TIP: InDesign Peer Help
The free LassoSoft InDesign email list is a good source of peer help. Once you sign up at www.ListSearch.com/InDesign/, you can email your questions to the list; all of the subscribers will see your question and can choose to respond. You can also search an archive of previous conversations at www.listsearch.com/InDesign/Browse/index.lasso. To get the most accurate answers, provide clear, concise information, including platform, operating system, and the exact version and build of InDesign (e.g., InDesign CS3 5.0.4) installed on your computer. To find this information, Ctrl-/Cmdclick About InDesign under the Help menu (Windows) or the InDesign menu (Mac). 
- Bob Levine

TIP: Displaying Multiple Documents
By default, InDesign CS4 displays multiple documents as tabs. To change that, go to the Arrange Documents pop-up menu in the Application Bar and select Float All in Windows. (You can also choose Window > Arrange > Float All Windows.)
- Renée Dustman

TIP: Easy Calendar Layout
Building calendars in InDesign can be an exercise in pain, but Scott Selberg's Calendar Wizard can help -- and it's free! This script takes the date ranges you provide and builds monthly calendars while you sit back and watch. It lets you start weeks on Sunday or Monday, supports styles, can include holidays and Moon phases, can add an image layer, and more. You can customize calendar layouts after the script runs, too. Download version 3 at http://calendarwizard.sourceforge.net. For a tutorial on using an earlier version of the script, see David Blatner's article in the December 2007/January 2008 (#21) issue of InDesign Magazine.
- Jeff Gamet

TIP: When Saving Copies, Control Which File Stays Open 
In InDesign CS3 and CS4, the keyboard shortcut Command+Option+S/Control+Alt+S saves a copy of your document and leaves the old document open. If you want to save a copy of your document and leave the copy open, use Command+Shift+S/Control+ Shift+S.
- George Norman, Hello Design Studio

TIP: Sort Paragraphs Alphabetically
For basic alphabetical sorting of paragraph text -- bulleted lists, numbered lists, or just plain paragraphs -- use SortParagraphs.jsx, a script that comes with InDesign.
In InDesign CS3 and CS4, go to Window > Automation > Scripts to open the Script panel, click the spinning arrow beside the Application folder to see its contents, then Samples, and finally JavaScript. That's where you'll find SortParagraphs.jsx. In InDesign CS2, first grab the script from the Adobe Web site, then drop it into the Presets/Scripts folder under your InDesign CS2 installation folder.
To sort your list, highlight a selection of paragraphs and double-click SortParagraphs.jsx on the Scripts panel.
- Pariah Burke

TIP: Document Repair With IDML
IDML (InDesign Markup Language) is an XML-based file format that InDesign CS4 can read and write. It can also help clear the cobwebs from a creaky old document. If you're having trouble with a document (especially one created in a previous version of InDesign or converted from QuarkXPress and PageMaker), export it to IDML, then open the IDML file and work with the new InDesign document. You can even strip a document of third party plug-in information by disabling those plug-ins prior to opening the IDML file.
- Mike Rankin

TIP: Break Facing Pages into Single Pages
Here's how to convert a facing-pages document into a single-page, non-facing pages document without affecting master page items:
Open the facing pages document. In the Pages panel menu, choose Allow Document Pages to Shuffle (CS3-CS4) or Allow Pages to Shuffle (CS2). (This should uncheck, or deselect, this option.) Grab the right-hand page of each spread and pull the page to the right of the spread until you see a vertical black bar appear and then release the mouse. This will separate the page from the spread, but the page will remain a right-hand page.
- Keith Gilbert

TIP: White Isn't Always White
Some white paper is whiter or brighter than others, and that can affect the colors of your inks. To better judge how they'll look, ask your print shop for a color profile targeted to the output device and substrate you've chosen. Once you have the profile, follow these steps to proof your work onscreen.
1. With InDesign closed, install the ICC/ICM file into the following path:
   Windows: \Windows\system32\spool\drivers\color
   Mac: /Library/ColorSync/Profiles
2. Open your document in InDesign.
3. From the View menu, choose Proof Setup > Custom.
4. Select the newly installed profile from the Device to Simulate dropdown menu and check Simulate Paper Color, which will also automatically check Simulate Black Ink.
Click OK and, if your monitor is properly calibrated, you'll see onscreen colors very close to what you'll get off the printing press.
- Pariah Burke

