or exporting to an RGB file
format, outputs pure CMYK black as jet black (RGB=000). This setting makes pure black and rich black appear the
same.

Managing process and spot colors
When color management is on, any color you apply or create within a color-managed Adobe application automatically uses a color profile that corresponds to the document. If you switch color modes, the color management system
uses the appropriate profiles to translate the color to the new color model you choose.
Keep in mind the following guidelines for working with process and spot colors:

• Choose a CMYK working space that matches your CMYK output conditions to ensure that you can accurately
define and view process colors.

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• Select colors from a color library. Adobe applications come with several standard color libraries, which you can
load using the Swatches panel menu.

• (Acrobat, Illustrator, and InDesign) Turn on Overprint Preview to get an accurate and consistent preview of spot
colors.

• (Acrobat, Illustrator, and InDesign) Use Lab values (the default) to display predefined spot colors (such as colors
from the TOYO, PANTONE, DIC, and HKS libraries) and convert these colors to process colors. Using Lab values
provides the greatest accuracy and guarantees the consistent display of colors across Creative Suite applications. If
you want the display and output of these colors to match earlier versions of Illustrator or InDesign, use CMYK
equivalent values instead. For instructions on switching between Lab values and CMYK values for spot colors,
search Illustrator or InDesign Help.
Note: Color-managing spot colors provides a close approximation of a spot color on your proofing device and monitor.
However, it is difficult to exactly reproduce a spot color on a monitor or proofing device because many spot color inks
exist outside the gamuts of many of those devices.

Color-managing imported images
Color-managing imported images (Illustrator, InDesign)
How imported images are integrated into a document’s color space depends on whether or not the image has an
embedded profile:

• When you import an image that contains no profile, the Adobe application uses the current document profile to
define the colors in the image.

• When you import an image that contains an embedded profile, color policies in the Color Settings dialog box
determine how the Adobe application handles the profile.

See also
“Color management policy options” on page 457

Using a safe CMYK workflow
A safe CMYK workflow ensures that CMYK color numbers are preserved all the way to the final output device, as
opposed to being converted by your color management system. This workflow is beneficial if you want to incrementally adopt color management practices. For example, you can use CMYK profiles to soft-proof and hard-proof
documents without the possibility of unintended color conversions occurring during final output.
Illustrator and InDesign support a safe CMYK workflow by default. As a result, when you open or import a CMYK
image with an embedded profile, the application ignores the profile and preserves the raw color numbers. If you want
your application to adjust color numbers based on an embedded profile, change the CMYK color policy to Preserve
Embedded Profiles in the Color Settings dialog box. You can easily restore the safe CMYK workflow by changing the
CMYK color policy back to Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles).
You can override safe CMYK settings when you print a document or save it to Adobe PDF. However, doing so may
cause colors to be reseparated. For example, pure CMYK black objects may be reseparated as rich black. For more
information on color management options for printing and saving PDFs, search in Help.

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See also
“Color management policy options” on page 457

Preparing imported graphics for color management
Use the following general guidelines to prepare graphics for being color-managed in Adobe applications:

• Embed an ICC-compliant profile when you save the file. The file formats that support embedded profiles are
JPEG, PDF, PSD (Photoshop), AI (Illustrator), INDD (InDesign), Photoshop EPS, Large Document Format, and
TIFF.

• If you plan to reuse a color graphic for multiple final output devices or media, such as for print, video, and the web,
prepare the graphic using RGB or Lab colors whenever possible. If you must save in a color model other than RGB
or Lab, keep a copy of the original graphic. RGB and Lab color models represent larger color gamuts than most
output devices can reproduce, retaining as much color information as possible before being translated to a smaller
output color gamut.

See also
“Embed a color profile” on page 452

View or change profiles for imported bitmap images (InDesign)
InDesign allows you to view, override, or disable profiles for imported bitmap images. This may be necessary when
you are importing an image containing no profile or an incorrectly embedded profile. For example, if the scanner
manufacturer’s default profile was embedded but you have since generated a custom profile, you can assign the newer
profile.
1 Do one of the following:

• If the graphic is already in layout, select it and choose Object > Image Color Settings.
• If you’re about to import the graphic, choose File > Place, select Show Import Options, select and open the file,
and then select the Color tab.
2 For Profile, choose the source profile to apply to the graphic in your document. If a profile is currently embedded,
the profile name appears at the top of the Profile menu.
3 (Optional) Choose a rendering intent, and then click OK. In most cases, it’s best to use the default rendering

intent.
Note: You can also view or change profiles for objects in Acrobat.

See also
“Convert document colors to another profile (Photoshop)” on page 454

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Color-managing documents for online viewing
Color-managing documents for online viewing
Color management for online viewing is very different from color management for printed media. With printed
media, you have far more control over the appearance of the final document. With online media, your document
will appear on a wide range of possibly uncalibrated monitors and video display systems, significantly limiting your
control over color consistency.
When you color-manage documents that will be viewed exclusively on the web, Adobe recommends that you use the
sRGB color space. sRGB is the default working space for most Adobe color settings, but you can verify that sRGB is
selected in the Color Settings dialog box (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) or the Color Management preferences
(Acrobat). With the working space set to sRGB, any RGB graphics you create will use sRGB as the color space.
When working with images that have an embedded color profile other than sRGB, you should convert the image’s
colors to sRGB before you save the image for use on the web. If you want the application to automatically convert the
colors to sRGB when you open the image, select Convert To Working Space as the RGB color management policy.
(Make sure that your RGB working space is set to sRGB.) In Photoshop and InDesign, you can also manually convert
the colors to sRGB using the Edit > Convert To Profile command.
Note: In InDesign, the Convert To Profile command only converts colors for native, not placed, objects in the document.

See also
“About color working spaces” on page 455
“Color management policy options” on page 457

Color-managing PDFs for online viewing
When you export PDFs, you can choose to embed profiles. PDFs with embedded profiles reproduce color consistently in Acrobat 4.0 or later running under a properly configured color management system.
Keep in mind that embedding color profiles increases the size of PDFs. RGB profiles are usually small (around 3 KB);
however, CMYK profiles can range from 0.5 to 2 MB.

See also
“Printing with color management” on page 448

Color-managing HTML documents for online viewing
Many web browsers do not support color management. Of the browsers that do support color management, not all
instances can be considered color-managed because they may be running on systems where the monitors are not
calibrated. In addition, few web pages contain images with embedded profiles. If you manage a highly controlled
environment, such as the intranet of a design studio, you may be able to achieve some degree of HTML color
management for images by equipping everyone with a browser that supports color management and calibrating all
monitors.
You can approximate how colors will look on uncalibrated monitors by using the sRGB color space. However,
because color reproduction varies among uncalibrated monitors, you still won’t be able to anticipate the true range
of potential display variations.

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Proofing colors
Soft-proofing colors
In a traditional publishing workflow, you print a hard proof of your document to preview how its colors will look
when reproduced on a specific output device. In a color-managed workflow, you can use the precision of color
profiles to soft-proof your document directly on the monitor. You can display an on-screen preview of how your
document’s colors will look when reproduced on a particular output device.
Keep in mind that the reliability of the soft proof depends upon the quality of your monitor, the profiles of your
monitor and output devices, and the ambient lighting conditions of your work environment.
Note: A soft proof alone doesn’t let you preview how overprinting will look when printed on an offset press. If you work
with documents that contain overprinting, turn on Overprint Preview to accurately preview overprints in a soft proof.

Using a soft proof to preview the final output of a document on your monitor
A. Document is created in its working color space. B. Document’s color values are translated to color space of chosen proof profile (usually the
output device’s profile). C. Monitor displays proof profile’s interpretation of document’s color values.

Soft-proof colors
1 Choose View > Proof Setup, and do one of the following:

• Choose a preset that corresponds to the output condition you want to simulate.
• Choose Custom (Photoshop and InDesign) or Customize (Illustrator) to create a custom proof setup for a specific
output condition. This option is recommended for the most accurate preview of your final printed piece.
2 Choose View > Proof Colors to toggle the soft-proof display on and off. When soft proofing is on, a check mark

appears next to the Proof Colors command, and the name of the proof preset or profile appears at the top of the
document window.
To compare the colors in the original image and the colors in the soft proof, open the document in a new window
before you set up the soft proof.
Soft-proof presets
Working CMYK Creates a soft proof of colors using the current CMYK working space as defined in the Color Settings

dialog box.
Document CMYK (InDesign) Creates a soft proof of colors using the document’s CMYK profile.
Working Cyan Plate, Working Magenta Plate, Working Yellow Plate, Working Black Plate, or Working CMY Plates
(Photoshop) Creates a soft proof of specific CMYK ink colors using the current CMYK working space.
Macintosh RGB or Windows RGB (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof of colors in an image using either a
standard Mac OS or Windows monitor as the proof profile space to simulate. Both options assume that the simulated
device will display your document without using color management. Neither option is available for Lab or CMYK
documents.

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Monitor RGB (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof of colors in an RGB document using your current
monitor color space as the proof profile space. This option assumes that the simulated device will display your
document without using color management. This option is unavailable for Lab and CMYK documents.

Custom soft-proof options
Device To Simulate Specifies the color profile of the device for which you want to create the proof. The usefulness of
the chosen profile depends on how accurately it describes the device’s behavior. Often, custom profiles for specific
paper and printer combinations create the most accurate soft proof.
Preserve CMYK Numbers or Preserve RGB Numbers Simulates how the colors will appear without being converted to
the color space of the output device. This option is most useful when you are following a safe CMYK workflow.
Rendering Intent (Photoshop and Illustrator) When the Preserve Numbers option is deselected, specifies a
rendering intent for converting colors to the device you are trying to simulate.
Use Black Point Compensation (Photoshop) Ensures that the shadow detail in the image is preserved by simulating
the full dynamic range of the output device. Select this option if you plan to use black point compensation when
printing (which is recommended in most situations).
Simulate Paper Color Simulates the dingy white of real paper, according to the proof profile. Not all profiles support

this option.
Simulate Black Ink Simulates the dark gray you really get instead of a solid black on many printers, according to the
proof profile. Not all profiles support this option.

In Photoshop, if you want the custom proof setup to be the default proof setup for documents, close all document
windows before choosing the View > Proof Setup > Custom command.

Save or load a custom proof setup
1 Choose View > Proof Setup > Custom.
2 Do either of the following:

• To save a custom proof setup, click Save. To ensure that the new preset appears in the View > Proof Setup menu,
save the preset in the default location.

• To load a custom proof setup, click Load.

Soft-proof colors (Acrobat)
1 Choose Advanced > Print Production > Output Preview.
2 Choose the color profile of a specific output device from the Simulation Profile menu.
3 Choose a soft-proof option:
Simulate Black Ink Simulates the dark gray you really get instead of a solid black on many printers, according to the

proof profile. Not all profiles support this option.
Simulate Paper Color Simulates the dingy white of real paper, according to the proof profile. Not all profiles support

this option.

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Color-managing documents when printing
Printing with color management
Color management options for printing let you specify how you want Adobe applications to handle the outgoing
image data so the printer will print colors consistent with what you see on your monitor. Your options for printing
color-managed documents depend on the Adobe application you use, as well as the output device you select. In
general, you have the following choices for handling colors during printing:

• Let the printer determine colors.
• Let the application determine colors.
• (Photoshop and InDesign) Do not use color management. In this workflow, no color conversion occurs. You may
also need to turn off color management in your printer driver. This method is useful primarily for printing test
targets or generating custom profiles.

Letting the printer determine colors when printing
In this workflow, the application does no color conversion, but sends all necessary conversion information to the
output device. This method is especially convenient when printing to inkjet photo printers, because each combination of paper type, printing resolution, and additional printing parameters (such as high-speed printing) requires
a different profile. Most new inkjet photo printers come with fairly accurate profiles built into the driver, so letting
the printer select the right profile saves time and alleviates mistakes. This method is also recommended if you are
not familiar with color management.
If you choose this method, it is very important that you set up printing options and turn on color management in
your printer driver. Search Help for additional instructions.
If you select a PostScript printer, you can take advantage of PostScript color management. PostScript color
management makes it possible to perform color composite output or color separations at the raster image processor
(RIP)—a process called in-RIP separations—so that a program need only specify parameters for separation and let
the device calculate the final color values. PostScript color-managed output workflows require an output device that
supports PostScript color management using PostScript Level 2 version 2017 or later, or PostScript Lanuage Level 3.

Letting the application determine colors when printing
In this workflow, the application does all the color conversion, generating color data specific to one output device.
The application uses the assigned color profiles to convert colors to the output device’s gamut, and sends the resulting
values to the output device. The accuracy of this method depends on the accuracy of the printer profile you select.
Use this workflow when you have custom ICC profiles for each specific printer, ink, and paper combination.
If you choose this option, it is very important that you disable color management in your printer driver. Letting the
application and the printer driver simultaneously manage colors during printing results in unpredictable color.
Search Help for additional instructions.

Obtaining custom profiles for desktop printers
If the output profiles that come with your printer don’t produce satisfactory results, you obtain custom profiles in the
following ways:

• Purchase a profile for your type of printer and paper. This is usually the easiest and least expensive method.

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• Purchase a profile for your specific printer and paper. This method involves printing a profiling target on your
printer and paper, and providing that target to a company that will create a specific profile. This is more expensive
than purchasing a standard profile, but can provide better results because it compensates for any manufacturing
variations in printers.

• Create your own profile using a scanner-based system. This method involves using profile-creation software and
your own flatbed scanner to scan the profiling target. It can provide excellent results for matte surface papers, but
not glossy papers. (Glossy papers tend to have fluorescent brighteners in them that look different to a scanner than
they do in room light.)

• Create your own profile using a hardware profile-creation tool. This method is expensive but can provide the best
results. A good hardware tool can create an accurate profile even with glossy papers.

• Tweak a profile created using one of the previous methods with profile-editing software. This software can be
complex to use, but it lets you correct problems with a profile or simply adjust a profile to produce results more to
your taste.

See also
“Install a color profile” on page 452

Color-managing PDFs for printing
When you create Adobe PDFs for commercial printing, you can specify how color information is represented. The
easiest way to do this is using a PDF/X standard; however, you can also specify color-handling options manually in
the Output section of the PDF dialog box. For more information about PDF/X and how to create PDFs, search Help.
In general, you have the following choices for handling colors when creating PDFs:

• (PDF/X-3) Does not convert colors. Use this method when creating a document that will be printed or displayed
on various or unknown devices. When you select a PDF/X-3 standard, color profiles are automatically embedded
in the PDF.

• (PDF/X-1a) Converts all colors to the destination CMYK color space. Use this method if you want to create a
press-ready file that does not require any further color conversions. When you select a PDF/X-1a standard, no
profiles are embedded in the PDF.

• (Illustrator and InDesign) Converts colors that have embedded profiles to the destination color space, but
preserves the numbers for those colors without embedded profiles. You can manually select this option in the
Output section of the PDF dialog box. Use this method if the document contains CMYK images that aren’t colormanaged and you want to make sure that the color numbers are preserved.
Note: All spot color information is preserved during color conversion; only the process color equivalents convert to the
designated color space.

See also
“Using a safe CMYK workflow” on page 443

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Working with color profiles
About color profiles
Precise, consistent color management requires accurate ICC-compliant profiles of all of your color devices. For
example, without an accurate scanner profile, a perfectly scanned image may appear incorrect in another program,
simply due to any difference between the scanner and the program displaying the image. This misleading representation may cause you to make unnecessary, time-wasting, and potentially damaging “corrections” to an already satisfactory image. With an accurate profile, a program importing the image can correct for any device differences and
display a scan’s actual colors.
A color management system uses the following kinds of profiles:
Monitor profiles Describe how the monitor is currently reproducing color. This is the first profile you should create

because viewing color accurately on your monitor allows for critical color decisions in the design process. If what
you see on your monitor is not representative of the actual colors in your document, you will not be able to maintain
color consistency.
Input device profiles Describe what colors an input device is capable of capturing or scanning. If your digital camera
offers a choice of profiles, Adobe recommends that you select Adobe RGB. Otherwise, use sRGB (which is the default
for most cameras). Advanced users may also consider using different profiles for different light sources. For scanner
profiles, some photographers create separate profiles for each type or brand of film scanned on a scanner.
Output device profiles Describe the color space of output devices like desktop printers or a printing press. The color

management system uses output device profiles to properly map the colors in a document to the colors within the
gamut of an output device’s color space. The output profile should also take into consideration specific printing
conditions, such as the type of paper and ink. For example, glossy paper is capable of displaying a different range of
colors than matte paper.
Most printer drivers come with built-in color profiles. It’s a good idea to try these profiles before you invest in custom
profiles.
Document profiles Define the specific RGB or CMYK color space of a document. By assigning, or tagging, a
document with a profile, the application provides a definition of actual color appearances in the document. For
example, R=127, G=12, B=107 is just a set of numbers that different devices will display differently. But when tagged
with the Adobe RGB color space, these numbers specify an actual color or wavelength of light–in this case, a specific
color of purple.

When color management is on, Adobe applications automatically assign new documents a profile based on Working
Space options in the Color Settings dialog box. Documents without assigned profiles are known as untagged and
contain only raw color numbers. When working with untagged documents, Adobe applications use the current
working space profile to display and edit colors.

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B
C
D

Managing color with profiles
A. Profiles describe the color spaces of the input device and the document. B. Using the profiles’ descriptions, the color management system
identifies the document’s actual colors. C. The monitor’s profile tells the color management system how to translate the document’s numeric
values to the monitor’s color space. D. Using the output device’s profile, the color management system translates the document’s numeric values
to the color values of the output device so the correct appearance of colors is printed.

See also
“Calibrate and profile your monitor” on page 452
“Letting the printer determine colors when printing” on page 448
“Obtaining custom profiles for desktop printers” on page 448
“About color working spaces” on page 455

About monitor calibration and characterization
Profiling software can both calibrate and characterize your monitor. Calibrating your monitor brings it into
compliance with a predefined standard—for example, adjusting your monitor so that it displays color using the
graphics arts standard white point color temperature of 5000˚ K (Kelvin). Characterizing your monitor simply
creates a profile that describes how the monitor is currently reproducing color.
Monitor calibration involves adjusting the following video settings:
Brightness and contrast The overall level and range, respectively, of display intensity. These parameters work just as
they do on a television. A monitor calibration utility helps you set an optimum brightness and contrast range for
calibration.
Gamma The brightness of the midtone values. The values produced by a monitor from black to white are

nonlinear—if you graph the values, they form a curve, not a straight line. Gamma defines the value of that curve
halfway between black and white.
Phosphors The substances that CRT monitors use to emit light. Different phosphors have different color character-

istics.
White point The color and intensity of the brightest white the monitor can reproduce.

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Calibrate and profile your monitor
When you calibrate your monitor, you are adjusting it so it conforms to a known specification. Once your monitor
is calibrated, the profiling utility lets you save a color profile. The profile describes the color behavior of the
monitor—what colors can or cannot be displayed on the monitor and how the numeric color values in an image must
be converted so that colors are displayed accurately.
1 Make sure your monitor has been turned on for at least a half hour. This gives it sufficient time to warm up and
produce more consistent output.
2 Make sure your monitor is displaying thousands of colors or more. Ideally, make sure it is displaying millions of
colors or 24-bit or higher.
3 Remove colorful background patterns on your monitor desktop and set your desktop to display neutral grays.
Busy patterns or bright colors surrounding a document interfere with accurate color perception.
4 Do one of the following to calibrate and profile your monitor:

• In Windows, install and use a monitor calibration utility.
• In Mac OS, use the Calibrate utility, located on the System Preferences/Displays/Color tab.
• For the best results, use third-party software and measuring devices. In general, using a measuring device such as
a colorimeter along with software can create more accurate profiles because an instrument can measure the colors
displayed on a monitor far more accurately than the human eye.
Note: Monitor performance changes and declines over time; recalibrate and profile your monitor every month or so. If
you find it difficult or impossible to calibrate your monitor to a standard, it may be too old and faded.
Most profiling software automatically assigns the new profile as the default monitor profile. For instructions on how
to manually assign the monitor profile, refer to the Help system for your operating system.

Install a color profile
Color profiles are often installed when a device is added to your system. The accuracy of these profiles (often called
generic profiles or canned profiles) varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. You can also obtain device profiles
from your service provider, download profiles from the web, or create custom profiles using professional profiling
equipment.

• In Windows, right-click a profile and select Install Profile. Alternatively, copy the profiles into the
WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color folder.

• In Mac OS, copy profiles into the /Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder or the
/Users/[username]/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder.
After installing color profiles, be sure to restart Adobe applications.

See also
“Obtaining custom profiles for desktop printers” on page 448

Embed a color profile
To embed a color profile in a document you created in Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop, you must save or export
the document in a format that supports ICC profiles.
1 Save or export the document in one of the following file formats: Adobe PDF, PSD (Photoshop), AI (Illustrator),
INDD (InDesign), JPEG, Photoshop EPS, Large Document Format, or TIFF.

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2 Select the option for embedding ICC profiles. The exact name and location of this option varies between applications. Search Adobe Help for additional instructions.

Embed a color profile (Acrobat)
You can embed a color profile in an object or an entire PDF. Acrobat attaches the appropriate profile, as specified in
the Destination Space area of the Convert Colors dialog box, to the selected color space in the PDF. For more information, see the color conversion topics in Complete Acrobat Help.

Changing the color profile for a document
There are very few situations that require you to change the color profile for a document. This is because your application automatically assigns the color profile based on the settings you select in the Color Settings dialog box. The
only times you should manually change a color profile are when preparing a document for a different output destination or correcting a policy behavior that you no longer want implemented in the document. Changing the profile
is recommended for advanced users only.
You can change the color profile for a document in the following ways:

• Assign a new profile. The color numbers in the document remain the same, but the new profile may dramatically
change the appearance of the colors as displayed on your monitor.

• Remove the profile so that the document is no longer color-managed.
• (Acrobat, Photoshop and InDesign) Convert the colors in the document to the color space of a different profile.
The color numbers are shifted in an effort to preserve the original color appearances.

Assign or remove a color profile (Illustrator, Photoshop)
1 Choose Edit > Assign Profile.
2 Select an option, and click OK:
Don’t Color Manage This Document Removes the existing profile from the document. Select this option only if you

are sure that you do not want to color-manage the document. After you remove the profile from a document, the
appearance of colors is defined by the application’s working space profiles.
Working [color model: working space] Assigns the working space profile to the document.
Profile Lets you select a different profile. The application assigns the new profile to the document without

converting colors to the profile space. This may dramatically change the appearance of the colors as displayed on
your monitor.

See also
“Changing the color profile for a document” on page 453

Assign or remove a color profile (InDesign)
1 Choose Edit > Assign Profiles.
2 For RGB Profile and CMYK Profile, select one of the following:
Discard (Use Current Working Space) Removes the existing profile from the document. Select this option only if you

are sure that you do not want to color-manage the document. After you remove the profile from a document, the

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appearance of colors is defined by the application’s working space profiles, and you can no longer embed a profile in
the document.
Assign Current Working Space [working space] Assigns the working space profile to the document.
Assign Profile Lets you select a different profile. The application assigns the new profile to the document without

converting colors to the profile space. This may dramatically change the appearance of the colors as displayed on
your monitor.
3 Choose a rendering intent for each type of graphic in your document. For each graphic type, you can choose one
of the four standard intents, or the Use Color Settings Intent, which uses the rendering intent currently specified in
the Color Settings dialog box. For more information on rendering intents, search in Help.

The graphic types include the following:
Solid Color Intent Sets the rendering intent for all vector art (solid areas of color) in InDesign native objects.
Default Image Intent Sets the default rendering intent for bitmap images placed in InDesign. You can still override

this setting on an image-by-image basis.
After-Blending Intent Sets the rendering intent to the proofing or final color space for colors that result from trans-

parency interactions on the page. Use this option when your document includes transparent objects.
4 To preview the effects of the new profile assignment in the document, select Preview, and then click OK.

See also
“Changing the color profile for a document” on page 453
“View or change profiles for imported bitmap images (InDesign)” on page 444

Convert document colors to another profile (Photoshop)
1 Choose Edit > Convert To Profile.
2 Under Destination Space, choose the color profile to which you want to convert the document’s colors. The
document will be converted to and tagged with this new profile.
3 Under Conversion Options, specify a color management engine, a rendering intent, and black point and dither
options (if available). (See “Color conversion options” on page 458.)
4 To flatten all layers of the document onto a single layer upon conversion, select Flatten Image.
5 To preview the effects of the conversion in the document, select Preview.

See also
“Changing the color profile for a document” on page 453

Convert document colors to another profile
You convert colors in a PDF using the Convert Colors tool on the Print Production toolbar. For more information,
see the color conversion topics in Complete Acrobat Help.

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Color settings
Customize color settings
For most color-managed workflows, it is best to use a preset color setting that has been tested by Adobe Systems.
Changing specific options is recommended only if you are knowledgeable about color management and very
confident about the changes you make.
After you customize options, you can save them as a preset. Saving color settings ensures that you can reuse them
and share them with other users or applications.

• To save color settings as a preset, click Save in the Color Settings dialog box. To ensure that the application displays
the setting name in the Color Settings dialog box, save the file in the default location. If you save the file to a
different location, you must load the file before you can select the setting.

• To load a color settings preset that’s not saved in the standard location, click Load in the Color Settings dialog box,
select the file you want to load, and click Open.
Note: In Acrobat, you cannot save customized color settings. To share customized color settings with Acrobat, you must
create the file in InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop, and then save it in the default Settings folder. It will then be available
in the Color Management category of the Preferences dialog box. You can also add settings manually to the default
Settings folder.

About color working spaces
A working space is an intermediate color space used to define and edit color in Adobe applications. Each color model
has a working space profile associated with it. You can choose working space profiles in the Color Settings dialog box.
A working space profile acts as the source profile for newly created documents that use the associated color model.
For example, if Adobe RGB (1998) is the current RGB working space profile, each new RGB document that you
create will use colors within the Adobe RGB (1998) gamut. Working spaces also determine the appearance of colors
in untagged documents.
If you open a document embedded with a color profile that doesn’t match the working space profile, the application
uses a color management policy to determine how to handle the color data. In most cases, the default policy is to
preserve the embedded profile.

See also
“About missing and mismatched color profiles” on page 456
“Color management policy options” on page 457

Working space options
To display working space options in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, choose Edit > Color Settings. In Acrobat,
select the Color Management category of the Preferences dialog box.
To view a description of any profile, select the profile and then position the pointer over the profile name. The
description appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
RGB Determines the RGB color space of the application. In general, it’s best to choose Adobe RGB or sRGB, rather

than the profile for a specific device (such as a monitor profile).

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sRGB is recommended when you prepare images for the web, because it defines the color space of the standard
monitor used to view images on the web. sRGB is also a good choice when you work with images from consumerlevel digital cameras, because most of these cameras use sRGB as their default color space.
Adobe RGB is recommended when you prepare documents for print, because Adobe RGB’s gamut includes some
printable colors (cyans and blues in particular) that can’t be defined using sRGB. Adobe RGB is also a good choice
when working with images from professional-level digital cameras, because most of these cameras use Adobe RGB
as their default color space.
CMYK Determines the CMYK color space of the application. All CMYK working spaces are device-dependent,

meaning that they are based on actual ink and paper combinations. The CMYK working spaces Adobe supplies are
based on standard commercial print conditions.
Gray (Photoshop) or Grayscale (Acrobat) Determines the grayscale color space of the application.
Spot (Photoshop) Specifies the dot gain to use when displaying spot color channels and duotones.

Note: In Acrobat, you can use the color space in an embedded output intent instead of a document color space for
viewing and printing. Select Output Intent Overrides Working Spaces. For more information on output intents, see
Complete Acrobat Help.
Adobe applications ship with a standard set of working space profiles that have been recommended and tested by
Adobe Systems for most color management workflows. By default, only these profiles appear in the working space
menus. To display additional color profiles that you have installed on your system, select Advanced Mode (Illustrator
and InDesign) or More Options (Photoshop). A color profile must be bi-directional (that is, contain specifications
for translating both into and out of color spaces) in order to appear in the working space menus.
Note: In Photoshop, you can create custom working space profiles. However, Adobe recommends that you use a standard
working space profile rather than create a custom profile. For more information, see the Photoshop support knowledgebase at www.adobe.com/support/products/photoshop.html.

About missing and mismatched color profiles
For a newly created document, the color workflow usually operates seamlessly: Unless specified otherwise, the
document uses the working space profile associated with its color mode for creating and editing colors.
However, some existing documents may not use the working space profile that you have specified, and some existing
documents may not be color-managed. It is common to encounter the following exceptions to your color-managed
workflow:

• You might open a document or import color data (for example, by copying and pasting or dragging and dropping)
from a document that is not tagged with a profile. This is often the case when you open a document created in an
application that either does not support color management or has color management turned off.

• You might open a document or import color data from a document that is tagged with a profile different from the
current working space. This may be the case when you open a document that was created using different color
management settings, or scanned and tagged with a scanner profile.
In either case, the application uses a color management policy to decide how to handle the color data in the
document.

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If the profile is missing or does not match the working space, the application may display a warning message,
depending on options you set in the Color Settings dialog box. Profile warnings are turned off by default, but you
can turn them on to ensure the appropriate color management of documents on a case-by-case basis. The warning
messages vary between applications, but in general you have the following options:

• (Recommended) Leave the document or imported color data as it is. For example, you can choose to use the
embedded profile (if one exists), leave the document without a color profile (if one doesn’t exist), or preserve the
numbers in pasted color data.

• Adjust the document or imported color data. For example, when opening a document with a missing color profile,
you can choose to assign the current working space profile or a different profile. When opening a document with
a mismatched color profile, you can choose to discard the profile or convert the colors to the current working
space. When importing color data, you can choose to convert the colors to the current working space in order to
preserve their appearance.

Color management policy options
A color management policy determines how the application handles color data when you open a document or import
an image. You can choose different policies for RGB and CMYK images, and you can specify when you want warning
messages to appear. To display color management policy options, choose Edit > Color Settings.
To view a description of a policy, select the policy and then position the pointer over the policy name. The description
appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
RGB, CMYK, And Gray Specifies a policy to follow when bringing colors into the current working space (either by

opening files or importing images into the current document). (The Grayscale option is available for Photoshop
only.) Choose from the following options:

• Preserve Embedded Profiles Always preserves embedded color profiles when opening files. This is the recommended option for most workflows because it provides consistent color management. One exception is if you’re
concerned about preserving CMYK numbers, in which case you should select Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked
Profiles) instead.
• Convert To Working Space Converts colors to the current working space profile when opening files and
importing images. Select this option if you want to force all colors to use a single profile (the current working space
profile).
• Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles) This option is available in InDesign and Illustrator for CMYK.
Preserves color numbers when opening files and importing images, but still allows you to use color management to
view colors accurately in Adobe applications. Select this option if you want to use a safe CMYK workflow. In
InDesign, you can override this policy on a per-object basis by choosing Object > Image Color Settings.
• Off Ignores embedded color profiles when opening files and importing images, and does not assign the working
space profile to new documents. Select this option if you want to discard any color metadata provided by the original
document creator.
Profile Mismatches: Ask When Opening Displays a message whenever you open a document tagged with a profile
other than the current working space. You will be given the option to override the policy’s default behavior. Select
this option if you want to ensure the appropriate color management of documents on a case-by-case basis.
Profile Mismatches: Ask When Pasting Displays a message whenever color profile mismatches occur as colors are

imported into a document through pasting or dragging-and-dropping. You will be given the option to override the
policy’s default behavior. Select this option if you want to ensure the appropriate color management of pasted colors
on a case-by-case basis.

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Missing Profiles: Ask When Opening Displays a message whenever you open an untagged document. You will be
given the option to override the policy’s default behavior. Select this option if you want to ensure the appropriate
color management of documents on a case-by-case basis.

Color conversion options
Color conversion options let you control how the application handles the colors in a document as it moves from one
color space to another. Changing these options is recommended only if you are knowledgeable about color
management and very confident about the changes you make. To display conversion options, choose Edit > Color
Settings, and select Advanced Mode (Illustrator and InDesign) or More Options (Photoshop). In Acrobat, select the
Color Management category of the Preferences dialog box.
Engine Specifies the Color Management Module (CMM) used to map the gamut of one color space to the gamut of

another. For most users, the default Adobe (ACE) engine fulfills all conversion needs.
To view a description of an engine or intent option, select the option and then position the pointer over the option
name. The description appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
Intent (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) Specifies the rendering intent used to translate one color space to another.

Differences between rendering intents are apparent only when you print a document or convert it to a different
working space.
Use Black Point Compensation Ensures that the shadow detail in the image is preserved by simulating the full

dynamic range of the output device. Select this option if you plan to use black point compensation when printing
(which is recommended in most situations).
Use Dither (Photoshop) Controls whether to dither colors when converting 8-bit-per-channel images between color

spaces. When the Use Dither option is selected, Photoshop mixes colors in the destination color space to simulate a
missing color that existed in the source space. Although dithering helps to reduce the blocky or banded appearance
of an image, it may also result in larger file sizes when images are compressed for web use.

