Defining Text Styles (continued)


The easier way to define a style is to format the text and define the style by example.

To define a paragraph style by example:

1.

Select a sample paragraph.

2.

Use the Character and Paragraph palettes and any other commands to format the text.

3.

Leave the insertion point in the formatted paragraph.

4.

Choose Type > Paragraph Styles.

5.

With the insertion point blinking in the formatted text, click the New Style icon. This adds a new style to the Paragraph Styles palette.

Tip

Double-click to rename the style created by the New Style icon.

The Next Style command has two features. For typists who enter text directly into InDesign, it allows you to automatically switch to a new style as you type text. For instance, as I type this paragraph, I press the paragraph return after the period. This automatically switches to the next style, which is the exercise header.

To set the next paragraph style:

1.

Select the General category in the New Paragraph Style dialog box.

2.

Choose a style from the Next Style list in the New Paragraph Style dialog box . The chosen style is applied to the next paragraph when you press the Return key .

The Next Style menu lets you choose the same style or an already defined style.

The Next Style command automatically changes the paragraph style when a paragraph return is pressed (curved arrows). The Same Style command keeps the style when the paragraph return is pressed (straight arrows).

or

Choose Same Style from the Next Style list . This retains the original style until you manually change the style.

The Next Style feature does even more magic when you use it to apply the next style to selected text. This allows you to format many paragraphs in one simple click.

To apply the Next Style to multiple paragraphs:

1.

Highlight the text that you want to style.

or

Select the text frame that contains the text that you want to style.

2.

Position your cursor over the name of the paragraph style that you want to apply to the first paragraph.

3.

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the name of the style. A contextual menu appears .

The contextual menu over a style name allows you to apply a paragraph style and then the Next Style to the rest of the selected text.

4.

Choose Apply "name of style" then Next Style. This styles the text according to the Next Style controls .

FRIDAY

The Princess Bride (1987) Directed by: Rob Reiner

SATURDAY

On the Waterfront (1954) Directed by: Elia Kazan

SUNDAY

The Wizard of Oz (1939) Directed by: Victor Fleming, Richard Thorpe

An example of how the Next Style Command applies one style and then the next and the next and so on. Here the style for the day changes to the movie listing, then back to the day, and then to the listing, and so on.


Tip

The command to apply the Next Style is only available if a Next Style has been defined for the paragraph style. If the style has Same Style for the Next Style, then the contextual menu will not display the Next Style option.

Character styles allow you to set specific attributes that override the paragraph style character attributes. For instance, this bold text was set by applying a character style to the paragraph style.

To define a character style:

1.

Choose Type > Character Styles. This opens the Character Styles palette .

The Character Styles palette lets you define and apply character styles.

2.

Choose New Character Style from the Character Styles palette menu. This opens the New Character Style dialog box .

The New Character Style dialog box lets you specify settings for each of the categories for character styles.

3.

Name the style.

4.

Set the Based On and Shortcut controls as described on pages 376 and 377.

5.

Click each category to set the character attributes .

Click each category in the Character Style dialog box to set the format of the style.

6.

Click OK to define the style. The name of the style appears in the Character Styles palette.

You can also format the text and then define a character style by example.

To define a character style by example:

1.

Select a sample paragraph.

2.

Use the Character palette and other commands to format the text.

Tip

It does not matter what paragraph attributes are applied to this text. Only the character attributes are set by example.

3.

Leave the insertion point in the newly formatted text.

4.

Choose Type > Character Styles.

5.

Click the New Style icon. This adds a new style to the Character Styles palette.

Basing one style on another makes it easy to coordinate multiple text styles.

To base one style on another:

1.

Start with at least one paragraph or character style.

2.

Open the New Character Style dialog box to define a new style.

3.

From the Based On pop-up menu, choose the style you want to use as the foundation of the new style.

4.

Make changes to define the second style's attributes.

Tip

The changes to the second style are displayed in the Style Settings area .

When you base a new style on an existing style, you can see how they differ in the Style Settings field of the New Character Style dialog box.

Tip

Any changes you make later to the original style also affect the second style.

If you have based one style on another, you may want to remove any changes to the style so that it is like the first. This is called resetting to the base style.

To reset to the base style:

  • Click the Reset To Base button.

Rather than create a new style from scratch, it may be easier to duplicate an existing style and then redefine it.

To duplicate a style:

1.

Select the style.

2.

Drag the style onto the New Style icon in the Paragraph Styles palette.

or

Choose Duplicate Style from the Paragraph Styles palette menu.

Basing Styles

The style for the numbers of the exercises in this book is based on the style of the subheads. If I change the style for the subheads, the number style and the numbers change automatically.

Similarly, the style for the exercises is based on the style for the body copy. So if my publisher asks me to make the copy a little smaller, I only have to change the point size for one style.

Limit how many levels you use when you base one style on another. Theoretically, you can base one style on another, which is based on another, which is based on another, and so on. However, this can be confusing if you go down too many levels.

I always use one style as the main one and base others on it. I think of the main style as the hub of a wheel, and the others are the spokes around it.


Style Guidelines

Styles are listed alphabetically in the two styles palettes. So if you want styles to be listed together, give them similar names.

For instance, I have three different paragraph styles for the numbered lists in this book. Each style starts with the name list item and is followed by a descriptive word such as list item body, list item bullet, and so on. This groups the styles together in the Paragraph Styles palette.

If you use keyboard shortcuts, keep them in groups. For instance, the styles for the list items all use the keypad number 2 with variations of the keyboard modifiers. So list item plain is Shift-2, while list item body is Shift-Cmd/Ctrl-2.


You can also set keyboard shortcuts for paragraph and character styles. This makes it easy to apply text styles as you type.

To set style keyboard shortcuts:

1.

Open the New Paragraph Style or New Character Style dialog box.

or

Double-click the name of the style to open the Paragraph Style Options or Character Style Options dialog box.

2.

Place an insertion point in the Shortcut field.

3.

Press a keyboard modifier plus a number from the number pad. The keyboard modifiers can be a combination of one or more of the following keys:

  • Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Win) keys.

  • Shift key.

  • Opt (Mac) or Alt (Win) keys.

Tip

In Windows, the Num Lock key must be turned on to set keyboard shortcuts.

Tip

The keyboard shortcut appears next to the style name in the Paragraph Styles or Character Styles palette .

The keyboard shortcut for a style is listed next to the name of the style.



InDesign CS2 for Macintosh and Windows(c) Visual QuickStart Guide
InDesign CS4 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide
ISBN: 0321573579
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 309
Authors: Sandee Cohen

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