TIP: The Best Place for Almost-Instant InDesign Help 
Adobe’s very active User to User forums are such good resources, even Adobe’s technical and customer support refer people to the forums. You can subscribe to forums or specific topics via email, which lets you respond to any post the same way you would to an email without returning to the forum. You’ll also receive responses immediately after they’re posted. When plain text descriptions of your dilemma won’t do, you can also upload and attach files for others to analyze.
- Bob Levine

TIP: What Is the Registration Color Good For? 
The InDesign Swatches panel includes four undeletable swatches: None, Black, Paper, and Registration. The purpose of the first three is obvious. You probably know not to use Registration for any object to appear on the printed page, but do you know why?
The Registration color prints on every ink plate. In CMYK, that means anything with Registration applied to it prints in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The result is usually not a nice rich black but rather the color of old mud. That's why the Registration swatch should be reserved for registration marks and other information or structures that need to print on all plates (usually in the slug area), such as the client name, job number, and other specific information. The easiest way to include that information on the film is to set it in the slug area, in the Registration color swatch.
- Pariah Burke

TIP: Wrap Text around a Silhouetted Image 
Place an image with a solid, contrasting background or an alpha channel or clipping path masking the background. Open InDesign's Text Wrap panel, choose Show Options from the panel’s menu, and you'll see seven Contour Options. From the Text Wrap panel's Type pop-up menu, choose a contour option. Some, like Alpha Channel and Photoshop Path, are only available if they’re embedded in the image file. But this doesn’t mean you have to use a collage of empty frames to wrap text around a silhouetted image! Arranging the image behind the text (Object > Arrange > Send To Back) and choosing Detect Edges from the Contour Options’ Type pop-up menu often does the trick.
- Renée Dustman

TIP: Simulate Ripped Paper
With InDesign's Pencil tool, draw a rough shape with lots of twists and turns. Take your time and go slowly. Be sure to hold the Option/ALT key as you release the mouse button so the shape is a closed path. Use the Effects panel to add an inner shadow. Place an image in the shape. By varying your drawing speed and angles, you can make your shape look like a cracked eggshell, peeling paint, torn paper, and so on.
For examples of and variations on this technique, see the August/September 2009 issue of InDesign Magazine.
- Mike Rankin

TIP: Automatic Drag-N-Drop Image Libraries 
For image-intensive page layout in InDesign, selecting images visually is better than doing it by filename, and dragging and dropping is easier than File > Place. Rorohiko's ImageLibraryLoader is a free script-based plug-in for Mac and Windows versions of InDesign CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4. It automatically builds a thumbnail library of images in a folder inside InDesign. That library is a floating panel from which you can drag entries and drop them into the layout without stepping out of InDesign. For more info and the download link, go to http://www.creativepro.com/article/free-all-just-what-youre-looking.
- Pariah S. Burke

TIP: Create Paragraph and Character Styles Automatically
If you often receive text from multiple sources that's styled every which way, you need Thomas Silkjaer's Auto-Create Paragraph and Character Styles script.
This free Mac- and Windows-compatible script scans a selected InDesign story for local formatting that differs from the Basic Paragraph style. The script then generates and applies new paragraph and character styles describing, and assigned to, the locally formatted text. Read more and download the script at http://indesigning.net/auto-create-paragraph-and-character-styles.
- Pariah S. Burke

TIP: Turn Off Multiple Layers Simultaneously
InDesign's layers are great, but sometimes you can end up with so many layers that it gets confusing. To instantly hide all layers except one, hold the Option/Alt key and click the eye icon of the layer you want to remain visible.
- Sandee Cohen

TIP: Simulate Duotones
This super-easy trick doesn't create a true duotone, where the only colors are black and a second color (and where only two separation plates would result), but if you're printing to a composite printer, it works very well.
First, place an image, then select the frame containing the image with the Selection tool. Apply a color to the fill of the frame. Select the image with the Direct Selection Tool. Choose Transparency from the Effects panel (Object > Effects > Transparency). Click on the Basic Blending Mode menu, and select Luminosity. Voila! You have a faux duotone!
- Diane Burns

TIP: One Business Card, Many Names
Using InDesign's Data Merge feature can take the tedium out of generating business cards for a company with multiple employees. You design the card as usual and then combine it with a data file prepared in Microsoft Excel that lists the names and other information that changes. In the template card, you place fields for the real information, merge the file with the Data Source, and presto! Your result is a document with as many cards as there are records in the data source.
For step-by-step Data Merge instructions, see "Automate This!" in the April/May 2006 issue (#11), also posted on CreativePro.com.
- Nigel French