About rendering intents
A rendering intent determines how a color management system handles color conversion from one color space to
another. Different rendering intents use different rules to determine how the source colors are adjusted; for example,
colors that fall inside the destination gamut may remain unchanged, or they may be adjusted to preserve the original
range of visual relationships when translated to a smaller destination gamut. The result of choosing a rendering
intent depends on the graphical content of documents and on the profiles used to specify color spaces. Some profiles
produce identical results for different rendering intents.
In general, it is best to use the default rendering intent for the selected color setting, which has been tested by Adobe
Systems to meet industry standards. For example, if you choose a color setting for North America or Europe, the
default rendering intent is Relative Colorimetric. If you choose a color setting for Japan, the default rendering intent is
Perceptual.
You can select a rendering intent when you set color conversion options for the color management system, soft-proof
colors, and print artwork:
Perceptual Aims to preserve the visual relationship between colors so it’s perceived as natural to the human eye, even
though the color values themselves may change. This intent is suitable for photographic images with lots of out-ofgamut colors. This is the standard rendering intent for the Japanese printing industry.

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Saturation Tries to produce vivid colors in an image at the expense of color accuracy. This rendering intent is
suitable for business graphics like graphs or charts, where bright saturated colors are more important than the exact
relationship between colors.
Relative Colorimetric Compares the extreme highlight of the source color space to that of the destination color space

and shifts all colors accordingly. Out-of-gamut colors are shifted to the closest reproducible color in the destination
color space. Relative Colorimetric preserves more of the original colors in an image than Perceptual. This is the
standard rendering intent for printing in North America and Europe.
Absolute Colorimetric Leaves colors that fall inside the destination gamut unchanged. Out-of-gamut colors are

clipped. No scaling of colors to destination white point is performed. This intent aims to maintain color accuracy at
the expense of preserving relationships between colors and is suitable for proofing to simulate the output of a
particular device. This intent is particularly useful for previewing how paper color affects printed colors.

Advanced controls in Photoshop
In Photoshop you display advanced controls for managing color by choosing Edit > Color Settings and selecting
More Options.
Desaturate Monitor Colors By Determines whether to desaturate colors by the specified amount when displayed on

the monitor. When selected, this option can aid in visualizing the full range of color spaces with gamuts larger than
that of the monitor. However, this causes a mismatch between the monitor display and the output. When the option
is deselected, distinct colors in the image may display as a single color.
Blend RGB Colors Using Gamma Controls how RGB colors blend together to produce composite data (for example,
when you blend or paint layers using Normal mode). When the option is selected, RGB colors are blended in the
color space corresponding to the specified gamma. A gamma of 1.00 is considered “colorimetrically correct” and
should result in the fewest edge artifacts. When the option is deselected, RGB colors are blended directly in the
document’s color space.

Note: When you select Blend RGB Colors Using Gamma, layered documents will look different when displayed in other
applications than they do in Photoshop.

460

Chapter 17: Trapping color
The quality of a printer’s work depends in large part on getting different inks to print exactly in register. To minimize
the effects of misregistration, commercial printers developed a technique called trapping.

Trapping documents and books
About ink trapping
When an offset printed document uses more than one ink on the same page, each ink must be printed in register
(perfectly aligned) with any other inks that it abuts, so that there is no gap where the different inks meet. However,
it’s impossible to ensure exact registration for every object on every sheet of paper running through a printing press,
so misregistration of inks can occur. Misregistration causes an unintended gap between inks.
You can compensate for misregistration by slightly expanding one object so that it overlaps an object of a different
color—a process known as trapping. By default, placing one ink over another knocks out, or removes, any inks underneath to prevent unwanted color mixing; but trapping requires that inks overprint, or print on top of each other, so
that at least a partial overlap is achieved.

Misregistration with no trap (left) and with trap (right)

Most traps employ spreading—expanding a light object into a dark object. Because the darker of two adjacent colors
defines the visible edge of the object or text, expanding the lighter color slightly into the darker color maintains the
visual edge.

Trapping methods
Trap a document using any combination of methods, including the following:

• Use process colors that don’t need trapping.
• Overprint black.
• Manually overprint strokes or fills.
• Use Adobe InDesign CS3 built-in trapping or Adobe In-RIP Trapping.
• Trap imported graphics using the trapping features in the illustration programs in which they were created. Refer
to the documentation for these applications.
Choose a trapping solution that complements the color output workflow you’re using, such as Adobe PostScript or PDF.

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Avoid the need for trapping by eliminating the possibility of misregistration in your use of color. Prevent misregistration by making sure that abutting process colors have common inks. For example, if you specify a dark purple
stroke with a vivid red fill, they will both contain a significant percentage of magenta. The stroke’s and fill’s common
magenta will print as a single area, so that if misregistration occurs in the other process inks, the magenta printing
plate will make any resulting gap hard to see.

See also
“About overprinting” on page 577

About automatic trapping
InDesign can trap color documents with its built-in trapping engine, and can also take advantage of the Adobe
In-RIP Trapping engine available on Adobe PostScript output devices that support Adobe In-RIP Trapping.
Both trapping engines calculate adjustments to the edges of both type and graphics. They apply trapping techniques
to different parts of a single object, even if text or an InDesign object overlaps several different background colors.
Trapping adjustments are made automatically, and you can define trap presets to address the requirements of specific
page ranges. You only see the effects of trapping on color separations generated by a trapping engine; you cannot see
the results on-screen within InDesign.
The trapping engine detects contrasting color edges, and then creates traps based on the neutral densities (lightness
or darkness) of abutting colors, in most cases by spreading lighter colors into adjacent darker colors. The trapping
settings you specify in the Trap Presets panel modify the trapping engine’s results.

Automatic trapping requirements
To trap documents using the InDesign built-in engine, you need a PPD that supports separations.
To trap documents using the Adobe In-RIP Trapping engine, you need the following software and hardware:

• An Adobe PostScript Level 2 or later output device that uses a RIP that supports Adobe In-RIP Trapping. To find
out if a PostScript output device supports Adobe In-RIP Trapping, contact the manufacturer or your prepress
service provider.

• A PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file for a printer that supports Adobe In-RIP Trapping. You must select
this PPD when you install the printer.

See also
“About PPD files” on page 550

Differences between built-in trapping and Adobe In-RIP Trapping
Composite color workflow With built-in trapping, you can separate a document by using InDesign or in-RIP

separations. To use Adobe In-RIP Trapping, you must use In-RIP separations.
Trap widths Built-in trapping limits trap widths to 4 points, regardless of the value you enter for the trap widths. For

larger trap widths, use Adobe In-RIP Trapping.
Vector EPS graphics Built-in trapping cannot trap placed vector EPS graphics; Adobe In-RIP Trapping traps all

imported graphics.

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Trapping imported bitmap images
Built-in trapping can trap bitmap images, such as photographs, to text and graphics. Bitmap images must be saved
using a purely pixel-based file format that supports the color requirements of commercial printing. PSD (Photoshop)
and TIFF are the most appropriate formats for commercial printing jobs; before using other formats, consult with
your prepress service provider.
If you’re using an Open Prepress Interface (OPI) server, verify that it creates for-position-only (FPO) images using
TIFF or PSD formats. If the images are TIFF or PSD, it may be possible to use built-in trapping, as long as you don’t
select any Omit For OPI options at output time. (Omit For OPI options are located in the Advanced section of the
Print dialog box when a PostScript printer is targeted.)
Note: The behavior and precision of trapping within an OPI workflow depends on many factors, such as the downsampling method the OPI server uses to generate FPO images. For best results, consult with your OPI vendor for information
about integrating Adobe trapping solutions with the vendor’s OPI server.

Trapping imported vector graphics
Both Adobe In-RIP Trapping and built-in trapping can trap text and graphics created with InDesign tools, and
placed vector PDF files. However, built-in trapping cannot trap placed vector EPS graphics.
The text, paths, and frames you create in InDesign won’t trap correctly if they overlap a frame containing a placed
graphic that built-in trapping won’t trap, such as vector EPS graphics. (However, those objects will trap correctly with
Adobe In-RIP Trapping.) You may be able to use built-in trapping with documents containing vector EPS graphics
if you adjust the graphic’s frame. If the placed EPS graphic isn’t rectangular, try reshaping the frame closer to the
graphic itself, and away from other objects. For example, you might choose Object > Clipping Path to fit the graphics
frame more tightly around the graphic.

InDesign text and graphics that overlap placed EPS graphics (left) won’t trap correctly; to achieve good trapping, reshape the frame so that it
doesn’t touch other objects (right).

Trapping text
Both the Adobe In-RIP and built-in trapping engines can trap text characters to other text and graphics. (Built-in
trapping requires that the text and graphics are created with InDesign, and aren’t contained in imported graphics.)
A text character overlapping different background colors traps accurately to all of the colors.
Adobe In-RIP Trapping can trap all types of fonts. In contrast, built-in trapping works best with Type 1, Open Type,
and Multiple Master fonts only; using TrueType fonts may result in inconsistent traps. If your document must use
TrueType fonts and you want to use built-in trapping, consider converting all TrueType text to outlines by selecting
the text and choosing Type > Create Outlines. The text will become InDesign objects that trap reliably. Text can’t be
edited after you convert it to outlines.

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Maximizing trapping performance
Whether you use Adobe In-RIP trapping or built-in trapping, you can save time by not processing pages that don’t
need trapping, such as pages containing black text only. You can use trap presets to enable trapping only for the page
ranges that require it.
The speed with which built-in trapping is accomplished depends on the speed of your computer system. If you’re
trapping every page of a long document, use the fastest computer system you have. Built-in trapping also makes
extensive use of your computer’s hard disk, so a fast hard disk and data bus will benefit the built-in trapping engine.
To maximize the time your computers are available for other tasks, consider using Adobe In-RIP Trapping, which
processes all traps at the RIP, instead of at your computer.

Setting aside disk space for built-in trapping
To trap the edges of every color that requires trapping, the trapping engine creates a large number of paths that are
used only by the output device (the paths are not stored in your document). While Adobe In-RIP Trapping processes
and stores these additional paths at the RIP, built-in trapping uses your computer’s hard disk as a temporary storage
area for these trap paths. Before you use built-in trapping, make available as much hard disk space as possible.
The amount of disk space you’ll need depends on a wide range of factors, so it isn’t possible to predict exactly what
a particular trapping job will require. However, disk space requirements are most likely to increase when one or more
of the following characteristics of your document increase:

• Number of pages included in trapping page ranges.
• Number of overlapping color objects.
• Number of images that need to be trapped.
• Amount of text that needs to be trapped.
• Resolution of final output.
If the processing of a job that uses built-in trapping is interrupted or exhausts your disk space, trapping data may be
left behind on your hard disk. When necessary, you can exit the application, and then find and delete temporary data
in the C:\Temp folder (Windows). In Mac OS, restart your computer.

Trap a document or book
Do not change the default trapping settings unless you’ve consulted with your prepress service provider, and you
understand how trapping options work in the context of your specific document and printing conditions.
When trapping multiple documents in a book, make sure that you assign any custom trap presets to page ranges
within the individual documents of the book. You cannot assign trapping settings to an entire book at once. However,
you can resolve conflicting presets in a document.
1 If necessary, create a trap preset with custom settings for your document and press conditions.
2 Assign the trap preset to a page range.
3 Choose File > Print to open the Print dialog box.
4 Select Output from the list on the left.
5 For Color, choose either Separations or In-RIP Separations, depending on whether you’re creating on-host or
in-RIP separations.

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6 For Trapping, choose one of the following options:

• Application Built-In, to use the trapping engine included with InDesign.
• Adobe In-RIP. This option works only when you target an output device that supports Adobe In-RIP Trapping.
7 If your prepress service provider recommends changing ink settings, click Ink Manager. Select an ink, set the
options specified by your prepress service provider, and then click OK:
8 Continue specifying other print options, and then click Print to print your document.

See also
“Create or modify a trap preset” on page 464
“About printing” on page 541
“Assign a trap preset to pages” on page 465

Trap presets
Trap Presets panel overview
A trap preset is a collection of trapping settings you can apply to a page or range of pages in a document. The Trap
Presets panel provides an interface for entering trap settings and saving trap presets. You can apply trap presets to
any or all pages in the current document, or import the presets from another InDesign document. If you don’t apply
a trap preset to a trapping page range, that page range will use the [Default] trap preset.

See also
“About InDesign styles and presets” on page 37
View trap preset settings
1 If the Trap Presets panel is not open, choose Window > Output > Trap Presets.
2 Do one of the following in the Trap Presets panel:

• Double-click the preset.
• Select the preset and choose Preset Options in the panel menu.
Compress the trap presets list
❖ In the Trap Presets panel, choose Small Panel Rows in the panel menu.

Identify unused trap presets
❖ In the Trap Presets panel, choose Select All Unused in the panel menu. The trapping engine highlights all presets

(except [Default] and [No Trap Preset]) that have not been assigned to the current document. You can easily delete
these presets.

Create or modify a trap preset
1 If the Trap Presets panel is not open, choose Window > Output > Trap Presets.
2 Choose New Preset in the panel menu to create a preset, or double-click a preset to edit it.

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Note: Clicking the New Preset button at the bottom of the Trap Presets panel creates a preset based on the [Default] trap
preset settings.
3 Specify the following options, and then click OK:

• Name. Type a name for the preset. You can’t change the name of the [Default] trap preset.
• Trap Width. Type values to specify the amount of overlap for inks.
• Trap Appearance. Specify options for controlling the shape of the traps.
• Images. Specify settings that determine how to trap imported bitmap images.
• Trap Thresholds. Type values to specify the conditions under which trapping occurs. Many variables affect the
values you’ll need to enter here. For more information, consult with your prepress service provider.

See also
“Trap preset options” on page 466
“Trapping imported bitmap images” on page 462

Duplicate a trap preset
❖ Do one of the following:

• In the Trap Presets panel, select a preset and choose Duplicate Preset in the panel menu.
• Drag a preset to the New Preset button at the bottom of the panel.

Delete a trap preset
1 In the Trap Presets panel, select the preset(s), and then do one of the following:

• Click the Delete button.
• Choose Delete Presets in the panel menu.
2 If prompted to replace a trap preset, choose one in the Delete Trap Preset dialog box that appears. This dialog box
appears if at least one of the selected presets has been assigned to a page.
3 Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Note: You cannot delete either of the two built-in presets: [Default] and [No Trap Preset].

Import presets from another InDesign document
1 In the Trap Presets panel, choose Load Trap Presets in the panel menu.
2 Select the InDesign file and click Open.

Assign a trap preset to pages
You can assign a trap preset to a document or to a range of pages in a document. Pages with no abutting colors will
print faster if you disable trapping on those pages. Trapping doesn’t actually occur until you print the document.

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Trap assignments list the presets you have applied to various pages; the trap assignments are updated each time you click Assign.

1 In the Trap Presets panel, choose Assign Trap Preset in the panel menu.
2 For Trap Preset, choose the preset you want to apply.
3 Select the pages to which you want to apply the trap preset.
4 Click Assign, and then click Done.

Note: If you click Done without clicking Assign, the dialog box closes without making any changes to the trap assignments. Trap assignments previously made using the Assign button are preserved.

Set up trapping page ranges
1 In the Trap Presets panel, choose Assign Trap Preset in the panel menu.
2 For Trap Preset, choose the preset you want to apply to the page ranges.
3 Select Range, and type one or more ranges in ascending sequence, using a hyphen for each range, and separating

pages and ranges with commas, or with commas and spaces. For example, 2-4, 6, 9-10, 12- is a valid range.
4 Click Assign, and then click Done.

Disable a trapping page range
1 In the Trap Presets panel, choose Assign Trap Preset in the panel menu.
2 Type a page range and choose [No Trap Preset] in the Trap Preset menu.
3 Click Assign, and then click Done.

Trap preset options
You can change trap preset options whenever you create or edit a trap preset. The same trap preset options are
available in Acrobat and InDesign. In Acrobat, you can view trap presets by choosing Tools > Print Production >
Trap Presets. In InDesign, choose Window > Output > Trap Presets.
Trap widths

Trap width is the amount of overlap for each trap. Differences in paper characteristics, screen rulings, and printing
press conditions require different trap widths. To determine the appropriate trap widths for each job, consult your
commercial printer.
Default Specifies the trap width in points for trapping all colors except those involving solid black. The default value
is 0p0.25.

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Black Indicates the distance that inks spread into solid black, or the holdback amount—the distance between black

edges and underlying inks for trapping rich blacks. The default value is 0p0.5. This value is often set to be 1.5 to 2
times the value of the default trap width.
In InDesign, the value you set for Black Color determines the value for a solid black or a rich black, a process black
(K) ink mixed with color inks for increased opacity and richer color.
Note: (InDesign) If you choose Application Built-In trapping, and you specify a Default trap width or Black trap width
larger than 4 points, the resulting trap width is limited to 4 points. However, the value you specified will continue to be
displayed, because if you switch to Adobe In-RIP Trapping, traps larger than 4 points are applied as you specified.
Trap appearance

A join is where two trap edges meet at a common endpoint. You can control the shape of the outside join of two trap
segments and the intersection of three traps.
Join Style Controls the shape of the outside join of two trap segments. Choose from Miter, Round, and Bevel. The

default is Miter, which matches earlier trapping results to retain compatibility with previous versions of the Adobe
Trapping Engine.

Trap join examples, left to right: miter join, round join, bevel join

End Style Controls the intersection of three-way traps. Miter (the default) shapes the end of the trap to keep it away

from the intersecting object. Overlap affects the shape of the trap generated by the lightest neutral density object that
intersects with two or more darker objects. The end of the lightest trap is wrapped around the point where the three
objects intersect.

Close-up of trap end examples: miter (left) and overlap (right)

Trap thresholds
Step Specifies the color change threshold at which the trapping engine creates a trap. Some jobs need only the most
extreme color changes trapped, while others require traps for more subtle color changes. The Step value indicates the
degree to which components (such as CMYK values) of abutting colors must vary before trapping occurs.

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To change how much the component inks in abutting colors can vary before causing those colors to trap, increase or
decrease the value for Step in the New Trap Preset or Modify Trap Preset Options dialog box. The default is 10%. For
best results, use a value from 8% to 20%. Lower percentages increase sensitivity to color differences and result in
more traps.
Black Color Indicates the minimum amount of black ink required before the Black trap width setting is applied. The

default value is 100%. For best results, use a value no lower than 70%.
Black Density Indicates the neutral density value at or above which InDesign considers an ink to be black. For
example, if you want a dark spot ink to use the Black trap width setting, enter the neutral density value here. This
value is typically set near the default of 1.6.
Sliding Trap Determines when the trapping engine starts to straddle the centerline of the color boundary. The value

refers to the proportion of the lighter color’s neutral density value to a darker, abutting color’s neutral density value.
For example, setting the Sliding Trap value to 70% moves the point at which the trap begins to straddle the centerline
to where the lighter color exceeds 70% of the darker color in neutral density (lighter color’s neutral density divided
by darker color’s neutral density > 0.70). Colors of identical neutral density will always have their traps exactly
straddle the centerline, unless the Sliding Trap is set to 100%.
Trap Color Reduction Indicates the degree to which components from abutting colors are used to reduce the trap
color. This setting is useful for preventing certain abutting colors (such as pastels) from making an unsightly trap
that is darker than either color. Specifying a Trap Color Reduction lower than 100% begins to lighten the color of the
trap; a Trap Color Reduction value of 0% makes a trap with a neutral density equal to the neutral density of the darker
color.

Trapping imported graphics

You can create a trap preset to control traps within images, and to control traps between bitmap images (such as
photographs and those saved in raster PDF files) and vector objects (such as those from a drawing program and
vector PDF files). Each trapping engine handles imported graphics differently. It’s important to be aware of these
differences when setting trapping options.
Trap Placement Provides options for determining where the trap falls when you trap vector objects (including
objects drawn in InDesign) to bitmap images. All options except Neutral Density create a visually consistent edge.
Center creates a trap that straddles the edge between objects and images. Choke causes objects to overlap the
abutting image. Neutral Density applies the same trapping rules as used elsewhere in the document. Trapping an
object to a photograph with the Neutral Density setting can result in noticeably uneven edges as the trap moves from
one side of the edge to another. Spread causes the bitmap image to overlap the abutting object.
Trap Objects To Images Ensures that vector objects (such as frames used as keylines) trap to images, using the Trap
Placement settings. If vector objects don’t overlap images in a trapping page range, consider turning this option off
to speed trapping of that page range.
Trap Images To Images Turns on trapping along the boundary of overlapping or abutting bitmap images. This

feature is on by default.
Trap Images Internally Turns on trapping among colors within each individual bitmap image (not just where they

touch vector artwork and text). Use this option only for page ranges containing simple, high-contrast images, such
as screen shots or cartoons. Leave it unselected for continuous-tone and other complicated images, as it will create
bad traps. Trapping is faster when this option is unselected.
Trap 1-Bit Images Ensures that 1-bit images trap to abutting objects. This option doesn’t use the Image Trap

Placement settings, because 1-bit images use only one color. In most cases, leave this option selected. In some cases,
such as with 1-bit images where pixels are widely spaced, selecting this option may darken the image and slow the
trapping.

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Set sliding traps
1 Choose New Preset in the panel menu to create a preset, or double-click a preset to edit it.
2 In the Trap Thresholds section, for Sliding Trap, enter a percentage from 0 to 100, or use the default of 70%. At
0%, all traps default to centerline; at 100%, sliding traps are turned off, forcing one color to be spread fully into
another regardless of the neutral density relationship of the abutting colors.

About trapping black
When creating or editing presets, the value you type for Black Color determines what is considered solid black and
rich black. A rich black is any black color that uses a support screen—additional percentages of one or more process
inks to strengthen the black.
The Black Color setting is useful when you must compensate for extreme dot gain (as when using low-grade paper
stock). These situations cause black percentages lower than 100% to print as solid areas. By screening back blacks or
rich blacks (using tints of solid black) and decreasing the Black Color setting from its default of 100%, you can
compensate for dot gain and ensure that the trapping engine will apply the proper trap width and placement to black
objects.
When a color reaches the Black Color value, the Black trap width value is applied to all abutting colors, and keepaway
traps are applied to rich black areas using the Black trap width value.
If support screens extend all the way to the edge of a black area, any misregistration causes the edges of support
screens to become visible, creating an unwanted halo or distorting the edges of objects. The trapping engine uses a
keepaway, or a holdback, for rich blacks to keep support screens a specified distance away from edges of reversed-out
or light elements in the foreground, so that the light elements retain their sharpness. You control the distance of
support screens from the edges of black areas by specifying the Black trap width value.
Note: If the element you’re trapping is a thin element, such as a black keyline around graphics, the trapping engine
overrides the Black trap width setting and limits the trap to half the width of the thin element.

Set the trap width for colors next to black
1 Choose New Preset in the panel menu to create a preset, or double-click a preset to edit it.
2 In the Trap Width section, for Black, enter a distance (in points) for how far you want other colors to spread into
black, or for how far you want support screens choked back under black. Typically, the Black trap width is set to be
1.5 to 2 times the value of the Default trap width.
3 For Black Color and Black Density, set values.

Note: To use black trapping features, a color area must use an ink with a neutral density greater than or equal to the
Black Density, and the ink must occur in percentages greater than or equal to the Black Color.

See also
“Trap Presets panel overview” on page 464
“Trap preset options” on page 466

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Printing books with conflicting trap presets
You can apply one trap preset to one sheet of output, such as one page. Normally this is not a concern. However, if
you print multiple documents in a book, and each document or page has a different trap preset, InDesign can resolve
some trap preset conflicts by synchronizing presets among documents:

• If documents in a book use different trap presets with the same name, InDesign assigns the trap preset used in the
master document, provided you’ve selected the Trap Preset option in the Synchronize Options dialog box.

• The synchronizing feature makes all the master document’s presets available to the other documents in the book,
but does not assign them; you have to assign trap presets in each document, or use the [Default] trap preset. The
presets appear in the Trap Preset menu of the document’s Assign Trap Presets dialog box.
Note: If different trap presets are applied to pages in a spread, InDesign honors each trap preset.

See also
“Synchronize book documents” on page 275

Adjusting ink options for trapping
Adjusting ink neutral density values
By adjusting the ink neutral density (ND) values that the selected trapping engine uses, you can determine the
precise placement of traps. The default ND values for process inks are based on the neutral density readings of
process ink swatches that conform to industry standards in different parts of the world. The language version determines which standard it conforms to. For example, the ND values for the U.S. English and Canadian versions
conform to the Specifications for Web Offset Publications (SWOP) solid ink density values published by the Graphic
Arts Technical Foundation of North America. You can adjust process ink neutral densities to match printing
industry standards in other parts of the world.
The trapping engine derives the ND values for a spot color from its CMYK equivalent. For most spot colors, the ND
values of their CMYK equivalents are accurate enough for proper trap creation. Spot inks that aren’t easily simulated
using process inks, such as metallic inks and varnishes, may need their ND values adjusted so that the trapping
engine can trap them correctly. By typing new values, you can ensure that an ink that is observably darker or lighter
is recognized that way by the trapping engine; the appropriate trap placement is then applied automatically.
You can get the appropriate neutral density value for a given ink by asking your commercial printer. The most
accurate method of determining an ink’s ND value is by measuring a swatch of the ink with a commercial densitometer. Read the “V” or visual density of the ink (don’t use process filters). If the value differs from the default setting,
type the new value in the ND text box.
Note: Changing the neutral density for a spot color affects only how that color will trap. It doesn’t change the appearance
of that color in your document.
Follow these guidelines when adjusting ND values:
Metallic and opaque inks Metallic inks are usually darker than their CMYK equivalents, while opaque inks obscure
any ink beneath them. In general, you should set the ND values for both metallic and opaque spot colors much
higher than their default values to ensure that these spot colors won’t spread.

Note: Setting an ink to Opaque or Opaque Ignore in the Type menu of the Ink Manager prevents an opaque ink from
spreading into other colors, unless another opaque ink has a higher ND value.
Pastel inks These inks are normally lighter than their process equivalents. You may want to set the ND value for
these inks lower than their default values to ensure that they spread into adjacent darker colors.

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Other spot inks Some spot colors, such as turquoise or neon orange, are significantly darker or lighter than their
CMYK equivalents. You can determine whether this is the case by comparing printed swatches of the actual spot inks
to printed swatches of their CMYK equivalents. You can adjust the spot ink’s ND value higher or lower as necessary.

Customize trapping for specialty inks
Using certain inks involves special trapping considerations. For example, if you are using a varnish on your
document, you don’t want the varnish to affect trapping. However, if you’re overprinting certain areas with a
completely opaque ink, you don’t need to create traps for items underneath. Ink options are available for these situations. It’s usually best not to change the default settings, unless your prepress service provider recommends changing
them.
Note: The speciality inks and varnishes used in the document may have been created by mixing two spot inks or by
mixing a spot ink with one or more process inks.
1 Open the Ink Manager and select an ink that requires special treatment.
2 For Type, choose one of the following options, and then click OK:
Normal Use for traditional process inks and most spot inks.
Transparent Use for clear inks to ensure that underlying items trap. Use this option for varnishes and dieline inks.
Opaque Use for heavy, nontransparent inks to prevent trapping of underlying colors but allow for trapping along

the ink’s edges. Use this option for metallic inks.
Opaque Ignore Use for heavy, nontransparent inks to prevent trapping of underlying colors and to prevent trapping

along the ink’s edges. Use this option for those inks, such as metallics and varnishes, that have undesirable interactions with other inks.

See also
“Ink Manager overview” on page 583
“Mixing inks” on page 433

Adjust the trapping sequence
The trapping sequence (also called the trapping order) matches the order in which inks are printed at the press, but
it doesn’t match the order in which separations are produced at the output device.
The trapping sequence is particularly important when you’re printing with multiple opaque colors, such as metallic
inks. Opaque inks with lower sequence numbers are spread under opaque inks with higher sequence numbers. This
process prevents the last applied ink from being spread, and it still creates good traps.
Note: Don’t alter the default trapping sequence without first consulting with your prepress service provider.
1 Open the Ink Manager. The current trapping sequence is displayed in the Sequence column of the inks list.
2 Select an ink, type a new value for Trapping Sequence, and then press Tab. The sequence number of the selected
ink changes, and the other sequence numbers change accordingly.
3 Repeat the previous step for as many inks as necessary, and then click OK.

See also
“Ink Manager overview” on page 583

472

Chapter 18: Creating Adobe PDF files
Export Adobe InDesign CS3 documents to PDF format, which preserves the look and content of the original
InDesign documents. PDF files can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader® on almost any platform. Enhance
your PDFs by adding interactivity features such as bookmarks, hyperlinks, buttons, and media files.

Exporting to Adobe PDF
About Adobe PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, and layout of source
documents created on a wide range of applications and platforms. Adobe PDF is the standard for the secure, reliable
distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world. Adobe PDF files are compact and
complete, and can be shared, viewed, and printed by anyone with free Adobe Reader® software.
Adobe PDF is highly effective in print publishing workflows. By saving a composite of your artwork in Adobe PDF,
you create a compact, reliable file that you or your service provider can view, edit, organize, and proof. Then, at the
appropriate time in the workflow, your service provider can either output the Adobe PDF file directly, or process it
using tools from various sources for such post-processing tasks as preflight checks, trapping, imposition, and color
separation.
When you save in Adobe PDF, you can choose to create a PDF/X-compliant file. PDF/X (Portable Document Format
Exchange) is a subset of Adobe PDF that eliminates many of the color, font, and trapping variables that lead to
printing problems. PDF/X may be used wherever PDFs are exchanged as digital masters for print production—
whether at the creation or output stage of the workflow, as long as the applications and output devices support
PDF/X.
Adobe PDFs can solve the following problems associated with electronic documents:
Common problem

Adobe PDF solution

Recipients can't open files
because they don't have the
applications used to create
the files.

Anyone, anywhere can open a
PDF. All you need is the free
Adobe Reader software.

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Common problem

Adobe PDF solution

Combined paper and electronic archives are difficult to
search, take up space, and
require the application in
which a document was
created.

PDFs are compact and fully
searchable, and can be
accessed at any time using
Reader. Links make PDFs easy
to navigate.

Documents appear incorrectly Tagged PDFs allow text to
on handheld devices.
reflow for display on mobile
platforms such as Palm OS®,
Symbian™, and Pocket PC®
devices.
Documents with complex
formatting are not accessible
to visually impaired readers.

Tagged PDFs contain information on content and structure,
which makes them accessible
on-screen readers.

Export to PDF
Exporting a document or book to Adobe PDF is as simple as using the default High Quality Print settings, or as
customized as you need it to be to suit your task. The PDF export settings you specify are saved with the application,
and will apply to every new InDesign document or book you export to PDF until you change them again. To quickly
apply custom settings to PDF files, you can use presets.
You can export a document, a book, or selected documents in a book as a single PDF file. You can also copy content
from your InDesign layout to the Clipboard, and automatically create an Adobe PDF file of that content. (This is
useful for pasting a PDF file into another application, such as Adobe Illustrator.)
When you export an InDesign file to PDF, you can preserve navigation elements such as table of contents and index
entries, and interactivity features such as hyperlinks, bookmarks, media clips, and buttons. You also have the option
of exporting hidden layers, nonprinting layers, and nonprinting objects to PDF. If you’re exporting a book, you can
merge identically named layers by using the Book panel.

See also
“Adobe PDF options” on page 478
“PDF compatibility levels” on page 478
Export an open document to PDF
1 Choose File > Export.
2 Specify a name and location for the file.

Note: To display Adobe Version Cue options in the Export dialog box, click the Use Adobe Dialog button.
3 For Save As Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS), choose Adobe PDF, and then click Save.
4 Do one of the following:

• To use a predefined set of job options, choose a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.
• To create a PDF/X file, either choose a PDF/X preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu, or choose a predefined
PDF/X format from the Standard menu.

• To customize options, select a category from the list on the left and then set the options.

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5 For Compatibility, choose the lowest PDF version necessary to open the files you create.
6 Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

To reset options to the default, in the Adobe PDF Export dialog box, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS)
and click Reset. (The Cancel button changes to Reset.)
Prepare layers before exporting a book to PDF

When you export a book to PDF, you can show and hide InDesign layers in the PDF document. To avoid duplication
of layer names in the PDF, you can merge the layers on export.
If the Merge Identically Named Layers On Export option is selected, layer names appear under the same book name
in Acrobat or Reader. If this option is not selected, layer names appear separately under each document name.
1 If you don’t want certain layers to be merged, give them unique names in each book document.

Layer names are case-sensitive, so “Art” and “art” layers are not merged.
2 In the Book panel menu, select Merge Identically Named Layers On Export.

Note: When you export the book to PDF, make sure that Create Acrobat Layers is selected. To select this option, you must
use Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later compatibility.
Export a book to PDF
1 Do one of the following:

• To create a PDF of the entire book, click in a blank area of the Book panel to deselect any selected documents, and
choose Export Book To PDF in the Book panel menu.

• To create a PDF of documents within a book, select the document or documents in the Book panel, and choose
Export Selected Documents To PDF in the Book panel menu.
2 Specify a name and location for the PDF file, and then click Save.
3 Either choose a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu, or select a category from the list on the left of the Export

Adobe PDF dialog box, and then customize the options.
4 Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

Reducing the size of PDFs
For PDF files that are intended to be distributed for viewing purposes only, you may want to reduce the size of PDF
files when you export from InDesign. Here are some of the size reduction techniques you can use in the Export
Adobe PDF dialog box:

• Choose [Smallest File Size] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.
• In the Compression area, downsample images to 72 pixels per inch, select automatic compression, and select either
low- or medium-image quality for color and grayscale images. When you work with photographic images, use
Automatic (JPEG 2000) compression; when you work with images that are mostly solid color, such as charts and
graphs, use ZIP compression.

• In the Output area, use the Ink Manager to convert spot colors to process colors.
To reduce the size of PDFs, simply open the PDF in Acrobat 8.0 or later, choose Document > Reduce File Size, and
then specify the compatibility level. For greater control, choose Advanced > PDF Optimizer.
For more information on reducing the size of PDF files, see Acrobat Help and the Adobe website.

