Object styles

Just as you use paragraph and character styles to quickly format text, you can use object styles to quickly format graphics and frames. Object styles include settings for stroke, color, transparency, drop shadows, paragraph styles, text wrap, and more. You can assign different transparency effects for the object, fill, stroke, and text.

You can apply object styles to objects, groups, and frames (including text frames). A style can either clear and replace all object settings or it can replace only specific settings, leaving other settings unchanged. You control which settings the style affects by including or excluding a category of settings in the definition.

You can also apply object styles to frame grids. By default, any frame grid you create uses the [Basic Grid] object style. You can edit the [Basic Grid] style or you can apply other object styles to the grid. When you create or edit an object style for a frame grid, use the Story Options section to specify writing direction, frame type, and named grid.

When creating styles, you might find that several styles share some of the same characteristics. Rather than setting those characteristics each time you define the next style, you can base one object style on another. When you change the base style, any shared attributes that appear in the “parent” style change in the “child” style as well.

Object Styles panel overview

Use the Object Styles panel to create, edit, and apply object styles. For each new document, the panel initially lists a default set of object styles. Object styles are saved with a document and display in the panel each time you open that document. The Text Frame icon  marks the default style for text frames; the Graphics Frame icon  marks the default style for graphics frames and drawn shapes.

Use the Object Styles panel to create, name, and apply object styles. For each new document, the panel initially lists a default set of object styles. Object styles are saved with a document and display in the panel each time you open that document. The Text Frame icon  marks the default style for text frames; the Graphics Frame icon  marks the default style for graphic frames; the Grid icon  marks the default style for frame grids.

Open the Object Style panel

Change how object styles are listed in the panel

• Select Small Panel Rows from the panel menu to display a more condensed version of the object styles.
• Drag the object style to a different position. When a black line appears in the desired position, release the mouse button.
• Select Sort By Name from the panel menu to list the object styles in alphabetical order.

Define object styles

You can define a style based on the settings you’ve already applied to an object, or you can create a style from scratch or based on another style.

Object style categories

If you want the style to apply only certain attributes, leaving any other settings untouched, make sure that the categories you want the style to control are in the appropriate state. You can use any of three states for each category: turned on, turned off, or ignored. For example, checking the Drop Shadow box will include drop shadow formatting in the object style. Deselecting the Drop Shadow box will indicate that drop shadow is turned off as part of the style — any drop shadow applied to an object appears as an override. Setting the Drop Shadow box to “ignore” (a small box in Windows or a hyphen in Mac OS) will leave drop shadow out of the style, so any drop shadow applied to the style does not appear as an override.

The Paragraph Styles category is ignored by default, even if you’re creating a text frame. This category is applicable only if the object is an unthreaded text frame.

Apply object styles

If you apply an object style to a group of objects, the object style is applied to each object in the group. To apply an object style to a group of objects, nest the objects within a frame. (The Edit > Paste Into command is one way to paste an object into a frame.)

If you choose Clear Overrides When Applying Style from the Object Styles panel, clicking an object style clears overrides by default. If this option is not selected, you can Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the object style to clear overrides while applying the style.

If a group is selected when you apply an object style, the style is applied to each object in the group.

Once you apply a style, you can apply other settings to the object as needed. Although you may override a setting defined in the style, you do not lose the connection to the style.

Use default object styles

For each new document, the Object Styles panel lists a default set of object styles. Whenever you create an object, an object style is applied to it. By default, if you create a text frame, the [Basic Text Frame] object style is applied. If you draw a path or shape, the [Basic Graphics Frame] object style is applied. If you place an image or draw a placeholder shape that has an X in it, the [None] object style is applied. You can select a different object style to use as the default for text frames and graphics frames.

For each new document, the Object Styles panel lists a default set of object styles. Whenever you create an object, an object style is applied to it. By default, if you create a text frame, the [Basic Text Frame] object style is applied. If you place an image or draw a path or shape, the [Basic Graphics Frame] object style is applied. If you create a frame grid, the [Basic Grid] object style is applied. If you draw a placeholder shape that has an X in it, the [None] object style is applied. You can select a different object style to use as the default for each of these object types.

• To change the default style for a text frame, choose Default Text Frame Style from the Object Styles panel menu, and then select the object style.
• To change the default style for a graphics frame, choose Default Graphics Frame Style from the Object Styles panel menu, and then select the object style.
• Graphic placeholder frames (with an X in them), always use the [None] style as default. You cannot specify an object style as default.
• To change the default style for a grid frame, choose Default Grid Style from the Object Styles panel menu, and then select the object style.
• To change the default style for any object type, drag the icon that marks the default object type from one object style to another.

You can edit the [Basic] styles, but you cannot delete them.

Clear object style overrides

When formatting is applied to an object that differs from part of the style definition applied to that object, it is called an override. When you select an object with an override, a plus sign (+) appears next to the style name.

Use the Clear Overrides command to override any formatting that is either turned on or off in the object style; use the Clear Attributes Not Defined By Style to clear ignored attributes.

Clear object style overrides

An override is displayed only if the applied attribute is part of the style.

Clear attributes ignored in an object style

You may want to remove attributes from an object, even if those attributes are ignored in a style. For example, if the Fill category is ignored in an object style and you apply a red fill to a frame to which the object style is applied, choosing Clear Attributes Not Defined By Style removes the red fill.

Break the link to an object style

You can break the link between an object and the style applied to it. The object will retain the same attributes, but will no longer change if the style is changed.

If you don’t want to retain the formatting of the object style, choose [None] in the Object Styles panel.

Rename an object style

Edit object styles

Delete an object style

Redefine an object style

After you apply an object style, you can override any of its settings. If you decide you like the changes you made to a particular object, you can redefine the style so that it matches the formatting of the object you changed. Be aware that the Redefine Object Style command redefines only categories that are turned on or turned off, but not categories that are ignored. If the object includes additional settings, you’ll need to add those settings separately to the style, or simply create a new object style.

The object style definition changes to match the override settings you applied. All occurrences of the object style in the document are updated to use the new settings.

Import object styles

You can import styles from other documents. In addition to object styles themselves, InDesign imports any swatches, custom strokes, character styles, or paragraph styles that are used in the styles. If a swatch, stroke, or paragraph style that you import has the same name but different values than an existing swatch or style, InDesign renames it.

If the object styles you import include named grids, these grids are also imported.