Using Tools | Adobe InDesign CS3 Bible

InDesign always displays a floating palette called the Tools palette (also sometimes referred to as the Toolbox by InDesign documentation), which contains 30 tools plus 13 other functions. It displays by default at the upper-left of the screen (refer to Figure 2-1). The tools let you create and manipulate the objects that make up your pages. The tools work similarly to those in other Adobe products (such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and PageMaker), and they work somewhat like the tools in QuarkXPress. But the tools do not work like the toolbars in your word processor, which are more like macros that make something happen. With InDesign's tools, for the most part, you select the tool and do something with it ‚ draw a new frame, rotate a line, crop an image, and so on.

With so many tools, all of which perform limited functions, understanding what each tool does is imperative. When it comes to tools, InDesign has little intuition ‚ it requires you to select the precise tool for the action you want to complete. The software is unable to predict that you might want to make a box slightly larger while you're editing text, or that you might want to reshape a frame at the same time you're resizing it. You need to learn which tool to use and get used to switching tools ‚ a lot.

QuarkXPress User ‚

The limited functionality of each tool may be familiar to PageMaker users but is likely to drive a QuarkXPress convert crazy. In recent years QuarkXPress has made tools more flexible, so users don't have to switch as often when they go from, for example, editing content to resizing the frame to better fit that content. If you're a QuarkXPress user, pay special attention to the tool definitions that follow so you can translate the InDesign tools to tools that you understand.

Using Tool Tips and keyboard shortcuts

To start getting familiar with the tools, first make sure Show Tool Tips is checked in the General pane of the Preferences dialog box (choose InDesign ‚ Preferences on the Mac or Edit ‚ Preferences in Windows, or press z +K or Ctrl+K). Point at each tool to learn its official name, as shown in Figure 2-6; let the pointer rest on the tool for a few seconds and a Tool Tip will display, telling you the name and shortcut key of that tool. Knowing the actual name is the key to learning about any tool ‚ after all, neither the InDesign documentation's index nor this book's index lists tools by the way they look (for example, "little black pointer" or "empty square"); instead, if you want to look up a tool, you need to know the tool's name ("Selection tool" or "Rectangle tool," for example).

Figure 2-6: Tool Tips provide the names of tools along with the shortcut key (in parentheses) that you can use to select that tool.

While you're learning the tool names, you'll notice a single letter in parentheses next to each tool name. This is the shortcut key to selecting that tool. For example, the (T) next to the Type tool indicates that pressing T selects the Type tool. The Tools palette's shortcuts don't use modifier keys like z and Ctrl. If you're editing text or otherwise have the Type tool selected ‚ or if you're in a text-entry field in a pane or dialog box ‚ entering these shortcuts will simply insert the text where your cursor is.

Caution ‚

If you're not careful, you can enter nonsense text in your articles because of the way the Tools palette's shortcuts work (without having to press z or Ctrl). This shortcut makes no sense in a program that includes significant text-handling functionality. Adobe's graphics programs, such a Photoshop and Illustrator, use such single-letter shortcuts, which does make sense because artists rarely used text in them. Adobe has decided to standardize the interface across all its products, which in this case results in an unintuitive and potentially damaging approach.

After you learn all the keyboard commands, you can create and refine a layout with-out ever reaching for the Tools palette. In no time, you'll be switching from the Scale tool to the Rotate tool with a quick punch of the R key, then hitting T to add a text frame. Now, obviously, you can't use the keyboard commands for selecting tools while typing or editing text, but they are worth remembering for switching tools while designing a layout. In many production environments, copy editors handle text changes, while layout artists handle design issues ‚ in such environments, the layout artists would learn these shortcuts, while the copy editors would avoid them.

Opening and closing the Tools palette

Opening and closing the Tools palette is easy. One method of opening (or closing) the Tools palette is to choose Window ‚ Tools. The other method of opening (or closing) the Tools palette is more obscure: Pressing the Tab key (with any tool but the Type tool selected) closes all open palettes, including the Tools palette. To reopen those palettes, press Tab again. To reopen just the Tools palette, choose Window ‚ Tools.

You can reposition the Tools palette by dragging it to a new location on-screen ‚ make sure you drag it by its title bar. You can also change its orientation and appearance by double-clicking the title bar. The first double-click converts the Tools palette to be one icon wide rather than the default two icons wide. The second double-click rotates the Tools palette to horizontal orientation. A third double-click restores it to the standard two-icon-wide vertical orientation. Figure 2-7 shows the three options.