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Adobe PDF presets
A PDF preset is a group of settings that affect the process of creating a PDF. These settings are designed to balance
file size with quality, depending on how the PDF will be used. Most predefined presets are shared across Adobe
Creative Suite components, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat. You can also create and share
custom presets for your unique output requirements.
A few of the presets listed below are not available until you move them—as needed—from the Extras folder (where
they are installed by default) to the Settings folder. Typically, the Extras and Settings folders are found in (Windows
Vista) ProgramData\Adobe\AdobePDF, (Windows XP) Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Adobe\Adobe PDF, or (Mac OS) Library/Application Support/Adobe PDF. Some presets are not available in
some Creative Suite components.
Review your PDF settings periodically. The settings do not automatically revert to the default settings. Applications
and utilities that create PDFs use the last set of PDF settings defined or selected.
High Quality Print Creates PDFs for quality printing on desktop printers and proofing devices. This preset uses PDF

1.4 (Windows) or PDF 1.6 (Mac OS), downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images
to 1200 ppi, embeds subsets of all fonts, leaves color unchanged, and does not flatten transparency (for file types
capable of transparency). These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later. In InDesign,
this preset also creates tagged PDFs.
Illustrator Default (Illustrator only) Creates a PDF in which all Illustrator data is preserved. PDFs created with this
preset can be reopened in Illustrator without any loss of data.
Oversized Pages (Acrobat only) Creates PDFs suitable for viewing and printing of engineering drawings larger than

200 x 200 inches. These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat and Reader 7.0 and later.
PDF/A-1b: 2005 (CMYK and RGB) (Acrobat only) Used for long-term preservation (archival) of electronic

documents. PDF/A-1b uses PDF 1.4 and converts all colors to either CMYK or RGB, depending on which standard
you choose. These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat and Reader versions 5.0 and later.
PDF/X-1a (2001 and 2003) PDF/X-1a requires all fonts to be embedded, the appropriate PDF bounding boxes to be
specified, and color to appear as CMYK, spot colors, or both. Compliant files must contain information describing
the printing condition for which they are prepared. PDF files created with PDF/X-1a compliance can be opened in
Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later.

PDF/X-1a uses PDF 1.3, downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi,
embeds subsets of all fonts, creates untagged PDFs, and flattens transparency using the High Resolution setting.
Note: The PDF/X1-a:2003 and PDF/X-3 (2003) presets are placed on your computer during installation but are not
available until you move them from the Extras folder to the Settings folder.
PDF/X-4 (2007) In Acrobat 8, this preset is called PDF/X-4 DRAFT to reflect the draft state of the ISO specification

at Acrobat ship time. This preset is based on PDF 1.4, which includes support for live transparency. PDF/X-4 has the
same color management and International Color Consortium (ICC) color specifications as PDF/X-3. You can create
PDF/X-4-compliant files directly with Creative Suite 3 components (Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop). In
Acrobat 8, use the Preflight feature to convert PDFs to PDF/X-4 DRAFT.
PDF files created with PDF/X-4 compliance can be opened in Acrobat 7.0 and Reader 7.0 and later.
Press Quality Creates PDF files for high-quality print production (for example, for digital printing or for separations

to an imagesetter or platesetter), but does not create files that are PDF/X-compliant. In this case, the quality of the
content is the highest consideration. The objective is to maintain all the information in a PDF file that a commercial
printer or print service provider needs in order to print the document correctly. This set of options uses PDF 1.4,

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converts colors to CMYK, downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi,
embeds subsets of all fonts, and preserves transparency (for file types capable of transparency).
These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
Note: Before creating an Adobe PDF file to send to a commercial printer or print service provider, find out what the
output resolution and other settings should be, or ask for a .joboptions file with the recommended settings. You might
need to customize the Adobe PDF settings for a particular provider and then provide a .joboptions file of your own.
Rich Content PDF Creates accessible PDF files that include tags, hyperlinks, bookmarks, interactive elements, and

layers. This set of options uses PDF 1.5 and embeds subsets of all fonts. It also optimizes files for byte serving. These
PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 6.0 and Adobe Reader 6.0 and later. (The Rich Content PDF preset is in the
Extras folder.)
Note: This preset was called eBook in earlier versions of some applications.
Smallest File Size Creates PDF files for displaying on the web or an intranet, or for distribution through an e-mail

system. This set of options uses compression, downsampling, and a relatively low image resolution. It converts all
colors to sRGB, and (for Distiller-based conversions) does not embed fonts. It also optimizes files for byte serving.
These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
Standard (Acrobat only) Creates PDF files to be printed to desktop printers or digital copiers, published on a CD, or

sent to a client as a publishing proof. This set of options uses compression and downsampling to keep the file size
down, but also embeds subsets of all (allowed) fonts used in the file, converts all colors to sRGB, and prints to a
medium resolution. Note that Windows font subsets are not embedded by default. PDF files created with this settings
file can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
For more information about shared PDF settings for Creative Suite components, see the PDF Integration Guide on
the Creative Suite DVD.

Customize Adobe PDF presets
Although the default PDF presets are based on best practices, you may discover that your workflow, or perhaps your
printer’s workflow, requires specialized PDF settings that aren’t available via any of the built-in presets. If this is the
case, you or your service provider can create custom presets. Adobe PDF presets are saved as .joboptions files.
1 Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define.
2 Do one of the following:

• To create a new preset, click New. If you want to base the new preset on an existing preset, select the preset first.
Set PDF options, and click OK. (See “Adobe PDF options” on page 478.)

• To edit an existing custom preset, select the preset and click Edit. (You cannot edit the default presets.) Set PDF
options, and click OK.

• To delete a preset, select it and click Delete.
• To save a preset in a location other than the default Settings folder in the Adobe PDF folder, select it and click Save
As. Specify a location and click Save.
Alternatively, you can create a custom preset when you save a PDF file by clicking Save Preset at the bottom of the
Export Adobe PDF dialog box. Enter a name for the preset and click OK.

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Load Adobe PDF presets
New PDF presets (.joboptions files) that you create are stored in the Settings folder in the following locations:
Windows XP Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Adobe\[Version]\Adobe PDF (Windows)
Windows Vista Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\[Version]\Adobe PDF
Mac OS [username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF (Mac OS)

These presets automatically appear in the Adobe PDF Presets menu.
Supplementary InDesign PDF presets are installed in the Adobe PDF\Extras folder. Use your system search utility
to locate additional .joboptions files. You may also receive custom PDF presets from service providers and
colleagues. For these presets to be listed in the Adobe PDF Presets menu, they must be moved to the Settings folder
either manually or by using the Load command.
Load PDF presets

The Load command is useful if you want to load PDF presets that someone sent you, or to load PDF presets from
InDesign CS2.
1 Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define.
2 Click Load and select the .joboptions file you want to load.

The .joboptions file is copied to the Settings folder where new PDF presets are stored.
To make a .joboptions file available in the Adobe PDF Presets menu, you can also drag it to the Settings folder where
your PDF presets are stored.
Convert PDF presets from InDesign CS

InDesign CS and earlier export PDF presets with .pdfs extensions, while InDesign CS2 and later export PDF presets
with .joboptions extensions. Importing a PDFS file converts it to a .joboptions file, and overrides settings as
necessary. For example, if Monitor RGB was selected as the destination profile in the Output area in InDesign CS, it
is automatically changed to Document RGB in InDesign CS3.
1 Choose File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define.
2 Click Load.
3 Choose Previous-version PDF Settings Files (.pdfs) from the Enable menu (Windows) or All Files from the Enable
menu (Macintosh).
4 Double-click the file you want to convert.

The file becomes selected in the list of Adobe PDF presets.

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Adobe PDF options
Adobe PDF option categories
You can set PDF options when you export to PDF or when you create or edit PDF presets. Adobe PDF options are
divided into categories. The categories are listed on the left side of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box, with the
exception of the Standard and Compatibility options, which are at the top of the dialog box. When you’re exporting
to PDF, changing any of the options causes “modified” to appear at the end of the preset name.
Standard Specifies a PDF/X format for the file.
Compatibility Specifies a PDF version for the file.
General Specifies basic file options.
Compression Specifies if artwork should be compressed and downsampled, and if so, which method and settings to use.
Marks and Bleeds Specifies printer’s marks and the bleed and slug areas. Although the options are the same as in the

Print dialog box, the calculations are subtly different because a PDF is not output to a known page size.
Output Controls how colors and PDF/X output intent profiles are saved in the PDF file.
Advanced Controls how fonts, OPI specifications, transparency flattening, and JDF instructions are saved in the

PDF file.
Security Adds security to the PDF file. Security options are not available when you create or edit a PDF preset.
Summary Displays a summary of the current PDF settings. You can click the arrow next to a category (for example,
General) to view individual settings. To save the summary as an ASCII text file, click Save Summary. A warning
icon
appears with explanatory text if a setting in the selected preset cannot be honored and must be remapped.
For example, if a preset specifies source profiles that don’t match the current color settings file, then the profiles
specified by the color settings file will be used.

About PDF/X standards
PDF/X standards are defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). PDF/X standards apply
to graphic content exchange. During PDF conversion, the file that is being processed is checked against the specified
standard. If the PDF will not meet the selected ISO standard, a message appears, asking you to choose between
canceling the conversion or going ahead with the creation of a non-compliant file. The most widely used standards
for a print publishing workflow are several PDF/X formats: PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, and (in 2007) PDF/X-4.
Note: For more information on PDF/X, see the ISO website and the Adobe website.

PDF compatibility levels
When you create PDFs, you need to decide which PDF version to use. You can change the PDF version by switching
to a different preset or choosing a compatibility option when you save as PDF or edit a PDF preset.
Generally speaking, unless there’s a specific need for backward compatibility, you should use the most recent version
(in this case version 1.7). The latest version will include all the newest features and functionality. However, if you’re
creating documents that will be distributed widely, consider choosing Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4) or Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5)
to ensure that all users can view and print the document.
The following table compares some of the functionality in PDFs created using the different compatibility settings.

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Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)

Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4)

Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5)

Acrobat 7 (PDF 1.6) and
Acrobat 8 (PDF 1.7)

PDFs can be opened with
PDFs can be opened with
Acrobat 3.0 and Acrobat Reader Acrobat 3.0 and Acrobat Reader
3.0 and later.
3.0 and later. However, features
specific to later versions may be
lost or not viewable.

Most PDFs can be opened with
Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader
4.0 and later. However, features
specific to later versions may be
lost or not viewable.

Cannot contain artwork that
uses live transparency effects.
Any transparency must be flattened prior to converting to PDF
1.3.

Supports the use of live transparency in artwork. (The
Acrobat Distiller feature flattens
transparency.)

Layers are not supported.

Preserves layers when creating
PDFs from applications that
support the generation of
layered PDF documents, such as
Illustrator CS and later or
InDesign CS and later.

DeviceN color space with 8 colo- DeviceN color space with 8 colo- DeviceN color space with up to
rants is supported.
rants is supported.
31 colorants is supported.

DeviceN color space with up to
31 colorants is supported.

Multibyte fonts can be
embedded. (Distiller converts
the fonts when embedding.)

Multibyte fonts can be
embedded.

40-bit RC4 security supported.

128-bit RC4 security supported.

128-bit RC4 and 128-bit AES
(Advanced Encryption Standard) security supported.

General options for PDFs
Click the General category in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box to set the following options:
Description Displays the description from the selected preset, and provides a place for you to edit the description.

You can paste a description from the Clipboard.
All Exports all pages in the current document or book.
Range Specifies the range of pages to export in the current document. You can type a range by using a hyphen, and

separate multiple pages or ranges by using commas. This option is unavailable when you’re exporting books or
creating presets.
Spreads Exports pages together as if they were printed on the same sheet.

Important: Do not select Spreads for commercial printing; if you do, the service provider cannot impose the pages.
Embed Page Thumbnails Creates a thumbnail preview for each page being exported, or one thumbnail for each
spread if the Spreads option is selected. The thumbnail is displayed in the InDesign Open or Place dialog boxes.
Adding thumbnails increases the PDF file size.
Optimize For Fast Web View Reduces PDF file size, and optimizes the PDF file for faster viewing in a web browser
by restructuring the file for page-at-a-time downloading (byte serving). This option compresses text and line art,
regardless of the settings you have selected in the Compression category of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box.
Create Tagged PDF During export, automatically tags elements in the story based on a subset of the Acrobat tags

that InDesign supports. This includes recognition of paragraphs, basic text formatting, lists, and tables. (You can also
insert and adjust tags in the document before exporting to PDF. See “Adding structure to PDFs” on page 489.)

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Note: If Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later, tags are compressed for smaller file size. If the PDF is then
opened in Acrobat 4.0 or Acrobat 5.0, the tags will not be visible because those versions of Acrobat cannot decompress tags.
View PDF After Exporting Opens the newly-created PDF file in the default PDF viewing application.
Create Acrobat Layers Saves each InDesign layer as an Acrobat layer within the PDF. Also exports any printer’s
marks you’ve included to a separate marks and bleeds layer. The layers are fully navigable, which allows users of
Acrobat 6.0 and later to generate multiple versions of the file from a single PDF. For example, if a document will be
published in multiple languages, you can place the text for each language in a different layer. A prepress service
provider can then show and hide the layers to generate different versions of the document.

If you select the Create Acrobat Layers option when you export a book to PDF, identically named layers are merged
by default.
Note: Create Acrobat Layers is available only when Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later.
Export Layers Determines whether visible layers and nonprinting layers are included in the PDF. You can use the

Layer Options settings to determine whether each layer is hidden or set as nonprinting. When exporting to PDF,
choose whether you want to export All Layers (including hidden and nonprinting layers), Visible Layers (including
nonprinting layers), or Visible & Printable Layers.
Bookmarks Creates bookmarks for table of contents entries, preserving the TOC levels. Bookmarks are created from

the information specified in the Bookmarks panel.
Hyperlinks Creates PDF hyperlink annotations for InDesign hyperlinks, table of contents entries, and index entries.
Visible Guides And Baseline Grids Exports margin guides, ruler guides, column guides, and baseline grids currently

visible in the document. Grids and guides export in the same color used in the document.
Non-Printing Objects Exports objects to which you have applied the Nonprinting option in the Attributes panel.
Interactive Elements Exports all movies, sounds, and buttons. Acrobat 4.0 and 5.0 require that sounds be embedded

and movies be linked. Acrobat 6.0 and later support linking and embedding of movies and sounds.
Multimedia Lets you specify how to embed or link movies and sounds:

• Use Object Settings Embeds movies and sounds according to the settings in the Sound Options and Movie
Options dialog box.

• Link All Links sound and movie clips placed in the document. If you choose not to embed media clips in the PDF
file, be sure to place the media clips in the same folder as the PDF.
• Embed All Embeds all movies and sounds, regardless of embed settings on individual objects.
Note: The Multimedia option is only available when Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later and Interactive
Elements is selected. When Compatibility is set to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3) or Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4) and Interactive Elements
is selected, InDesign uses the settings in the Use Object Settings option in the Multimedia menu.

See also
“Export to PDF” on page 473
“Adding hyperlinks for PDFs” on page 494
“Including bookmarks in PDFs” on page 498
“Using movies and sounds in PDFs” on page 499
“Creating buttons for PDFs” on page 503

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Compression and downsampling options for PDFs
When exporting documents to Adobe PDF, you can compress text and line art, and compress and downsample
bitmap images. Depending on the settings you choose, compression and downsampling can significantly reduce the
size of a PDF file with little or no loss of detail and precision.
The Compression area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box is divided into three sections. Each section provides the
following options for compressing and resampling color, grayscale, or monochrome images in your artwork.
Downsampling If you plan to use the PDF file on the web, use downsampling to allow for higher compression. If you

plan to print the PDF file at high resolution, check with your prepress service provider before setting compression
and downsampling options.
You should also consider whether users need to magnify a page. For example, if you are creating a PDF document of
a map, consider using a higher image resolution so that users can zoom in on the map.
Downsampling refers to decreasing the number of pixels in an image. To downsample color, grayscale, or
monochrome images, choose an interpolation method—average downsampling, bicubic downsampling, or subsampling—and enter the desired resolution (in pixels per inch). Then enter a resolution in the For Images Above text
box. All images with resolution above this threshold will be downsampled.
The interpolation method you choose determines how pixels are deleted:

• Average Downsampling To Averages the pixels in a sample area and replaces the entire area with the average pixel
color at the specified resolution.
• Subsampling To Chooses a pixel in the center of the sample area and replaces the entire area with that pixel color.
Subsampling significantly reduces the conversion time compared with downsampling but results in images that are
less smooth and continuous.
• Bicubic Downsampling To Uses a weighted average to determine pixel color, which usually yields better results
than the simple averaging method of downsampling. Bicubic is the slowest but most precise method, resulting in the
smoothest tonal gradations.
Compression Determines the type of compression that is used:

• Automatic (JPEG) Determines automatically the best quality for color and grayscale images. For most files, this
option produces satisfactory results.
• JPEG Is suitable for grayscale or color images. JPEG compression is lossy, which means that it removes image data
and may reduce image quality; however, it attempts to reduce file size with a minimal loss of information. Because
JPEG compression eliminates data, it can achieve much smaller files sizes than ZIP compression.
• ZIP Works well on images with large areas of single colors or repeating patterns, and for black-and-white images
that contain repeating patterns. ZIP compression can be lossless or lossy, depending on the Image Quality setting.
• JPEG 2000 Is the international standard for the compression and packaging of image data. Like JPEG
compression, JPEG 2000 compression is suitable for grayscale or color images. It also provides additional advantages,
such as progressive display. The JPEG 2000 option is only available when Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5)
or later.
• Automatic (JPEG 2000) Determines automatically the best quality for color and grayscale images. The Automatic
(JPEG 2000) option is only available when Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later.
• CCITT And Run Length Are only available for monochrome bitmap images. CCITT (Consultative Committee on
International Telegraphy and Telephony) compression is appropriate for black-and-white images and any images
scanned with an image depth of 1 bit. Group 4 is a general-purpose method that produces good compression for

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most monochrome images. Group 3, used by most fax machines, compresses monochrome bitmaps one row at a
time. Run Length compression produces the best results for images that contain large areas of solid black or white.
Note: Grayscale images that have been colorized in InDesign are subject to the compression settings for Color Images.
However, grayscale images colorized with a spot color (and [None] applied to their frames) use the compression settings
for grayscale.
Image Quality Determines the amount of compression that is applied. For JPEG or JPEG 2000 compression, you

can choose Minimum, Low, Medium, High, or Maximum quality. For ZIP compression, only 8-bit is available.
Because InDesign uses the lossless ZIP method, data is not removed to reduce file size, so image quality is not
affected.
Tile Size Determines the size of the tiles for progressive display. This option is only available when Compatibility is

set to Acrobat 6 (1.5) and later, and Compression is set to JPEG 2000.
Compress Text And Line Art Applies Flate compression (which is similar to ZIP compression for images) to all text

and line art in the document, without loss of detail or quality.
Crop Image Data To Frames May reduce file size by exporting only image data that falls within the visible portion of

the frame. Do not select this option if postprocessors might require the additional information (for repositioning or
bleeding an image, for example).

Marks and Bleeds options for PDFs
Bleed is the amount of artwork that falls outside of the printing bounding box, or outside the crop marks and trim
marks. You can include bleed in your artwork as a margin of error, to ensure that the ink extends all the way to the
edge of the page after the page is trimmed or to ensure that a graphic can be stripped into a keyline in a document.
You can specify the extent of the bleed and add a variety of printer’s marks to the file.

See also
“Specify printer’s marks” on page 550

Color management and PDF/X output options for PDFs
You can set the following options in the Output area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box. Interactions between
Output options change depending on whether color management is on or off, whether the document is tagged with
color profiles, and which PDF standard is selected.
Note: For quick definitions of the options in the Output area, position the pointer over an option and read the
Description text box at the bottom of the dialog box.
Color Conversion Specifies how to represent color information in the Adobe PDF file. All spot color information is

preserved during color conversion; only the process color equivalents convert to the designated color space.

• No Color Conversion Preserves color data as is. This is the default when PDF/X-3 is selected.
• Convert to Destination Converts all colors to the profile selected for Destination. Whether the profile is included
or not is determined by the Profile Inclusion Policy.
• Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers) Converts colors to the destination profile space only if they have
embedded profiles that differ from the destination profile (or if they are RGB colors, and the destination profile is
CMYK, or vice versa). Untagged color objects (those without embedded profiles) and native objects (such as line art
or type) are not converted. This option is not available if color management is off. Whether the profile is included or
not is determined by the Profile Inclusion Policy.

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Destination Describes the gamut of the final RGB or CMYK output device, such as your monitor or a SWOP
standard. Using this profile, InDesign converts the document’s color information (defined by the source profile in
the Working Spaces section of the Color Settings dialog box) to the color space of the target output device.
Profile Inclusion Policy Determines whether a color profile is included in the file. The options vary, depending on
the setting in the Color Conversion menu, whether one of the PDF/X standards is selected, and whether color
management is on or off.

• Don’t Include Profiles Does not create a color-managed document with embedded color profiles.
• Include All Profiles Creates a color-managed document. If the application or output device that uses the Adobe
PDF file needs to translate colors into another color space, it uses the embedded color space in the profile. Before
you select this option, turn on color management and set up profile information.
• Include Tagged Source Profiles Leaves device-dependent colors unchanged and preserves device-independent
colors as the nearest possible equivalent in PDF. This is a useful option for print shops that have calibrated all their
devices, used that information to specify color in the file, and are only outputting to those devices.
• Include All RGB And Tagged Source CMYK Profiles Includes any profiles for tagged RGB objects and tagged
CMYK objects, such as placed objects with embedded profiles. This option also includes the Document RGB profile
for untagged RGB objects.
• Include Destination Profile Assigns the destination profile to all objects. If Convert To Destination (Preserve
Color Numbers) is selected, untagged objects in the same color space are assigned the destination profile so that
color numbers don’t change.
Simulate Overprint Simulates the appearance of printing separations by maintaining the appearance of overprinting
in composite output. When Simulate Overprint is unselected, Overprint Preview must be selected in Acrobat to see
the effects of overlapping colors. When Simulate Overprint is selected, spot colors are changed to their process equivalents, and overlapping colors display and output correctly, without Overprint Preview selected in Acrobat. With
Simulate Overprint on, and Compatibility (in the General area of the dialog box) set to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3), you can
soft-proof your document’s colors directly on the monitor before they are reproduced on a particular output device.
Ink Manager Controls whether spot colors are converted to process equivalents and specifies other ink settings. If

you make changes to your document using the Ink Manager (for example, if you change all spot colors to their
process equivalents), those changes will be reflected in the exported file and in the saved document, but the settings
won’t be saved with the Adobe PDF preset.
Output Intent Profile Name Specifies the characterized printing condition for the document. An output intent
profile is required for creating PDF/X-compliant files. This menu is only available if a PDF/X standard (or preset) is
selected in the General area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box. The available options depend on whether color
management is on or off. For example, if color management is off, the menu lists only output profiles that match the
destination profile’s color space. If color management is on, the output intent profile is the same profile selected for
Destination (provided it is a CMYK output device).
Output Condition Name Describes the intended printing condition. This entry can be useful for the intended
receiver of the PDF document.
Output Condition Identifier Indicates a pointer to more information on the intended printing condition. The

identifier is automatically entered for printing conditions that are included in the ICC registry. This option is not
available when using either of the PDF/X-3 presets or standards, because the file would fail compliance when
inspected by the Preflight feature in Acrobat 7.0 Professional and later, or the Enfocus PitStop application (which is
a plug-in for Acrobat 6.0).
Registry Name Indicates the web address for more information on the registry. The URL is automatically entered for

ICC registry names. This option is not available when using either of the PDF/X-3 presets or standards, because the

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file would fail compliance when inspected by the Preflight feature in Acrobat 7.0 Professional and later, or the
Enfocus PitStop application (which is a plug-in for Acrobat 6.0).

Font, OPI, and flattening options for PDFs
You can set the following options in the Advanced area of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box.
Subset Fonts When Percent Of Characters Used Is Less Than Sets the threshold for embedding complete fonts based

on how many of the font’s characters are used in the document. If the percentage of characters used in the document
for any given font is exceeded, then that specific font is completely embedded. Otherwise, the font is subsetted.
Embedding complete fonts increases file size, but if you want to make sure you completely embed all fonts, enter 0
(zero). You can also set a threshold in the General Preferences dialog box to trigger font subsetting based on the
number of glyphs a font contains.
OPI Lets you selectively omit different imported graphics types when sending image data to a printer or file, leaving

only the OPI links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server.
Preset If Compatibility (in the General area of the dialog box) is set to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3), you can specify a preset
(or set of options) for flattening transparency. These options are only used when exporting spreads with transparency in artwork.

Note: Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4) and later automatically preserve transparency in artwork. As a result, the Preset and Custom
options are not available for these levels of compatibility.
Ignore Spread Overrides Applies the flattener settings to all spreads in a document or book, overriding the flattener

preset on an individual spread.
Create JDF File Using Acrobat Creates a Job Definition Format (JDF) file and starts Acrobat Professional for

processing the JDF file. A job definition in Acrobat contains references to the files to be printed as well as instructions
and information for prepress service providers at the production site. This option is only available if Acrobat 7.0
Professional or later is installed on your machine. For more information, see Acrobat Help.

See also
“Options for omitting graphics” on page 557

Adding security to PDF files
When saving as PDF, you can add password protection and security restrictions, limiting not only who can open the
file, but also who can copy or extract contents, print the document, and more.
A PDF file can require passwords to open a document (document open password) and to change security settings
(permissions password). If you set any security restrictions in your file, you should set both passwords; otherwise,
anyone who opens the file could remove the restrictions. If a file is opened with a permissions password, the security
restrictions are temporarily disabled.
The RC4 method of security from RSA Corporation is used to password-protect PDF files. Depending on the
Compatibility setting (in the General category), the encryption level will be high or low.
Note: Adobe PDF presets don’t support passwords and security settings. If you select passwords and security settings in
the Export Adobe PDF dialog box, and then click Save Preset, the passwords and security settings won’t be preserved.

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Security options for PDFs
You can set the following options when you create a PDF or when you apply password protection to a PDF. Options
vary depending on the Compatibility setting. Security options are not available for PDF/X standards or presets.
Compatibility Sets the type of encryption for opening a password-protected document. The Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)

option uses a low encryption level (40-bit RC4), while the other options use a high encryption level (128-bit RC4 or
AES).
Be aware that anyone using an earlier version of Acrobat cannot open a PDF document with a higher compatibility
setting. For example, if you select the Acrobat 7 (PDF 1.6) option, the document cannot be opened in Acrobat 6.0 or
earlier.
Require A Password To Open The Document Select this option to require users to type the password you specify to

open the document.
Document Open Password Specify the password that users must type to open the PDF file.

Note: If you forget a password, there is no way to recover it from the document. It’s a good idea to store passwords in a
separate secure location in case you forget them.
Use A Password To Restrict Printing, Editing And Other Tasks Restricts access to the PDF file’s security settings. If the
file is opened in Adobe Acrobat, the user can view the file but must enter the specified Permissions password in order
to change the file’s Security and Permissions settings. If the file is opened in Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe
InDesign, the user must enter the Permissions password, since it is not possible to open the file in a view-only mode.
Permissions Password Specify a password that is required to change the permissions settings. This option is
available on if the previous option is selected.
Printing Allowed Specifies the level of printing that users are allowed for the PDF document.

• None Prevents users from printing the document.
• Low Resolution (150 dpi) Lets users print at no higher than 150-dpi resolution. Printing may be slower because
each page is printed as a bitmap image. This option is available only if the Compatibility option is set to Acrobat 5
(PDF 1.4) or later.
• High Resolution Lets users print at any resolution, directing high-quality vector output to Adobe PostScript and
other printers that support advanced high-quality printing features.
Changes Allowed Defines which editing actions are allowed in the PDF document.

• None Prevents users from making any changes to the document that are listed in the Changes Allowed menu,
such as filling in form fields and adding comments.
• Inserting, Deleting, And Rotating Pages Lets users insert, delete, and rotate pages, and create bookmarks and
thumbnails. This option is only available for high (128-bit RC4 or AES) encryption.
• Filling In Form Fields And Signing Lets users fill in forms and add digital signatures. This option doesn’t allow
them to add comments or create form fields. This option is only available for high (128-bit RC4 or AES) encryption.
• Commenting, Filling In Form Fields, And Signing Lets users add comments and digital signatures, and fill in
forms. This option doesn’t allow users to move page objects or create form fields.
• Page Layout, Filling in Form Fields, and Signing Lets users insert, rotate, or delete pages and create bookmarks or
thumbnail images, fill out forms, and add digital signatures. This option doesn’t allow them to create form fields. This
option is only available for low (40-bit RC4) encryption.
• Any Except Extracting Pages Lets users edit the document, create and fill in form fields, and add comments and
digital signatures.

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Enable Copying Of Text, Images, And Other Content Lets users select and copy the contents of a PDF.
Enable Copying Of Content And Access For The Visually Impaired Lets visually impaired users use screen readers to

read and copy the document. This option is only available for low (40-bit RC4) encryption.
Enable Text Access For Screen Reader Devices For The Visually Impaired Lets visually impaired users read the

document with screen readers, but doesn’t allow users to copy or extract the document’s contents. This option is
available only for high (128-bit RC4 or AES) encryption.
Enable Plaintext Metadata Allows users to copy and extract content from the PDF. This option is only available

when Compatibility is set to Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5) or later. Selecting this option allows storage/search systems and
search engines to access metadata stored in the document.

Font embedding and substitution
A font can be embedded only if it contains a setting by the font vendor that permits it to be embedded. Embedding
prevents font substitution when readers view or print the file, and ensures that readers see the text in its original font.
Embedding increases file size only slightly, unless the document uses CID fonts. a font format commonly used for
Asian languages. You can embed or substitute fonts in Acrobat or when you export an InDesign document to PDF.
You can embed the entire font, or just a subset of the characters used in the file. Subsetting ensures that your fonts
and font metrics are used at print time by creating a custom font name. That way, for example, your version of Adobe
Garamond®, not your service provider’s version, can always be used by the service provider for viewing and printing.
Type 1 and TrueType fonts can be embedded if they are included in the PostScript file, or are available in one of the
font locations that Distiller monitors and are not restricted from embedding.
Note: (Acrobat) In some cases, TrueType fonts that have gone through a PostScript driver can no longer be searched,
copied, cut, or pasted. To minimize this problem, use Acrobat on the same system on which the PostScript file was
created, and make sure that the TrueType fonts used in the file are available on the system.
When a font cannot be embedded because of the font vendor’s settings, and someone who opens or prints a PDF
does not have access to the original font, a Multiple Master typeface is temporarily substituted: AdobeSerifMM for
a missing serif font, and AdobeSansMM for a missing sans serif font.
The Multiple Master typeface can stretch or condense to fit, to ensure that line and page breaks in the original
document are maintained. The substitution cannot always match the shape of the original characters, however,
especially if the characters are unconventional ones, such as script typefaces.
Note: (Acrobat) For Asian text, Acrobat uses fonts from the installed Asian language kit or from similar fonts on the
user’s system. Fonts from some languages or with unknown encodings cannot be substituted; in these cases, the text
appears as bullets in the file.

If characters are unconventional (left), the substitution font will not match (right).

Preparing a document for on-screen viewing
With its small file sizes, platform independence, and online navigation, Adobe PDF is an ideal format for distributing
documents electronically and viewing them on-screen. You can send Adobe PDF documents to other users as e-mail
attachments, or you can distribute the documents on the web or on an intranet.

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The following guidelines apply to electronically distributed Adobe PDF files:

• Before putting Adobe PDF documents on a website, check to see that the text, artwork, and layout in the
documents are complete and correct.

• Make sure that table of contents entries, hyperlinks, and bookmarks are generated correctly. Table of contents
entries are generated automatically from information in the Bookmarks panel.

• Set up passwords and other security options.
• Use a file name of no more than eight characters, followed by an extension of up to three characters. Many
networks and e-mail programs shorten long file names.

• Make sure that the file name has a PDF extension if users will view the file on a Windows computer or on the
Internet.

• To apply predefined Adobe PDF export settings for on-screen viewing, choose Smallest File Size.
Note: Adobe PDF files exported from InDesign documents that contain overprints or transparency effects are best viewed
in Acrobat 5.0 and later, or Adobe Reader 7.0 and later, with the Overprint Preview option selected.

See also
“Customize Adobe PDF presets” on page 476
“General options for PDFs” on page 479

Preparing PDFs for service providers
About PDF print publishing tools
In some print publishing workflows, documents are distributed in the format of the authoring application (called the
native format). Once approved, the files are saved in PostScript or a proprietary format for prepress work and final
printing. Because applications generate PostScript in many different ways, PostScript files may be arbitrarily large
and complex. In addition, reliability problems such as missing fonts, corrupt files, missing graphic elements, and
unsupported features can result at output time. In response, Adobe and its partners continue to create reliable, PDFbased publishing workflow solutions.
From InDesign, you can export your document to a composite PDF file called a digital master. These digital masters
are compact, reliable files that you or your service provider can view, edit, organize, and proof. Then, at the appropriate time in the workflow, your service provider can either output the PDF directly, or process it using tools from
various sources for post-processing tasks such as preflight checks, trapping, imposition, and color separation.
PDF files in the workflow

Many large publishers use PDFs to streamline their review and production cycles. For example, numerous magazines
and newspapers have adopted PDF as the standard format for delivering advertisements to local publishing offices
via satellite or ISDN lines. PDFs enable local publishers to instantly view an advertisement exactly as it was designed,
make late-stage text edits, and reliably print from any computer.