TIP: Arrange Floating Windows
InDesign CS3 and earlier open multiple documents in individual floating windows. Don't waste time dragging windows around onscreen in search of a particular document. Instead, choose Window > Arrange > Cascade. The active document is brought to the top of the stack, and the other InDesign files are staggered neatly behind. To activate a different document, click on its title bar.
- Renée Dustman

TIP: Go Native
To preserve any live transparency in files you place in InDesign, Adobe recommends working with native file formats, such as .AI and .PSD. This workflow not only lets you continue editing transparency effects in placed graphics, it can also improve final results.
- Mordy Golding and Renee Dustman

TIP: Free Folder Template
If you think you'll ever have to design a presentation folder, grab this free InDesign folder template. It comes with fold and die-cut guides, including a business card holder flap complete with ready-made die-cuts. And yes, Graphire Media really is giving it away, no strings attached. For more where this came from, read my article "We Love InDesign Freebies!" in the August/September issue of InDesign Magazine, coming out next week.
- Pariah S. Burke

TIP: Sizing Up Business Cards Around the World 
Are you creating business cards for other regions of the world but don't know the standard card sizes for those regions? Well, now you do!
Australia, New Zealand (1.636 aspect ratio): 90mm x 55mm / 3.54 inches x 2.165 inches
China (1.667 aspect ratio): 90mm x 54mm / 3.543 inches x 2.125 inches
Czech Republic, Hungary (1.8 aspect ratio): 90mm x 50mm / 3.543 inches x 1.968 inches
Europe (1.545 aspect ratio): 85mm x 55mm / 3.346 inches x 2.165 inches
Japan (1.655 aspect ratio): 91mm x 55mm / 3.582 inches x 2.165 inches
US, Canada, Netherlands (1.75 aspect ratio): 89mm x 51mm / 3.5 inches x 2 inches

- Nigel French

TIP: Export InDesign Documents to Multiple Single-Page Files 
When you want to export an InDesign document to multiple single-page files, try Page Exporter Utility, a free JavaScript that runs in InDesign CS2/CS3/CS4 on both PCs and Macs.
Download Page Exporter Utility at http://tinyurl.com/2hm8fe.

- Claudia McCue

TIP: Update TOCs
The easiest way to create a TOC for a long, structured document is to use InDesign's automatic Table of Contents feature: Create your document, assign unique paragraph styles to the paragraphs you want in the TOC, choose Layout > Table of Contents, and tell InDesign which Paragraph Styles to include in the TOC.

InDesign won't auto-update this TOC when your text or page numbers change, but that doesn't mean you have to resort to manually updating the content yourself. Just choose Layout > Update Table of Contents at any time, and InDesign will make it so.

- Keith Gilbert

TIP: Two Baseline Grids in One Document
When you want the first line in a custom baseline frame to always line up with the main baseline grid, follow these steps:
1. Set the baseline grid for the document (Preferences > Grids). Let's say the increment is 18 points.
2. Apply the paragraph command Align to Baseline Grid to force the text to align to the document-wide baseline grid.
3. Select the text frame that needs the custom baseline grid. Choose Object > Text Frame Options and click the Baseline Options tab. Set a custom baseline to, say, 12 points.
4. Set the Start of the baseline grid to be 18 points from the top of the frame. When the top of the text frame is positioned along the baseline grid for the main document, the first line of text in the custom text frame will automatically align on the document baseline grid. Then, the rest of the text aligns to the custom baseline grid.

- Sandee Cohen

TIP: Convert RGB Swatches to CMYK 
If you import swatches, you may introduce quite a few RGB colors into your four-color print publication file. To quickly convert them, download and run the free RGB to CMYK script from InDesign scripting master Dave Saunders.
Note that the colors may shift significantly because many RGB colors can’t be reproduced in CMYK. Also, the printed colors may not match what you see on screen. It’s always better to pick CMYK colors from a current printed swatch book.
Thanks to Bob Levine for the tip about Dave’s script!

- Pariah S. Burke

TIP: Skip the New Document Dialog Box 
To create a new InDesign document without summoning the New Document Dialog Box, add the Opt/Alt key to the Cmd/Ctrl-N keyboard shortcut. The resulting new document will be based on whatever setting you last chose in the New Document dialog box’s Document Preset pop-up menu.