Figure 2-7: By clicking on the Tools palette's title bar (in which there is no title, just the bar), you can change its appearance and orientation.

Selecting tools

To select a tool and start using it, click it in the Tools palette. As long as you're not using the Type tool, you can also press a keyboard shortcut displayed in parentheses in the Tool Tips.

In addition to the tools you can see, the Tools palette contains a few hidden tools that are consolidated into little pop-out menus . Any tool with a small arrow in its lower-right corner is hiding one or more similar tools, as shown in Figure 2-8. To access hidden tools, click and hold on a tool with a pop-out indicator. When the pop-out displays, click one of the new tools to replace the standard tool with the pop-out tool.

Figure 2-8: The Tools palette. If a small triangle displays in the lower-right corner of a tool, you can click and hold on it to display pop-out tools. Pop-outs are shown for all tools that have them, with the tool at the top the one that is the default tool for the Tools palette.

Note ‚

Many of the pop-out tools also have keyboard shortcuts, as Figure 2-8 shows

Tool definitions

In real life you can often get by using the wrong tool for a job ‚ using a flat screwdriver instead of a Phillips, or a shoe instead of a flyswatter. This won't work in InDesign. Whether you're typing, reshaping an object, or applying a color , there's one ‚ and only one tool ‚ for the job. Loosely organized with the most commonly used tools at the top, the Tools palette includes tools for creating and manipulating frames and lines ‚ the objects that make up your designs (refer to Figure 2-8).

Note ‚

Frames are shapes and containers that you can size , position, and reshape with precision. InDesign has three types of frames: empty ( unassigned ) frames for blocks of color, text frames for type, and graphics frames for imported images. By default, most frames are empty but can be easily converted to text or graphics frames. Other frames are created specifically as text or graphics frames.

New Feature ‚

The InDesign CS Tools palette adds the Measure and Push Button tools, as well as the Bleed Mode and Slug Mode buttons in the Preview Mode button's new pop-up menu. Also, the Scissors tool now occupies its own place in the Tools palette, no longer stored in the Gradient tool's pop-up menu (that pop-up menu no longer exists in version CS).

Adobe tool

In the Adobe world of software, the first item of the Tools palette is actually a big button that takes you to the Adobe Web site. A fairly large, prominent tool for something you can do just as easily many other ways, the Adobe tool does show the product icon so you always know from the Tools palette that InDesign is active.

Selection tool

The Selection tool (shortcut V) lets you select objects on the page and move or resize them. You might want to rename this tool in your mind to the Mover tool because it's the only tool that lets you drag objects around on-screen.

QuarkXPress User ‚

Think of the Selection tool as half your Item tool.

Tip ‚

If you're working with text and have the Type tool selected, you can switch to the Selection tool by holding down z or Ctrl, instead of using the Tools palette.

Here's how the Selection tool works:

To select any object on a document page, click on it. If you can't seem to click on it, it might be an object placed by a master page (a preformatted page used to format pages automatically) or it might be behind another object.
To select an object placed by a master page, press Shift+ z or Ctrl+Shift while you click.
To select an object that is completely behind another object, z +click it or Ctrl+click it.
To select multiple objects, click and drag around the objects or Shift+click them individually. Because you need to press the Shift key anyway while selecting objects placed by master pages, you can always multiple-select those objects.
To move selected objects, click somewhere within the objects and drag the mouse.
To resize a selected object, drag any handle. Press Shift+ z or Ctrl+Shift while you drag to maintain the proportions of the object.

To resize both a selected frame and its graphic, press z or Ctrl while you drag. Press Shift+ z or Ctrl+Shift to keep things proportional.

Tip ‚

To resize multiple objects simultaneously , you must first group them (choose Object ‚ Group, or press z +G or Ctrl+G). Otherwise, only the object whose handle is being dragged will resize. Ungroup via Object ‚ Ungroup, or Shift+ z +G or Ctrl+Shift+G.

Direct Selection tool

The Direct Selection tool (shortcut A) lets you select individual handles on objects to reshape them, and it lets you move graphics independently of their frames.

QuarkXPress User ‚

Think of the Direct Selection tool as the other half of your Item tool and also as the Content tool for pictures

Here's how the Direct Selection tool works:

To select an object to reshape it, click it to display anchor points on the edges (the anchor points are hollow handles that you can select individually, as shown in Figure 2-9). You can drag the anchor points to reshape the object.