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PDF workflow technologies and requirements

Adobe is continually addressing the workflow needs of service providers, and recommends that you visit the Adobe
website at www.adobe.com often for the latest developments. Currently, Adobe addresses publishing workflow needs
by providing an integrated system of several technologies:

• Adobe Acrobat 8, with its support for Adobe PDF version 1.7.
• Adobe PostScript 3 printing technology, for device-independent support, Adobe In-RIP Trapping, in-RIP color
separations, and smooth blends.

• Adobe InDesign CS3, with its high-resolution page layout capabilities and direct PDF processing.
• PDF/X, an ISO standard for graphic content exchange that eliminates many of the color, font, and trapping
variables that lead to printing problems.
A high-resolution composite PDF workflow typically includes a PostScript 3 output device whose RIP supports inRIP separations. Therefore, if your output device uses PostScript Level 2 or does not support in-RIP separations, use
a preseparated PostScript printing workflow.

See also
“About PDF/X standards” on page 478

Checking your document before exporting
Before creating a PDF for a service provider, make sure that the InDesign document meets your service provider’s
specifications. The following list offers some recommendations:

• Use the InDesign Preflight feature to ensure that image resolution and color spaces are correct, that fonts are
available and can be embedded, that graphics are up-to-date, and so on.

• View your Adobe PDF export settings prior to exporting, and then adjust them as necessary. The Summary area
includes a warning section that indicates when preset settings can’t be honored.

• If your artwork contains transparency (including overprints and drop shadows) and you require high-resolution
output, it’s a good idea to preview the effects of flattening using the Flattener Preview panel before saving the file.

• If your artwork contains transparency, ask your prepress service provider if they want to receive flattened or
unflattened PDF files. Flattening should be done as late in the workflow as possible, preferably by the service
provider. However, if your service provider wants you to flatten transparency, submit a PDF/X-1a compliant file.

• If your document will be separated, you can preview the separations and ink coverage limits using the Separations
Preview panel.

• Use only high-resolution images in your document.
• For best results, use only CMYK images in a four-color-process job. Alternatively, you can choose to convert RGB
images to CMYK in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box (Output category).

• You can exclude hidden or nonprinting layers from the exported PDF document. (See “Choose which layers are
printed or exported to PDF” on page 547.)
For detailed information about preparing InDesign documents for high-resolution PDF output, see the Adobe
InDesign CS3 Printing Guide for Prepress Service Providers on the Adobe InDesign CS3 DVD or on the Adobe
website.

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See also
“Perform a preflight check” on page 562
“Flattening transparent artwork” on page 404
“Previewing color separations” on page 581

Produce a print-ready Adobe PDF file
A service provider can use Acrobat 7.0 Professional and later to perform preflight checks and color separations.
Acrobat 8 Professional contains more advanced preflight tools, including the ability to make certain corrections
automatically. Various prepress applications and in-RIP technologies can also perform preflight checks, do trapping
and imposition, and make the color separations of the pages in the digital master.
If you choose to leave out the images when creating the Adobe PDF file, make sure that the service provider has
access to the original high-resolution images that are required for proper output. In addition, make sure that the
service provider has Acrobat 7.0 or later for accurate viewing of text and color graphics. For best viewing, they should
use Acrobat 8 Professional.
If you’re using a color-managed workflow, you can use the precision of color profiles to perform an on-screen
preview (a soft proof). You can examine how your document’s colors will look when reproduced on a particular
output device.
Note: Unless you are using a color management system (CMS) with accurately calibrated ICC profiles and are sure you
have properly calibrated your monitor, don’t rely on the on-screen appearance of colors.
1 Prepare the document for exporting to Adobe PDF.
2 Export using the .joboptions file provided by your service provider. If you don’t have a preferred .joboptions file,
use a PDF/X preset.
3 Preflight the PDF in Acrobat 7.0 Professional or later.
4 Proof and correct the PDF file.
5 Hand off the press-ready PDF to the prepress service provider.

Structuring PDFs
Adding structure to PDFs
When you export to Adobe PDF with the Create Tagged PDF option selected in the General area of the Export Adobe
PDF dialog box, the exported pages are automatically tagged with a set of structure tags that describe the content,
identifying page items such as headlines, stories, and figures. To add additional tags or to fine-tune existing ones
before you export, you can use the Tags panel in InDesign. The Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure)
reflects the changes.
You can improve the accessibility and reuse of Adobe PDF documents by adding tags to the InDesign document
before you export. If your PDF documents don’t contain tags, Adobe Reader or Acrobat may attempt to automatically
tag the document when the user reads or reflows it, but the results may be disappointing. If you do not get the results
you want in the exported PDF file, you can use tools in Acrobat 6.0 Professional and later to edit the structure of
tagged PDF documents. For the most advanced tools, use Acrobat 8 Professional.

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When you apply tags to a document for PDF export, the tags do not control which content is exported to PDF, as is
the case with XML export. Instead, the tags give Acrobat more information about the document’s structural contents.
Advantages of using tags

By applying tags to your document before exporting to PDF, you can do the following:

• Map InDesign paragraph style names to Acrobat tagged Adobe PDF paragraph styles to create a reflowable PDF
file for viewing on handheld devices and other media.

• Mark and hide printing artifacts, text, and images so that they won’t appear when reflowed in Acrobat. For
example, if you tag a page item as Artifact, the page item will not be displayed when you reflow the contents of a
tagged Adobe PDF document on a handheld device, a small display, or a monitor at a large magnification.

• Add alternative text to figures so that the text can be read aloud to the visually impaired with screen-reading
software.

• Replace graphic letters, such as ornate drop-caps, with readable letters.
• Provide a title for a set of articles, or group stories and figures into articles.
• Order stories and figures to establish a reading order.
• Recognize tables, formatted lists, and tables of contents. Recognize which content blocks belong to the different
stories.

• Include text formatting information such as Unicode values of characters, spacing between words, and the recognition of soft and hard hyphens.

See also
“Structure pane overview” on page 530
“Tag items” on page 525

How tags affect reuse and accessibility
The content of a Adobe PDF document can be reused for other purposes. For example, you might create an Adobe
PDF file of a report with text, tables, and images, and then use various formats to distribute it: for printing or reading
on a full-sized monitor, for viewing on a handheld device, for reading out loud by a screen reader, and for direct
access through a web browser as HTML pages. The ease and reliability with which you can reuse the content depends
on the underlying logical structure of the document.
To make sure that your Adobe PDF documents can be reused and accessed reliably, you must add tags to them.
Tagging adds an underlying organizational structure, or logical structure tree, to the document. The logical structure
tree refers to the organization of the document’s content, such as title page, chapters, sections, and subsection. It can
indicate the precise reading order and improve navigation—particularly for longer, more complex documents—
without changing the appearance of the PDF document.
For people who are not able to see or decode the visual appearance of documents, assistive technology can access the
content of the document reliably by using the logical structure tree. Most assistive technology depends on this
structure to convey the meaning of content and images in an alternative format, such as sound. In an untagged
document, no such structure exists, and Acrobat must infer a structure, based on the reading order choices in the
preferences. This method is unreliable and often results in page items read in the wrong order or not read at all.

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The tags appear on the Tags tab in Acrobat 6.0 and later, where they are nested according to the relationship definitions for the tagged elements. You cannot edit tags in Acrobat Standard. If your work requires you to work directly
with tags, you should upgrade to Acrobat 8 Professional. For more information, see Acrobat Help.

Logical structure tree on the Tags tab in Acrobat 8

Note: Tags used in Adobe PDF files can be compared to tags in HTML and XML files. To learn more about basic tagging
concepts, see any of the many references and text books available in bookstores, in libraries, and on the Internet.

Understanding and optimizing reflow
You can reflow a PDF document to read it on handheld devices, smaller displays, or standard monitors at large
magnifications, without having to scroll horizontally to read each line.
When you reflow an Adobe PDF document, some content carries into the reflowed document and some doesn’t. In
most cases, only readable text reflows into the reflowed document. Readable text includes articles, paragraphs, tables,
images, and formatted lists. Text that doesn’t reflow includes forms, comments, digital signature fields, and page
artifacts, such as page numbers, headers, and footers. Pages that contain both readable text and form or digital
signature fields don’t reflow. Vertical text reflows horizontally.
As an author, you can optimize your PDF documents for reflow by tagging them. Tagging ensures that text blocks
reflow and that content follows the appropriate sequences, so readers can follow a story that spans different pages
and columns without other stories interrupting the flow. The reading order is defined by the structure tree, which
you can change in the Structure pane.

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Headings and columns (top) reflow in a logical reading order (bottom).

See also
“Rearrange structured elements” on page 531

Tag page items
You can tag text frames and graphics automatically or manually. After you tag page items, you can use the Structure
pane to change the order of your page by dragging elements to a new location within the hierarchy. If you change the
order of the elements in the Structure pane, these changes are passed on to the Adobe PDF file. The order of the
elements becomes useful when the PDF file is saved from Acrobat as an HTML or XML file.

See also
“Structure pane overview” on page 530
“Tagging content for XML” on page 524
Tag page items automatically

When you choose the Add Untagged Items command, InDesign adds tags to the Tags panel, and applies the Story
and Figure tags to certain untagged page items. The Story tag is applied to any untagged text frames, and the Figure
tag is applied to any untagged graphics. You can then manually apply other tags to sections of text. However,
automatically tagging page items does not guarantee that the items will be structured accordingly in the exported
PDF file.
1 Choose Window > Tags to display the Tags panel.
2 Choose View > Structure > Show Structure to display the Structure pane, to the left of the Document window.

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3 Choose Add Untagged Items from the Structure pane menu.

Tags in the Structure pane and Tags panel

Tag page items manually
1 Choose Window > Tags to display the Tags panel.
2 Choose View > Structure > Show Structure to display the Structure pane, to the left of the Document window.
3 Choose Add Untagged Items from the Structure pane menu.
4 Select a page item in the document.
5 Select a tag in the Tags panel. Note the following suggested uses for certain imported tags:
Artifact The Artifact tag lets you hide page items, such as page numbers or unimportant objects, when viewing the

exported PDF file in Reflow view, which displays only tagged items; see your Adobe Acrobat documentation. This
is especially useful for viewing PDF files on a handheld device or in other PDF readers.
Cell Use this tag for table cells. For more information about tagging tables for export, see “Tag items” on page 525.
Figure Use this tag for placed graphics. The Figure tag is applied to all untagged graphics placed in your document

when you choose Add Untagged Items.
Paragraph tags (P, H, H1–H6) These tags have no effect on the exported PDF text when viewed in Reflow view.
However, they can be useful in some situations when exporting a PDF file to HTML format.
Story Use this tag for stories. The Story tag is applied to all untagged text frames when you choose Add Untagged

Items. For example, suppose you have an InDesign document formatted with three paragraph styles: Head1, Head2,
and Body. First, map these paragraph styles to the H1, H2, and P tags, respectively. Next, export to PDF. Finally, when
you export the PDF document to HTML or XML in Acrobat, the paragraphs tagged as H1, H2, and P will display
appropriately (such as with large bold letters in H1) in a web browser. For information on exporting the PDF
document to HTML or XML, see your Adobe Acrobat documentation.

Label graphics for use with screen-reader software
If you want screen readers to describe graphical elements that illustrate important concepts in the document, you
must provide the description. Figures and multimedia aren’t recognized or read by a screen reader unless you add
alternate text to the tag properties.

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The Alt text attribute lets you create alternate text that can be read in lieu of viewing an illustration. ActualText is
similar to Alt text in that it appears in lieu of an image. The ActualText attribute lets you substitute an image that is
part of a word, such as when a fancy image is used for a drop cap. In this example, the ActualText attribute allows the
drop cap letter to be read as part of the word.
When you export to Adobe PDF, the Alt text and Actual Text attribute values are stored in the PDF file and can be
viewed in Acrobat 6.0 and later. This alternate text information can then be used when the PDF file is saved from
Acrobat as an HTML or XML file. For more information, see your Adobe Acrobat documentation.
1 If necessary, choose View > Show Structure to display Structure pane, and choose Window > Tags to display the
Tags panel.
2 Choose Add Untagged Items from the Structure pane menu.
3 To make sure the image is tagged as Figure, select the image, and then select Figure in the Tags panel.
4 Select the Figure element in the Structure pane, and then choose New Attribute from the Structure pane menu.
5 For Name, type either Alt or ActualText (this feature is case-sensitive).
6 For Value, type the text that will appear instead of the image.

Group page items into an Article element
Use the Structure pane to logically group page items into an Article element. For example, if a set of stories spans
multiple pages, you can create an umbrella element that will contain these stories in a single group. These umbrella
elements are called structural elements. You can also name your grouped articles.
Note: You cannot tag grouped page items.

• To group page items, select New Element from the Structure pane menu, select the Article element in the Tags
panel, and then drag page elements underneath it in the Structure pane.

• To name grouped items, right-click the Article element in the Structure pane and choose New Attribute. For
Name, type Title. For Value, type the name of the article you want to use.

See also
“Structure pane overview” on page 530

Adding hyperlinks for PDFs
Create hyperlinks
You can create hyperlinks so that when you export to Adobe PDF, a viewer can click a link to jump to other locations
in the same PDF document, to other PDF documents, or to websites.
A source is hyperlinked text, a hyperlinked text frame, or a hyperlinked graphics frame. A destination is the URL,
position in text, or page to which a hyperlink jumps. A source can jump to only one destination, but any number of
sources can jump to the same destination.

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Hyperlinks
A. Hyperlink source B. List of hyperlinks

To create a hyperlink to a position in text or to a page with specific view settings, you first create a destination, and
then you create the hyperlink that points to that location.
Note: It isn’t necessary to create a destination for hyperlinks that jump to an unnamed page, and you can create a
hyperlink from a URL that you’ve typed in your document without first creating a destination.
InDesign supports three kinds of hyperlink destinations:
Document page When you create a page destination, you can specify the zoom setting of the page being jumped to.
Text anchor A text anchor is any selected text or insertion-point location in a document.
URL destination A URL destination indicates the location of resources on the Internet, such as a web page, a movie,

or a PDF file. The name of a URL destination must be a valid URL address.
Hyperlink destinations do not appear in the Hyperlinks panel; they appear in the Destination section of the New
Hyperlink dialog box.

See also
“Add automatic page numbers for story jumps” on page 84
“Export to PDF” on page 473
Create a hyperlink
1 If necessary, create a hyperlink destination.
2 Select the text or graphic you want to be the hyperlink’s source.
3 Choose Window > Interactive > Hyperlinks to display the Hyperlinks panel.
4 Choose New Hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel menu, or click the Create New Hyperlink button at the bottom of
the Hyperlinks panel.
5 For Name, type the name of the hyperlink. The name you type will appear in the Hyperlinks panel.
6 For Document, select the document containing the destination that you want to jump to. All open documents that
have been saved are listed in the pop-up menu. If the document you’re looking for isn’t open, select Browse in the
pop-up menu, locate the file, and then click Open.
7 For Type, select Page, Text Anchor, or URL to display the available destinations for that category. To display all
destinations, select All Types.
8 For Name (under Destination), do one of the following:

• To create a hyperlink to a destination you created, choose the destination name.

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• To create a hyperlink to an unnamed destination, choose Unnamed. If Page is selected for Type, specify the page
number and zoom setting. If URL is selected for Type, specify the URL you want to jump to.

• Select None to create a hyperlink with no destination.
9 To specify the appearance of a hyperlink in InDesign and in the exported PDF file, do the following, and then
click OK:

• For Type, select Visible Rectangle or Invisible Rectangle.
• For Highlight, select Invert, Outline, Inset, or None. These options determine the appearance of the hyperlink in
the exported PDF file.

• For Color, select a color for the hyperlink rectangle.
• For Width, select Thin, Medium, or Thick to determine the thickness of the hyperlink rectangle.
• For Style, select Solid or Dashed to determine the appearance of the hyperlink rectangle.
To show or hide hyperlinks, choose View > Show Hyperlinks or Hide Hyperlinks.
Note: Hyperlinks are included in exported Adobe PDF files when Include Hyperlinks is selected in the Export Adobe PDF
dialog box.
Create a hyperlink from a URL
1 Using the Type tool, select a URL (such as http://www.adobe.com) that you’ve typed in your document.
2 Choose New Hyperlink From URL in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
Set up a page destination

You can create a hyperlink to an unnamed page without first creating a destination. However, by creating a page
destination, you can name the page and specify a view setting.
1 Choose Window > Interactive > Hyperlinks to display the Hyperlinks panel.
2 Choose New Hyperlink Destination in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
3 For Type, select Page.
4 For Name, type a name for the page destination. To automatically use the page number as the name, select Name
With Page Number.
5 For Page, specify the page number you want to jump to. (If you selected Name With Page Number, the Name
option updates automatically.)
6 For Zoom Setting, do one of the following to select the view state of the page being jumped to, and then click OK:

• Select Fixed to display the magnification level and page position that were in effect when you created the link.
• Select Fit View to display the visible portion of the current page as the destination.
• Select Fit In Window to display the current page in the destination window.
• Select Fit Width or Fit Height to display the width or height of the current page in the destination window.
• Select Fit Visible to display the page so that its text and graphics fit the width of the window, which usually means
that the margins are not displayed.

• Select Inherit Zoom to display the destination window at the magnification level the reader will use when the
hyperlink is clicked.

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Set up a text anchor destination
1 Choose Window > Interactive > Hyperlinks to display the Hyperlinks panel.
2 In the document, use the Type tool to place the insertion point, or select the range of text, that you want to be the
anchor. You cannot set up an anchor destination for text on a master page.
3 Choose New Hyperlink Destination in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
4 Choose Text Anchor in the Type pop-up menu.
5 Type a name for the destination, and then click OK.
Set up a URL destination
1 Choose Window > Interactive > Hyperlinks, to display the Hyperlinks panel.
2 Choose New Hyperlink Destination in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
3 Choose URL in the Type pop-up menu.
4 Type or paste a URL, such as http://www.adobe.com. You can use any valid Internet resource protocol: http://,
file://, ftp://, or mailto://.
5 Specify a name for the URL destination, and then click OK.

Manage hyperlinks
Use the Hyperlinks panel to edit, delete, reset, or locate hyperlinks.
Edit hyperlinks
1 In the Hyperlinks panel, double-click the item you want to edit.
2 Make changes to the hyperlink as necessary, and then click OK.
Delete hyperlinks

When you remove a hyperlink, the source text or graphic remains.
❖ Select the item or items you want to remove in the Hyperlinks panel, and then click the Delete button at the bottom

of the panel.
Edit or delete hyperlink destinations
1 Open the document in which the destination appears.
2 Choose Hyperlink Destination Options in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
3 For Destination, select the name of the destination you want to edit.
4 Do one of the following:

• Click Edit, and then make changes to the destination as necessary.
• Click Delete to remove the destination.
5 When you are finished editing or deleting destinations, click OK.
Reset hyperlinks
1 Select the range of text, the text frame, or the graphic frame that will act as the new hyperlink source.
2 Select the hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel.
3 Choose Reset Hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel menu.

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To update hyperlinks to external documents, choose Update Hyperlink in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
Go to a hyperlink source or anchor

• To locate a hyperlink source, select the item you want to locate in the Hyperlinks panel. Choose Go To Source in
the Hyperlinks panel menu. The text or frame will be selected.

• To locate a hyperlink destination, select the item you want to locate in the Hyperlinks panel. Choose Go To Destination in the Hyperlinks panel menu.
If the item is a URL destination, InDesign starts or switches to your web browser to display the destination. If the
item is a text anchor or page destination, InDesign jumps to that location.

Including bookmarks in PDFs
Create bookmarks
A bookmark is a type of link with representative text that makes it easier to navigate documents exported as Adobe
PDF. Bookmarks you create in the InDesign document appear in the Bookmarks tab on the left side of the Acrobat
or Adobe Reader window. Each bookmark jumps to a page, text, or graphic in your document.
Entries in a generated table of contents are automatically added to the Bookmarks panel. In addition, you can further
customize your document with bookmarks to direct a reader’s attention or make navigation even easier. Bookmarks
can be nested under other bookmarks.
1 Choose Window > Interactive > Bookmarks, to display the Bookmarks panel.
2 Click the bookmark under which you want to place the new bookmark. If you don’t select a bookmark, the new
bookmark is automatically added to the end of the list.
3 Do one of the following to indicate where you want the bookmark to jump:

• Click an insertion point in text.
• Highlight text. (By default, the text you highlight becomes the bookmark label.)
• Select a graphic with the Selection tool

• Double-click a page in the Pages panel to view it in the document window.
4 Do one of the following to create the bookmark:

• Click the New icon on the Bookmarks panel.
• Choose New Bookmark from the panel menu.
Note: When you update the table of contents, the bookmarks are reordered, causing any custom bookmark to appear at
the end of the list.

See also
“General options for PDFs” on page 479
“Export to PDF” on page 473

Manage bookmarks
Use the Bookmarks panel to rename, delete, and arrange bookmarks.

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Rename a bookmark
❖ Click the bookmark in the Bookmarks panel, and choose Rename Bookmark from the panel menu.

Delete a bookmark
❖ Click a bookmark in the Bookmarks panel, and choose Delete Bookmark from the panel menu.

Arrange, group, and sort bookmarks

You can nest a list of bookmarks to show a relationship between topics. Nesting creates a parent/child relationship.
You can expand and collapse this hierarchical list as desired. Changing the order or nesting order of bookmarks does
not affect the appearance of your actual document.
❖ Do one of the following:

• To expand and collapse the bookmark hierarchy, click the triangle next to the bookmark icon to show or hide any
children it contains.

• To nest a bookmark under another bookmark, select the bookmark or range of bookmarks you want to nest, and
then drag the icon or icons onto the parent bookmark. Release the bookmark.
The bookmark or bookmarks you dragged are nested under the parent bookmark; however, the actual page remains
in its original location in the document.

Bookmarks panel showing bookmarks being nested under a parent bookmark

• To move a bookmark out of a nested position, select the bookmark or range of bookmarks you want to move. Drag
the icon or icons below and to the left of the parent bookmark. A black bar appears indicating where the bookmark
will be moved. Release the bookmark.

• To change the order of bookmarks, select a bookmark and move it to a new location. A black bar appears
indicating where the bookmark will be placed.

• To sort bookmarks, choose Sort Bookmarks from the Bookmarks panel menu. Bookmarks appear in the same
order as the pages they jump to.

Using movies and sounds in PDFs
Add movies and sound files to documents
You can add movies and sound clips to a document, or you can link to streaming video files on the Internet. Although
media clips cannot be played directly in the InDesign layout, they can be played when you export the document to
Adobe PDF or when you export the document to XML and repurpose the tags.
A poster is the image that represents a media clip. Each movie or sound can appear with or without a poster. If the
poster in InDesign is larger than the movie, the poster is clipped to the size of the movie in the exported PDF
document.

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QuickTime 6.0 or later is required to work with movies in InDesign. You can add QuickTime, AVI, MPEG, and SWF
movies, and you can add WAV, AIF, and AU sound clips. InDesign supports only 8- or 16-bit WAV files that are not
compressed.
Keep track of the media files you add to an InDesign document during the production cycle. If you move a linked
media clip after adding it to the document, use the Links panel to relink it. If you send the InDesign document to
another person, include any media files you add.
Note: For other users to view media in a PDF document, they must have Acrobat 6.x or later to play MPEG and SWF
movies, or Acrobat 5.0 or later to play QuickTime and AVI movies.

See also
“Export to PDF” on page 473
Add a movie or a sound file
1 Do any of the following:

• Choose File > Place, and then double-click the movie or sound file. Click where you want the movie to appear. (If
you drag to create the media frame, the movie boundary may appear cropped or skewed.)

• Drag the media file from Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS) into the document.
• To convert a frame into a media clip, select the frame and choose Object > Interactive > Movie Options or Sound
Options. This creates an empty movie or sound frame. (After you add a movie using this method, you may want
to choose Object > Fitting > Fit Frame To Content so that the frame is the same size as the movie.)
Note: When you place a movie or sound file, a media object appears in a frame. This media object links to the media
file. You can resize the media object to determine the size of the play area.
2 To change movie, sound, or poster options, double-click the media object.

To preview a media file, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and double-click a movie or sound object
using the Selection tool.
3 Export the document to Adobe PDF. Make sure that the Interactive Elements option is selected in the Export

Adobe PDF dialog box.

Select Interactive Elements so that media clips can be played in the PDF document.

Link to a movie on the Internet

You may want an object to link to a web URL that plays a streaming media file. After you export the document to
Adobe PDF or to a different format, clicking the object plays the movie, if an Internet connection is available.
1 If necessary, draw a rectangle to be used as the play area. You can add a poster to this frame later.
2 Select an object, and then choose Object > Interactive > Movie Options.
3 Click Specify A URL, and then type or paste the URL.

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4 Click Verify URL And Movie Size to make sure that the URL is valid. (You must have an Internet connection.)
5 Specify any other options, and then click OK.
Movie options

You can edit movie options by double-clicking the movie play area using the Selection tool, or by selecting the movie
object and choosing Object > Interactive > Movie Options.
Description Type a description that appears if the movie cannot be played in Acrobat. This description also acts as

alternative text for visually impaired users.
Choose A File To specify a different movie clip, click the Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS) button next to

Choose A File, and then double-click the new filename.
Embed Movie In PDF Embedding the media file increases the file size of the PDF document but frees you from
having to copy the media file to make it available to others. This option is not available if Specify A URL is selected.

You can override this setting by linking or embedding all media files, or you can use the settings for each object.
Embedded movies require Acrobat 6.0 and later, or Adobe Reader 6.0 and later.
Specify A URL To play a streaming video from a website, select Specify A URL, and then type or paste the URL.
Poster Specify the type of image that you want to appear in the play area.
Mode Determine whether the movie is played once and then closes (if it’s played in a floating window), played once

but stays open, or played in a continuous loop.
Play On Page Turn Play the movie when someone turns to the page of the PDF document on which the movie is

located.
Show Controller During Play Display a controller that lets users pause, start, and stop the movie.
Floating Window Play the movie in a separate window. If you select this option, specify the size ratio and position
on the screen. Increasing the size of the floating window may reduce image quality. The floating window scale is
based on the size of the original movie, not the size of the scaled movie in the document layout.

Sound options

You can edit sound options by double-clicking the sound play area using the Selection tool, or by selecting the sound
object and choosing Object > Interactive > Sound Options.
Description Type a description that appears if the sound cannot be played in Acrobat. This description also acts as

alternative text for visually impaired users.
File To specify a different sound clip, click the Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS) button next to File, and then

double-click the new filename.
Poster Specify the type of image that you want to appear in the play area.
Play On Page Turn Play the sound clip when someone turns to the page of the PDF document on which the sound

is located.
Do Not Print Poster Select this option if you do not want the poster to print in InDesign.
Embed Sound In PDF Embedding the media file increases the file size of the PDF document but prevents you from
having to send or copy the media file along with the PDF document.

You can override this setting by linking or embedding all media files, or you can use the settings for each object.
Sounds must be embedded to be played in some earlier versions of Acrobat.

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Poster options

You cannot simply use a placed image as a poster. Instead, specify any of the following types of poster images in the
Movie Options or Sound Options dialog box:
None Shows no poster for the movie or sound clip. This option is useful if you want the movie or sound clip to not

be visible on the page. For example, you may want the media to be played only when you turn the page, or you may
want a more complex design beneath the movie to show instead of the poster.
Standard Displays a generic movie or sound poster that isn’t based on the contents of the file.

To use a different standard poster, save an image as StandardMoviePoster.jpg or StandardSoundPoster.jpg, and
replace the existing file of the same name. (Use the system search utility to locate the existing poster files.)
Default Poster Displays the poster image packaged with the movie file. If the selected movie doesn’t have a frame

designated as the poster, the first frame of the movie is used as the poster image.
Choose Image As Poster Lets you select an image to use as the poster. Click Browse, and then double-click the image

you want to use. You can select bitmap graphics, not vector graphics, for posters.
To use an image as a poster, you can also use the Direct Selection tool to select the poster frame, and then use the
Place command to place a graphic inside the frame.
Choose Movie Frame As Poster Lets you select any video frame to use as the poster image. Supported formats
include AVI, MPEG, MOV, and SWF. Drag the slider or use the arrow keys to advance through the movie clip to the
desired frame, and then click OK.

Resize movie objects, posters, or frames
When you add a movie to the InDesign document, the movie object and poster appear in a frame. When you export
to PDF, the movie object’s boundary determines the size of the movie in the PDF document, not the frame size or
poster size.
For best results, keep the poster size and dimension the same as the movie. If you apply a clipping path or resize the
image, the exported PDF document may not include these changes.
If you want the PDF document to include a play area with feathering or other effects that may not export well when
applied to a poster, consider using a placed image for the play area, and then place a movie (without a poster) on top
of the placed image.

A
B
C

Resizing movie object
A. Poster B. Movie object C. Frame

❖ Do any of the following:

• To resize the movie object, poster, and frame, use the Scale tool

and drag one of the corner handles (hold down

Shift to maintain proportions).

• To resize only the frame, use the Selection tool

to drag a corner handle.

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• To resize the poster or media object, use the Direct Selection tool

to select the poster. Switch to the Selection

tool, and then drag a corner handle.
You can also use the Fitting commands (Object > Fitting) to resize a poster within a frame.

Choosing which PDF version to use with media files
When you export the InDesign document to Portable Document Format (PDF), you can determine which PDF
version is used. The PDF version determines which interactive options are available. Before you export, note the
following limitations:
If you export to PDF 1.3/1.4

• Non-RGB movie or sound posters aren’t visible in the exported PDF document.
• SWF and MPEG movies aren’t playable in the exported PDF document.
• Clipping paths applied to movie or sound posters don’t appear in the exported PDF document. Posters are resized
to match the movie page item.

• Movies cannot be embedded.
• Sounds cannot be linked.
If you export to PDF 1.5 or later

QuickTime is specified as the preferred player when exporting to PDF. To change the preferred player, you must edit
the rendition in Acrobat 6.0 or later.
If you export to any PDF version

• Non-rectangular media frames don’t appear in the exported PDF document.
• Hyperlinks applied to movies, sounds, or buttons are not active in the exported PDF document. However, you can
add those hyperlinks using Acrobat Professional.

• Rotated or sheared movies and posters may not appear correctly in the exported PDF document.
• Any masking applied to movie frames or posters is not supported.

See also
“Export to PDF” on page 473

Creating buttons for PDFs
Create buttons
You can create buttons that perform an action when the document is exported to PDF format. For example, you can
create a button that jumps to a different page of the PDF document or plays a movie clip.

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Button set up to play movie

After you create a button, you can do the following:

• Make the buttons interactive.
• Use the States panel to define the appearance the button takes in response to certain actions.
• Set the tab order of buttons on a page.
Note: If you set a hyperlink destination to a button, the hyperlink will have no effect in the exported PDF document.
Create buttons using the button tool

When you create a button using the Button tool, you can drag the button area, or you can click to specify the height
and width in a dialog box.
❖ Select the Button tool

in the Tools panel, and then do one of the following:

• Click where you want the upper left corner of the button to appear, specify the width and height in the Button
dialog box that appears, and then click OK.

• Drag across the area where you want the button to appear.
As with other Adobe drawing tools, you can hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to draw from the center,
hold down Shift to constrain the object to a square, or press the spacebar after you begin dragging to move the object.
You may want to add navigation buttons (such as Next Page or Previous Page) to a master page. In the exported PDF
document, the button appears on all document pages to which the master is applied.
Convert an object to a button
1 Use the Selection tool to select the image, shape, or text frame that you want to convert.

You cannot convert a movie, sound, or poster to a button.
2 Choose Object > Interactive > Convert to Button.
Define button properties
1 Do one of the following:

• Use the Selection tool

to select the button, and then choose Object > Interactive > Button Options.

• Using the Selection tool, double-click the button. If the button contains text, double-click the frame border.
2 Click the General tab, and then do the following:
Name Type a name that distinguishes the button from other buttons you create.
Description Type a description that appears when the mouse pointer passes over the button in Acrobat. The

description also acts as alternative text for visually impaired users.

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Visibility In PDF Specify whether you want the button to be visible or invisible in the exported PDF document, and

whether you want the button to be printed. You may want to hide the button so that you can display it only during
mouse rollover.
3 Click the Behaviors tab, specify what happens when the button is acted on, and then click OK.
Convert a button to an object
1 Use the Selection tool to select the button.
2 Choose Object > Interactive > Convert From Button.

When you use the Convert From Button command, the contents of the button remain on the page without the button
properties.

Change the appearance of button states
Just as an image is contained in a graphics frame and text is contained in a text frame, a button appearance is
contained in a button frame. However, unlike other frames, a button frame can have multiple child objects that apply
to different states.
Each button can have as many as three states: Up, Rollover, and Down. The Up state appears unless the mouse pointer
moves into the area (Rollover) or the mouse button is clicked on the button area (Down). Different appearances can
be applied to each of these three states. You can select from a set of preset appearances, or you can create and define
new states.
By default, any button you create is defined with the Up state containing the button’s text or image. When you create
a new state, the appearance of the currently selected state is used. To distinguish a state from the others, you can then
add text or an image, or you can delete the state’s contents and add new contents. If you convert an object to a button,
the contents become the Up state of the button.

Button states
A. Pointer not over button area (Up) B. Pointer enters button area (Rollover) C. Pointer clicks (Down)

Change the appearance of a button’s states
1 Choose Window > Interactive > States to display the States panel.
2 Using the Selection tool

, select the button in the layout that you want to edit.

