How do I create and use styles in Adobe® InDesign®?

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Creating character and paragraph styles will help you with consistency in font usage in your yearbook. Styles take a few minutes to set up but will save you time all year long - and especially at deadline time.

Style based on existing text

  • Create a text block and type your text.
  • Format the text by changing the font, size, leading, justification, etc.
  • Highlight the text or click the insertion point in the text.
  • Click on the Character Styles or Paragraph Styles panel/palette pop-up menu or the Control palette menu.
  • Choose New Character Style (Character Styles panel/palette) or New Paragraph Style (Paragraph Styles panel/palette).
  • Name the style.
  • Click OK.
  • The new style will appear in the Character Styles panel/palette or Paragraph Styles panel/palette and the Control palette.

Character & Paragraph style palettes

Create a new style or change style formatting

  • To create a new style, choose:
    • New Character Style from the Character Style palette menu, or
    • New Paragraph Style from the Paragraph Style palette menu
    • New Character Style or New Paragraph Style from the Control palette menu.
  • To change style formatting:
    • double click on a style in the Character Style palette or Paragraph Style palette or
    • In the Control palette - Windows: Alt + click or Mac: Option + click on the character (A) or paragraph (Paragraph symbol) symbol on the right side of the Control palette.
  • General section:
    • Type a name for the style, if it is a new style.
    • Base a style on another style. For example a caption style may be based on body text style. They share the same font but are a different point size.
    • Shortcuts can be created for styles.
      • Turn Num Lock on.
      • Click in the Shortcut field.
      • Hold down a Windows key combination of: Shift + Alt + Ctrl, or a Mac key combination of: Shift + Option + Command and type a number on the numeric key pad. The shortcut will be added.
    • InDesign CS4 & CS3
      • Apply Style to Selection: If this is checked, the style just created will be applied to the selected text.
      • Reset to Base: If changes have been made to a style, check this field to reset it back to the original specifications. 

Character style - general tab

  • Basic Character Formats section:
    • Change these characteristics: Font Family, Font Style (bold, italic, etc.), Size, Kerning, Case, Leading, Tracking and Position.

character style - formats

  • Advanced Character Formats section:
    • Change the Horizontal Scale, Vertical Scale, Baseline Shift, Skew the text or change the Language.
  • Character Color section:
    • Text color can be changed to colors in the Swatches palette.
  • Open Type section:
    • If Open Type fonts are used, their extended features can also be added.
  • Underline Options section:
    • Change Weight, Offset, Color, Line Type and Gap Color.
  • Strikethrough Options section:
    • Change Weight, Offset, Color, Line Type and Gap Color.
  • Extra options in the Paragraph Style dialog box:
    • Tabs
    • Paragraph Rules
    • Keep Options
    • Hyphenation
    • Justification
    • Drop Caps and Nested Styles
    • InDesign CS4 & CS3: Bullets & Numbering

Import styles from another document

  • Choose:
    • Load Character Styles from the Character Styles palette menu or the Control palette menu, or
    • Load Paragraph Styles from the Character Styles palette menu or the Control palette menu, or
    • Load All Styles to load both character and paragraph styles.
  • Scroll to the file you which has the styles you want to use.
  • Double click on the file name.
  • The styles will be added to your styles palette and overwrite any existing styles.


Apply styles to text

  • apply styleIf your text has already been created:
    • Highlight the text
    • Click on the Style in the Character Styles palette, Paragraph Styles palette, the Control Palette or use the shortcut created earlier.
    • Note:
      • Choosing a Character style will remove or reset the character attributes but Paragraph styles will not by default.
      • To override previous formatting, in the Paragraph Styles palette in Windows press Alt + Shift or on a Mac press Option + Shift when you click the style name.
      • To apply Paragraph styles but keep character styles in Windows, press Alt, or on a Mac, press Option when you click the style name.
  • Or create a text block with the Type tool.
    • Click on a style in the Character Styles palette, Paragraph Styles palette or the Control palette.
    • Type your text.

Delete a style

  • delete styleClick on a style name in the Character or Paragraph Styles palette.
  • Do one of the following:
    • Select Delete Styles from the Styles palette menu, or
    • Click the Trash icon trash can icon at the bottom of the palette, or
    • Drag the style onto the Trash icon.
  • To delete all unused styles
    • In the Styles palette menu, choose Select All Unused.
    • Click on the Trash can icon.