- Sandee Cohen

TIP: Universal Punctuation Keyboard Shortcuts 
You won't find em dashes, ellipses, and other common punctuation and special characters on your keyboard. Within InDesign, you can insert these characters the long way using the Glyphs palette or the Type > Insert Special Character menu. Or you can memorize the InDesign-only keyboard shortcuts. Or, you can save that bit of brain space for other things and instead use the standard keyboard shortcuts below, which work in almost any app:

- Pariah Burke

TIP: Creating Complex Shapes
While InDesign's Pen tool is the page-layout app's only tool that lets you draw complex shapes, InDesign does have a handy panel that lets you create complex shapes from two or more basic shapes. When you select two or more objects, the Pathfinder panel (Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder) provides five options for creating a single shape that's generated from the selected objects: Add, Subtract, Intersect, Exclude Overlap, and Minus Back.

- John Cruise and Kelly Kordes Anton

Test Document Bleeds 
Does your document have bleeds? Just before you output the file, test whether the objects off the page will print properly by turning on Use Document Bleed Settings in the Marks and Bleed pane of the Print dialog box (or the Export Adobe PDF dialog box).

-- Steve Werner

Combine a Roll Fold with an Accordion Fold 
This week's tip is a little different -- it's a video! To watch Trish Witkowski demonstrate a roll fold with a nested accordion fold, go to www.foldfactory.com/foldoftheweek.php. 

In just 60 seconds, Trish will help you understand a cool fold combination that makes a big impact on customers.

Frames First, Images Second
When you have to place a number of images into your layout, save yourself some effort and first set up the graphic frame with particular specifications (Fit Proportionally, fit content to frame, fit frame to content, etc.). That way you won't have to fidget as much to make the fit.
Drag out the frame to the desired size and proportion. Select Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options. Define the Crop Amount or the Reference Point (the point from which your sizes will emanate), and select Fitting > Fit Content Proportionally. Once you define one frame, Option/Alt-drag it to make a duplicate with the same parameters. Now when you Place (Command/Ctrl-D) an image, it will come into the frame with the predefined sizing.
This tip applies to InDesign CS3 and CS4.

-- Andrew Shalat

Using the Scissors Tool
You can use InDesign's Scissors tool to convert a closed path into an open path and to cut an open path into two separate open paths. First, select it in the Tools panel, and then move the crosshair pointer over the edge of an object. When a circle is displayed in the middle of the crosshairs -- indicating that the pointer is over the edge of the object -- click the mouse button. An anchor point is added where you click. If you select this anchor point with the Direct Selection tool and move it, you'll find another anchor point in the same place. This anchor point is the other endpoint if you cut a closed path. It's an endpoint on a separate path if you cut an open path.

-- John Cruise and Kelly Kordes Anton

Stay Away from System Fonts 
When you're preparing InDesign files for print on a Mac, stay away from System fonts. These include the Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Courier, Symbol, and Zapf Dingbats fonts found in [Your computer] > System > Library > Fonts. They won’t print badly, but the names are the same as PostScript fonts you may also be have. Sometimes the wrong version can be substituted by mistake, causing incorrect spacing or missing characters.

-- Steve Werner

New Tabs for Document Windows 
If you're not a fan of CS4's tabbed document windows, you can disable them either temporarily or permanently.
Under Window > Arrange, there are commands that let you float one InDesign document outside the tabs or float all InDesign documents outside the tabs. Or simply drag the tab down a bit, and the document becomes a regular floating window.
For the permanent solution, go to Preferences > Interface and turn off the Open Documents as Tabs.

-- Sandee Cohen

Setting Defaults for the Polygon Tool 
To set defaults for the Polygon tool and the Polygon Frame tool, double-click either tool in the Tools panel. The Polygon Settings dialog box lets you specify the number of sides and, optionally, a star inset, which creates a starburst shape. The settings you specify are used for new polygons until you change settings again.

-- John Cruise and Kelly Kordes Anton

Remove Hyperlinks from Text in Word
Do you hate the blue links with the gray rectangles you sometimes get when you place Microsoft Word documents into InDesign? The fastest way to get rid of these automatic hyperlinks is in Word itself before you flow in the text.
Open the file in Word, select all, and type Command/Ctrl-6. (Use the 6 key on the main keyboard, not the number pad.) The URLs and e-mail addresses remain but are no longer hyperlinks, so InDesign imports them as regular text and doesn't add its default grey rectangle hyperlink formatting to them.