3 Do one of the following:

• In the States panel, select a preset option from the Appearance menu. The preset options create slightly different
button appearances for the Up, Rollover, and Down states.

• From the States panel menu, choose New State to create the Rollover state. Choose New State again to create the
Down state. If the Up, Down, and Rollover states exist, the New State option is dimmed.
4 To change the appearance of a state, do any of the following:

• To place a text file or image in the state, select the state in the States panel, and then either choose File > Place or
choose Place Content Into State from the States panel menu. Double-click the filename of the text or graphic.

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• To paste an image or a text frame, copy it to the Clipboard, select the state in the States panel, and then choose
Edit > Paste Into.

• To type text, select the state in the States panel. Using the Type tool, click the button and type the text. For buttons
converted from other objects such as placed images, choose Delete Content From States from the States panel
menu, click OK to delete the contents, and then use the Type tool to click on the button and enter the text.
Use the Control panel to format the text. Use the Text Frame Options dialog box to center the text within the button.

• To change the stroke and fill of the state’s contents (such as a text frame), select the state in the States panel and
use the Direct Selection tool to select the button contents. In the Swatches panel, select the Fill or Stroke icon
and specify whether the stroke applies to text or the frame, and then click a color in the Swatches panel. You can
also use the Stroke or Color panel to change the appearance.
Change the contents in button states
1 Select the state in the States panel.

The state selected in the States panel determines the content that appears in the button frame on the InDesign page.
Thumbnail icons in the States panel display the content of each state.
2 Do any of the following:

• To delete the contents of a state, choose Delete Content From State from the States panel menu.
• To add new contents to a state, choose Place Content Into State from the States panel menu.
• To disable a state without deleting it, click the check box icon next to the state to deselect it. Disabled states are not
exported to the PDF file.

• To delete a state, click the Delete button.
Note: You cannot delete or disable the Up state.
Create button rollover effects

In some cases, you may want the button area to be invisible until the mouse pointer is moved over it. One way to
achieve this effect is to apply an image to the Rollover state in the States panel.
1 Create the first button that will act as the hot spot.
2 Create the second button that will be displayed during rollover. You may want to place an image and then convert
it to a button.

You can also create a button that displays a second button. This is especially useful if you want one button to act as
a “hot spot” area that displays a larger image, or an image in a different area. For example, when you move a pointer
over a map, an image could be displayed that represents a region, and the image could disappear when the pointer
moves away from the region.

In the exported PDF, holding the pointer over a hot spot causes an image to appear.

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Making buttons interactive
You can create, edit, and manage interactive effects in InDesign. When the document is exported to Adobe PDF,
these interactive behaviors are active in the PDF document. For example, suppose you want to create a button that
causes a sound to play. You can place the sound file in an InDesign document, and then create a button that causes
the sound to play when you click the button in the PDF document.
In this example, clicking the mouse button is the event, and playing the sound is the behavior.

This button is set to play a sound when the mouse button is released.

Create interactive button behaviors

You can assign behaviors to different events. For example, you can specify a sound to play when the mouse pointer
enters the button area, and a movie to play when the mouse button is clicked and released. You can also assign
multiple behaviors to the same event. For example, you can create a behavior that plays a movie and sets the view
zoom to Actual Size.
1 Create a button.
2 Use the Selection tool
Behaviors tab.

to select the button, choose Object > Interactive > Button Options, and then click the

3 Choose an event, such as Mouse Up, that determines how behaviors are activated.
4 Choose a behavior for when the event is activated, and specify the characteristics of the behavior.
5 Click Add. The behavior appears under the event in the list box in the Button Options dialog box.
6 Continue to add as many events and behaviors as needed. When you’re done, click OK.

To test the behaviors you add, make sure that the Interactive Elements option is selected when you export the
document to PDF, and then open the PDF document in Acrobat 6, or Adobe Reader 6.
Note: When creating behaviors, remember to click the Add button. If you just click OK to close the dialog box, the event
and behavior are not added.
Edit or delete a button behavior
1 Use the Selection tool to select the button, choose Object > Interactive > Button Options, and then click the

Behaviors tab.
2 Do any of the following, and then click OK:

• To expand or collapse events in the list box, click the triangle icons.
• To deactivate behaviors and events, deselect the check box next to the item. Deactivating events and behaviors can
be useful for testing purposes.

• To change the order, drag and drop behaviors and events. You can drag a behavior from one event to another.

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• To delete a behavior, select the behavior in the list box, and click Delete.
• To edit a behavior, select the behavior in the list box, change the settings, and then click Update. If you need to
replace a behavior for an existing event, delete the behavior, and then add the new behavior to the event.
Event types

Events determine how behaviors are activated in buttons when the document is exported to Adobe PDF. (In Acrobat,
events are called triggers.)
Mouse Up When the mouse button is released after a click. This is the most commonly used event, because it gives

the user one last chance to drag the cursor off the button and not activate the behavior.
Mouse Down When the mouse button is clicked (without being released). Unless you have a specific reason for using

Mouse Down, it’s preferable to use Mouse Up so that users have a chance to cancel the behavior.
Mouse Enter When the mouse pointer enters the button area defined by the button’s bounding box.
Mouse Exit When the mouse pointer exits the button area.
On Focus When the button receives focus, either through a mouse action or pressing the Tab key.
On Blur When the focus moves to a different button or form field.

Behavior types

When you create a behavior, you specify the event that causes the behavior. (In Acrobat, behaviors are called actions.)
You can assign the following behaviors to occur when the event type is activated:
Close Closes the PDF document.
Exit Exits the application, such as Adobe Reader, in which the PDF document is open.
Go To Anchor Jumps to the specified bookmark or hyperlink anchor in the InDesign document you specify.
Go To [page] Jumps to the first, last, previous, or next page in the PDF document. Select an option from the Zoom

menu to determine how the page is displayed.
Go To Previous View Jumps to the most recently viewed page in the PDF document, or returns to the last used zoom size.
Go To Next View Jumps to a page after going to the previous view. In the same way that a Forward button is available
in a web browser only after someone clicks the Back button, this option is available only if the user has jumped to a
previous view.
Go To URL Opens the web page of the specified URL.
Movie Lets you play, pause, stop, or resume the selected movie. Only movies that have been added to the document

appear in the Movie menu.
Open File Launches and opens the file that you specify. If you specify a file that is not PDF, the reader needs the
native application to open it successfully. Specify an absolute pathname (such as C:\docs\sample.pdf).
Show/Hide Fields Toggles between showing and hiding a field in a PDF document.
Sound Lets you play, pause, stop, or resume the selected sound clip. Only sound clips that have been added to the

document appear in the Sound menu.
View Zoom Displays the page according to the zoom option you specify. You can change the page zoom level (such
as Actual Size), the page layout (such as Continuous - Facing), or the rotation orientation.

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Create jumps to hyperlink anchors
If you create a bookmark or hyperlink anchor in an InDesign document, you can cause a button to jump to that
anchor, even if it’s in another InDesign document. Use the Bookmarks panel and Hyperlinks panel to add anchors.
1 Create a button, and then double-click it using the Selection tool

to display the Button Options dialog box.

2 Click the Behaviors tab.
3 For Event, choose Mouse Up or another option that will trigger the jump.
4 For Behavior, choose Go To Anchor.
5 Select one of the open InDesign documents, or click Browse and select the file.
6 Specify an anchor that was created using the Bookmarks panel or Hyperlinks panel.
7 Select an option from the Zoom menu to determine how the page is displayed.
8 Click Add to add the behavior, and then click OK.

Note: If you specify an anchor in a different document, remember to export that target document to PDF, and use the
same filename as the InDesign document, replacing the INDD extension with PDF. Also, store the PDF documents in
the same folder to make sure that the links remain valid in Acrobat and Reader.

See also
“Create bookmarks” on page 498
“Create hyperlinks” on page 494

Set the button tab order
The tab order determines the next (or previous) field to receive focus when a user presses Tab (or Shift+Tab) in the
PDF document. The tab order includes buttons on hidden layers, but not buttons on master pages.
1 Go to the page containing the buttons.
2 Choose Object > Interactive > Set Tab Order.
3 Select each button you want to move and drag it to its new position, or click the Move Up and Move Down buttons.
When you’re done, click OK.

If you use Acrobat to add more form fields to the page, you may need to specify a new tab order in Acrobat.

510

Chapter 19: XML
Adobe InDesign CS3 is one of many applications that can produce and use XML. After you tag content in an
InDesign file, you save and export the file as XML so that it can be repurposed in another InDesign file or another
application. Similarly, you can import an XML file into InDesign and instruct InDesign to display and format the
XML data any way you want.

Working with XML
About XML
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is way to repurpose data in a file or automate the process of replacing the data
in one file with data from another file. XML employs tags to describe parts of a file—a heading or a story, for example.
These tags mark data so it can be stored in an XML file and handled appropriately when it is exported to other files.
Think of XML as a translation mechanism for data. XML tags label text and other content in a file so that applications
can recognize and present the data.
Extensible language

XML is considered an extensible language because individuals create their own XML tags—they can create one tag
for each type of information that they want to repurpose. XML tags don’t carry information about how data is
supposed to be displayed or formatted. XML tags are strictly for identifying content.
In InDesign, for example, you can create a Heading1 tag and assign it to each first-level heading in a document. After
you save the document as an XML file, the Heading1 content can be imported and put to use—by any application
that can read XML—as a web page, printed catalog, directory, price list, or database table.
InDesign is one of many applications that can produce and use XML. After you tag content in an InDesign file, you
save and export the file as XML so that it can be repurposed in another InDesign file or another application.
Similarly, you can import an XML file into InDesign and instruct InDesign to display and format the XML data any
way you want.
In InDesign, you can create XML tags and tag parts of a document even if you’re not experienced with XML.
InDesignhandles XML programming behind the scenes and creates the XML for you when you export a document
in XML format.
Important: Do not confuse XML tags with InDesign tagged text. For more information about tagged text, which is a
different method of exporting and importing InDesigncontent, see the Tagged Text PDF on the installation DVD.
XML data structure

The element is the building block of XML data; an element is data that has been tagged. In XML files, elements are
nested within other elements to create a hierarchical structure for the data.
You can see the structure of XML data in the Structure pane, which displays the hierarchy and sequence of elements.
In the XML structure, child elements are contained by parent elements, which in turn may also be child elements.
Or, seen from the other direction, parent elements contain child elements, and these child elements may in turn be
parent elements to other child elements.

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For example, in the following image, you can see a chapter element that contains (is the parent of) several recipe
elements. Each recipe element, in turn, is the parent of elements called recipename, ingredients, instructions, notes, and servings. All elements are contained inside the Root element, which always appears at the top
of the Structure pane.

XML in InDesign Structure pane (left) and placed in layout (right)

For more information on using XML in InDesign, visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_XMLscript.

See also
“Structure pane overview” on page 530
“Place (import) text” on page 117

XML tools
InDesign provides the Structure pane and the Tags panel for working with XML content. The Structure pane displays
all the elements in the document and their hierarchical structure. To help you identify each element, InDesign
displays its element tag and an icon that indicates what type of content it holds. In addition, the Structure pane can
display the first few words of text in an element, called a snippet.

E
A

Structure pane (left) and Tags panel (right)
A. Triangles to expand or collapse elements B. Element (placed in layout) C. Element (not in layout) D. Text snippet E. Element tag

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The Structure pane lets you view, edit, and manage XML elements. You use the Structure pane in many ways when
working with XML. For example, to place imported XML content into the layout, you can drag elements from the
Structure pane directly to a page. You also use the Structure pane to adjust the hierarchy of the elements. You can
add elements, attributes, comments, and processing instructions by way of the Structure pane.
The Tags panel lists tags for elements. You can import, export, add, delete, and rename tags. You use the Tags panel
to apply element tags to content that you plan to export to XML, and to apply tags to frames before importing XML
content into them.

See also
“Structure pane overview” on page 530

About DTD files
To share XML data with others, you need to agree on a standard set of tag names and element attributes so that
everyone in your group uses and applies tags the same way. One method for handling the sharing of XML data is to
use a document type definition (DTD) file.
A DTD file provides a set of elements and attributes for members of the group to use. It also defines the rules about
where elements can appear in the structural hierarchy. For example, the DTD file may require the Title element to
be a child of the Story element because the title is supposed to appear inside the story; if you tag a title without
tagging the story it appears in, the DTD file marks the Title element as invalid. You can search for and flag invalid
structural errors in an InDesign file with a DTD file. This process is called validating.
To use a DTD file (if your document doesn’t already contain one), you load it into your document. This imports the
element names from the DTD into the Tags panel. Others who have loaded the same DTD file have the same element
names, which ensures that everyone in the group uses the same elements. The imported elements are locked, which
means they can’t be deleted or renamed unless the DTD file is deleted from the document.
You may find that a DTD file created by a group or industry similar to yours includes tags and structures that meet
your needs. For a current list of registered DTDs, visit www.xml.com/pub/rg/DTD_Repositories (English only).

See also
“Use DTD files to validate XML” on page 536

XML rule sets
XML rule sets are sets of instructions written in a scripting language (such as JavaScript or AppleScript) that evaluate
XML data and take certain actions if that data meets certain conditions. Each rule consists of at least one condition
and at least one action. A rule evaluates the XML data against the conditions, and if a condition is met, then it takes
the appropriate action. For example, an XML rule can specify that whenever the Paragraph element appears under
the Subhead element (a condition), a specific style (an action) is applied; or that whenever the Product element (a
condition) appears, a new frame is created and a product image is imported (actions). XML rules are a means of
dynamically creating and formatting layouts based on XML.
For an in-depth look at using XML rule sets with InDesign, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_XMLrules and
www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_XMLscript.

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Importing XML
XML import and layout methods
After you import XML data, the imported content appears as elements (the basic building blocks of XML) in the
Structure pane. InDesign doesn’t create new frames or pages when you import XML.
Append or merge?

You can import XML using one of two modes: append or merge. The method you choose depends on your workflow
(manual or automated), how you want to handle existing content in your document, and whether you want advanced
options for handling the imported data.
Append mode When you append imported content, the existing structure and content of the document are left as
is; the new XML content is placed on the bottom of the Structure pane, in the form of elements.
Merge mode When you merge imported content, InDesign compares the incoming XML with the structure and

names of elements already in your document. If the elements match, imported data replaces existing document
content, and is merged into correctly tagged frames (or placeholders) in the layout. (Elements for which InDesign
can’t find a matching name and hierarchy rank are placed on the Structure pane so that you can place them
manually.) Merge mode not only makes automated layout possible, it provides more advanced import options,
including the ability to filter incoming text and clone elements for repeating data.
Content layout

After importing XML content, your next step is to place it in your document. You can place content manually,
automatically, or by using scripting. The method you choose depends on the content you’re importing, your
document’s layout, and your workflow process.
Place content manually With the manual method, you drag elements from the Structure pane onto the pages of your
document or into frames. This method requires little setup or planning. Use this method if the type of content you
import varies or if you acquire content from multiple sources.

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Manually placing imported XML content

Place content automatically By planning ahead, you can automate the process of placing XML data in your layout.
To place XML content automatically, you first prepare the document by creating tagged placeholder frames to hold
incoming XML. As long as the XML structure and tag names for incoming content matches the tag names and
structure of the placeholder frames, InDesign can place the imported XML automatically in your document.
InDesign can also clone elements to handle repeating data such as address lists and catalogue material. Use the
automatic layout method as part of a structured workflow process to speed production time and efficiency.

The selected placeholder frame (above) is tagged with the Story element. When XML data is imported (bottom), the Story element placeholder
frame is automatically populated with the Story element content.

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Note: InDesign recognizes special namespace attributes that can specify paragraph or character styles in XML. For more
information, see the XML technical reference guide and other resources at www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_XMLscript.

About merging
You can place XML data in a document using merge mode or append mode. Merging mode allows you to automate
the placement of content. You can also filter data in the XML file to place only certain parts of the content.
Merge incoming XML content when:

• The document contains placeholder frames and you want to fill them with imported XML content.
• The document contains XML content and you want to replace it with imported XML content.
• The document doesn’t contain any XML structure, and you want InDesign to replace the default root with the root
of the incoming XML file.
Merge mode compares incoming XML data to elements already in the document. It moves through the file, element
by element, comparing incoming elements to existing elements in the following manner:
1 InDesign begins comparing at the root element

• If the root elements of the imported XML file and In Design document don’t match and the Structure pane contains
no existing structure, InDesign replaces the root of the XML file with the default root and imports the file.

• If the root elements don’t match and the Structure pane already contains elements, InDesign appends the file at
the end of the existing structure.

• If the root elements do match, the merge (and matching) process moves forward.
2 InDesign moves to the element under the root

Starting with the element just beneath the root in the incoming XML file, InDesign searches for a matching element
in the Structure pane. For a match to occur, the incoming XML element must have the same name as an existing
element in the Structure pane, and the two elements must exist at the same level in the hierarchy.

• If InDesign finds a matching element in the Structure pane, it replaces the element in the Structure pane with the
element from the incoming XML file.

• If InDesign doesn’t find a match, it inserts the incoming element in the Structure pane at the starting point of the
search. For example, if the search begins just below the root and a match isn’t found, the incoming element is
placed just below the root.
3 InDesign continues to compare elements

Element by element, InDesign continues to compare the incoming XML against the existing structure. The starting
point for the search in the Structure pane changes as the search progresses, with each search beginning just below
the last element inserted or replaced. InDesign always moves down from the current location; it never places
elements above the previous element it inserted or replaced.

Import and append XML data
When you import XML content, the new elements appear in the Structure pane. From there, you can drag elements
to place them in your document.
1 Open an InDesign document or create a new document to receive the XML content.

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2 Open the Structure pane. (Choose View > Structure > Show Structure, or click the splitter button
bottom of the document window.)

at the

3 Choose File > Import XML (or choose Import XML on the Structure pane menu) and select the XML file you

want to import.
4 Select Show XML Import Options.
5 Select Append Content, and then click Open.
6 To link the XML content to the original XML file, select Create Link.

InDesign will list the XML file in the Links panel and display a yellow alert triangle in the panel if the XML file
changes.
7 Click OK.

See also
“Link or embed imported text files” on page 121
“Import and merge XML” on page 522

Lay out XML manually
You can manually place XML content in your document layout by dragging elements from the Structure pane to the
page or to existing frames. When you place an element, its child elements (and all child elements below those, if any)
are placed as well.
In the Structure panel, a structure-specific blue diamond appears on an element’s icon if the element has been placed
in the document; elements that haven’t been placed show an unplaced icon.
Note: If you imported XML using the Merge Content option, some elements may already be laid out. When you merge
imported content, InDesign automatically flows elements into existing frames if they are identically structured and
tagged.
1 Open the Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure) and select the element that you want to lay out.
2 Do either of the following for each element you want to place in your document:

• Drag the element onto the page. InDesign creates a frame for the element.
• Drag the element onto an existing frame. If the frame contains content, it is replaced by content from the XML data.
3 To format the items you lay out, do any of the following:

• Map XML tags to paragraph and character styles.
• Apply styles to elements.
• Format the selected content manually by choosing text options in the Control panel.

Map XML tags to styles
XML tags are merely data descriptions; they carry no formatting instructions. As such, you need to format XML
content after you import it and lay it out. One way to do that is to map XML tags to paragraph, character, table, or
cell styles. For example, the Byline tag could be mapped to the Author character style, so that all imported and
placed XML content that is tagged Byline is automatically assigned the Author character style. Mapping tags to
styles makes formatting imported XML content easier and less time-consuming.

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You don’t need to map every tag to a paragraph or character style. Some elements may not appear in the layout and
others may be easier to format one at a time. Moreover, child elements take on the paragraph or character style that
is assigned to their parent, which can cause confusion unless you are careful to map parent and child elements
separately.
Important: The Map Tags To Styles command reapplies styles throughout a document, sometimes with unwanted
results. When you map a tag to a style, text that was previously assigned to one style may be reassigned to another,
depending on its XML tag. If you’ve already formatted some text, you might prefer to apply styles manually to prevent
your paragraph and character style choices from being overridden.
1 Choose Map Tags To Styles from the Tags panel menu or the Structure pane menu.

A menu of styles appears for each tag in the Map Tags To Styles dialog box

2 Do any of the following:

• To import styles, tags, and mapping definitions from another document, click Load, choose a document, and click
Open.

• To map tags to styles individually, click the Style column adjacent to a tag, and choose a paragraph or character
style from the menu that appears. (The paragraph symbol identifies paragraph styles in the menu; an “A” identifies
character styles.) Repeat for each tag you want to map.

• To automatically map tags to styles with the same names, click Map By Name. Styles with names that are identical
to tag names are selected in the Style column. To match, a tag and style must not only have the same name, but the
same case; H1 and h1, for example, are not considered a match. (If the same style name exists in two different style
groups, Map By Name doesn’t work and you are alerted to rename one of the styles.)
3 Click OK.

See also
“Define paragraph and character styles” on page 166
“Create and load XML tags” on page 524

About automatic layout
Using InDesign, you can automatically place imported XML content into a layout. To do this, you first create placeholder frames or tables, and tag them with the same tag names as the XML elements you want to place into them.
Then, you import XML content into the placeholders in Merge mode. When tags match by name and by structural
hierarchy, InDesign merges the XML content, replacing any existing content in the document.

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This technique is useful when you want to use the same layout for different sets of content. For example, a weekly
newsletter may have the same layout from week to week, but offer different content with each publication.
In order for imported XML to be merged directly into a layout, your document must meet these requirements:

• Frames (or tables) in the document must be tagged with identical tag names as elements in the XML file that you
intend to import.

• The structure of the document (as shown in the Structure pane) must parallel the structure of the imported XML
file. In other words, the identically named elements must be found in the same locations in the structure hierarchy
of both files. To achieve this parallel structure, you may have to rearrange and reorder elements (and their child
elements) in the Structure pane or use the Apply XSLT option when you import the XML file.
Note: InDesign flows merged XML content into existing frames only. Any element content that doesn’t fit in its frame (or
series of threaded frames) becomes overset text.

See also
“Thread text frames” on page 122
“Tag items” on page 525
“Rearrange structured elements” on page 531

Working with repeating data
XML is repeating if the same configuration of elements appears multiple times in a row, but the contains unique data
in each instance. For example, database records are repeating. Addresses in a database table contain repeated information—name, street address, city, state, postal code—for a variety of individuals.
When you import repeating XML content, you can tell InDesign to clone the repeated elements in the structure.
Cloning allows you to merge repeating XML data into a document without having to create placeholder elements in
the Structure pane (or placeholder text in a frame) for every single record. For example, to import an XML address
list with 25 entries, create a matching element structure for one entry in the Structure pane. When you import the
complete list, InDesign clones that structure to create elements for all 25 entries.
Repeating XML content is flowed as a single story when it is merged into the document. If placeholder frames have
been threaded together, the content is flowed from one frame to the next. If there isn’t enough room in the placeholder frame(s) to accommodate the XML content, you can autoflow the remaining content by creating and
threading more frames; you don’t have to manually drag elements from the Structure pane into individual frames.

Threaded placeholder in layout (left) and layout after import (right)

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Create placeholders for automatic layout
Create placeholder frames or tables in your document when you want InDesign to automatically merge imported
XML into your layout.
Note: InDesign flows merged XML content into existing frames only. Any content that doesn’t fit in the frames provided
becomes overset text.
You can also create placeholder text to ensure XML data is placed and formatted correctly on the page. Placeholder
text can also be used to include tabs, spacing, or labels (called static text), between the XML elements that will appear
in a frame.

A
B

Tagged placeholder text (left) and layout after import (right)
A. Returns and static text added between elements B. Placeholder text

For example, if you are importing and placing product information, you can separate the name, description, and
price of the product with a tab, and include labels such as “Product:” or “Price:” before the placeholder text entries
for those elements. When XML data is merged into the frame, static labels, spacing, and tabs are preserved between
the content elements.
Note: If you merge repeating XML data into your document and instruct InDesign to clone repeating elements, the static
text and spacing are also cloned for each instance of the data.

See also
“Thread text frames” on page 122
“Create and load XML tags” on page 524
“Rearrange structured elements” on page 531
“Tag items” on page 525
Create a placeholder frame
1 Using the Type tool, create a text frame for the XML content.

If you want imported XML content to flow from one frame to another, create multiple frames and thread them
together.
2 Open the Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure) and the Tags panel (Window > Tags).

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3 If the Tags panel does not contain tags with names identical to the XML elements you plan to import, create the
tags or load the tags from the XML file.
4 Tag the placeholder frame with the appropriate tag from the Tags panel. (When you tag a frame, any frames

threaded to it are assigned the same tag.)
5 If necessary, arrange or add elements in the Structure pane to match the elements and structure of the XML you
will be importing.
Create a placeholder table

You can import XML elements into a placeholder table as well as a placeholder frame. In a table, each cell is represented by an element. InDesign places XML content into the table cell by cell, element by element, starting from the
top left corner of the table, matching the element to the tagged cell. When creating placeholder tables, you must tag
the table as well as each cell in the table. (Merged cells are considered a single cell.)
Because InDesign doesn’t distinguish between rows and columns when importing, the number of columns in the
placeholder must match the number of columns in the imported content. Also, all the table cell elements must be
contained within a single table element. In other words, the cells are all sibling elements under the same parent.

Placeholder table (above) and flow of XML content into placeholder table (below)

1 Open the Tags panel (Window > Tags) and the Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure).
2 If the Tags panel doesn’t contain tag names identical to the names of the XML table elements you plan to import,
either load tags from an existing document or create the tags.

Note: At a minimum you must have tags for the parent element of the table cells, the table cells, and the element in which
the table will reside.
3 Create a table containing the appropriate number of columns for the XML content. You don’t need to create the
exact number of rows, as InDesign will add rows to the table if needed.
4 With an insertion point in the table, choose Table > Select > Table, and select the appropriate tag in the Tags panel.

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5 Tag each cell of the table with the desired tag. Depending on the structure of your XML content, you can either
select and tag the cells individually, or you can select an entire row or column—for example, if you want to tag the
first, or heading row—and tag all the selected cells using the same tag.
6 As necessary, rearrange and add elements in the Structure pane so that your document has the same elements and
structure as the XML file you will import.
Create placeholder structure for repeating data

The same rules for merging XML also apply when merging repeating XML: The structure of the elements in the
Structure pane must parallel the structure of the imported XML data, and any placeholder frames must be tagged
with the same tag names as the parent elements in the XML file.

A
B

Structure pane showing structure of placeholder text
A. Element that will contain all repeated elements B. Element that will be cloned as repeating XML content is imported C. Child elements for
data contained in the repeating element

1 First, you will need a parent or root element that describes the collection of information, or records, you will

import.
For example, a Chapter element that will contain a series of recipes.
2 Under that parent, create one element that describes the information (or record) that will repeat.

For example, under the Chapter element, you might create a Recipe element. This is the element that will be cloned
for each record in the imported XML.
3 Under this element, create child elements to describe the units of information (or fields) that make up the record.

For example, under the Recipe element, you might create Recipename, Ingredients, Instructions, Notes, and
Serving elements.
To include labels, returns, or tabs between “field” elements in the repeating XML data, create placeholder elements
in the frame the imported content will be merged into. And add spacing or labels as needed between the placeholders.
Create placeholder text
1 Open an existing document, or create a new document for the XML.
2 Open the Tags panel (Window > Tags) and the Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure).
3 Make sure the Tags panel contains tag names that are identical to the names of elements you will import with the
XML file, and create new tags or load the necessary tags if necessary.

Importing a sample of the XML content is the easiest way to obtain all the necessary tags and to ensure that the
document structure matches the XML file.
4 Create placeholder frames (and thread them together) as needed for your XML content.

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5 Using the Text tool, click in the first frame to create an insertion point, and type placeholder text for each element
you want to merge into that frame. Include any spacing you want between elements, as well as any static text.

Note: If you will be importing repeating data, you only need to create one instance of sample text for the elements that
will repeat.
6 Format the text as you want it to appear in the final document.
7 Tag the text frame with the tag for the parent element that will contain the elements (or repeating data) you want

to import into that frame.
8 Position the insertion point in the placeholder text and choose Edit > Edit In Story Editor.
9 Choose View > Structure > Show Tag Markers.
10 Choose Edit > Select All.
11 In the Tags panel, select Add Tag, and then click the tag you assigned to the frame.

InDesign wraps the placeholder text with the tag, and adds the element to the Structure pane.
12 Select the text representing the first child element and click its tag in the Tags panel. Repeat until you have tagged

all the child placeholder text.
Important: When tagging placeholder text, do not select any spacing or static text you want to keep between elements.
Tag only the text you want replaced with XML content.
13 In the Structure pane, review the hierarchy created by your tagging to ensure it matches the structure of the XML

content you will import.

Import and merge XML
After you have created and tagged placeholder frames, tables, and text—and made sure that your document and the
incoming XML file have the same tags and structure—you can import XML content into your layout.
You must use the Merge Content option to import XML into placeholders (or to replace existing content in your
document). When merging content, InDesign replaces identically tagged and structured elements in your document
with the imported XML elements. You can use additional import options to exclude imported (that is, filter) content
that doesn’t match the document structure, to delete document items that aren’t matched or replaced by the imported
XML, and to clone repeating XML elements.
If the imported XML file contains elements that are not found in the document, InDesign places these elements in
the Structure pane without laying them out in your document.
To successfully merge XML into placeholders, keep these rules in mind:

• Tag placeholders with the identical tag name as the XML element that will replace it (or be flowed into it).
• In placeholder text, make sure any spacing, returns, tabs or static text is outside the placeholder element tags, but
within the parent element for the story.

• When you import the XML, select Do Not Import Contents Of Whitespace-Only Elements. (This preserves
spacing and static text if the XML elements you import consist of white spaces only.)
Merge XML into existing content or placeholders
1 Open the InDesign document that contains placeholders for the XML content.
2 Open the Structure pane (View > Structure > Show Structure).

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3 Choose File > Import XML (or choose Import XML on the Structure pane menu) and then select the XML file
you want to import.
4 Select Show XML Import Options.
5 Select Merge Content, and then click OK.
6 To link the XML content to the original XML file, select Create Link.

InDesign will list the XML file in the Links panel and display a yellow alert triangle in the panel if the XML source
file changes.
7 Select additional import options as needed:
Clone Repeating Text Elements If you are importing repeating XML, clones a single placeholder element to create a
container for each record in the file.
Only Import Elements That Match Existing Structure Filters the incoming XML, so that elements that do not exist in

the Structure pane are not imported.
Do Not Import Contents Of Whitespace-Only Elements Preserves any spacing or static text inserted between

elements in a placeholder frame.
Delete Elements, Frames, And Content That Do Not Match Imported XML After XML has been imported, deletes any
elements or placeholders in your document that were not matched (or replaced) by incoming data.

8 Click OK.

InDesign merges content into the document starting with the first matching element in the XML file.
XML Import options

When importing and placing XML data using the Merge Content option, the XML Import Options dialog box offers
the following options:
Create Link Links to the XML file so that if the XML file is updated, you can update its XML data in your InDesign

document.
Apply XSLT Applies a stylesheet to define the transformation of the imported XML. Select Browse (Windows) or
Choose (Mac OS) to select an XSLT file (.xsl or .xslt) from the file system. Use Stylesheet From XML, the default
option, causes InDesign to use an XSLT processing instruction, if one is present in the XML file, to transform the
XML data.
Clone Repeating Text Elements Replicates the formatting applied to tagged placeholder text for repeating content.
Create one formatting instance (for example, an address), and then reuse its layout to create other instances automatically. (See “Working with repeating data” on page 518.)
Only Import Elements That Match Existing Structure Filters the imported XML content so that only elements from

the imported XML file with matching elements in the document are imported.
Import Text Elements Into Tables If Tags Match Imports elements into a table if the tags match the tags applied to the

placeholder table and its cells. For example, use this option to place database records into a table when generating
price lists or inventory sheets.
Do Not Import Contents Of Whitespace-only Elements Leaves any existing content in place if the matching XML
content contains only whitespace (such as a return or tab character). Use this option if you’ve included text between
elements in your placeholder frames and you want to preserve this text. For example, when laying out recipes
generated from a database, you might add labels such as “Ingredients” or “Instructions.” As long as the parent
element that wraps each recipe contains only whitespace, InDesign leaves the label in place.

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Delete Elements, Frames, and Content That Do Not Match Imported XML Removes elements from the Structure

pane and the layout of the document if they don’t match any elements in the imported XML file. Use this option to
filter data from the document. For example, when importing names and addresses, you might have placeholder text
for an element containing the company name. If one of the names doesn’t include the company element, InDesign
deletes the element containing the placeholder text.
Import CALS Tables As InDesign Tables Imports any CALS tables in the XML file as InDesign tables.

Tagging content for XML
Create and load XML tags
Before you tag page items, create (or load) tags to identify each content type or item in your document. You can create
tags from scratch or load them from another source, such as an InDesign document, InCopy document, or DTD file.
Use any of the following methods to create or load XML tags for your document:

• Create a tag with the New Tag command.
• Load tags from an XML file or another document.
• Import a DTD file.
• Import tags (and content) using the Import XML command.

The Tags panel with a list of available tags

See also
“About XML” on page 510
“About DTD files” on page 512
Create an XML tag
1 Choose Window > Tags to open the Tags panel.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose New Tag from the Tags panel menu.
• Click the New Tag button

on the Tags panel.

3 Type a name for the tag. The name must conform to XML standards. If you include a space or an illegal character

in the tag name, an alert message appears.

