I dragged a selection rectangle over a bunch of items on my page, then Ctrl-dragged on the corner of one of them. Shouldn't that scale everything in the selection? Only the item I happened to be dragging on scaled.
Oddly, the keyboard shortcut (Command/Ctrl) for drag-scaling only works if the items are grouped (Object > Group) first or if you drag a corner handle of any text frame inside the multiple selection. (Don't forget to add the Shift key to scale proportionally.) If you don't want to group the objects or the selection doesn't include a text frame, the Scale tool or the Scale X/Scale Y fields in the Control or Transform palettes will do the job.
Even though the center point of the proxy icon (on the left side of the Control palette and Transform palette) is selected, I can't get a selected object to scale from its center when I press Command/Ctrl to drag-scale it.
Yup, it's a quirky keyboard shortcut. The only way to scale something from the center by dragging on it is to use the Scale tool (make sure the center proxy point is selected) by itself. You can also scale from the center with the Free Transform tool by dragging any handle while holding down the Option/Alt key. (The Free Transform tool ignores the proxy; that's why it's free, baby.)
I scaled a text frame and the text inside didn't scale.
Scaling in InDesign can be so confusing that we wouldn't blame you if you just gave up and never scaled anything again. As you probably know, if you just drag a corner of a text frame, it won't change the size of the text inside; the text just rewraps to the new frame boundaries. That's a feature-not-a-bug. Instead, you have to hold down the Command/Ctrl key while you click-and-drag on a corner or side handle to scale the frame and the text inside it. (Add the Shift key and drag on a corner handle to keep the scaling proportional.)
The same is true if the text frame is part of a selection of multiple, ungrouped objects: Use a handle of any text frame in the selection to do your Command/Ctrl click-and-dragging. All objects in the selection scale, including the text inside the selected text frames. (If you try to Command/Ctrl-drag something other than a text frame in the selection, only that one object scales.)
As long as you're working with a single text frame, or text frames that are part of a multiple, ungrouped selection, the Scale and Free Transform tools always scale the text inside the frame(s), as does adjusting the percentages in the Scale X/Scale Y fields of the Control or Transform palettes. (If the text frame is part of a grouped selection, see the next solution.)
Rarely, you may be doing everything right but the text just refuses to scale. We've found that you can sometimes remind InDesign who's boss by selecting all the text with the Type tool and entering the same or slightly different point size and leading amounts in the appropriate fields of the Control or Character palettes. Subsequent text scaling actions are usually successful.
An advertiser gave us their InDesign file for a display ad, but it's a little too large. I selected all the objects, grouped them, and entered 90% in the Scale X/Scale Y fields in the Control palette. Everything scaled down appropriately except for the text. The text frames scaled just fine, but the text inside the frames remained the same size, and now I'm seeing a bunch of overset icons.
Curiously, when using a scaling tool (or the scaling fields in the Control or Transform palette), whether or not text will scale depends on two things: Whether the text frame is part of a group (Object > Group), and the state of the Scale Strokes setting (Figure 6-7). If Scale Strokes is "off" (its default state) that is, it's turned off in the Transform or Control palette menus using the Scale or Free Transform tools or the ScaleX/Scale Y fields of the Control or Transform palettes won't scale the text inside the frame. If Scale Strokes is turned on, the text will scale, but of course, all the strokes applied to the objects scale as well.
InDesign doesn't care about the Scale Strokes setting if you use the Command/Ctrl click-and-drag-on-a-handle method to scale a grouped selection by eye. In this case, text and strokes are always scaled along with everything else in the group.
When you need to use one of the scaling tools or fields to scale a group, and you want everything to scale except for the strokes, you'll have ungroup the group (Object > Ungroup), then scale using one of these tools, then group them again. Try to think happy thoughts while banging your head against the wall.
I need to scale a text frame precisely, so I use the Scale tool or the scale features in the Control or Transform palettes. Unfortunately, the text inside scaled along with it, and I don't want it to.
You can just drag on a text frame handle to resize it without scaling the text, but if you need to precisely scale the text frame to a certain percentage amount, you can't use any of the normal scaling methods. Instead, do this:
1.
Click on the frame with the Selection tool (Figure 6-8a).
2.
Choose a point of reference (from which the frame will grow/shrink) on the Proxy icon in the Control or Transform palette.
3.
If you want the scale to be proportional, turn on the Constrain Proportions icon (the little chain) next to the Width and Height fields in the Transform or Control palette.
4.
