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Set the Size of Lots of Frames at the Same Time

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Elvis (no kidding!) wrote:

Let’s say I have 20 rectangles of different sizes on my page. I would like to make each one a uniform size of say 20×20. If I select them all, the dimensions in the Transform and Control palettes show the total size of the group, so if I type 20×20 in the width and height fields I resize the whole group to 20×20. How can I scale each object to the required size without having to manually scale each one individually?

Here’s one solution: Select one of the frames and set its size with the W and H fields in the Control palette. Remember you can click the little link icon to set these values individually, if you need to change the size disproportionally.

Now select all the other objects and choose Object > Transform Again > Transform Sequence Again Individually. This magic (and very long-named) feature will perform the same set of transformations (in this case changing the W field and then changing the H field) to each of the other selected objects as though you selected one and changed it, then selected the next and changed it, and so on.

I love this feature! Viva la automación!

David Blatner is the co-founder of the Creative Publishing Network, InDesign Magazine, CreativePro Magazine, and the author or co-author of 15 books, including Real World InDesign. His InDesign videos at LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) are among the most watched InDesign training in the world.
You can find more about David at 63p.com

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  • teszeract says:

    Hahahah — I just discovered this yesterday! It’s a doozy!

  • teszeract says:

    oh yeah – shortcut is opt-cmd-3

  • Anne-Marie says:

    Brilliant, David! It’s not at all obvious that setting Width and Height is something that Transform Again “counts” as a transform. Sweet, sweet, tip!

  • Joseph Scott says:

    Transform Content handles placed graphics. Any way to get text in boxes to Transform?(ala shift-cmd drag)

  • Ben Druce says:

    Amazing, I wish I had read this yesterday, before I did it manually to 40 boxes :(

  • Colin R says:

    Anyone know where I can get a script for this, as this option is not available in CS1?

  • lshar says:

    Is there a ‘repeat last action’ script or shortcut available in InDesign that would take care of these steps.

    CS does not have ‘transform again’ any other suggestions??

  • Jim A says:

    Recently saw this site love it and love this tip. Helped in a major project saved me alot of time.

  • Stephan says:

    T H A N K Y O U !
    I would have dvelved into hours of scripting to get this feature – but as always – it already there – just have to find it. :) Thanks so much.

  • Enrique says:

    Just saved me an hour. Thanks!

  • Stephan Möbius says:

    If you’re like me and don’t find “Transform again” intuitiv enough for your daily routine, Marc Autret wrote this wonderfull script which helps to make all selected objects a certain user definable size.
    To make all selected objects the _same_ (average) size it requires but two clicks. Click*Click*Done.

    https://marcautret.free.fr/geek/indd/equalizer/
    https://marcautret.free.fr/geek/indd/equalizer/Equalizer.zip

    As has been posted here:
    https://creativepro.com/i-want-my-transform-individually.php

  • Ravit G says:

    AWESOME SITE!
    Hi, I’m new to InDesign, I used the rectangle tool to create a frame and then placed in an image. When I go to Fitting, most of the options are grayed out and the Rectangle small dialog box keeps coming and won’t let me continue. It asks me to choose or verify width and length but I have no idea what to do with it.
    Thanks

  • @Ravit: You need to select the frame with the Selection tool (black arrow).

  • Wendy says:

    Blessed be those who take the time to post hidden software secrets on the Internet.

  • Paul Norris says:

    Thanks for taking the trouble to post this. You saved me a lot of time.

  • Sanjay says:

    It is possible to set the frame width same for all the frames in a document. This trick is working fine on one page or one spread but in my case I have a long document and every page have two frames, now I want to make the frames size equal for the entire document. Thanks,

  • Dom says:

    didnt work

  • Courtney says:

    Hi, David! I tried this with some frames that already had images placed in them. Auto-Fit was selected for all frames, but when I transformed the sequence individually, the images did not stay auto-fit. :( Any thoughts? Thanks!

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