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4 Select a color for the tag if you created your tag from the Tags panel menu. (If you created your tag with the New
Tag button, you can choose a color by changing the color of the tag.)

Note: You can assign the same color to different tags. The color you select appears when you apply the tag to a frame and
choose View > Structure > Show Tagged Frames, or when you apply the tag to text within a frame and choose View >
Structure > Show Tag Markers. (Tag colors do not appear in exported XML files.)
5 Click OK.
Load XML tags from another source

You can load tags from an XML file, an InDesign document, or an InCopy document.
Note: InDesignatically adds tags to the Tags panel when you load an XML file.
1 Choose Load Tags from the Tags panel menu.
2 Select the file containing the tags you want to load into the Tags panel, and then click Open.
Change tag name or color
1 Double-click a tag name in the Tags panel or choose Tag Options in the Tags panel menu.
2 Change the name or the color of the tag, and click OK.

Note: You cannot change the name of locked tags. InDesign automatically locks tags specified in a loaded DTD file. To
change the name of these tags, you must edit the DTD file and reload it into the document.

Tag items
Before you export content to an XML file, you must tag the text and other items (such as frames and tables) that you
want to export. You also need to tag items that you have created as placeholders for imported XML content. Items
that have been tagged appear as elements in the Structure pane.
Create (or load) tags to identify each content element that you want to export or import. Then tag text or page items
using one of these techniques:
Manual tagging Select a frame or text and then click a tag in the Tags panel, or simply drag a tag from the Tags panel

to a text or graphics frame.
Automatic tagging Select a text frame, table, table cells, or image, and then click the Autotag icon in the Tags panel.

Items are tagged according to your tagging preset options.
Map tags to styles Associate tags with paragraph, character, table, or cell styles, and then apply tags automatically to

text, a table, table cells, and paragraphs that were assigned those styles.
When tagging page items, note the following:

• You can apply tags to stories as well as to text within stories. For example, you might want to apply an Article tag
to a story, and then apply more specific tags, such as Title and Body, to paragraphs within the story.

• You can apply only one tag to a story. When you tag a frame in a threaded story, all other frames in the story, along
with any overset text, are assigned the same tag.

• You can apply only one tag to a graphics frame. When you tag a graphics frame, InDesign records a reference to
the graphic’s location (on disk).

• You cannot tag a group of objects. To tag an item that’s part of a group, use the Direct Selection tool
the item.

to select

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• When you tag text within a tagged element (such as a paragraph within a story), it appears as a child of the existing
element in the Structure pane.

• You can tag text or images on a master page, but only one instance of the corresponding element appears in the
Structure pane regardless of how many times the item appears on document pages. However, if you manually
override a master item and then tag it on a document page, the item will appear as a separate element in the
Structure pane.

• You can’t tag a footnote.
Note: Avoid tagging special characters, such as the Automatic Page Number character. When exporting, InDesign strips out
some special characters to comply with XML standards. InDesign warns you when characters cannot be encoded in XML.

See also
“Edit href attributes” on page 534
“Map XML tags to styles” on page 516
Tag frames manually

You can tag frames by using any of these methods.

• Drag a tag from the Tags panel onto a frame.
• Using a selection tool, select a frame, and then click a tag in the Tags panel.
If a frame is part of a group or nested within another frame, use the Direct Selection tool to select the frame.

• Open a frame’s context menu, choose Tag Frame, and then choose a tag.
• Using a selection tool, select an untagged text or graphics frame, drag the frame to the Structure pane, release the
mouse, and then select a tag name from the menu that appears.
Tag text within a text frame manually

When you tag text within a frame, the new element appears in the Structure pane as a child of the frame element in
which the text is located.
1 Make sure that the story in which the text appears is tagged. (If a story isn’t tagged and you tag text within the
story, InDesign automatically tags the story using the tag specified in the Tagging Preset Options dialog box.)
2 Using the Type tool, select text within the text frame.
3 Click a tag in the Tags panel.

Note: You can’t tag footnotes.
Tag text frames, tables, table cells, and images automatically

By clicking the Autotag icon in the Tags panel, you can tag a text frame, table, table cells, or an image automatically.
To tag the item, InDesign applies a default tag that you specify in the Tagging Preset Options dialog box.
1 Select the text frame, table, table cells, or image that you want to tag.
2 In the Tags panel, click the Autotag icon

InDesign adds the default tag’s name to the Tags panel after you click the Autotag icon.

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Tag content according to paragraph or character style

Paragraph styles and character styles you assign to text can be used as a means of tagging paragraphs and text for
XML. For example, a paragraph style called Caption can be associated with a tag called FigureName. Then, using the
Map Styles To Tags command, you can apply the FigureName tag to all text in your document assigned the Caption
paragraph style. You can map more than one style to the same tag.
Important: The Map Styles To Tags command tags content automatically, including paragraphs and characters that are
tagged already. For example, if a paragraph assigned the Context style has been tagged with the Body tag, but you then
associate the Context style with the Expository tag, the paragraph is retagged; it is stripped of the Body tag and given
the Expository tag instead. If you want to retain existing tags, apply tags manually (or use the Map Styles To Tags
command very carefully).
1 Choose Map Styles To Tags from the Tags panel menu.
2 For each style in your document, specify the tag that you want it to be mapped to.

Map Styles To Tags dialog box

3 To match style names to tag names, click Map By Name. Styles that are named identically to tag names are selected
in the dialog box. Map By Name is case-sensitive; Head1 and head1, for example, are treated as different tags.
4 To use style mappings set up in another InDesign file, click Load and select the file.
5 Select or deselect Include options:
Master Page Items Maps styles found on master page text frames to tags.
Pasteboard Items Maps styles found on text frames on the pasteboard to tags. (Deselect this option to avoid tagging

content on the pasteboard.)
Empty Frames Maps styles located on empty text frames to tags. (Deselect this option to avoid tagging empty

frames.)
6 Click OK.

The new XML tags are applied throughout your document to paragraph and character styles that you specified in
the Map Styles To Tags dialog box.
Note: You cannot tag images with the Map Styles To Tags command. You need to manually tag images if you want to
include them in an XML file.

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Tag text in tables

When you tag a table for XML, you create a table element as well as one cell element for each cell in the table. The
cell elements are child elements of the table element, and are created automatically.
1 Click in the table and choose Table > Select > Table.
2 Select a tag for the table in the Tags panel.

InDesign creates a cell element for each cell in the table (you can display them in the Structure pane). The tag applied
to table cell elements depends on your Autotag default settings.
3 If needed, tag table cells with a different tag.

For example, you can tag the first-row cells with a different tag to identify them as heading cells. To apply tags to
cells, select the actual table cells in your document, and then select a tag. (Selecting cells in the table also selects the
corresponding cell elements in the Structure pane.)
You can also tag a table by selecting it and then clicking the Autotag icon in the Tags panel. The Table tag (or another
tag of your choice) is applied immediately to the table, according to your Autotag default settings.

Specify Autotag defaults
When you select a text frame, table, table cells, or an image, and then click the Autotag icon in the Tags panel,
InDesign applies a default tag to the item you selected. You can specify these default tags in the Tagging Preset
Options dialog box.
Note: InDesign applies a default tag when you create an element that requires a parent element, but doesn’t yet have
one. For example, if you tag text within a text frame but the frame itself isn’t tagged, InDesign assigns the frame a tag
according to the Tagging Preset Options. The capability to apply default tags helps InDesign maintain correct XML
structure.
1 Choose Tagging Preset Options from the Tags panel menu.
2 Choose a default tag for text frames, tables, table cells, and images.

If the tag you need isn’t listed, you can choose New Tag from the menu and create a tag.

Show or hide tag markers and tagged frames
Tag markers are brackets that appear on the page around text that has been tagged. Show tag markers to see where
titles, headings, and other text has been tagged on a page. Tagged frames indicate where items such as text frames,
tables, and images have been tagged. The color assigned to a tag in the Tags panel determines the color of tag markers
and tagged frames. Tag markers and tagged frames only appear in Normal view.

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A tagged frame and, within it, tag markers.

❖ Do any of the following:

• To display color-coded tagged frames, choose View > Structure > Show Tagged Frames.
• To hide the color-coding of tagged frames, choose View > Structure > Hide Tagged Frames.
• To display color brackets around tagged text, choose View > Structure > Show Tag Markers.
• To hide color brackets around tagged text, choose View > Structure > Hide Tag Markers.
To minimize the risk of accidentally deleting a tag marker, edit tagged text in Story Editor, where tag markers are
more visible.

See also
“Use the Story Editor” on page 130
“About markers” on page 297

Untag or retag items
Untag an item to remove its tag but retain the associated content. Retag an item to replace the existing tag (you don’t
need to untag it first).
Untag an item
1 Select the element in the Structure pane, or select the page item or tagged text in the document layout.
2 Click Untag in the Tags panel.
Retag items

Use one of these techniques to retag an item:

• Using a selection tool, select a text frame, a graphics frame, or an element in the Structure pane, and then click a
different tag in the Tags panel.

• To retag a story, use the Type tool to place a insertion point anywhere in the story’s text. Select Retag in the Tags
panel, and then click a different tag.

• To retag a text block, use the Type tool to select the entire block of text. Select Retag in the Tags panel, and then
click a different tag. (If you select Add Tag and then click a different tag, a new child element appears in the
Structure pane.)

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Delete tags
• To delete a tag from the Tags panel, drag it to the Delete icon

at the bottom of the panel. If the tag has been
applied to content, an alert message appears. Select another tag to replace the deleted tag and click OK.

• To delete all unused tags, choose Select All Unused Tags from the Tags panel menu, and then click the Delete icon
at the bottom of the panel.
Note: Tags that were loaded with a DTD file cannot be deleted until the DTD file is deleted.

Structuring documents for XML
Structure pane overview
The Structure pane displays, in hierarchical form, items in a document that have been marked with XML tags. These
items are called elements. You can move elements in the Structure pane to define the order and hierarchy of items.
An element consists of an icon indicating the element type and a tag name.

Structure pane
A. Triangles to expand or collapse elements B. Element C. Text snippet D. Attribute

Additionally, elements may provide this information:
Blue diamond A blue diamond on an element icon means that the element is attached to an item on the page; the
absence of a blue diamond means that the element has not been attached to a page item.
Underline The tag name is underlined if the item on the page to which the element corresponds is selected. For
example, if you select text to which you assigned the Title tag, the word Title in the text’s element is underlined in
the Structure pane. Underlining shows you whether selected items on the page and elements in the Structure pane
correspond.
Text snippet The first 32 characters of tagged text, called a text snippet, can appear to the right of the element. These

snippets help you identify the page item to which an element corresponds.
Dot and attribute Attributes provide metadata information about an element. If attributes are attached to an

element, a black dot along with attribute names and values appear below the element.
Use the Structure pane

• To open the Structure pane, choose View > Structure > Show Structure, or click the splitter button
bottom of the document window).

(at the

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• To close the Structure pane, choose View > Structure > Hide Structure, or click the splitter button.
• To expand or collapse an element (and display or hide any of its child elements), click the triangle next to the
element.

• To adjust the size of the Structure pane, drag the splitter button.
• To expand or contract an element as well as all elements contained within it, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS) while clicking the triangle next to the element.

• To show or hide text snippets, choose Show Text Snippets or Hide Text Snippets from the Structure pane menu.
Structure pane icons

The following icons appear in the Structure pane:
Icon

Name

Use

Root element

Each document includes one root element at the top, which can be renamed but cannot be
moved or deleted.

Story element

Represents tagged stories (one or more linked frames).

Text element

Represents tagged text within a frame.

Graphic element

Represents a tagged frame that includes a placed image. Each graphic element includes an
href attribute that defines the path or URL to the linked file.

Unplaced text element

Unplaced text element not yet associated with a page item.

Unplaced graphic element

Unplaced graphic element not yet associated with a page item.

Table element

Represents a table.

Header cell element

Represents a cell in the header row of a table.

Body cell element

Represents a cell within the body of a table.

Footer cell element

Represents a cell in the footer row of a table.

Empty element

An empty frame is associated with this element.

Attribute

Includes metadata, such as keywords or location of a linked image (HREF attribute).

Comment

Includes comments that appear in the XML file, but not the InDesign document.

Processing instruction

Includes an instruction that triggers an action in applications that can read processing
instructions.

DOCTYPE element

Tells InDesign which DTD file to use when validating the XML file.

Rearrange structured elements
You can change the order and hierarchical rank of elements in the Structure pane. However, observe these rules:

• An XML document is required to have a single root element at the top of the structure. The root element contains
and is the parent to all other elements. Only the DTD (appearing as a DOCTYPE element), comments, and
processing instructions may appear above the root element in the Structure pane.

• Changes to the XML hierarchy structure may affect the appearance of tagged items on InDesign pages. For
example, making a text element the child of an element elsewhere in the structure also moves the text in the layout.

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• You cannot drag a table cell element into a table element or move elements into a table element.
❖ In the Structure pane, do one of the following:

• To move an element, drag it to a new location within the structure. A line appears when you drag to indicate where
you are inserting the element. The width of the line marks the level within the hierarchy.

• To make an element a child of another element, either position it over the parent element to highlight it or place
it amongst the parent’s other child elements, and then release the mouse button.

• To demote an element by one level in the hierarchy, drag it just above another parent element and move it to the
left slightly until the line indicating its placement spans the width of the parent element.

• To copy or cut an element, select the element or elements in the Structure pane, and then choose Edit > Copy or
Edit > Cut. Select the element directly above where you want to insert the element, and choose Edit > Paste.
Note: When you cut an element, the element and contents are cut to the clipboard, but the frame remains intact.

See also
“Keys for working with XML” on page 642

Insert a parent element
Insert a parent element in the Structure pane to maintain the proper XML structure or organize content better.
Before you can insert a new parent element, you must select the elements that will be the children of the new parent.
When the new parent element is inserted, the selected child elements are demoted by one rank in the structural
hierarchy.

With child elements selected (left); a newly inserted parent element includes the child elements (right).

1 In the Structure pane, select the elements that will be child elements to the new parent element you want to insert.
Note the following:

• You can’t select the Root or a root-level element.
• The elements must be on the same level of the structural hierarchy.
• The elements must be contiguous.
• The selection must not include table cells or attributes.
2 On the Structure pane menu, choose New Parent Element, or Control-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Mac OS) and choose New Parent Element.
3 Select a tag for the new parent element and click OK.

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Insert a new parent element quickly by selecting Add Tag in the Tags panel and then clicking a tag in the panel. You
can also right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) an element you selected in the Structure pane, choose
New Parent Element, and then choose an element.

Work with attributes
An attribute provides additional information about an XML element. Each attribute consists of a name and a value.
Attributes appear in the Structure pane; they are not placed in the document or used as content in the document.
Include attributes with elements for the benefit of files and applications that will use the XML files you create in
InDesign.
When you tag an image, InDesign automatically creates an href attribute with a value that defines the on-disk
location of the image file. This href attribute allows other files and applications to locate the image on disk so it can
be displayed.

An attribute includes a name (href, in this case) and a value.

You can add attributes to any element except the DOCTYPE element (a DTD file), comments, and processing
instructions. For example, to include keywords for searching in a downstream application, you can create an attribute
called keywords. You could also create attributes to indicate substituted text, track article titles, and record other
content-related information.
If you are using a DTD file, view its contents to see which attributes it allows. Attribute names, like tag names, must
conform to the DTD.
Note: InDesign recognizes special namespace attributes that can specify paragraph or character styles, tables and table
cell styles, as well as control whitespace. For more information, see the XML technical reference and other resources at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_XMLscript.
Add an attribute
1 Select an element.
2 Do one of the following:

• Click the Add An Attribute button

• Choose New Attribute on the Structure pane menu.
• Right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the selected element and choose New Attribute.
3 Specify a name and a value for the attribute, and then click OK.
Show or hide attributes in the Structure pane
❖ Choose Show Attributes or Hide Attributes from the Structure pane menu.

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You may need to click the triangle icon next to an element to display its attributes.
Edit or delete an attribute
1 Select an attribute in the Structure pane.
2 Do one of the following:

• To edit the attribute, double-click it or choose Edit from the Structure pane menu.
• To delete the attribute, click the Delete icon or choose Delete from the Structure pane menu.

Edit href attributes
InDesign creates href attributes automatically to handle image files. The href attribute defines the on-disk location
of the image file so that the image file can be displayed. When you tag a placed image, InDesign creates an href
attribute value that lists the image’s path and filename.
The path can be an absolute link, a relative link to the same folder as the XML file, or a relative link to the Images
subfolder of the folder where the XML file is located. Relative paths are specific to the path where the document is
saved.

• An href attribute with an absolute link looks like the following (in Windows and the Mac OS):
href=file:///C:/Images/Meadow.psd
href=file:///Users/abhayc//Desktop/abc.jpg

• An href attribute to an image file in the same folder as the XML file looks like the following:
href=file:Meadow.psd

• An href attribute to an image file in the Images subfolder looks like the following:
href=file:///Images/Meadow.psd

You can edit the href attribute to specify a new link to an image. For example, you can edit an absolute link to make
it a relative link, thereby making the image file accessible when you export the file.
1 In the Structure pane, double-click the href attribute. (You may need to click the triangle icon next to the image
element to display the attribute.)
2 For Value, enter the new path to the image, and then click OK.

See also
“Export document content to XML” on page 538

Add comments and processing instructions
Using InDesign, you can include comments and processing instructions in an XML file. Enter a comment to include
descriptive information about an element. Comments can be viewed in web browsers and text editors. They help
others understand XML structure and XML tags. A processing instruction is a special, application-specific
command. For example, you can enter a page-break processing instruction so that an application to which you
export your XML file understands where to enter a page break. InDesign user-created processing instructions are
meant for use in other programs; InDesign itself does not act on processing instructions.

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Comments and processing instructions appear in the Structure pane. You can move, edit, and delete comments and
processing instructions as you can other elements in the Structure pane. They cannot, however, contain child
elements or attributes.

InDesign Structure pane with text snippets showing
A. Processing instruction B. Comment

See also
“Rearrange structured elements” on page 531
Add a comment
1 Select the element about which you will comment.

Note: To add a comment to a table, select a table cell element. You can add comments to table cells, not tables.
2 Choose New Comment in the Structure pane menu.
3 Type the comment in the New Comment dialog box.
Add a processing instruction
1 Select an element for the processing instruction.

Note: To add a processing instruction to a table, select a table cell element. You can add processing instructions to table
cells, not tables.
2 Choose New Processing Instruction in the Structure pane menu.
3 For Target, enter a name that identifies the processing instruction to an application that reads exported XML files.
4 For Data, enter a value that tells the application what to do with the processing instruction.
View comments and processing instructions
❖ Choose Show Comments or Show Processing Instructions in the Structure pane menu.

Edit comments and processing instructions
1 Select the comment or processing instruction.
2 Do any of the following:

• Double-click the comment or processing instruction.
• Choose Edit on the Structure pane menu.
3 Edit the comment or processing instruction and click OK.

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Use DTD files to validate XML
Validating the XML in a document means to compare the structure, element tag names, and attributes against the
specifications of a DTD file. To validate against a DTD file, you must first load it into your document.
Note: Loading a DTD file imports tag names into the Tags panel. These imported tag names are locked; they can’t be
deleted or renamed except by deleting the DTD file from the document.
The DOCTYPE element appears at the top of the Structure pane if a DTD file has been loaded into your document.
(DTDs are sometimes loaded automatically when you import an XML file.) To replace the DTD file in a document,
delete the existing DTD and then load a new one.

Working with DTD files in InDesign
A. DOCTYPE element from the DTD file (Structure pane) B. Locked tag from an the DTD file (Tags panel)

See also
“About DTD files” on page 512
Load a DTD file

When you load a DTD file, InDesign embeds the file in the document.
1 Do one of the following:

• In the Structure pane, choose Load DTD from the Structure menu.
• In the Tags panel, choose Load DTD from the menu.
2 Select a DTD file to import, and click Open.

To view tags defined in the DTD file, open the Tags panel by choosing Window > Tags.

View a DTD file in InDesign

DTDs are written in ASCII text. They may contain embedded instructions and explanations that describe how to
apply tags and order elements correctly. In InDesign, you can only view a DTD that is loaded in a document.

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DTD file opened for viewing in InDesign

❖ Do one of the following:.

• In the Structure pane menu, choose View DTD.
• Double-click the DOCTYPE element in the Structure pane.
To print a DTD file, copy code from the View DTD window and paste it in a text editor.

Delete a DTD file
❖ Choose Delete DTD from the Structure pane menu.

InDesign deletes the copy of the DTD file stored in the InDesign document, not the original DTD file. Tags that were
imported with the DTD file remain in the Tags panel but are unlocked.
Validate XML structure

When you validate your document, InDesign alerts you if the XML deviates from rules established by the DTD file.
It suggests ways to make the XML meet DTD file requirements. You can fix errors one at a time or view all errors in
a separate window.

A
B

E F

Structure pane with Suggestions pane
A. Loaded DTD B. Error or invalidating condition C. Description of error with suggested fix D. Error count E. Validate button F. View all
errors in a separate window

1 Choose View > Structure > Show Structure.
2 In the Structure pane, click the Validate button

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To change the root element from which InDesign validates, choose DTD Options in the Structure pane menu.
3 To fix errors displayed in the Suggestion pane, either click a suggested fix to try it, or edit the XML structure and
tags directly using the Structure pane and the Tags panel.
4 To view other errors, do one of the following:

• Click the left arrow

or right arrow .

• Click the error window button

to view all errors in a separate window.

• Choose View List Of Errors on the Structure pane menu.
Note: InDesign stops validating after detecting 250 errors. A plus sign in the Error Count box appears when this limit is
reached.

Exporting XML
Export document content to XML
Before you export content from an InDesign document to XML, you must have done the following:

• Created or loaded element tags.
• Applied tags to items on the pages of your document.
• Adjusted the hierarchy of tagged elements in the Structure pane, if needed.
You can export all or a portion of the XML content in your document. Only content that is tagged can be exported.
Important: If you are exporting a document that contains tables, you must tag the tables or InDesign will not export
them as part of the XML.
1 If you want to export only a portion of the document, select the element in the Structure pane where you want
exporting to begin.
2 Choose File > Export.
3 For Save As Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS), choose XML.
4 Specify a name and location for the XML file, and then click Save.
5 In the General tab of the Export XML dialog box, choose any of the following:
Include DTD Declaration Exports the reference to the DTD along with the XML file. This option is only available if

there is a DOCTYPE element in the Structure pane.
View XML Using Opens the exported file in a browser, XML editing application, or text editor. Choose the browser
or application from list.
Export From Selected Element Starts exporting from the element you selected in the Structure pane. This option is
only available if you selected an element before choosing File > Export.
Export Untagged Tables As CALS XML Exports untagged tables in CALS XML format. To be exported, the table must

be in a tagged frame, and the table must not be tagged.
Remap Break, Whitespace, And Special Characters Exports break, whitespace, and special characters as decimal

character entities rather than straight characters.

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Apply XSLT Applies a stylesheet to define the transformation of the exported XML to, for example, a modified XML
tree or HTML. Select Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS) to select an XSLT from the file system. The default
setting, Use Stylesheet From XML, uses an XSLT transformation instruction if one is referenced in the XML that is
applied on export.

6 Choose an encoding type from the Encoding menu.
7 To specify export options for images, click the Images tab, and then select one or more of the following:
Original Images Places a copy of the original image files in an Images sub-folder.
Optimized Original Images Optimizes and compresses the original image files and places copies of the files in an

Images sub-folder.
Optimized Formatted Images Optimizes the original image files that contain applied transformation (such as

rotation or scaling) and places them in an Images sub-folder. For example, if the document contains two images, one
cropped and one not, only the cropped image is optimized and copied to the Images sub-folder.
8 If you selected Optimized Original Images or Optimized Formatted Images in the previous step, choose options
for the optimizing the images.
9 Click Export.

Note: Not all special characters are supported in XML (such as the Automatic Page Number character). InDesign warns
you if it cannot include a character in the exported XML file. This warning also appears if you didn’t tag a table.

See also
“Create and load XML tags” on page 524
“Tagging content for XML” on page 524
“Rearrange structured elements” on page 531

Optimized image export options
The following options are available when you choose Optimized Original Images or Optimized Formatted Images
in the Images tab of the Export XML dialog box.
Image Conversion Specifies which file format to use for the converted image. If you choose Automatic, InDesign

chooses the best file type based on the image. Hence, you may want to specify both GIF Options and JPEG Options.
GIF Options Specify the formatting for images that are converted to GIF format when exported to XML. You can set
the following options:

• Palette Specifies the color palette you want the image to conform to when converted. Choose the palette for the
final display format of the XML content. Adaptive (no dither) works well for images with primarily solid colors and
can be used when the final output will be to multiple formats.
• Interlace Downloads every other line of the image with each pass, instead of downloading the entire image in one
pass. Interlacing enables a preview of the image to download quickly, as each successive pass adds resolution until
the final quality is met.
JPEG Options Specify the formatting for images that are converted to JPEG format when exported to XML. You can

set the following options:

• Image Quality Specifies the quality of the converted image. The higher the quality setting, the larger the file size
and the longer it takes to download.

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• Format Method Specifies how the JPEG image is formatted for download. Baseline downloads the final quality
image in one pass, so that the file displays at its final quality as soon as it opens; this format may take longer to
download than a Progressive formatted image. Progressive downloads the image in a series of passes, with the first
pass a low-resolution version and each successive pass adding resolution to the image until the final quality is
attained.

Save tags only as XML
Save tags only so you can load the tags into an InDesigndocument and make use of them there.
1 Choose Save Tags from the Tags panel menu.
2 Type a name, specify a location, and then click Save.

The tags in your document, along with their assigned colors, are saved in an XML file.

Edit an exported XML file
After you’ve used InDesign to create and export an XML file, you can make changes to the XML using either of these
methods:

• To make changes directly in the XML file, open it in a text or XML editor.
• To make changes that will be preserved in the source document, open the InDesign file that the XML was exported
from. After you make changes to the content in InDesign, you can export it to XML again, using the original XML
filename if you want to replace the file.

541

Chapter 20: Printing
To make optimal decisions about printing, you should understand basic printing principles, including how the
resolution of your printer can affect the way your layout appears when printed. Contact your print service provider
to get information on color choices and make the best printing decisions.

Printing documents
About printing
Whether you are providing a multicolored document to an outside service provider, or just sending a quick draft of
a document to an inkjet or laser printer, knowing a few basics about printing will make the print job go more
smoothly, and help to ensure that the finished document appears as intended.
Types of printing

When you print a file, Adobe InDesign CS3 sends it to a printing device—either to be printed directly on paper or
to a digital printing press, or to be converted to a positive or negative image on film. In the latter case, the film can
then be used to create a master plate for printing by a commercial press.
Types of images

The simplest types of images, such as text, use only one color in one level of gray. A more complex image is one with
color tones that vary within the image. This type of image is known as a continuous-tone image. A photograph is an
example of a continuous-tone image.
Halftoning

To create the illusion of continuous tone, images are broken down into a series of dots. This process is called
halftoning. Varying the sizes and densities of the dots in a halftone screen creates the optical illusion of variations of
gray or continuous color in the printed image.
Color separation

Artwork that will be commercially reproduced and that contains more than a single color must be printed on
separate master plates, one for each color. This process is called color separation.
Getting detail

The detail in a printed image results from a combination of resolution and screen frequency. The higher an output
device’s resolution, the finer (higher) the screen frequency you can use.
Duplex printing

Printer-specific features such as duplex printing are available when you click the Printer button in the Print dialog
box. Duplex printing is available only if the printer supports it. For information on duplex printing, see your printer
documentation.

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Transparent objects

If the artwork contains objects with transparency features that you added using the Transparency panel or the Drop
Shadow or Feather commands, the transparent artwork will be flattened according to settings in the flattener preset
you choose. You can affect the ratio of rasterized images to vector images in the printed artwork.
For more information on printing, see the Adobe Print Resource Center at www.adobe.com/go/print_resource. To
troubleshoot printing problems, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_printtrouble.

See also
“About transparency flattener presets” on page 404
“Specify a halftone screen frequency and resolution” on page 586

Print a document or book
1 Make sure that you’ve installed the correct driver and PPD for your printer.
2 Open the Print dialog box:

• If you have individual documents open, choose File > Print. This opens the Print dialog box for the frontmost
open document.

• If you have either no documents or all documents selected in the Book panel, choose Print Book in the Book panel
menu. This will print all documents in a book.

• If you have some documents selected in the Book panel, choose Print Selected Documents in the Book panel menu.
3 Specify the printer you’re using in the Printer menu. If a printer preset has the settings you want, choose it in the

Print Preset menu.
4 In the General area, type the number of copies to print, choose whether to collate pages or print them in reverse
order, and indicate which pages you want printed.

Note: The Page Range option is unavailable if you’re printing a book.
5 Indicate whether you want to print nonprinting objects, blank pages, or visible grids and baseline grids.
6 Adjust settings as needed for each area of the Print dialog box.
7 Click Print.

Settings you specify in the Print dialog box are saved with the document.

See also
“Create print presets” on page 560
“Specify paper size and page orientation” on page 544
Page printing options

You can print all pages, even or odd pages only, a series of individual pages, or a contiguous range.
Range Specifies the range of pages to print in the current document. Indicate numbers in a range by using a hyphen,

and indicate multiple pages or ranges by using commas or spaces. (See “Specifying pages to print” on page 544.)
Sequence Choose All Pages to print all pages of a document. Choose Even Pages Only or Odd Pages Only to print
only those pages within the specified range. These options are unavailable when you are using the Spreads or Print
Master Pages options.

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Spreads Prints pages together, as if they were bound, or printed on the same sheet. You can print only one spread

per sheet. If the new page is larger than the currently selected paper size, InDesign prints as much as it can, but won’t
automatically scale the page to fit the imageable area, unless you select Scale To Fit in the Setup area of the Print
dialog box. You may also want to specify landscape orientation.
Note: If different trapping styles are applied to pages in the spread, InDesign resolves the differences.
Print Master Pages Prints all master pages, rather than document pages. Selecting this option makes the Ranges

option unavailable.
Examples of page ranges
Page range

Pages printed

11-

Page 11 to the last page of the document.

-11

All pages up to and including page 11.

+11

Page 11 only.

-+11

All pages up to and including page 11.

+11-

All pages from the eleventh page to the
end of document.

1, 3-8,

Page 1, plus pages 3 to 8.

+1, +3-+8,

Page 1, plus pages 3 to 8.

Sec1

All pages in section labeled “Sec1”.

Sec2:7

Page numbered 7 (not necessarily the
seventh page of that section) in section
labeled “Sec2.”

PartB:7-

Page numbered 7 in section labeled “PartB”
to last page of section.

Chap2:7-Chap3

Page 7 in section labeled “Chap2” to end of
section labeled “Chap3”.

Sec4:3-Sec4:6,
Sec3:7

Pages 3–6 in “Sec4” and page 7 in “Sec3”.

Options for printing objects

The General area of the Print dialog box contains options for printing elements usually visible only on-screen, such
as grids and guides. Choose from the following options:
Print Layers Determine which layers are printed. (See “Choose which layers are printed or exported to PDF” on

page 547.)
Print Non-printing Objects Prints all objects, regardless of your settings to selectively prevent individual objects

from printing.
Print Blank Pages Prints all pages in the specified page range, even if no text or objects appear on a page. This option
is unavailable when you are printing separations. If you are using Print Booklet for composite printing, use the Print
Blank Printer Spreads option to print blank spreads added to fill out composite signatures.
Print Visible Guides and Baseline Grids Prints visible guides and grids in the same color as shown in the document.
You can control which guides and grids are visible in the View menu. This option is unavailable when you are
printing separations.

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Specifying pages to print
You can specify a page range using either absolute numbering (the page’s position in the current document) or
page/section numbering (the section and page numbers assigned to the page). By default, dialog boxes in InDesign
honor the format specified for Page Numbering in the Preferences dialog box.

• When Absolute Numbering is selected, numbers you specify for pages or page ranges correspond to the absolute
position of pages in your document. For example, to print the third page in the document, you would enter “3”
for Range in the Print dialog box.

• When Section Numbering is selected in the Preferences dialog box, you can enter pages and page ranges exactly
as they appear in your layout or using absolute numbering. For example, if the page labeled SecA:5 is the fifteenth
page in your document, you could print it by entering “SecA:5” in the Print dialog box or by entering “+15”. The
“+” sign indicates that you want to override the normal section and page numbering to use absolute page
numbering.
If you are unsure which format to use when entering page numbers in the Print dialog box, imitate the format used
in the page box at the bottom of the document window.

Specify paper size and page orientation
It’s important to distinguish between page size (as defined in the Document Setup dialog box for your document)
and paper size (the sheet of paper, piece of film, or area of the printing plate you’ll print on). Your page size might be
US Letter (8.5-by-11 inches), but you might need to print on a larger piece of paper or film to accommodate any
printer’s marks or the bleed and slug areas.
The list of paper sizes available to InDesign comes from the PPD (PostScript printers) or from the printer driver
(non-PostScript printers). If the printer and PPD you’ve chosen for PostScript printing support custom paper sizes,
you’ll see a Custom option in the Paper Size menu.
Most imagesetters can accommodate regular paper sizes, such as letter and tabloid, as well as transverse orientation,
where the regular page size is rotated 90˚ when printed. The transverse orientation is often a more efficient use of
imagesetter media.

