Create text and text frames

Create text frames

Text in InDesign resides inside containers called text frames. (A text frame is similar to a text box in QuarkXPress and a text block in Adobe PageMaker.)

There are two types of text frames: frame grids and plain text frames. Frame grids are the kind of text frames specific to Asian-language composition in which character emboxes and spacing are displayed as grids. Empty text frames in which no grid is displayed are plain text frames.

Like graphics frames, text frames can be moved, resized, and changed. The tool with which you select a text frame determines the kind of changes you can make:

• Use the Type tool  to enter or edit text in a frame.

• Use the Selection tool  for general layout tasks such as positioning and sizing a frame.

• Use the Direct Selection tool  to alter a frame’s shape.

• Use the Horizontal Grid tool  or the Vertical Grid tool to create a frame grid.

• Use the Type tool  to create a plain text frame for horizontal text, and the Vertical Type tool  to create a plain text frame for vertical text. Use the same tools to edit existing text in a frame.

Text frames can also be connected to other text frames so that the text in one frame can flow into another frame. Frames that are connected in this way are threaded. Text that flows through one or more threaded frames is called a story. When you place (import) a word-processing file, it comes into your document as a single story, regardless of the number of frames it may occupy.

Text frames can have multiple columns. Text frames can be based on, yet independent of, page columns. In other words, a two-column text frame can sit on a four-column page. Text frames can also be placed on parent pages and still receive text on document pages.

When you place or paste text, you don’t need to create a text frame; InDesign automatically adds frames based on the page’s column settings.

When text is pasted, a plain text frame is automatically created. You can also create an empty plain text frame manually and input text.

Move and resize text frames

Use the Selection tool to move or resize text frames.

Move a text frame

• Using the Selection tool, drag the frame.
• Using the Type tool, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and drag the frame. When you release the key, the Type tool is still selected.

Resize a text frame

Use text frames on parent pages

When you start a new document, you can select the Primary Text Frame option so that an empty text frame is placed on the document’s default parent page. This frame has the column and margin attributes specified in the New Document dialog box.

Follow these guidelines for using text frames on parent pages:

• Set primary text frames when you want each page in your document to contain a page-sized text frame into which you can flow or type your text. If your document requires more variation, such as pages with different numbers of frames or frames of different lengths, leave the Primary Text Frame option deselected, and use the Type tool to create text frames on parents.

• Whether or not you select the Primary Text Frame option, you can add text frames to a parent page to act as placeholders. You can thread these empty placeholder frames together to establish a flow.

• Flow text into primary text frames using the same procedures you would use with frames created on document pages.

• If you need to type text in a primary text frame on a document page, hold down Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) as you click the text frame on the document page. Then click in the frame using the Type tool and begin typing.

• You can use Smart Text Reflow to add or remove pages automatically as you type and edit text. By default, when you type text at the end of a threaded text frame based on a parent page, a new page is added, allowing you to continue typing in the new text frame. You can edit Smart Text Reflow settings.

• If you change the page margins, text frames adjust to the new margins only if the Enable Layout Adjustment option is selected.

• Selecting the Primary Text Frame option does not affect whether new pages are added when you autoflow text.

Change text frame properties

Use Text Frame Options to change settings such as the number of columns in the frame, the vertical alignment of text within the frame, or the inset spacing, which is the distance of the margins between the text and the frame.

These text frame options are available when you’re defining an object style for text boxes. See Object styles.

Add columns to a text frame

You can create columns within a text frame by using the Text Frame Options dialog box.

Change text frame inset spacing (margins)

If the frame you’ve selected has a non-rectangular shape, the Top, Left, Bottom, and Right options are dimmed, and an Inset option is available instead.

First baseline offset options

To change the first baseline options of a selected text frame, choose Object > Text Frame Options, and click the Baseline Options tab. The following options appear in the Offset menu under First Baseline:

The height of the “d” character in the font falls below the top inset of the text frame.

The top of uppercase letters touch the top inset of the text frame.

Use the text’s leading value as the distance between the baseline of the first line of text and the top inset of the frame.

The height of the “x” character in the font falls below the top inset of the frame.

Specify the distance between the baseline of the first line of text and the top inset of the frame.

Select a minimum value for the baseline offset. For example, if Leading is selected and you specify a minimum value of 1p, InDesign uses the leading value only when it’s greater than 1 pica.

Set baseline grids for a text frame

In some cases, you might want to use a baseline grid for a frame rather than for the entire document. Use the Text Frame Options dialog box to apply a baseline grid to a text frame. When you set up a baseline grid for a text frame, note the following:

• The document baseline grid doesn’t appear behind or in front of text frames that use their own baseline grids.

• If Grids In Back is selected in Grids Preferences, then frame-based baseline grids take precedence over document-based baseline grids. If Grids In Back is not selected, then document-based baseline grids take precedence over frame-based baseline grids.

Determine word and character counts

The Info panel displays the number of characters, words, lines, and paragraphs in a text frame. The position of the insertion point within the text frame also appears.

Working with additional languages

You can assign languages to different text. Assigning the appropriate language to text is especially useful for spell-checking and hyphenating. (See Assign a language to text.)

If you need to work with Asian text, special versions of InDesign are available for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean. These versions let you create layout grids and frame grids for composing multibyte characters, and they include a number of features for formatting multibyte text, along with additional fonts.

Similarly, a special version of InDesign is available for formatting Middle Eastern languages, such as Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu, that use right-to-left text formatting. This version is called InDesign ME.

For more information on purchasing InDesign ME or an Asian-language version of InDesign, see the Adobe website.