Click an insertion point after either of the Width or Height measures, enter "+ [your scaling percentage]" and tap the Return/Enter key (Figure 6-8b). For example, if the current width of your text frame is 20 picas and you want to scale it up to 125-percent of its size, click after the "20p" in the Width field and enter "+ 25%" (so it says "20p + 25%") and hit Return/Enter.
The text frame scales appropriately, the Width and Height fields do the math and show the new measures, and the text inside the frame doesn't scale, it just rewraps to the new frame boundaries (Figure 6-8c).
I scaled a text frame to 200% and the text inside it scaled as well, just as I wanted it to. But I can't figure out the size of the text. According to the Character and the Control palette, it's "12 pt(16.08 pt)." Well . . . which is it?
This craziness (Figure 6-9a) occurs in two situations. First, InDeisgn behaves like this when someone sneaks onto your computer and turns off the Adjust Text Attributes When Scaling feature in the Type panel of the Preferences dialog box. This makes InDesign act like it did back in version 1.x. Fortunately, there's a solution: Select the text frame with the Selection tool and choose Scale Text Attributes from the Control or Transform palette menus (Figure 6-9b). The size, leading, and other text attribute fields will recalculate to show the actual, current measure (in this case, the size will update to read "16.08 pt"; Figure 6-9c).
The dual measures you saw in the Text Size field were the text's original size (12 pt) and what it was after you scaled it 134 percent (16.08 pt). While you were getting this readout, you may have also noticed that the Scale X/Scale Y fields in the Transform and Control palettes showed 134 percent whenever the frame was selected with the Selection tool. Choosing "Scale Text Attributes" not only recalculates before/after text attribute measures to show the single current measure, but it also resets the Scale X/Scale Y fields to 100 percent.
To force InDesign to always show a single, current measure for scaled text attributes (and keep the Scale X/Scale Y field at 100 percent), turn on "Adjust Text Attributes When Scaling" in the Type panel of the Preferences dialog box. This will only affect text frames you scale afterwards. To "fix" existing ones, you'll have to use the Scale Text Attributes method described above.
The second situation where this happens is when the text frame is part of a group, and you scale the group. In this case, the preference doesn't have any effect. Why? Because life isn't fair. In this case, you have to ungroup the objects, then choose Scale Text Attributes from the Control or Transform palette menu, and then group the objects again.
When I scale a placed graphic, the Scale X/Scale Y fields in the Control and Transform palettes always display "100%." Even if I scale the graphic by using those fields entering 50% in both after I hit Return/Enter, the fields revert back to 100%!
Gee, this sounds familiar. Oh yeah, we dealt with this back in Chapter 4, Graphically Speaking. But it bears repeating: To see the actual scaling applied to a placed image, click on the image with the Direct Select tool.
The Transform tools Scale, Rotate and Shear always transform both the graphic frame and the image it contains. I can't transform just the image, leaving the frame alone; or vice versa.
InDesign is very picky about making you select exactly what you want to transform. To rotate or scale just the image, click on it with the Direct Select tool first. To transform the frame without the image, Option/Alt-click on the frame itself with the Direct Select tool. (You need the Option/Alt modifier to select all the points on the path; otherwise, it probably won't transform properly.)
Alternatively, you can also transform just the frame by selecting the object with the Selection tool and turning off the Transform Content option in the Transform or Control palette menu. Any transforms you then apply within the palette will only affect the frame, not the content. If you want to use a tool instead, double-click the transform tool you're going to use and turn off the Transform Content feature in its Options dialog box. Note that the Transform Content feature inexplicably won't work for text frames; just graphic frames or frames with other objects pasted into (nested in) them.
InDesign is testing me, I know it. And I'm not sure how much more I can take. Here we go: I turn on Scale Stroke in the Control or Transform palette menu. I'm careful to use the Transform tools or palette fields to scale a stroked object so the stroke scales as well. I do the scaling and the stroke is obviously scaled. But the Stroke weight field shows the same weight as it did before it was scaled. For example, if the stroke started out at 6 pt, and I scale the stroked object 200%, I can see that the stroke is much thicker, but the Stroke weight field still shows "6 pt."
Step away from the computer. Take a deep breath. Now approach the computer, select the scaled and stroked object, and choose Reset Scaling to 100% from the Control or Transform palette menu. The stroke weight field will reveal its true weight, and the Scale X/Scale Y fields revert to 100%. (Figures 6-10a, b and c.) Why do you need to take this extra step? As your dad said, "it builds character."
By the way, if the frame you're scaling is a text frame and you're seeing this behavior, you'll have to use the Scale Text Attributes feature instead. (See "Reveal the True Size of Scaled Text," a few solutions earlier, for more on that feature.)