February 22 2007 • 9:04 PM
By:
Michael Murphy
The InDesigner – Episode 36: Long Documents, Part 4 – Indexing
Continuing with the very long series on long document features after a long break, this episode finally tackles the feature that is the bane of many an InDesign user’s existence: Indexing. This first of two indexing installments covers the basic principles of indexing as they apply to InDesign, including some up-front advice about what to expect and what not to expect the software to do for you. Also, I go through indexing basics such as working with the Index palette, creating Topics, References and Cross-References, Topic Levels and Sorting. And that’s only the first half!
Download it now or watch it in your browser:
The InDesigner – Episode 36 (40.2 MB, 20:20 minutes)
Michael: Thanks for posting this indexing videocast. There is so much to indexing that I understand you must break it into two videocasts. I wonder why you instructed users to click “add” and then “done” on the index dialog? I have been using the blue pulsing “OK” and it adds the reference, too, and in one less step.
I had been wondering how to get all those twirlys to close and you answered my question! An “Update Preview” closes all the topic twirlys. Too bad it takes so long to update when you have a large index.
Excellent point, Jessica. I was using Add in the episode to set up the explanation of the difference in behavior between “Add” and “Add All” and it just became a habit.
The other reason I got used to using Add is that, without having to leave the dialog box, I could also add a “See” cross-reference for the same entry for which I added a page reference. So an entry for Excel could be include both the page numbers and a “See also” reference.
Thanks for pointing out yet another time-saver.
I’m currently downloading this episode, but i’ve a question: Is there a way to change the way InDesign search for Styles to insert them in a TOC? I had two titles, one above the other and the last one apeared first on the TOC, I realized it was a bit to the left than the one above… I figure it searches left to right and them up to bottom, is there a way to change this? I used hidden layer to solve this. Cheers!
To comment again on the twirlys: I tried it in my long index but clicking “update preview” did not close my twirlys. iMac, IDCS2. What did happen, though, scared me. I am working with a hidden layer to solve a problem with an existing book. I keep the hidden layer meticulously locked and turned off all the time, except when I add a new entry. I clicked “Update preview” but I can’t remember which was the active layer at the moment. Then my 20 most recent index entries changed from page numbers to “HL” for hidden layer. Restart IDCS2 and clicked update preview again and the numbers returned.
João
There’s no way to correct the way ID works. From a poll I have conducted in my ID community, users prefer first up to bottom, then left to right.
Ever since you started the ‘long doc’ series I’ve been hanging out for the indexin installment and here it is! Marvelous! Now the wait is on for the second part …
Michael, great to hear from you again. I was getting worried.
Good show, and, as always, quite informative.
@ João,
Are the titles two different styles or the same style? Are they on the same hierarchical level or is one a subheader to the other?
hi there! Ryan: the titles have the same style. they belong to two stories on the same page. One above and other below. InDesign searches from left to right and then up to bottom.
I prefer up to bottom, cause in this case it puts the titles in the wrong order in the TOC. Cheers
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Hey Michael, great episode. I’ve never needed to create an index with ID so wasn’t quite sure where to start. Your episode made it very clear! Looking forward to the next one.
Hey and ten minutes after I watched this, I was able to use what I learned to help someone out with an indexing question on the InDesign user forum! Of course I included a link to this post!
Thanks, Anne-Marie. Truth be told, until this episode, I’d never created an index either. That (and other factors) contributed to the delay in getting the episode posted. Without a doubt, this was the hardest podcast episode I’ve ever done. I also think it’s probably the least intuitive and most labor-intensive feature in the entire application. Not that that’s necessarily Adobe’s fault. Indexing is, by nature, a function of the human brain more than a set of options to be checked on or off. But I learned a lot, so that counts for something. And Im glad that the few little time-savers I’ve been able to identify so far are making it out there to our audience, and the user community at large.
Hi Michael,
That is very beautifully illustrated. I think it’s class how indesign can do this. But does InDesign have to reference the page number, what if I need to reference a Paragraph number? If that makes sense. I’d love to hear your insight on this matter.
Kind regards and once again well done on an excellent video,
Eugene
Eugene — As I mentioned in my e-mail response to you (which I’ll now share with the world at large) indexing is tied exclusively to page numbers. Right now, no work-around comes to mind, but I’m trying to think my way around that. If I come up with anything before the next episode is done, I’ll include it in as a tip. If anyone else out there has an idea, chime in!
Hi!
I saw the videocast on the indexing and learned much. Thanks a lot, it was quite instructive. However I0m wondering if the ID could mark instances for three different indexes in the same document/book. I must do three indexes (persons, places, themes). How could it be done in the same document?
Marek
Michael – Many thanks for this helpful episode, and I look forward with interest to the follow-up in the next podcast. Just one thing that foxed me when I followed your instructions – unless you have the “Show unused topics” option selected in the flyout menu when you check the “References” radio button, the topics disappear when you change to “References” rather than “Topics”. With “Hide unused topics” selected by default (as it was in my case), the behaviour of the program is confusing, and it’s difficult to see how to follow your next steps.
Many thanks for all your help on all the other topics, too.
Jock
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I’m just finishing up a book indexing, the second I’ve done since I started working with InDesign a few years ago. Quite frequently I found that the only way to get the page ranges I wanted (from the first reference in a section to the last) was to use the “For Next # of Pages” type of reference, and “Suppress Page Range” for other references in that range. It’s fragile, but I did leave my indexing until the end. I found that what I really wanted was a way to group a sequence of references into a “page range group” — then it would automatically update correctly if the text reflowed.
