Mailbag Answers Posts

Splitting a frame into a grid of smaller frames isn’t that hard… once you know the secret!

Making a vertical line in a table without using tables requires some tricky text maneuvering

What do you do when Print Booklet starts unexpectedly adding pages?

Blends are one of InDesign’s least intuitive features, but they’re not hard to control once you’ve used the Gradient tool

Question: What is the secret of getting numbers to align correctly in  numbered lists in CS3? If you want numbers to align on the decimal or  align right, simply choosing “Align right” in the Bullet or Number  Position area seldom does the job. It takes a lot of fiddling. Is there any logic  going on [...]

Question:
I am creating nested style-sheets for a magazine. The problem is that, after a hard return, it won’t properly apply to the paragraph (see examples). Is there a fix for this?
Answer:
Great idea, but you’ve confused Nested Styles with InDesign’s Next Style feature. Despite the slight similarity in names, these function quite differently.
Nested Styles allow you [...]

David explores an obscure Data Merge feature that can make a big impact

Wish you had Photoshop’s History panel inside InDeisgn? Now you can have one!

I frequently get asked how to create automatic spread numbers–as opposed to automatic page numbers–in an InDesign layout. Some users need page 1 to be numbered “1″ (first spread), page 3 to be numbered “2″ (second spread), page 5 numbered “3,” page 7 numbered “4″ and so on. I’ve never actually seen a publication numbered [...]

Two scripts that solve age-old indexing problems