Figure 2-9: Clicking and dragging a hollow anchor point with the Direct Selection tool lets you reshape items.
To select objects placed by a master page, Shift+ z +click or Ctrl+Shift+click, as with the Selection tool. The Direct Selection tool lets you easily select objects behind other objects and to select items within groups.
To select multiple objects, click and drag around the objects or Shift+click them. Because you need to press the Shift key anyway while selecting objects placed by master pages, you can always multiple-select those objects.
To move a graphic within its frame, click inside the frame and drag the graphic.

To move a frame leaving the graphic in place, click an edge of the frame and drag it.

Note ‚

In addition to using the Selection tool for threading (linking) text frames (see Chapter 16), you can use the Direct Selection tool. This is one of the few cases where you have more than one tool to handle a task.

Pen tool

The Pen tool (shortcut P) lets you create paths consisting of straight and curved segments. Modeled after the pen tools in Illustrator and Photoshop, this is the tool for creating simple illustrations within InDesign.

If a path you create with the Pen tool is left open, the object is essentially a line that you can color or adjust stroke settings for. If the path is closed, the object is basically an empty frame. You can import text or graphics into the paths using the Place command (choose File ‚ Place, or press z +D or Ctrl+D) or you can type into the path using the Type tool. If you decide to place text or graphics in an open path, the path closes automatically and becomes a frame. (To place text on a path, first choose the Type on a Path tool (shortcut Shift+T), then click the path.)

Here's how the Pen tool works:

To create straight segments of a path, click to establish an anchor point, then move the mouse to the next location, click again, and so on. To move an anchor point after clicking, press the spacebar and drag the segment.
To create curved segments of a path, click and drag, then release the mouse button to end the segment.
To close a path and create a frame, click over the first anchor point created (the hollow one).
To leave a path open and create a line, z +click or Ctrl+click away from the path or select another tool.

The Pen tool includes a pop-out containing three additional tools for reshaping lines and frames: Add Anchor Point (shortcut =), Delete Anchor Point (shortcut - [hyphen]), and Convert Direction Point (shortcut Shift+C).

Cross-Reference ‚

For more information about using these tools, see Chapter 26 and Chapter 27

Type tool

The Type tool (shortcut T) lets you enter, edit, and format text. The Type tool also lets you create rectangular text frames as you need them.

QuarkXPress User ‚

Think of the Type tool as a combination of the Rectangle Text Box tool and the Content tool for text ‚ except remember that it doesn't let you do anything else such as resizing a frame when working as the Content tool equivalent.

Here's how the Type tool works:

To create a rectangular text frame, click and drag; hold the Shift key to create a perfect square.
To begin typing or editing text, click in a text frame or in any empty frame.
To highlight text so you can format it, cut and paste it, drag-move it, and so on.
To select a word, double-click anywhere in the word.
To select a paragraph, triple-click anywhere in the paragraph.
To select all the text in a story (a series of threaded text frames), choose Edit ‚ Select All or press z +A or Ctrl+A.

You can place or drag-and-drop text files, and you can thread (link) text frames with either of the selection tools, but they won't let you touch the text.

The Type tool has a pop-out menu to select the Type on a Path tool (shortcut Shift+T), which lets you select a path or frame and enter text onto it so it follows the path or frame's outline.

Line tool

The Line tool (shortcut E) lets you draw freestanding lines (rules) on your page. To use this tool, simply click and drag it. You can use the rulers, the new Control palette, or the Transform pane to size and position the line precisely. Pressing the Shift key while you click and drag constrains the line angle to 45-degree increments , which is useful for creating straight horizontal and vertical lines.

Frame tools

There are three frame tools ‚ Rectangle Frame (shortcut F), Ellipse Frame, and Polygon Frame ‚ in InDesign. Their icons are distinguished by a large X inside. The latter two tools, which have no shortcuts, are available from the Rectangle Frame tool's pop-up menu. The frames created via these tools are meant to hold either pictures or text. To create frames with these tools, click and drag using the rulers or information in the Transform pane or Control palette to judge the size and placement. To create a perfect circle with the Ellipse Frame tool or a perfect square with the Rectangle Frame tool, press the Shift key while you click and drag.

You can fill and stroke the empty frames for use as design elements or you can import text and graphics into them using the Place command (File ‚ Place, or z +D or Ctrl+D). You can also click in an empty frame with the Type tool to begin typing in it.

