Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Understanding styles
InDesign provides styles for automating nearly all text and object formatting.
Creating, applying, modifying, and sharing styles works the same way for all types
of styles: paragraph, character, object, table, and cell styles. A few notes about
styles:
Basic styles
The default formatting of everything in a new InDesign document is determined
by its respective “basic” style. For example, when you create a new text frame, its
formatting is determined by the [Basic Text Frame] object style. Therefore, if you
wanted to specify that all new text frames have a 1-pt stroke, you would modi-
fy [Basic Text Frame]. To create a new default for all new InDesign documents,
modify the “basic” style when no documents are open. Whenever you ever find
yourself repeating a formatting task, stop and think about whether it makes sense
to modify the relevant basic style or create a new style.
Applying styles
Applying a style is as simple as making a selection and then clicking a style name
in the relevant Styles panel. For example, to format a table, you select the table
(Table > Select > Table), and then click a style name in the Table Styles panel. If
you are working with an extended keyboard, you can set up keyboard shortcuts for
applying styles as well.
Tip
Keyboard shortcuts are especially handy for formatting text. A quick way
to remember shortcuts is to sync them up to the style names and usage.
For example, if you create a paragraph style named “1 Headline” with the
shortcut Shift+1, it's easy to remember the shortcut because it's often the
first style you apply.
Overriding manual formatting with styles
In many cases, you will want an object, a table, or some text to match a style's
specifications precisely. To do this, you need to override any manual formatting. If
a selection does not precisely match its style, a plus sign appears next to the style
name. To see how the formatting varies from the style, point at the style name in
the Styles panel; a tool tip describes the overrides applied. Each Styles panel has a
Clear Overrides control at the bottom, indicated by an icon and a plus sign. Move