-- Anne-Marie Concepción

Quick and Handy Layout File Info 
Do you want to know how large your InDesign file is or which folder it’s in? Check out the Info panel (Window > Info). When nothing is selected (Edit > Deselect All), the Info panel reports on the document itself. In addition to file size, you can also see the path to the active file on your computer or server. Usually the path appears truncated on the non-resizable panel, but if you hover your cursor over the readout, the tooltip shows the full path. 

-- Anne-Marie Concepción 

Be sure to check out more great information on the fundamentals of InDesign

Add Files to a Book
To add individual InDesign files to an InDesign book (File > New > Book), choose Add Document from the Book panel menu or click on the plus sign at the bottom of the Book panel. To add multiple InDesign files, drag and drop files from the Macintosh Finder, Windows Explorer, or Adobe Bridge into the Book panel. You can drag and drop multiple files at a time. You can even drag and drop a top-level folder, and all the InDesign files in that folder, as well as all the subfolders, will be added to the book.

This tip works in InDesign CS2 through CS4.

-- Keith Gilbert

Help Needs Help!
Do you prefer the PDF User Guide/Help File to InDesign CS4's HTML help? No problem. Just launch the HTML help, look in the upper-right corner for "Help (printable)", and click the PDF icon.

--Claudia McCue

Safe Style Editing
If you have the Type tool in a text frame and realize you want to edit a Paragraph or Character Style but don't want to apply that style to the selected text or paragraph, select Shift-Option-Command (Mac) or Shift-Alt-Ctrl (PC) and double-click on the style name you wish to change. Alternately, Control- or right-click on the style name in the panel and choose Edit "Style Name." This tip applies to InDesign CS2 to CS4.

--Erica Gamet

Anchored Snippets
InDesign CS4 lets you import snippets directly into a text story, as inline or anchored objects. (If there is more than one object in the snippet, they must be grouped for this to work.) You can also apply an object style to the object (or group) before creating the snippet, which means that every time you place it in a story, it shows up in exactly the correct position.

-- David Blatner

Draw, Reposition, Continue Drawing
Start drawing a frame in InDesign, then (still holding down your mouse button) press and hold the spacebar so you can reposition the frame. Once it's in the correct position, release the spacebar and continue drawing.

--Claudia McCue

Compare Two Layouts
You have two InDesign layout files that look identical, but you suspect they’re not. Short of going through every page with a fine-toothed comb, how can you find the differences?
Simple: Export each layout to PDF with a unique name and then use the Document > Compare feature in Acrobat Pro 8 or 9. It can churn through even the longest layout files in a minute or so and present you with a page-by-page breakdown of where formatting, position, and/or text changes occur in the two PDFs you selected.

-- Anne-Marie Concepción

This tip and many, many more will be in the next issue of InDesign Magazine.

Way Better than Standing on Your Head
In InDesign CS4, you can rotate an entire spread from the Pages panel, which is handy when you're editing text that would otherwise be sideways or upside down on a page. However, you can't rotate the spread to any arbitrary angle: just 90° or 180° degrees.

--David Blatner, InDesign Magazine

Weird Lines in InDesign
Are you seeing purple or green lines as you move objects around the InDesign CS4 page? Maybe some arrows, too?
Nothing's wrong with the software. Those lines and arrows are the new Smart Guides feature in action.

The purple guides are the alignment guides that pop up when your object is positioned at the center of the page. The plain green lines that pop up indicate when one object is aligned with the sides or center of another. When three or more objects are on a page, you may see green arrows and distribution indicators as you move one object around the page. These distribution arrows indicate that the space between the three objects is identical.

-- Sandee Cohen, Senior Editor, InDesign Magazine

Wrapping Outlined Type Around a Path
Once type has been outlined, it's very difficult to flow that type accurately around a curve. While Illustrator's Warp or Envelope Mesh commands can get you part of the way, they often distort the letterforms.

Another option is to copy and paste the outlined type into InDesign, upgroup it, and then copy and paste the letterforms one-by-one on to the shape you want the type to wrap along. You can select each letterform with the Type tool and manually adjust the letter spacing. The undistorted letterforms will follow the path you want.

If your workflow calls for it, you can then copy and paste the adjusted shape back into Illustrator. Once in Illustrator you may need to unmask the selection, but then you can continue with your wrapped type design.

-- Jennifer Wills, W+W Design

Correction:
There was an editorial error in the January 8, 2009, Tip of the Week. The correct keyboard shortcuts to jump from spread to spread are Option/Alt-Page Down and Option/Alt-Page Up. Furthermore, on laptops and some wireless keyboards, you have to add the "fn" key to the above shortcut combination. We apologize for the error.