QuarkXPress User ‚

The InDesign frame tools are the same as picture- and text-box tools in QuarkXPress, except that InDesign's boxes can hold either type of content, so there are not two variants of these tools in InDesign as there are in QuarkXPress

To create a rectangle or ellipse, you click somewhere in the document window and drag the mouse to another location. The rectangle or ellipse fills the area. But creating a polygon frame works differently:

Double-click the Polygon tool to display the Polygon Settings dialog box , shown in Figure 2-10.

Figure 2-10: Double-clicking the Polygon tool displays the Polygon Settings dialog box, which you can use to specify the number of sides on a polygon, as well as any starburst spike settings.
Enter a value between 3 and 100 in the Number of Sides field to specify how many sides you want on your polygon.
If you want to create a star shape, use the Star Inset field to specify the size of the spikes.

The percent value specifies the distance between the polygon's bounding box and the insides of the spikes (for example, 50% creates spikes that are halfway between the bounding box and the center of the polygon).
Click OK to close the Polygon Settings dialog box.

The settings are saved with the active document for the next time you use the Polygon tool.
Click and drag to create the polygon, using the rulers or the Transform pane or Control palette to judge the size and placement.

To create a symmetrical polygon, in which all the sides are the same size, press the Shift key while you click and drag the Polygon tool.

Graphics tools

If you'd rather create actual graphics frames, use the Rectangle (shortcut M), Ellipse (shortcut L), or Polygon tools. (The Ellipse and Polygon tools are pop-out tools available from the Rectangle tool.) The tools are meant to create shapes that you will use as artwork, rather than as containers. But you can place text or graphics into one of these shapes the same way as you would a frame. Essentially, the graphics tools are superfluous and can be ignored.

Rotate tool

The Rotate tool (shortcut R) lets you change the angle of selected items visually. To use the Rotate tool, first select an item with the Selection tool or the Direct Selection tool, then select the Rotate tool. Or z +click or Ctrl+click an object with the Rotate tool. Click and drag in any direction. The object rotates from the default location of the anchor point, which is the center of the selected object. You can drag the anchor point to a new location, as shown in Figure 2-11. To rotate an object in 45-degree increments, press the Shift key while you click and drag.

Figure 2-11: You can drag the anchor point for rotating items from the center of an object to a different location.

Scale tool

The Scale tool (shortcut S) lets you grab any object and resize it horizontally, vertically, or proportionally. When you scale text or graphics frames, the size of the text and image are resized as well. As with the Rotate tool, the Scale tool doesn't let you select items to scale. You either need to select an object first with a selection tool, or z +click or Ctrl+click it with the Scale tool.

The Scale tool works as follows:

To make an object wider, drag to the left.
To make an object narrower, drag to the right.
To make an object taller, drag down.
To make an object shorter, drag up.
To resize an object both horizontally and vertically, drag up or down diagonally.
To resize an object proportionally, press the Shift key while you drag.

Shear tool

The Shear tool (shortcut O) works much the same as the Scale tool. Instead of resizing the object and contents, the Shear tool slants selected objects in the direction you drag.

Free Transform tool

The Free Transform tool (shortcut E) is handy because it lets you move, rotate, and reshape objects all with one tool. If you click and hold the mouse within the object, you can drag it. If you click any of the handles on the object frame, you can resize it. If you click and hold on any edge (except where there is a handle) or anywhere outside the object, you can rotate the object.

Measure tool

The Measure tool, which has no shortcut, opens the new Info pane and lets you draw a line whose dimensions show up in that pane so you can measure an arbitrary distance. You can see objects' dimensions in the Control palette and in the Transform and Info panes, but the value of the Measure tool is in determining the distance between objects rather than the dimensions of objects. It can also come in handy when measuring the distance across multiple objects.

New Feature ‚

The Measure tool is new to InDesign CS.

Scissors tool

The Scissors tool (shortcut C) lets you cut paths into separate paths. When you cut an open path (a line), you get two separate lines. When you cut a closed path in one place, you get an open path. When you cut a closed path (a frame) in two places, you get two closed paths containing the same contents. Note that you cannot cut paths containing text.

To use the Scissors tool, z +click or Ctrl+click an object to select it. Then do the following:

To cut a path, click anywhere on the path. The path will not appear to be cut until you drag an anchor point with either the Selection tool or the Direct Selection tool.
To divide a frame into two separate frames, click at two different locations on a path.

