InDesign Does Math For You
October 30th, 2006One of the signs of a very rich application is that it includes features that have been around for many years but which even some advanced users don’t realize are there. Such is the case with InDesign’s ability to do math. For example, if you want to move a frame to the right by 9p3 (9 picas, 3 points), just add “+9p3″ after the current value in the X field of the Control palette. When you press Return/Enter, InDesign does the math and moves the object.
ID can handle all basic math operations: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/). And it handles these in any field in which you can type a number or measurement. For example, if you want a new document that is three times wider than 115mm, you can type “3*115mm” in the Width field of the New Document dialog box. If you want a gradient to be at the angle of one-fifth of 90 degrees, you can type “90/5″ in the Angle field of the Gradient palette. Anywhere!
If your current measurement system is inches, you don’t have to type “in” or “i” in your equation; it assumes it for you. But you can also combine measurement systems — for example, “20cm-3p” is three picas less than 20 cm.
Note that InDesign can only perform one operation at a time. That is, it can handle “4in+2p” but it cannot handle “4in+2p-1p” because that’s two different operations. (Yes, I’m aware that QuarkXPress can do multiple operations in one equation. But we’re not here to compare. 
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What are your favorite math tricks in InDesign?
My favourite has to be selecting a guide, then typing + 3 (or some other math) into the control pallet after the x or y location of the guide, while holding down alt – therefore keeping your original guide and making a new one offset to you value!
Oh, good one, lowJackson.
I like using percentages… if I want a frame to be 80% of its width I just select the contents of the Width field, type “80%” and hit return/enter. Or if I want it about 25% larger I click after the last bit of the field contents and enter “+25%”.
For some reason it’s easier on my brain to use percentages than multiplying by decimals.
AM
Great for getting rules between magazine columns in exactly the right place. Snap the guide to a column edge guide and add half the width of the space between columns. You can mechanise this to place guides in multi-column layouts using Quickeys.
It’s the kind of thing that I always forget about. Well, it’s worse han that: I always remember, but right on the next second, when I don’t need it anymore. Maybe I should print this post and glue it to the keyboard…
I like using it to center a graphic on a text block. First set the x/y axis on the left side of the text block you are centering the graphic in. You then select the graphic, set the reference point to the center of it and then type in the width of the text block in the x-position field, followed by “/2″ and it sets the center of the graphic half way across the text width.
This isn’t a specific math operation, but more of a “while you’re at it” approach I like to take when working with objects.
Since I’m using math for precise changes, I also make sure that the proxy reference is where I want it (so I can apply the change from the proper point — corner, center, left side, bottom, etc.).
If I want the percentage (or addition, subtraction, etc.) to apply to the whole object, I constrain the proportions using the button in the control palette.
In the case of graphics or photos, I also choose to Transform Content (or not) in the control palette menu.
By stopping for a second or two to make these choices, my math operations become even more efficient, applying the math from the proper point, proportionally tranforming (or not) the object, and re-sizing (or not) its content all at the same time.
How about this: If you want to create, let’s say a template for an invoice and have your economics department use inCopy instead of Excel. Would it be possible to make inDesign do add and subtraction automatically between different textframes or inside a table?
Oddster: No, sorry, InDesign can do math in fields, but not math on your document page. It’s a cool idea, but my guess is that Adobe will leave that to Excel, or to plug-in developers. The two math typesetting plug-ins I know of are InMath and MathMagic. I don’t think those can calculate values in an InDesign table, but perhaps we should look into it.