Hi, I’m a french designer. I already use the index function in CS1 and i meet several problem with indexing. One of them is how do I include the word with several othograph without indexing the different orthograph of same word. For example with the singular and plural mode. It could better if we could as the fonction serach/replace add at the end of the most simple word “any character” for an “s” for exemple…
Is there an other way to make it ?
Thanks for response and bravo for your podcast so usefull !
Victor — I’m not sure I understand your question entirely. The reference to “orthograph” has me stumped. I’m assuming you want to index both the singular and plural versions of a word (or exclude the plurals). Unfortunately, the Find/Change function isn’t tied into the Indexing function, and those conditional options are not part of Indexing itself.
I recommend looking into a plug-in that provides more powerful indexing functions such as Virginia Systems’ Sonar Bookends. For more information on that product, go to: http://www.virginiasystems.com
Hi
I made a list of words and I want to index them.
So I wanted to use the shortcut Shift + Option + Command + [
But there is no [ key on my keyboard.
How do I do this?
Thanks a mil.
J.
Joris, you can always change your these shortcuts to something that works for you using Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Thanks 4 your reply David.
But no matter what I try … I just can’t redifine the shortcut because I don’t find it under edit/keyboard shortcuts. The shortcut to type [ is shift+alt+5. But where is it under edit/keyboard shortcuts? thanks
Joris: The best way to find a shortcut quickly (besides our poster!) is to click Show Set and then do a find… in this case, I look for “Index” and I see that it’s under the Panel Menus (or Palette menus) product area.
Hi Michael,
I’ve been supplied with a Word document with all the index topics marked. When placed into ID, I can generate an index, however some topics appears like so: alpine 37, 65, 66, 67. How can I instruct ID to display a page range for all the appropriate topics in the document?
Thanks.
Hi,
I come back on Joris’ remark.
Suppose one has a list of index entries. Then through the use of ctrl+shift+alt+( one can index all words as once.
But it’s only the same as if one just clicks “Add” for each entry separately.
What the question was I think is: “Is there a shortcut to “Add all” in the New Reference dialog” ? for the whole list at once ?
Thanks
Tony
please help for the life of me i cannot get the pages in the index into a page range ie..2-6,8-10..instead im getting 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 every page for each word
Hi,
I have a 200 documents of a book and tried to add all in Book for indexing. The message appearing the 100 files can be added only. Is it the limit? But InDesign help showing 1000 can be added.
System: Mac G5, 2GB RAM, InDesign CS2
Early reply/post will be appreciated. sachinrewa@gmail.com
Sachin — That’s an unfortunate typo in the Help files for CS2, and I mentioned it in the first part of this Long Documents series. 100 documents is the limit in CS2, but that has been increased in CS3. The Help file doesn’t specifically state the new limit, but the pre-release documentation indicates that the previous 100-document limit has been removed.
Thank you Michael for sharing your knowlegde and skills with us und such a precise and light way!
I’m working at the moment on a PC with a German ID CS2.
What I couldn’t figure out is how the short cut “Shift-Control-Alt-[” to add multiple index entries at once works with the German ID CS2. I even switched the keyboard to US – doesn’t work.
My quesion now: Is there a way to access this command through the menue?
I would save so much work!
Thx, Michael
A correction to the post above: It’s a German Indesign CS3 (not CS2 – on my mac I’ve got CS2)
Michael A: You can edit all the keyboard shortcuts with Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. This one is in the Panel Menus product area.
Alternately, download the free Keyboard Shortcuts plug-in and just type the word “index” (or whatever the feature name is in German) and you’ll see all the relevant features. You can assign a shortcut there.
I cannot discover how to italicize book titles in the index palette. I can do it after the index is generated, but is there a way to use a style to do this when the index is originally generated? Thanks.
Excellent job, Michael! Now I understand this feature much better.
Thanks from Madrid.
GREAT! Thanks a lot man!!
I’ve just find your site and tutorials and already become a fan. I’ll tell all my colleagues about it.
Thanks again.
Un abrazo,
Robby!
What you are creating is not an index. It’s a concordance.
It’s a semantic argument, Chris. The bottom line is this is what InDesign calls an index.
Michael, thanks so much for this great videocast. I can’t imagine learning this as quickly or easily from any other source.
I wonder if you have any insight into Kenji’s question above? Appear to still be the case in CS4.
I’d already done some indexing before I came across your very helpful episodes. Am I right in thinking that they were done in CS2? I’m banging my head on the wall generating indexes in CS3 on a MacBook Pro. The updates take forever and often the app stops responding (my fans are on full blast as I write). Are things worese in CS3 or am I dreaming? Something is stalling y preview in one of my chaptes and I can’t find it!
I’m using CS2 at the moment. The “Remove Unused Topics” is greyed out, and I have a ton of old topics, since I used this file last year. I’ve tried generating the index, clicking on Reference, and Topic… the option remains greyed out.
Hi there, I’m having a problem with my ToC and Index in a book that I am creating: the Table of Contents will no longer update properly once I have begun my Index. It is a single document (not multiples brought into a book) and I’m at a loss for what is wrong. Is this a problem you have run into before?
I ’save as’ approximately every 2-3 hours so I have figured out where the problem started by when I began to tag items for the Index. As far as I can tell there should be no problems related to that, but now when I update my ToC (as some pages have shifted due to spacing with images) it completely removes Chapter 1 and its subheads as well as the Foreword.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Shawna
Hi,
I am indexing a product catalogue for my company. I have seemingly indexed everything correctly however some of the sections arent coming accross.
An example is that one of our brands, lets say… TEST can be found in four different sections however only three of the four sections appears in the Brand Index?
I go back to the section that is missing to check if I have missed somehthing and it all looks OK?
The strange thing is that other brands within this section show up so it cant be the section itself?
Whats going wrong?
Can anyone help?
Cheers,
Michelle