Eyedropper tool

The Eyedropper tool (shortcut I) displays the color settings for the object location clicked with it. This is handy way to find out the color makeup of imported graphics so you can then create a color swatch that matches it exactly.

Cross-Reference ‚

I cover color and gradients in Chapter 8

Gradient tool

The Gradient tool (shortcut G) lets you change the direction of existing gradient fills or strokes applied to objects. To apply gradients to objects, you use the Gradient pane (accessible via Window ‚ Gradient) as discussed in Chapter 8.

To change the gradient direction, follow these steps:

Select an object.
Click either the Fill button or the Stroke button (immediately below the Gradient tool) to indicate where the gradient you want to change is.
Select the Gradient tool.
Click within the object at the start point, then drag to the end point.

You can drag from the inside out, from top to bottom, from left to right, and so on, depending on the effect you want to achieve.

Push Button tool

The new Push Button tool, which has no shortcut, creates rectangular frames that are used as buttons in Acrobat forms, which you can create in InDesign.

Hand tool

The Hand tool (shortcut H) lets you scoot pages around to view a different portion of a page or another page entirely. The Hand tool is an entirely visual method of scrolling, allowing you to see the page contents at all times. To use the Hand tool, click and drag in any direction. You can access the Hand tool temporarily without actually switching tools by pressing Option+spacebar or Alt+Spacebar.

New Feature ‚

The Option+spacebar and Alt+spacebar shortcuts for temporary Hand tool access replace the shortcuts previously used ‚ spacebar when not using the Text tool and Shift+spacebar when using the Text tool. This eliminates the confusion caused by having different shortcuts for the same action depending on what tool is selected.

Zoom tool

The Zoom tool (shortcut Z) lets you increase and decrease the document view scale. You can highlight a specific area on a page to change its view or you can click on-screen to change the view scale within InDesign's preset increments (shown in the View Percentage field and pop-up menu in the lower-left corner of the document window).

The Zoom tool works as follows:

To increase the view scale by a preset increment, click on-screen.
To increase the view scale of an area, click and drag around it.
To decrease the view scale by a preset increment, Option+click or Alt+click on-screen.

To decrease the view scale of an area, press Option or Alt while you click and drag around it.

Tip ‚

You can access the Zoom tool temporarily without actually switching tools by pressing z +spacebar or Ctrl+spacebar to zoom in and Option+ z +spacebar or Ctrl+Alt+spacebar to zoom out.

You can also use z ++ (plus) or Ctrl++ (plus) to zoom in and z +- (hyphen) or Ctrl+- (hyphen) to zoom out, or choose View ‚ Zoom In or View ‚ Zoom Out.

Color buttons

The bottom portion of the Tools palette contains buttons for applying colors to the edges of objects (strokes) and the insides of objects (fills). You use these buttons with the Stroke, Color, Gradient, and Swatches panes to apply and experiment with the colors applied to objects. Refer to Figure 2-8 for an illustration of these buttons.

Here's how the color buttons work:

To modify the fill (or background) of the selected object, click the Fill button.
To modify the stroke (or outside edges) of the selected object, click the Stroke button. (The shortcut X toggles between the Fill and Stroke buttons.)
Once you've clicked the Stroke or Fill button, use the Color, Swatches, or Gradient panes to apply a new color or gradient.
To switch the color and/or gradient of the stroke and fill, click the Swap Fill Stroke button or use the shortcut Shift+X.
To revert the selected object to InDesign's default of a white fill and a black stroke, click the Default Fill/Stroke button or use the shortcut D.
To apply the last color used in the Swatches or Color pane, click the Color button or use the shortcut <.
To apply the last gradient pattern used in the Swatches or Gradient pane, click the Gradient button or use the shortcut . (period).
To remove the stroke or fill from an object, click None or use the shortcut /.

View buttons

At the very bottom of the Tools palette are the two view buttons: Normal View Mode and Preview Mode. The first shows the pasteboard , margins, and guidelines, while the second hides those to give an unadorned preview of the final document.

New Feature ‚

InDesign CS adds two new preview options via a pop-up menu in the Preview Mode button: Bleed mode and Slug mode. Bleed mode shows any objects that bleed beyond the page boundaries, while Slug mode shows the space reserved for information such as crop marks and color separation names used in final output. You set these up when you create new documents or by choosing File ‚ Document Setup.