Working with character

  • Select type tool form tool panel
  • Click on ‘A’ symbol from control panel
  • These options are in the Control Panel to work with character

Fonts installed in the system. When you install InDesign, you will also be installing fonts apart from the ones that come default. All the fonts installed and their samples are listed here. You can also filter by name if you are already aware of the font’s name.

Properties of the font. You can change the typeface between regular, bold, italics, etc. The exact properties depend on the font chosen.

Size of the font. You can choose from an available list of sizes or input your own size.

Leading of the sentence or paragraph. The leading is a measurement of the space between the baseline of the text and the line above it. Be sure to change the leading by selecting the whole paragraph, otherwise, you will have an uneven leading within the paragraph.

Convert all text to large caps, small caps, underline, strikethrough, subscript, or superscript.

Changes the kerning of the font. The kerning is the font space between individual characters.

Changes the tracking, which is essentially kerning but for a group of characters such as a complete word or a group of words.

You can play with individual options to change the typeface to your liking.

Working with paragraph

Just like character formatting, you can format paragraphs too with a wide range of options. To adjust paragraph formatting options, select the Paragraph Formatting Controls (¶) icon from control panel.

Paragraph alignment options available. You can align paragraphs left, right, top, or bottom and even align them along the spine (of a book) if you are creating a facing pages document.

Left Indent and First Line Left Indent. The difference is that, when you click Left Indent, the entire paragraph is indented according to the indent value you set. But that does not always look good, hence it is a good idea to indent only the first line of the paragraph, which is when you will need to use First Line Left Indent.

Right Indent and Last Line Right Indent respectively. They do a similar job like Left Indent and First Line Left Indent, this time, on the right side of the paragraph.

Space Before and Space After fields which allows you to insert a space before or after the paragraph. It is always a recommended practice to use Space Before and Space After instead of manually using tabs, spaces or Enter key for paragraph spacing.

Drop Cap Number of Lines and Drop Cap One or More Characters. This is a unique effect, which allows you to extend the first letter which is usually in caps along the specified number of lines for a more elegant .

Paragraph Styles

  • Window menu > Styles > Paragraph style (F11)

Open the Paragraph Styles panel. Here, you will see a list of styles in that document. Simply click any paragraph on the page and choose the desired paragraph style to apply the formatting.

You can double-click on any paragraph style to edit it. This opens the Paragraph Style Options dialog box in which you can specify the parameters you want to change. The Style Settings area shows a summary of the different parameters for this style.

Character Styles

  • Window menu > Styles > Character style (Shift + F11)

Unlike the paragraph style, a character style can be set to define a single parameter such as font, color, size, or a combination of any of these.

Character styles can be set by opening the Character Styles panel and choosing the desired style. Similar to the paragraph style, you can simply double-click any character style to open the Character Style Change dialog box. Even there, the Style Settings area shows a summary of the different parameters for this style.

Although technically possible, character styles should be applied only to a word or two or at the maximum, a sentence but never to a complete paragraph.