InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Basic Character Formatting

It's worth mentioning that character formatting can be applied locally to selected text or text frameswhich is what we're talking about hereor it can be applied using character styles (see Chapter 55). We'll start by considering the text attributes you change the most: typeface, font size, and leading.

Typeface

QuarkXPress lets you set the typeface with the Measurements palette, the Style menu, and the Character Attributes dialog box. InDesign uses the Character palette (see Chapter 43). As we mention in the previous chapter, InDesign creates its own hierarchical font menus based on font family, so the order of your fonts in the list may be different than you expect.

If the Character palette isn't visible, you can choose Character from the Type menu. You can also press Command-T/Ctrl-T, which also activates the Font family field. As in XPress, you type the first few characters of a typeface name and the menu jumps to the proper font. Note that you can use the Up and Down Arrow keys on the keyboard to skip to the previous or next font in the list. You can also choose a typeface by selecting it from the Font submenu in the Type menu.

Font Size

You can choose type size in the Character palette or the Type menu. Like XPress, InDesign offers preset sizes and also lets you type your own. Unlike XPress, you can make text up to 1296 points (18 inches) large, and use the Up and Down Arrow keys to adjust the size in 1-point increments. (Hold down the Shift key to change the size in 10-point increments.)

Finally, there are keyboard shortcuts similar to those in XPress for changing size incrementally: Command-Shift-period/Ctrl-Shift-period to increase, and Command-Shift-comma/Ctrl-Shift-comma to decrease the size by 2 points. However, InDesign allows you to set the increment in the Units & Increments Preferences (see Chapter 7). Adding the Option/Alt key to the keyboard shortcut multiplies the increment by five.

Leading

QuarkXPress users may wonder why InDesign considers leading a character attribute instead of a paragraph attribute. In fact, arguments can be made for either choice. (The real reason is probably that Adobe PageMaker, Illustrator and Photoshop do it that way!) What's important is that you can set it the way you want. If you like the XPress way of doing it, choose the Text Preferences (see Chapter 7), and turn on the Apply Leading to Entire Paragraphs option. Do this when no documents are open, and it will apply to all new documents you create.

In InDesign, you can set leading in the Character palette or with keystrokes. In the Character palette, use similar methods to those described above: select a preset value, type your own value, or use the up/down arrows to change the leading value. Leading can be set in .001-point increments from 0 to 5000 points. You can also change leading for selected characters (or paragraphs) by pressing the Option/Alt key and the up/down arrows. The default2-point incrementscan be changed in Units & Increments Preferences. Adding the Command/Ctrl key to the keyboard shortcut multiplies the incremental value by five.

InDesign doesn't have XPress's more arcane leading methodsrelative leading or word processing mode. But it does let you set automatic (Auto) leading. If you see a number in the Leading menu surrounded by parentheses, that's the current Auto leading value. To select Auto leading, choose Auto from the Leading popup menu on the Character palette. Ironically, Auto leadingnormally 120% of the font size of the largest character, the same as in XPressis based on a setting in the Justification dialog box in the

Paragraph palette menu!