Page size and orientations for imagesetters
A. Letter (tall orientation) B. Custom page size (tall orientation) C. Letter (transverse orientation)

Paper sizes are listed by familiar names (such as Letter). The dimensions define the limits of the imageable area—the
total paper size, less any unprintable border used by the printer or imagesetter. Most laser printers cannot print to
the exact edge of a page.
If you select a different paper size (for example, if you change from Letter to Legal), the document is rescaled in the
preview window. The preview window displays the entire imageable area of the selected page; when the preview size
is changed, the preview window automatically rescales to include the imageable area.
Note: The imageable area will vary by PPD file, even for the same paper size (for example, Letter), because different
printers and imagesetters define the sizes of their imageable areas differently.

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Comparison of printing a letter-size page on Letter, Letter.extra, or Tabloid paper

Note: The preview in the lower left area of the Print dialog box indicates whether you have enough space to include all
printer’s marks and the bleed and slug areas.

See also
“Specify printer’s marks” on page 550
“About PPD files” on page 550
Specify paper size and orientation
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, choose an option in the Paper Size menu.

Make sure that your paper size is large enough to contain your document, the bleed and slug areas (if included), and
any printer’s marks. To conserve imagesetter film or paper, however, select the smallest paper size that will accommodate your document and the necessary printing information.
3 Click an Orientation button to rotate the document on the media.

In most cases, the page orientation specified in Document Setup (File > Document Setup) and the output orientation
specified in the Setup area of the Print dialog box should be the same (both portrait or both landscape), whether you
print normal or transverse. If you’re printing spreads, you may want to choose a different paper size and orientation
(such as landscape) to fit all pages of a spread on a single sheet.

Orientation buttons
A. Portrait B. Landscape C. Reverse Portrait D. Reverse Landscape

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Specify a custom paper size

If you’re using a printer that accommodates various paper sizes, such as a high-resolution imagesetter, you can
specify a custom paper size when you print. InDesign makes the custom option available only if the selected PPD
supports custom paper sizes.
The largest custom paper size you can specify depends on the maximum imageable area of your imagesetter. For
more information, consult the documentation for your specific printer.
Note: Custom paper size options for non-PostScript printers is not accessible from the InDesign Print dialog box. To set
those printer-specific features, click Setup (Windows), Printer (Mac OS), or Page Setup (Mac OS) in the InDesign Print
dialog box. Check the documentation for your non-PostScript printer driver for details.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 If you are printing a PostScript file, choose PostScript for Printer in the General area of the Print dialog box. Then
select the PPD that supports custom paper sizes.
3 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, choose Custom in the Paper Size menu.

Note: If Custom is not available, the PPD you selected when you set up your printer does not support custom paper sizes.
4 To specify width and height, do one of the following:

• To let InDesign determine the smallest paper size needed for your document’s contents, bleed and/or slug areas,
and any printer’s marks, select Auto for Width and Height. Auto, the default option, is also useful if you have
different sized pages in a book and you’re printing on continuous media, such as a roll of film or photosensitive
paper.

• To specify a paper size larger than the default, enter new dimensions in the Width and Height text boxes. Be sure
to increase the values; decreasing the default values may clip your document.
5 To change the placement of the page on the film, enter a value for Offset.

The Offset value specifies the amount of space along the left side of the imageable area. For example, entering a value
of 30 points in the Offset option shifts your page 30 points to the right.
6 To rotate both media and page contents, select Transverse and click OK.

You can conserve a considerable amount of film or paper by using Transverse in conjunction with Offset. Compare
the following examples of an image printed by InDesign with Transverse selected and deselected.
A

B
B

Transverse deselected (left) compared to Transverse selected (right)
A. Offset value B. Gap C. Film saved

7 To specify the distance between individual pages when printing on continuous media, enter a value for Gap.

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Choose which layers are printed or exported to PDF
1 To review or change the Show Layer and Print Layer settings for your document, select a layer in the Layers panel,
and then choose Layer Options from the panel menu. Specify layer options, and click OK.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose File > Print, and click General on the left side of the Print dialog box.
• Choose File > Export, specify Adobe PDF, and then click Save. On the left side of the Export Adobe PDF dialog
box, select General.
3 From the Print Layers or Export Layers menu, choose which layers you want to print or include in the PDF:
All Layers Prints or outputs all layers in your document, even if they are hidden or set as nonprinting.
Visible Layers Prints or outputs all visible layers, even if they are set as nonprinting in Layer Options.
Visible & Printable Layers Prints or outputs only those layers that are set as both visible and printable.

See also
“Export to PDF” on page 473

Printing to non-PostScript language printers
You can print a document on a non-PostScript language printer. However, because PostScript is the standard pagedescription language for professional publishing, many high-end color and graphics features, such as screen
frequencies or color separations, cannot be reproduced on non-PostScript printers. Most imported graphics file
formats print acceptably. In general, a document printed to a non-PostScript printer should look the way it appears
on-screen when you view the document using Preview Mode.
Some vendors sell software programs that add PostScript-language capability to a non-PostScript language printer.
Check with your software reseller for availability and compatibility.

Print as bitmap
When you print to a non-PostScript printer, you can choose to rasterize all artwork during printing. This option is
useful when printing documents that contain complex objects (such as objects with smooth shading or gradients)
because it reduces the possibility of errors.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 Select Advanced on the left side of the Print dialog box.
3 Select Print As Bitmap.

This option is available only if the printer driver identifies the printer as non-PostScript. If this option is selected for
non-PostScript printers in Mac OS 10.3 or later, InDesign prints PostScript, which is then used by Mac OS and the
driver to render the page images. In Windows, the high-end color and graphics features may not be converted appropriately if this option is not selected.
4 Specify a resolution for bitmap printing.

The output resolution may be limited by the printer driver’s resolution. To get the best quality output, set the nonPostScript printer driver resolution to be equal or greater than the output resolution specified in the InDesign Print
dialog box.

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Preview documents
You can view how the document’s pages fit on the chosen paper size before you print to a PostScript printer. A
preview in the lower left area of the Print dialog box shows whether your paper and orientation settings will work
for your page size. When you select different options in the Print dialog box, the preview updates dynamically with
the combined effects of your print settings.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 Click the preview image in the lower left area of the Print dialog box.

The preview has three views:
Standard view Displays the relationship of a document page to the media. It shows the effects of various options

such as paper size to imageable area, bleed and slug areas, and page marks, as well as the effects of tiling and thumbnails.

Four different page-fit settings in Standard view
A. Default B. Spreads C. Orientation D. 2-by-2 Thumbnails

Text view Lists the numerical values for certain print settings.
Custom page/Cut sheet views Displays the effects of different print settings, depending on your page size. For

custom page sizes, the preview shows how the media fits on the custom output device; the maximum supported
media dimensions of the output device; and the settings for offset, gap, and transverse. For cut sheets, such as Letter
and Tabloid, the preview shows the relationship of the imageable area to the media size.
In both the custom page and cut sheet views, the preview also indicates the output mode using an icon:
Separations , Composite Grayscale , Composite CMYK , or Composite RGB .

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Custom page view (left) and cut sheet view (right)
A. Direction of media travel B. Transverse deselected C. Paper size D. Media E. Imageable area F. Media

Setting up a printer
Setting up a printer
InDesign supports printing to both PostScript® (Level 2 and 3) and non-PostScript language printers, using most
current printer drivers. When you print to a PostScript printer, InDesign uses information from a PostScript Printer
Description (PPD) file to determine which settings to display in the Print dialog box.
Follow these basic steps when setting up a printer:

• Install the latest printer driver for your output device. See your operating system documentation for instructions.
• For PostScript printing, select a PPD file when you set up your printer.

See also
“About printing” on page 541
“About PPD files” on page 550

About printer drivers
A printer driver lets you directly access printer features from applications on your computer. Having the correct
driver ensures that you have access to all of the features a particular printer supports.
Adobe recommends upgrading to the latest driver for your operating system.
For more information on recommended and supported PostScript printer drivers, including installation instructions, search the section on Adobe printer drivers on the Adobe website.

Accessing printer driver features
Printer drivers may support features that are not included in InDesign, such as duplex printing. Support for these
features varies depending on the printer driver you have. Check with your printer manufacturer for details.
If you want to specify settings for a specific printer, InDesign provides access to the printer driver through the
following buttons in the InDesign Print dialog box. (When you choose to print to a PostScript file, these options are
not available.)
Setup (Windows) This button opens the Windows Print dialog box.

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Page Setup (Mac OS) This button displays the standard Mac OS Page Setup dialog box.
Printer (Mac OS) This button displays the standard Mac OS Print dialog box.

Note: Some InDesign printing features appear in both the printer driver dialog boxes and the InDesign Print dialog box.
For best results, specify the settings in the InDesign Print dialog box only. If settings overlap, InDesign tries to synchronize
the settings, or to ignore the driver’s settings. Some printer driver features (for example, N-up printing, which prints the
same artwork multiple times on the same page) produce adverse printing results when used with InDesign features such
as separations.

About PPD files
A PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file customizes the behavior of the driver for your specific PostScript printer.
It contains information about the output device, including printer-resident fonts, available media sizes and orientation, optimized screen frequencies, screen angles, resolution, and color output capabilities. It’s important to select
the correct PPD before you print. Selecting the PPD that corresponds to your PostScript printer or imagesetter
populates the Print dialog box with the available settings for the output device. You can switch to a different one to
suit your needs.
Applications use the information in the PPD file to determine which PostScript information to send to the printer
when printing a document. For example, the application assumes that the fonts listed in your PPD file reside in the
printer, so they are not downloaded when you print, unless you explicitly include them.
For best printing results, Adobe recommends that you obtain the latest version of the PPD file for your output device
from the manufacturer. Many print service providers and commercial printers have PPDs for the imagesetters they
use. Be sure to store PPDs in the location specified by the operating system. For details, consult the documentation
for your operating system.

Select a PPD file
In Windows and in Mac OS, you select a PPD file in the same way you add a printer. The steps for selecting a PPD
file are different for each platform. See your operating system documentation for details.

Printer’s marks and bleeds
Specify printer’s marks
When you prepare a document for printing, a number of marks are needed to help the printer determine where to
trim the paper, align separation films when producing proofs, measure film for correct calibration and dot density,
and so on. Selecting any page-mark option expands the page boundaries to accommodate printer’s marks, bleed (the
parts of text or objects that extend past the page boundary to account for slight inaccuracy when trimming), or slug
area (an area outside the page and bleed that contains printer instructions or job sign-off information).
If you are setting crop marks and want the artwork to contain a bleed or slug area, make sure that you extend the
artwork past the crop marks to accommodate the bleed or slug. Also make sure that your media size is large enough
to contain the page and any printer’s marks, bleeds, or the slug area. If a document doesn’t fit the media, you can
control where items are clipped by using the Page Position option in the Setup area of the Print dialog box.

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D
A

E
F

Printer’s marks
A. Crop marks B. Registration mark C. Page information D. Color bars E. Bleed marks F. Slug area

1 Choose File > Print.
2 Click Marks and Bleed on the left side of the Print dialog box.
3 Select either All Printer’s Marks or individual marks.

Print the bleed or slug areas
Specify the bleed and slug areas in the Document Setup dialog box. The bleed and slug areas are discarded when the
document is trimmed to its final page size. Objects outside the bleed or slug area (whichever extends farthest) are
not printed.
When printing, you can override the default location for bleed marks in the Bleed And Slug area of the Marks And
Bleed area.
Files saved in PostScript file format allow capable post-processing programs to implement their own variable bleed.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 Click Marks And Bleed on the left side of the Print dialog box.
3 Select either All Printer’s Marks or individual marks.
4 To override bleed settings in the Document Setup dialog box, uncheck Use Document Bleed Settings and enter
values from 0 to 6 inches (or equivalents) for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right (for single-sided documents), or Top,
Bottom, Inside, and Outside (for double-sided documents with facing pages). To extend the offset evenly on all sides
of the page, click the Make All Settings The Same icon .
5 Click Include Slug Area to print objects using the slug area defined in the Document Setup dialog box.

You can preview the bleed and slug areas before printing by clicking the Bleed Preview Mode
or the Slug Preview
Mode icon
at the bottom of the Toolbox. (These may be hidden by the Preview Mode icon .)

See also
“Creating PostScript and EPS files” on page 564
Marks and Bleed options

The Marks And Bleed area includes the following options:
All Printer’s Marks Selects all printer’s marks including crop marks, bleed marks, registration marks, color bars, and

page information.

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Crop Marks Adds fine (hairline) horizontal and vertical rules that define where the page should be trimmed. Crop

marks can also help register (align) one color separation to another. By using together with bleed marks, you can
select overlapped marks.
Bleed Marks Adds fine (hairline) rules that define the amount of extra area to image outside the defined page size.
Registration Marks Adds small “targets” outside the page area for aligning the different separations in a color

document.
Color Bars Adds small squares of color representing the CMYK inks and tints of gray (in 10% increments). Your

service provider uses these marks to adjust ink density on the printing press.
Page Information Prints the filename, page number, current date and time, and color separation name in 6-point
Helvetica in the lower left corner of each sheet of paper or film. The Page Information option requires 0.5 inches
(13mm) along the horizontal edge.
Type Lets you choose default printer’s marks or custom marks (for Japanese pages, for example). You can create
custom printer’s marks or use custom marks created by another company.
Weight Displays possible weights for crop and bleed mark lines.
Offset Specifies how far from the edge of the page (not the bleed) InDesign will draw printer’s marks. By default,

InDesign draws printer’s marks 6 points from the edge of the page. To avoid drawing printer’s marks on a bleed, be
sure to enter an Offset value greater than the Bleed value.

Change the page position on the media
When you print a document to a cut-sheet media size that is larger than the document size, you can control where
the slug and bleed areas, printer’s marks, and page fall on the media by using the Page Position options in the Setup
area of the Print dialog box. If a document doesn’t fit the media and needs to be clipped, you can specify which part
of the document is clipped. The preview image in the Print dialog box shows the results.
Note: To see the bleed and slug areas and printer’s marks, use the Scale To Fit option instead of Page Position; scaled
pages are always centered. The Page Position options are unavailable when Scale To Fit, Thumbnails, or Tile is selected.
❖ In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, choose a position in the Page Position menu.

Printing thumbnails and oversized documents
Print thumbnails
To fit multiple pages on a single page, you can create thumbnails—small preview versions of your document. Thumbnails are useful for verifying content and organization. Where appropriate, InDesign automatically changes the paper
orientation to provide the best fit of the page to the paper; however, you’ll need to reset the original orientation if
you deselect the Thumbnails option.
Note: When you print thumbnails, printer’s marks and any items in the bleed and/or slug areas are excluded.
1 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, select Thumbnails.
2 In the menu, choose the number of thumbnails per page.

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Printing oversized documents
Although you can create InDesign documents as large as 18-by-18 feet, most desktop printers cannot print such large
pages.
To print an oversized document on your desktop printer, you can print each page of your document in pieces, called
tiles, and then trim and assemble those pieces. If you prefer, you can scale the document to fit the available paper size.

See also
“Tile a document” on page 553
“Scale type” on page 220

Tile a document
A document’s dimensions do not necessarily match the paper sizes used by printers. As a result, when you print,
InDesign divides the oversized document into one or more rectangles, or tiles, that correspond to the page size
available on the printer. You can then assemble the overlapping sections.
You can have InDesign tile a document automatically, or you can specify the tiles yourself. Tiling manually lets you
control the origin point for the upper-left corner of the tile, so that you determine where the page falls on the paper.

Oversized pages divided into printable tiles (left) and the overlapping sections in final assembly (right)

Tile a document automatically
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, select Tile.
3 Choose one of the following options in the Tile menu:
Auto Automatically calculates the number of tiles required, including the overlap.
Auto Justified Increases the amount of overlap (if necessary) so that the right sides of the rightmost tiles are aligned

at the right edge of the document’s page, and the bottom sides of the bottommost tiles are aligned at the bottom edge
of the document’s page.
4 For Overlap, type the minimum amount of duplicated information you want printed on each tile for ease in
assembly. The Overlap option uses the unit of measure specified for the document. The value should be greater than
the minimum nonprinting margins for the printer. You can specify up to half the size of the shortest side of the
document page to overlap. For example, tiles for a page that measures 11-by-17 inches (279.4mm-by-431.8mm) can
overlap up to 5.5 inches (139.7mm).

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Tile a document manually

While tiling a document automatically prints all the tiles at once, tiling a document manually requires you to print
each tile separately.
1 If necessary, choose View > Show Rulers to display the rulers.
2 Drag the intersection of the rulers to reset the zero point to the desired upper-left corner of the tile you want to
print. Remember to leave room for overlap and printer’s marks.

The size and shape of the area InDesign prints is determined by the current paper size and orientation.
3 Choose File > Print, and then click Setup on the left.
4 In the Setup area, select Tile, and then choose Manual in the Tile menu.

Scale documents
To fit an oversized document on a smaller piece of paper, you can scale the document’s width and height, either
symmetrically or asymmetrically. Asymmetric scaling is useful when, for example, you’re printing film for use on a
flexographic press: If you know in which direction the plate will be mounted on the press drum, scaling can
compensate for the 2% to 3% stretching of the plate that usually occurs. Scaling does not affect the size of the pages
in the document.
Note: When you print spreads, each spread is scaled separately.
Scale a document manually
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, select Width to activate the Width and Height boxes.
3 To maintain current document width to height proportions, select Constrain Proportions. Otherwise, make sure
that this option is unselected.
4 Type percentages from 1 to 1000 in the Width and Height boxes. If you selected Constrain Proportions, you need
to enter only one value; the other is updated automatically.
Scale a document automatically
1 In the Setup area of the Print dialog box, make sure that the Tile and Thumbnail options are unselected. (When

these options are selected, the Scale To Fit option is unavailable.)
2 Select Scale To Fit. The scaling percentage, which is determined by the imageable area defined by the selected
PPD, appears next to the Scale To Fit option.

Printing in color
Color output options for composites
In the Output area of the Print dialog box, you can determine how composite color in the document is sent to the
printer. When color management is enabled (the default), the Color setting defaults result in calibrated color output.
Spot color information is preserved during color conversion; only the process color equivalents convert to the designated color space. If you’re not sure which color choice to use, consult your prepress service provider.
Composite modes only affect rasterized images and objects created using InDesign; placed graphics (such as EPS
and Adobe PDF files) are not affected unless they overlap transparent objects.

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For more information on composite printing, see the Adobe Print Resource Center at
www.adobe.com/go/print_resource.
Note: The options available for non-PostScript printing depend on the color model the printer uses, which is usually RGB.
When you print as composite, automatic trapping is disabled; however, you can select the Simulate Overprint option
to proof overprinting for text, strokes, or fills.
The Output area in the Print dialog box includes the following Color options. Additional options may also be
available, depending on your printer.
Composite Leave Unchanged Sends a full-color version of specified pages to the printer, preserving all color values
in the original document. When this option is selected, Simulate Overprint is disabled.
Composite Gray Sends grayscale versions of specified pages to the printer when, for example, you are printing to a

monochrome printer without making separations.
Composite RGB Sends a full-color version of specified pages to the printer when, for example, you are printing to an
RGB color printer without making separations.
Composite CMYK Sends a full-color version of specified pages to the printer when, for example, you are printing to
a CMYK color printer without making separations. (This option is available only for PostScript printers.)
Separations Creates PostScript information for each of the separations required for the document, and sends that

information to the output device. (This option is available only for PostScript printers.)
In-RIP Separations Sends separation information to the output device’s RIP. (This option is available only for

PostScript printers.)
Text As Black Select this option to print all text created in InDesign in black, unless it has the color None or Paper
or a color value that equals white. This option is useful when you’re creating content for both print and PDF distribution. For example, if hyperlinks were blue in the PDF version, they would print black on a grayscale printer, rather
than in halftone patterns that would be difficult to read.

See also
“Preparing to print separations” on page 574

Printing graphics and fonts
Options for printing graphics
Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to specify how graphics are handled
during output.
Send Data Controls how much image data in placed bitmap images to send to the printer or file.
All Sends full-resolution data, which is appropriate for any high-resolution printing, or for printing grayscale or

color images with high contrast, as in black-and-white text with one spot color. This option requires the most disk
space.
Optimized Subsampling Sends just enough image data to print the graphic at the best possible resolution for the

output device. (A high-resolution printer will use more data than a low-resolution desktop model.) Select this option
when you’re working with high-resolution images but printing proofs to a desktop printer.

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Note: InDesign does not subsample EPS or PDF graphics, even when Optimized Subsampling is selected.
Proxy Sends screen-resolution versions (72 dpi) of placed bitmap images, thereby reducing printing time.
None Temporarily removes all graphics when you print and replaces them with graphics frames with crossbars,

thereby reducing printing time. The graphics frames are the same dimensions as the imported graphics and clipping
paths are maintained, so you can still check sizes and positioning. Suppressing the printing of imported graphics is
useful when you want to distribute text proofs to editors or proofreaders. Printing without graphics is also helpful
when you’re trying to isolate the cause of a printing problem.

Options for downloading fonts to a printer
Printer-resident fonts are stored in a printer’s memory or on a hard drive connected to the printer. Type 1 and
TrueType fonts can be stored either on the printer or on your computer; bitmap fonts are stored only on your
computer. InDesign downloads fonts as needed, provided they are installed on your computer’s hard disk.
Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to control how fonts are downloaded
to the printer.
None Includes a reference to the font in the PostScript file, which tells the RIP or a post-processor where the font

should be included. This option is appropriate if the fonts reside in the printer. TrueType fonts are named according
to the PostScript name in the font; however, not all applications can interpret these names. To ensure that TrueType
fonts are interpreted correctly, use one of the other font downloading options.
Complete Downloads all fonts required for the document at the beginning of the print job. All glyphs and characters

in the font are included even if they’re not used in the document. InDesign automatically subsets fonts that contain
more than the maximum number of glyphs (characters) specified in the Preferences dialog box.
Subset Downloads only the characters (glyphs) used in the document. Glyphs are downloaded once per page. This

option typically results in faster and smaller PostScript files when used with single-page documents, or short
documents without much text.
Download PPD Fonts Downloads all fonts used in the document, even if those fonts reside in the printer. Use this

option to ensure that InDesign uses the font outlines on your computer for printing common fonts, such as Helvetica
and Times. Using this option can resolve problems with font versions, such as mismatched character sets between
your computer and printer or outline variances in trapping. Unless you commonly use extended character sets, you
don’t need to use this option for desktop draft printing.

See also
“About preferences and defaults” on page 36

PostScript printing options
Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to specify how PostScript information
is sent to the printer.
PostScript Specifies a level of compatibility with the interpreters in PostScript output devices.
Data Format Specifies how InDesign sends the image data from your computer to a printer. ASCII is sent as ASCII

text, which is compatible with older networks and parallel printers and is usually the best choice for graphics used
on multiple platforms. Binary exports as binary code, which is more compact than ASCII but may not be compatible
with all systems.

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Note: InDesign cannot always change the data format used by EPS or DCS graphics files. If you experience problems
sending data as Binary, try changing the data format of EPS or DCS graphics in the source application instead.

Options for omitting graphics
The OPI options in the Advanced area let you selectively omit different imported graphics types when sending image
data to a printer or file, leaving only the OPI links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server.
OPI Image Replacement Enables InDesign to replace low-resolution EPS proxies of graphics with high-resolution

graphics at output time. For OPI image replacement to work, the EPS file must contain OPI comments that link the
low-resolution proxy image to the high-resolution image. InDesign must have access to the graphics linked by the
OPI comments. If the high-resolution versions are not available, InDesign preserves the OPI links and includes the
low-resolution proxy in the export file. Deselect this option to have an OPI server replace OPI-linked graphics later
in the workflow.
Omit For OPI Lets you selectively omit different imported graphics types (EPS, PDF, and bitmap images) when

sending image data to a printer or file, leaving only the OPI links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server.
The comments contain the information needed to locate a high-resolution image on an OPI server. InDesign only
includes the comments; the service provider must have access to the original high-resolution image on a server at
replacement time. The Omit For OPI option doesn’t apply to embedded graphics.

See also
“Import options for graphics” on page 340

Managing color
Use color management when printing
When you print a color-managed document, you can specify additional color management options to keep color
consistent in the printer output. For example, suppose that your document currently contains a profile tailored for
prepress output, but you want to proof the document colors on a desktop printer. In the Print dialog box, you can
convert the document’s colors to the color space of the desktop printer; the printer profile will be used instead of the
current document profile. If you select the Proof color space and target an RGB printer, InDesign converts color data
to RGB values using the selected color profiles.
When printing to a PostScript printer, you also have the option of using PostScript color management. In this
instance, InDesign sends the document’s color data in a calibrated version of its original color space, along with the
document profile, directly to the PostScript printer and lets the printer convert the document to the printer color
space. The printer’s color space is stored at the device as a color rendering dictionary (CRD); this makes deviceindependent output possible. CRDs are PostScript equivalents of color profiles. The exact results of the color
conversion can vary among printers. To use PostScript color management, you must have a printer that uses
PostScript Level 2 or higher; it is not necessary to install an ICC profile for the printer on your system.
1 Make sure that you’ve installed the correct driver and PPD for your printer.
2 Choose File > Print.
3 If a printer preset has the settings you want, choose it in the Printer Preset menu at the top of the Print dialog box.
4 Adjust settings as desired for this document.
5 Click Color Management on the left side of the Print dialog box.

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6 Under Print, select Document.
7 For Color Handling, choose Let InDesign Determine Colors.
8 For Printer Profile, select the profile for your output device.

The more accurately the profile describes the behavior of an output device and printing conditions (such as paper
type), the more accurately the color management system can translate the numeric values of the actual colors in a
document. (See “Working with color profiles” on page 450.)
9 Select Preserve RGB Numbers or Preserve CMYK Numbers.

This option determines how InDesign handles colors that do not have a color profile associated with them (for
example, imported images without embedded profiles). When this option is selected, InDesign sends the color
numbers directly to the output device. When this option is deselected, InDesign first converts the color numbers to
the color space of the output device.
Preserving numbers is recommended when you are following a safe CMYK workflow. (See “Using a safe CMYK
workflow” on page 443.) Preserving numbers is not recommended for printing RGB documents.
10 Press either Setup (Windows) or Printer (Mac OS) to access the printer driver dialog box.
11 Turn off color management for the printer, and click Print to return to the InDesign Print dialog box.

Every printer driver has different color management options. If it’s not clear how to turn off color management,
consult your printer documentation.
12 Click Print.

See also
“Understanding color management” on page 437

Print a hard proof
A hard proof (sometimes called a proof print or match print) is a printed simulation of what your final output on a
printing press will look like. A hard proof is produced on an output device that’s less expensive than a printing press.
In recent years some inkjet printers have the resolution necessary to produce inexpensive prints that can be used as
hard proofs.
1 Choose View > Proof Setup > Custom.
2 In the Customize Proof Condition dialog box, select the device you want to simulate, and click OK.
3 Select Preserve RGB Numbers or Preserve CMYK numbers, and click OK.

This option determines how InDesign handles colors that do not have a color profile associated with them (for
example, imported images without embedded profiles). When this option is selected, InDesign sends the color
numbers directly to the output device. When this option is deselected, InDesign first converts the color numbers to
the color space of the output device.
Preserving numbers is recommended when you are following a safe CMYK workflow. (See “Using a safe CMYK
workflow” on page 443.) Preserving numbers is not recommended for printing RGB documents.
4 Choose File > Print.
5 If a printer preset has the settings you want, choose it in the Printer Preset menu at the top of the Print dialog box.
6 Adjust settings as desired for this document.
7 Click Color Management on the left side of the Print dialog box.

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8 Under Print, select Proof. The profile should match the proof setup you specified.
9 For Color Handling, choose Let InDesign Determine Colors.
10 Select Simulate Paper Color to simulate the specific shade of white exhibited by the print medium as defined by

a document’s profile (absolute colorimetric rendering intent). This option is not available for all profiles.
11 Press either Setup (Windows) or Printer (Mac OS) to access the printer driver dialog box.
12 Turn off color management for the printer, and click Print to return to the InDesign Print dialog box.

Every printer driver has different color management options. If it’s not clear how to turn off color management,
consult your printer documentation.
13 Click Print.

Printing gradients and color blends
Improving gradients and color blends in print
PostScript Level 2 and PostScript 3 output devices can print up to 256 shades of gray, and most PostScript desktop
laser printers are capable of printing approximately 32 to 64 shades, depending on the device resolution, specified
screen frequency, and halftoning method. Banding occurs when each available shade covers an area large enough for
you to see individual shades. Also, if you specify a gradient using two percentage values that differ by less than 50%,
you’re specifying a narrow range of shades that’s more likely to result in banding. If you have difficulty printing
smooth gradients without banding, try these techniques:

• Use a gradient that changes at least 50% between two or more process color components.
• Specify lighter colors, or shorten the length of dark gradients. Banding is most likely to occur between very dark
colors and white.

• Increase the percentage of change in the gradient.
• Decrease the screen frequency for the document (PostScript output devices only).
• If banding occurs in an imported graphic, such as an Adobe Illustrator® file, you might need to adjust the original
graphic.

• Print to a PostScript® 3 output device, which is capable of producing smoother gradients.
• Use shorter gradients. The optimum length depends on the colors in the gradient, but try to keep gradients shorter
than 7.5 inches.

See also
“About gradients” on page 428
“Specify a halftone screen frequency and resolution” on page 586

About halftone dots and printer dots
Most printers simulate gray by using halftone dots printed on a grid; the grid cells are called halftone cells, and the
grid rows are called lines or line screens. Each halftone dot is made up of printer dots. As the halftone cell fills up with
printer dots, the halftone dot gets larger, resulting in a darker shade of gray.

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Printer resolution determines the number of dots available to create the halftone dot. A printer with smaller dots can
produce a wider variety of halftone dot sizes, allowing more shades of gray. Screen frequency also plays a role: As
screen frequency increases, the halftone cell gets smaller, and so can hold fewer printer dots, resulting in fewer
possible shades of gray. As a result, there is a trade-off between the number of possible gray levels and image
coarseness.
A

Simulating continuous tone with printer dots
A. Continuous tone simulated by line screen B. Line screen consisting of halftone dots in rows C. Halftone dots consisting of printer dots

Print presets
Create print presets
If you regularly output to different printers or job types, you can automate print jobs by saving all output settings as
print presets. Using print presets is a fast, reliable way to print jobs that require consistently accurate settings for
many options in the Print dialog box.
You can save and load print presets, making it easy to back them up or to make them available to your service
providers, clients, or others in your workgroup.
You can create and review print presets in the Print Presets dialog box.
❖ Do one of the following:

• Choose File > Print, adjust print settings, and click Save Preset. Type a name or use the default, and then click OK.
With this method, the preset is saved in the preferences file.

• Choose Edit > Print Presets (Illustrator) or File > Print Presets > Define (InDesign), and then click New. In the
dialog box that appears, type a new name or use the default, adjust print settings, and then click OK to return to
the Print Presets dialog box. Then click OK again.

Apply print presets
1 Choose File > Print.
2 Choose a print preset from the Print Preset menu. If you like, confirm the printer settings in the Print dialog box.
3 Click Print.

Note: In InDesign, you can also print using a print preset by choosing one from the File > Print Presets menu.

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Edit print presets
❖ Do one of the following:

• Choose File > Print, adjust print settings, and click Save Preset. In the Save Preset dialog box that appears, either
type a name in the text box or use the current name. (If the current name is an existing preset, saving overwrites
that preset’s settings.) Click OK.

• Choose Edit > Print Presets (Illustrator) or File > Print Presets > Define (InDesign), select a preset from the list,
and then click Edit. Adjust print settings, and click OK to return to the Print Presets dialog box. Then click OK
again.
You can edit the default preset as you would any other using the steps outlined above.

Delete print presets
1 Choose Edit > Print Presets (Illustrator) or File > Print Presets > Define (InDesign).
2 Select one or more presets from the list and click Delete. Shift-click to select adjacent presets. Ctrl-click
(Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select nonadjacent presets.

Export or import print presets
You can save print presets in separate files, making it easy to back them up or to make them available to your service
providers, clients, or others in your workgroup.
1 Choose Edit > Print Presets (Illustrator) or File > Print Presets > Define (InDesign).
2 Do one of the following:

• To export presets, select one or more presets in the list and click Export (Illustrator) or Save (InDesign). Shift-click
to select adjacent presets. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select nonadjacent presets.
Specify a name and location, and then click Save.

• To import presets, click Import (Illustrator) or Load (InDesign). Locate and click the file containing the presets
you want to load, and then click OK.
Consider saving presets outside of the preferences folder. That way, they won’t be lost if you ever delete your preferences.
Note: Printer styles created in previous versions of InDesign can be loaded into Adobe® InDesign® CS3 and saved as
printer presets.

View a summary of print settings/presets
Use the Summary panel of the Print dialog box to view your output settings prior to printing, and then adjust them
as necessary. For example, you can see if the document will omit certain graphics for OPI replacement by the service
provider.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Print dialog box, click Summary.
3 If you want to save the summary as a text file, click Save Summary.
4 Accept the default filename or type another name for the text file, and click Save.

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Handing off files
Perform a preflight check
Before printing or handing off the document to a service provider, you can perform a quality check on the document.
Preflight is the industry-standard term for this process. The preflight utility warns of problems that may prevent a
document or book from imaging as desired, such as missing files or fonts. It also provides helpful information about
a document or book, such as the inks it uses, the first page a font appears on, and print settings.
Note: During preflight, InDesign cannot check the ICC profiles, color spaces, or images for placed PDF pages or placed
InDesign files.
For a video on preparing files for output, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0089. To view a printing guide for prepress
providers (PDF), see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_prepress_wp.
1 Do one of the following:

• For a document, choose File > Preflight.
• For a book, in the Book panel menu choose Preflight Book or Preflight Selected Documents, depending on
whether you want to check the entire book or only specific documents.
The preflight utility checks content on hidden and nonprinting layers as well. The utility ignores pasteboard items;
however, fonts applied to text on the pasteboard are included in the summary.
2 Using the Summary area in the Preflight dialog box as a guide, check fonts, links, graphics, and other information.
An alert icon
indicates problem areas.

The Summary area also displays the page number of any transparent object in a document, or the number of
documents with transparent objects in a book.
3 To show information for all layers, including those for which Show Layer and Print Layer have been turned off,

select Show Data For Hidden And Non-Printing Document Layers on the Summary area.
4 To list only missing or incomplete fonts, missing or modified links, and RGB graphics, select Show Problems Only
on either the Fonts area or the Links And Images area.
5 Click Report at any time to save the current information in each of the preflight sections to a text file, which you
can open in a text editor.

Correct font errors during preflight
The Fonts area of the Preflight dialog box lists all fonts used in the document—including fonts applied to overset text
or text on the pasteboard, and fonts embedded in EPS files, native Adobe Illustrator files, and placed PDF pages—
and determines whether the font is installed on your computer and available. Selecting Show Problems Only shows
fonts that fit into the following categories:
Missing fonts Lists fonts that are used in the document but are not installed on the current computer.
Incomplete fonts Lists fonts that have a screen font on the current computer but not a corresponding printer font.
Protected fonts Lists fonts that cannot be embedded in PDF or EPS files due to license restrictions.
❖ Do either of the following:

• Close the Preflight dialog box and install the fonts on your computer.
• Click Find Font in the Fonts area of the Preflight dialog box, and search for, list, and replace fonts used in your
document.

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Make sure that the fonts used in the document are licensed, installed, and activated either on your computer or on
the output device.

Repair links and images during preflight
The Links And Images area of the Preflight dialog box lists all links, embedded images, and placed InDesign files
used in the document, including DCS and OPI links from linked EPS graphics. Images embedded in EPS graphics
and placed InDesign files are not included as links in the preflight report. The preflight utility indicates missing or
out-of-date links, and any RGB images (which may not separate properly unless color management is on and set up
correctly).
Note: InDesign cannot detect RGB images embedded in placed EPS, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PDF, FreeHand files, and
placed .INDD files. For best results, verify color data for placed graphics in their original applications.
1 To view only problem images, select Show Problems Only in the Links And Images area of the Preflight dialog box.
2 To repair a link, do one of the following:

• Select the problem image and click either Update or Relink.
• Click Repair All.
3 Locate the correct image files and click Open.

Package files
You can gather the files you’ve used, including fonts and linked graphics, for easy handoff to a service provider. When
you package a file, you create a folder that contains the InDesign document (or documents in a book file), any
necessary fonts, linked graphics, text files, and a customized report. This report, which is saved as a text file, includes
the information in the Printing Instructions dialog box; a list of all used fonts, links, and inks required to print the
document; and print settings.
You don’t need to perform a final preflight check before packaging. InDesign performs an up-to-date preflight check.
If problem areas are detected, a dialog box appears.
You can also give your service provider a composite PDF file made from your document or a PostScript file.
1 Do one of the following to open the Package dialog box:

• Choose File > Package.
• In the Preflight dialog box, click Package.
• In the Book panel menu, choose Package Book or Package Selected Documents, depending on whether all, some,
or none of the documents are selected in the Book panel.
2 If a dialog box appears alerting you to possible problems, do one of the following:

• Click View Info to open the Preflight dialog box where you can correct problems or get further information. When
you’re satisfied with the document, begin the packaging process again.

• Click Continue to begin packaging.
3 Fill in the printing instructions. The filename you type is the name of the report that accompanies all other
packaging files.
4 Click Continue, and then specify a location in which to save all packaging files.

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5 Select the following, as needed:
Copy Fonts (Except CJK) Copies all necessary font files, not the entire typeface. Selecting this option does not copy
CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) fonts.
Copy Linked Graphics Copies linked graphics files to package folder location.
Update Graphic Links In Package Changes graphic links to the package folder location.
Include Fonts And Links From Hidden And Non-Printing Layers Packages the objects located on hidden layers and

layers for which the Print Layer option is turned off.
View Report Opens the printing instructions report in a text editor immediately after packaging. To edit the printing

instructions before completing the packaging process, click the Instructions button.
6 Do one of the following to specify how to handle hyphenation:

• To prevent the document from composing with the external user dictionary, and to prevent the document’s
hyphenation exceptions list from merging with the external user dictionary, select Use Document Hyphenation
Exceptions Only. You may want to select this option when packaging a document to be printed by someone
outside your workgroup, such as when you take the document to a service provider.

• To allow the external user dictionary (on the computer on which the file is opened) to merge with the document’s
hyphenation exceptions list, and to allow the document to compose using the exceptions lists stored in both the
external user dictionary and inside the current document, leave Use Document Hyphenation Exceptions Only
unselected.
7 Click Package to continue packaging.

See also
“Link or embed imported text files” on page 121
“Creating PostScript and EPS files” on page 564

Creating PostScript and EPS files
Creating PostScript or EPS files
As an alternative to printing a document to a printer, you can save a PostScript-language description of the document
as a .PS file for printing on remote printers—for example, by a prepress service provider. A service provider can send
a .PS file directly to the imagesetter. The size of a PostScript file is usually larger than the original InDesign
document, because the graphics and fonts are embedded.
You can also export a document page or spread to an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file and place it in other applications.

Choosing the right method for creating a PostScript file
You can save your InDesign document or book in any of three types of PostScript files: device-independent, devicedependent, or device- and driver-dependent.

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The following tables list recommended printer drivers and output methods for achieving the best results with postprocessing applications and InDesign. If your document will be processed by an OPI server, or by an imposition,
trapping, or other prepress application before it is printed by a RIP, choose PostScript® File in the Printer menu in
the InDesign Print dialog box. That way, InDesign has complete control over the DSC output. For desktop printing,
use any supported PostScript printer driver.
The tables use asterisks to indicate the relative suitability of each method for prepress work:
*** The PostScript file is fully DSC-compliant, and very suitable for use with a wide variety of post-processing appli-

cations, RIPs, and workflows. This method is the best all-round choice for applications that rely on DSC.
** The PostScript file is largely DSC-compliant, and generally suitable for use with a wide variety of post-processing

applications, RIPs, and workflows. Some compatibility issues may exist for certain types of applications that rely
heavily on DSC.
Printer selection: PostScript® File
Operating system

PPD

Prepress suitability

All platforms

Device-independent

***

Device-dependent

***

A printer driver isn’t used when the printer selection is “PostScript® File.”
Printer selection:
Operating system

Printer driver

Prepress suitability

Mac OS 10.2

Built-in PS Driver for
Mac OS X

Windows 2000/XP

Pscript 5

The PPD used by the selected printer appears in the PPD text box at the top of the Print dialog box.

Create a device-independent PostScript file
Select PostScript File in the Printer menu, and select Device Independent in the PPD menu. A device-independent
PostScript file has the following characteristics:

• It is 100% DSC-compliant, making it ideal for such post-processing tasks as trapping and imposition.
• All device and driver dependencies are removed, so that the file will print to almost any output device. However,
special printer features found in PPD files, such as image exposure, available media sizes, and optimized screen
frequencies, aren’t available in device-independent output.

• The color output is always composite CMYK, but it also includes spot colors. As a result, it has to be separated in
post-processing software, or at the RIP using in-RIP separations.

• It cannot be trapped by InDesign; trapping must occur at the RIP, or in post-processing software.
• It can only be printed to file (not directly to a device or application) from InDesign.

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A device-independent PostScript file is ideal for composite prepress workflows, where the file will be trapped and
separated later in the production process, such as during imposition, trapping, or at the RIP (if the output device
supports in-RIP separations).
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Print dialog box, for Printer, choose PostScript File.
3 For PPD, choose Device Independent.
4 View or change existing print settings. InDesign uses the current page range when creating the PostScript file.
5 Click Save.
6 Specify a name and location, and click Save.

Create a device-dependent PostScript file using InDesign
Select PostScript File in the Printer menu, and select a PPD. A device-dependent PostScript file has the following
characteristics:

• It is 100% DSC-compliant, making it ideal for such post-processing tasks as trapping and imposition.
• It contains a description of everything in your document, including information about linked files, optimized
screen frequencies, resolution, and available media sizes tailored to the currently selected output device.

• All driver dependencies are removed.
• It can be composite or separated. All of the color output methods that InDesign supports are available. (In-RIP
separations are available if the PPD and output device support them.)

• It can be trapped by InDesign (either by using Application Built-In or Adobe In-RIP Trapping).
• It can only be printed to file (not directly to a device or application) from InDesign.
A device-dependent PostScript file is ideally suited to pre-separation or trapping workflows, where the file will be
trapped using automatic or Adobe In-RIP Trapping features within InDesign.
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Print dialog box, for Printer, choose PostScript File.
3 Choose the PPD for the final output device.
4 View or change existing print settings. InDesign uses the current page range when creating the PostScript file.
5 Click Save.
6 Specify a name and location, and click Save.

About device- and driver-dependent PostScript files
Select a printer and a supported driver in the Printer menu. A device- and driver-dependent PostScript file has the
following characteristics:

• It is driver-dependent. The PostScript file will contain code generated by InDesign and by the driver. The InDesign
code is primarily responsible for the page content, including font downloading, and for setting basic device information, such as media size, resolution, and screening. The driver is primarily responsible for setting special driver
features, such as watermarks, and for enabling or controlling special device features. Since InDesign doesn’t have
complete control over creating the PostScript file, the level of DSC compliance isn’t quite as high as it is with
driver-independent PostScript files. The level of DSC compliance, and therefore the PostScript file’s suitability for
prepress tasks, depends on the printer driver used.

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• It is device-dependent. It contains code for enabling and controlling specific device features, making it less
compatible with devices other than the target device.

• It can be composite or separated (all of the color output methods that InDesign supports are available).
• It can be trapped by InDesign (either by using Application Built-In or Adobe In-RIP Trapping).
• It can be printed directly to the device, or to file.
A device- and driver-dependent PostScript file is ideally suited for proofing (by the designer) to desktop PostScript
printers. It can also be used by service providers who don't plan to do any prepress tasks to the job outside of
InDesign or the RIP system. In other words, if trapping is done, it happens in InDesign or at the RIP.

See also
“Choosing the right method for creating a PostScript file” on page 564
“About printer drivers” on page 549

Create a PostScript file using a PostScript printer driver (Windows)
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the InDesign Print dialog box, click the Setup button at the bottom of the dialog box.
3 In the printer driver’s dialog box, select Print to File.
4 Click the Layout tab, and then click the Advanced button.
5 Click Document Options, click PostScript Options, and then choose Optimize For Portability in the PostScript
Output Option menu. Click OK.
6 Click OK or Print to return to the InDesign Print dialog box.
7 In the InDesign Print dialog box, click Print.
8 Specify a name and location, and click Save.

Create a PostScript file using a PostScript printer driver (Mac OS)
1 Choose File > Print.
2 In the Print dialog box, choose PostScript File in the Printer menu, and click Save.
3 In the Save PostScript File dialog box, specify a name and location for the PostScript file (.ps), and then click Save.

Export pages into EPS format
Use the Export command to export InDesign pages in EPS format, which you can import into another program. If
you export multiple pages, each page is exported as a separate file with a number appended to the end of the filename.
For example, if you export pages 3, 6, and 12, and specify the filename News.eps, InDesign will create three files
named News_3.eps, News_6.eps, and News_12.eps.
If you want to open InDesign pages in Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop, export pages as PDF or EPS files.
1 Choose File > Export.
2 Specify a location and a filename. Be sure to include the EPS extension.
3 For Save As Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS), choose EPS, and click Save.

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4 Under Pages in the Export EPS dialog box, do one of the following:

• Select All Pages to export all pages in the document.
• Select Ranges and type a page range. You can type a range using a hyphen, and separate pages or ranges using
commas.

• Select Spreads to export facing pages as a single EPS file (one spread per EPS).
5 Set additional options.
6 Under Bleed, type a value between 0p0 and 36p0 to specify extra space for graphics that are positioned beyond

the edge of the page or trim area.
7 Click Export.

See also
“Options for omitting graphics” on page 557
“About preferences and defaults” on page 36
“Apply a flattener preset for output” on page 405
“Ink Manager overview” on page 583
EPS export options

When you export to EPS, you can specify the following options:
Data Format Specifies how InDesign sends the image data from your computer to a printer: as ASCII or Binary data.
PostScript® Specifies a level of compatibility with the interpreters in PostScript output devices. Level 2 will often

improve the printing speed and output quality of graphics printed only on a PostScript Level 2 or greater output
device. Level 3 provides the best speed and output quality, but requires a PostScript 3 device.
Embed Fonts Specifies how to include fonts used in the pages you export.

• None Includes a reference to the font in the PostScript file that tells the RIP or a post-processor where the font
should be included.
• Complete Downloads all fonts required for the document at the beginning of the print job. All glyphs and
characters in a font are downloaded even if they don’t appear in the document. InDesign automatically subsets fonts
that contain more than the maximum number of glyphs (characters) specified in the Preferences dialog box.
• Subset Downloads only the characters (glyphs) used in the document.
Color Specifies how color is represented in the exported file. The options below are similar to the Color settings in

the Print dialog box.

• Leave Unchanged Leaves each image in its original color space. For example, if the document contains three RGB
images and four CMYK images, the resulting EPS file will contain the same RGB and CMYK images.

• CMYK Creates a separable file by representing all color values using the gamut of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
process color inks.
• Gray Converts all color values to high-quality black-and-white images. The gray levels (shades) of the converted
objects represent the luminosity of the original objects.
• RGB Represents all color values using the red, green, and blue color space. An EPS file with RGB color definitions
is better suited for on-screen viewing.

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Preview Options Determines the characteristics of the preview image that is saved in the file. The preview image is

displayed in applications that cannot display EPS artwork directly. If you don’t want to create a preview image, choose
None in the format menu.
Images Specifies how much image data in placed bitmap images to include in the exported file.

• All Includes all available high-resolution image data in the exported file and requires the most disk space. Choose
this option if the file will be printed on a high-resolution output device.
• Proxy Includes only screen-resolution versions (72 dpi) of placed bitmap images in the exported file. Choose this
option in conjunction with the OPI Image Replacement option, or if the resulting PDF file will be viewed on-screen.
Omit For OPI Selectively omits imported graphics when sending image data to a printer or file, leaving only the OPI

links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server.
OPI Image Replacement Enables InDesign to replace low-resolution EPS proxies of graphics with high-resolution

graphics at output time.
Transparency Flattener Select a flattener preset in the Preset menu to specify how transparent objects appear in the

exported file. This option is the same as the Transparency Flattener option that appears in the Advanced area of the
Print dialog box.
Ink Manager Corrects any ink options without changing the design of the document.

Printing booklets
Impose a document for booklet printing
The Print Booklet feature lets you create printer spreads for professional printing. For example, if you’re editing an
8-page booklet, the pages appear in sequential order in the layout window. However, in printer spreads, page 2 is
positioned next to page 7, so that when the two pages are printed on the same sheet, folded, and collated, the pages
end up in the appropriate order.

5
7

6
8

Pages appear in sequence in the layout window, but are printed in a different order so that they appear correct when folded and bound.

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The process of creating printer spreads from layout spreads is called imposition. While imposing pages, you can
change settings to adjust spacing between pages, margins, bleed, and creep. The layout of your InDesign document
is not affected, because the imposition is all handled in the print stream. No pages are shuffled or rotated in the
document.
1 Choose File > Print Booklet.
2 If a printer preset has the settings you want, choose it in the Print Preset menu.

To use the print settings (as they appear in the Print dialog box) of the current document, choose Current Document
Settings from the Print Preset menu.
3 If you don’t want the entire document to be imposed, select Range in the Setup area and specify which pages to
include in the imposition.

Use hyphens to separate consecutive page numbers, and commas for nonadjacent page numbers. For example,
typing 3-7, 16 imposes pages 3 through 7 and 16.
Note: If you have divided the document into sections of page numbers, you should enter section page numbers (such as
Sec2:11) in the Range field.
4 To change settings such as printer’s marks and color output, click Print Settings. Using the options on the left,
change settings as needed, and then click OK.
5 In the Print Booklet dialog box, specify other booklet setup options as appropriate, and then click Print.

See also
“Preview or view a summary of booklet printing” on page 573
Booklet types

You can choose three types of imposition: 2-up Saddle Stitch, 2-up Perfect Bound, and Consecutive.
2-up Saddle Stitch Creates two-page, side-by-side printer spreads. These printer spreads are appropriate for printing

on both sides, collating, folding, and stapling. InDesign adds blank pages as needed to the end of the finished
document. The Space Between Pages, Bleed Between Pages, and Signature Size options are dimmed when 2-up
Saddle Stitch is selected.

1
2

Creating printer spreads for a 24-page black-and-white newsletter using the 2-up Saddle Stitch style yields 12 spreads.

2-up Perfect Bound Creates two-page, side-by-side printer spreads that fit within the specified signature size. These

printer spreads are appropriate for printing on both sides, cutting, and binding to a cover with adhesive. If the
number of pages to be imposed is not evenly divisible by the signature size, InDesign adds blank pages as needed to
the back of the finished document.

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7
6

8
1

8
13

1
1

12
15

14
16

2-up Perfect Bound divided in four signatures

If a booklet has a color cover and black-and-white insides, you can create two separate impositions from the same
document: one for the front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover; and one for the 24 pages inside
the booklet. To produce the color signature, click Range in the Pages area of the Setup area, and type 1-2, 27-28 (or
whatever the section page numbers are). To produce the black-and-white insides, type 3-26 in the Range text box.

1
2

28-page booklet with a color cover
A. Color signature for cover B. Black-and-white inside page

Consecutive Creates a two-, three-, or four-page panel appropriate to a foldout booklet or brochure. The Bleed
Between Pages, Creep, and Signature Size are dimmed when a Consecutive option is selected.

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For example, if you want to create printer spreads for a traditional six-panel, trifold brochure, choose 3-up Consecutive. You may be accustomed to setting up trifolds as one page with three different columns. With InDesign
imposition, you can simply create pages that are the size of each panel.

3-Up Consecutive

Spacing, bleed, and margin options for booklet printing

You can change the following options in the Setup area of the Print Booklet dialog box.
Space Between Pages Specifies the gap between pages (the right side of the left page and the left side of the right
page). You can specify a Space Between Pages value for all the booklet types except Saddle Stitch.

For Perfect Bound documents, if you are creeping in (with a negative value), the minimum Space Between Pages
value is the width of the Creep value. If you’re manually creating signatures (for example, if there are different stocks
in the same document), you can enter a Space Between Pages value to specify a starting creep for spreads that belong
to different signatures.
Bleed Between Pages Specifies the amount of space used to allow page elements to encroach the gap in Perfect

Bound printer spread styles. This option is sometimes referred to as crossover.) The field accepts values between 0
and half the Space Between Pages value. You can specify this option only when 2-up Perfect Bound is selected.
Creep Specifies the amount of space necessary to accommodate paper thickness and folding on each signature. In
most cases, you’ll want to specify a negative value to create a push-in effect. You can specify Creep for 2-up Saddle
Stitch and 2-up Perfect Bound booklet types. (See “Understanding creep” on page 573.)
Signature Size Specifies the number of pages in each signature for 2-up Perfect Bound documents. If the number of
pages to be imposed is not evenly divisible by the Signature Size value, blank pages are added to the end of the
document as necessary.
Automatically Adjust To Fit Marks And Bleeds Lets InDesign calculate the margins to accommodate the bleeds and

the other printer mark options currently set. The fields under Margins are dimmed when this option is selected, but
they reflect the actual values that will be used to fit marks and bleeds. If you deselect this option, you can adjust the
margin values manually.
Margins Specifies the amount of space that surrounds the actual printer spread after trimming. To specify individual

values for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right, deselect Automatically Adjust To Fit Marks And Bleeds, and increase the
values to insert extra space beyond the default marks and bleeds. (Decreasing the values may result in clipping the
marks and bleeds.) You can specify margin values for all booklet printing types.
Print Blank Printer Spreads If the number of pages to be imposed is not evenly divisible by the Signature Size value,

blank pages or spreads are added to the end of the document. Use this option to determine whether those blank
spreads at the end of the document are printed. Note that printing other blank pages in the document is controlled
by the Print Blank Pages option in the Print dialog box.

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Understanding creep
Creep specifies the distance pages move away from the spine to accommodate paper thickness and folding in Saddle
Stitch and Perfect Bound documents. InDesign considers the “cover” of the final piece to be the outermost printer
spread, while the “centerfold” is considered to be the innermost printer spread. The term sheet represents two printer
spreads: the front of the sheet and the back of the sheet. The creep increment is calculated by dividing the specified
creep value by the total number of sheets minus one.
For example, a 16-page InDesign document could yield eight printer spreads, or four sheets. The front of the first
sheet will consist of the first printer spread (pages 16 and 1) while the back of the first sheet will consist of the second
printer spread (pages 2 and 15).
If the creep value in this example is 24 points (an exaggerated amount for the sake of clarity), the creep increment
will be 8 points per sheet (24 divided by 3). The amount of creep applied to the outermost sheet will be 24 points,
the amount of creep applied to the second sheet will be 16 points, and the amount of creep applied to the third sheet
will be 8 points. No creep will be applied to the fourth and innermost sheet.
The amount of creep for each successive sheet is decreased by the creep increment. In summary, each page on the
outermost sheet is moved 12 points (half of the 24-point creep value for this sheet) away from the spine, each page
on the second sheet is moved 8 points (half of the 16-point creep value for this sheet) away from the spine, and each
page on the third sheet is moved 4 points (half of the 8-point creep value for this sheet) away from the spine.

Preview or view a summary of booklet printing
The Preview area of the Print Booklet dialog box lets you review color thumbnails of the printer spreads created by
your selected imposition style. You can also see the printer’s marks you’ve specified in the Print dialog box.
1 Choose File > Print Booklet.
2 Do any of the following:

• Click Preview on the left side of the dialog box. To flip through the printer spreads, click the scroll arrows. Click
the left scroll arrow to go backwards from spread to spread. You can also drag the scroll box to change printer
spreads.

• Click Summary on the left side of the Print Booklet dialog box to view a summary of current booklet settings.
Check the bottom of the Summary area for any conflicting settings.
If you click Print Settings and change the settings in the Print dialog box, you can observe the effect of the modified
settings in the Preview area.

574

Chapter 21: Color separations
To produce high-quality separations, it helps to be familiar with the basics of printing, including line screens,
resolution, process colors, and spot colors. If a print service provider is producing your separations, work closely with
them before beginning each job.

Preparing to print separations
Creating separations
To reproduce color and continuous-tone images, printers usually separate artwork into four plates—one plate for
each of the cyan (C), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and black (K) portions of the image. When inked with the appropriate
color and printed in register with one another, these colors combine to reproduce the original artwork. The process
of dividing the image into two or more colors is called color separating, and the films from which the plates are
created are called the separations.

Composite (left) and separations (right)

Separation workflows

Adobe InDesign CS3 supports two common PostScript workflows; the main difference is where separations are
created—at the host computer (the system using InDesign and the printer driver), or at the output device’s RIP (raster
image processor). Another alternative is a PDF workflow.
Host-based separations In the traditional host-based, preseparated workflow, InDesign creates PostScript information for each of the separations required for the document, and sends that information to the output device.
In-RIP separations In the newer RIP-based workflow, a new generation of PostScript RIPs performs color separa-

tions, trapping, and even color management at the RIP, leaving the host computer free to perform other tasks. This
approach takes less time for InDesign to generate the file, and minimizes the amount of data transmitted for any
given print job. For example, instead of sending PostScript information for four or more pages to print host-based
color separations, InDesign sends the PostScript information for a single composite PostScript file for processing in
the RIP.
For a video on preparing files for output, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0089. To view a printing guide for prepress
providers (PDF), see www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_prepress_wp.

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See also
“Print or save separations” on page 588
“Export to PDF” on page 473

Prepare your document for color separations
1 Correct any color problems in your artwork.
2 Set overprint options.
3 Create trapping instructions to compensate for misregistration on press.
4 Preview color separations on your screen.

Note: Steps 1–4 are recommended but not required in producing color separations.
5 Choose File > Print to display the Print dialog box.
6 If you’ve created a printer preset with the appropriate separation settings, select it in the Printer Presets menu at
the top of the Print dialog box.
7 Choose a printer or PostScript file in the Printer menu.
8 If you’re printing to a PostScript file, choose the PPD for the device that will output the separations.
9 To view or change existing print options, click a section name on the left side of the Print dialog box.
10 Before you deliver your document to a service provider, proof the separations.
11 Print or save separations.

See also
“About overprinting” on page 577
“Previewing color separations” on page 581
“Proofing color separations” on page 587
“Print or save separations” on page 588

Outputting spot colors
You can use custom inks, called spot colors, in addition to, or in place of, process colors. For example, instead of using
the four process colors to reproduce artwork consisting of black text and bluish-green line drawings, you could use
two spot colors—one of black, and one representing the exact shade of green. You can also use spot color inks to
produce colors not reproducible by CMYK inks, such as varnishes or fluorescent and metallic colors. In addition,
you can mix two or more spot colors together or mix spot colors with process colors to create mixed inks.
You can color artwork with process colors, spot colors, or a combination of both. When printing separations, you
can convert spot colors to their process color equivalents so that they will be printed on the CMYK plates.

See also
“Separate spot colors as process” on page 584
“Mixing inks” on page 433

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View the process color equivalents of a spot color
1 Select the spot color in the Swatches panel.
2 Choose CMYK in the Color panel menu.

The CMYK equivalent values for the spot color are displayed in the Color panel.
You can also hold the pointer over the spot color in the Swatches panel. The formula for the color will appear in the
tool tip.

Print an object on all color plates
If you want an object to print on all plates in the printing process, including spot color plates, you can apply registration color to the object. Registration color is used for crop marks and trim marks. For composite output, objects
with registration color applied will print as C 100, M 100, Y 100, and K 100. For separations, these objects will print
as 100% on each plate.
1 Select the objects to which you want to apply registration color.
2 Choose Window > Swatches.
3 In the Swatches panel, click the Registration color swatch

See also
“Specify printer’s marks” on page 550

Printing gradients as separations
Consider the following when producing separations for documents with gradients:

• A gradient created in InDesign that contains a combination of spot and process colors will be separated onto both
the process and spot plates.

• A gradient that contains process colors will be separated onto the process plates.
• A gradient that contains two tints of the same spot color will be separated onto a single spot color plate.
• To create a gradient that separates on one piece of film between a spot color and white, create a gradient fill
between the spot color and the Paper swatch in the Swatches panel.

• If you create a gradient between two spot colors, you should assign different screen angles to those spot colors. If
two spot colors have the same screen angle, they will overprint each other. If you’re not sure what the angles should
be, consult with your prepress service provider.

See also
“About halftone screen frequency” on page 585

Printing a composite
You can print a color or grayscale composite proof to check colors in your document. A composite image can help
you design and proof your layout before you print final (and costly) separations.
When InDesign prints a composite, it prints all of the colors used in the file on one plate, regardless of whether any
individual colors are selected.

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Consider the following issues when printing composites:

• While no proof will give you an exact representation of your final output, you can greatly improve its accuracy by
calibrating all the devices you use to create a document (such as scanners, monitors, and printers). If the devices
are calibrated, the color management system can help you get predictable and consistent color.

• Any overprinting options that you’ve selected in the document will print correctly on a printer that supports
overprinting. Since most desktop printers don’t support overprinting, you can simulate the effects of overprinting
by selecting Simulate Overprint in the Output section of the Print dialog box.
Important: Selecting Simulate Overprint will convert spot colors to process colors for printing. If you intend to use a file
for separations on a RIP, or for final output, do not select this option.

• When you print to a black-and-white printer, InDesign produces a grayscale composite version of the pages. If the
document contains color, InDesign prints visually correct grays to simulate that color. For example, the gray that
simulates a 20% tint of yellow is lighter than a 20% tint of black, since yellow is visually lighter than black.

• When you print a book with chapters containing conflicting spot inks or trap styles, you can instruct InDesign to
synchronize settings with the master document.

• If you’re using color management with the Book feature, make sure that each document in the book uses the same
color management settings in the Color Settings dialog box.
Note: Remember that, like monitors, color printers vary greatly in color reproduction quality; thus, proofs from your
service provider are the best way to verify how the finished piece will look.

See also
“Improving gradients and color blends in print” on page 559
“Synchronize book documents” on page 275
“Use color management when printing” on page 557

Overprinting
About overprinting
If you have not changed the transparency of your artwork with the Transparency panel, the fills and strokes in the
artwork will appear opaque, because the top color knocks out, or cuts out, the area underneath. You can prevent
knockout by using the Overprint options in the Attributes panel. After you’ve set your overprint options, you can
preview the overprinting effects on-screen.

Three overlapping circles without overprinting (left) compared to three overlapping circles with overprinting (right)

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InDesign also has overprint simulation, which is useful for simulating the effects of overprinting spot and process
inks on a composite printing device.
Black ink applied to text or native InDesign objects is overprinted by default to prevent misregistration of small
black-type characters positioned over color areas, or of color areas outlined with black lines. You can change black
ink settings using Appearance Of Black preferences.
Your design workflow may require a certain color to be set to overprint. For example, you want to print all the text
in your publication in a specific color. Consider the following options:

• Create an object style that uses the spot ink as the fill or stroke with a matching overprint fill or stroke.
• Create a separate layer for objects that contain your spot color and assign them to black.
• Create a composite PDF and change overprint settings within the PDF.
• Assign overprint settings in your RIP.
• Apply overprint settings to an image or object and add it to your library, or edit a placed file in its original application.

See also
“Previewing color separations” on page 581
“Simulate overprinting of spot inks” on page 580

Determining when to overprint manually
Automatic trapping in InDesign—either as built-in trapping or Adobe In-RIP Trapping—nearly eliminates the need
for manual overprinting. However, manual overprinting can be an effective solution in the rare cases when you can’t
use automatic trapping.
Use the following guidelines to determine whether or not to use overprinting:

• Consult with your service provider to see if their output devices support manual overprinting.
• Overprint when the artwork doesn’t share common ink colors and you want to create a trap or overlaid ink effects.
When overprinting process color mixes or custom colors that don’t share common ink colors, the overprint color
is added to the background color. For example, if you print a fill of 100% magenta over a fill of 100% cyan, the
overlapping fills appear violet, not magenta.

• Don’t overprint when using a stroke to trap two process colors. Instead, you specify a CMYK stroke color that uses
the higher value from the corresponding inks in each original color.

• Make sure that you and your prepress service provider agree on when and how to overprint manually, because
doing so will significantly affect trapping options specified in the Print dialog box. Overprinting is supported by
most, but not all, PostScript Level 2 and PostScript 3 devices.

Overprint a stroke or fill
You can overprint strokes or fills of any selected paths using the Attributes panel. An overprinted stroke or fill doesn’t
need to be trapped, because overprinting covers any potential gaps between adjacent colors. You can also overprint
a stroke to simulate a trap (by overprinting a color you’ve manually calculated as the proper combination of two
adjacent colors).

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Keep the following guidelines in mind as you apply manual overprinting:

• If you use the Overprint Fill option on a 100% black stroke or fill, the black ink may not be opaque enough to
prevent the underlying ink colors from showing through. To eliminate the show-through problem, use a fourcolor (rich) black instead of a 100% black. Consult with your service provider about the exact percentages of color
to add to the black.

• When using a stroke to trap objects (but not text characters), adjust the stroke alignment so the stroke falls outside
the path or object, rather than inside or centered on the path.

• When using a stroke to trap two spot colors or a spot and a process color, you usually apply the lighter color to the
stroke, and overprint the stroke.
Use the Separations Preview panel to preview how colors will overprint.
1 Select one or more paths with the Selection tool or the Direct Selection tool , or select text characters with
the Type tool. To overprint the stroke of a path that is pasted inside a frame, you must first select the nested (inner)
path using the Direct Selection tool.

Overprinting fills and strokes
A. Cyan (bottom layer) B. Magenta (middle layer) C. Yellow (top layer)

2 Choose Window > Attributes.
3 In the Attributes panel, do any of the following:

• To overprint the fill of selected objects, or to overprint unstroked type, select Overprint Fill.
• To overprint the stroke of selected objects, select Overprint Stroke.
• To overprint a color applied to the spaces in a dashed, dotted, or patterned line, select Overprint Gap.

See also
“Previewing color separations” on page 581
“Define custom stroke styles” on page 318

Overprint a paragraph rule
1 Make sure a swatch exists for your overprint color.
2 Using the Type tool, click an insertion point in a paragraph.
3 In the Paragraph panel, choose Paragraph Rules in the Paragraph panel menu.
4 In the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog box, choose the paragraph rule you want to overprint.

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5 Select one of the following, then click OK.

• To overprint the stroke of the rule, select Overprint Stroke.
• To overprint a color applied to the spaces in a dashed, dotted, or patterned line, select Overprint Gap.
Note: The Overprint Stroke and Overprint Gap options in the Paragraph Rules dialog box can be saved as part of a
paragraph style.

Overprint rules above footnotes
InDesign can automatically insert a rule to separate footnotes from the body of the document. You can choose to
overprint the rule.
1 Make sure a swatch exists for your overprint color.
2 Choose Type > Document Footnote Options.
3 In the Footnote Options dialog box, click the Layout tab.
4 Select Overprint Stroke, and click OK.

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