Format text

Use the Control panel to change the appearance of text. When text is selected or when the insertion point is placed in text, the Control panel displays either the character formatting controls or the paragraph formatting controls, or a combination of both, depending on your monitor resolution. These same text formatting controls appear in the Character panel and Paragraph panel. You can also use the Character panel and Paragraphs panel to change the appearance of text.

Note the following methods of formatting text:

• To format characters, you can use the Type tool  to select characters, or you can click to place the insertion point, select a formatting option, and then begin typing.

• To format paragraphs, you don’t need to select an entire paragraph—selecting any word or character, or placing the insertion point in a paragraph will do. You can also select text in a range of paragraphs.

• To set the formatting for all future text frames that you’ll create in the current document, make sure that the insertion point is not active and that nothing is selected, and then specify text formatting options. To set default text formatting for all new documents, close all documents, and then specify the text settings. See Set defaults.

• Select a frame to apply formatting to all text inside it. The frame cannot be part of a thread.

• Use paragraph styles and character styles to format text quickly and consistently.

Text formatting precedence

To format text with attributes such as font style and text direction, you can use several different methods. For example, you can use the Control panel, frame grid options, or named grids or text styles. If you use more than one method and attributes conflict with each other, InDesign must choose which attribute to use. The order of precedence is as follows:

For example, if you specify one font size in the Frame Grid Options and a different one in a Character Style, the font size from the Character Style is used. Similarly, if you include both a Paragraph Style and a named grid in an object style, the Paragraph Style takes precedence over the named grid.

Copy type attributes (Eyedropper)

You can use the Eyedropper tool to copy type attributes such as character, paragraph, fill, and stroke settings, and then apply those attributes to other type. By default, the Eyedropper tool copies all type attributes. To customize the attributes you want to copy with the Eyedropper tool, use the Eyedropper Options dialog box.

The Eyedropper tool is available only in Layout View.

Copy type attributes to unselected text

 To clear the formatting attributes currently held by the eyedropper tool, press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) while the Eyedropper tool is loaded. The Eyedropper tool reverses direction and appears empty , to indicate that it’s ready to pick up new attributes. Click an object containing the attributes you want to copy, then drop the new ones on another object.

If you use the Eyedropper tool to copy a paragraph style from text in one document to text in another, and the paragraph style has the same name but different sets of attributes, any style differences will appear as local overrides to the destination style.

Copy type attributes to selected text

Change which text attributes the Eyedropper tool copies

 To copy or apply paragraph attributes only without having to change settings in the Eyedropper Options dialog box, hold down Shift as you click text with the Eyedropper tool.

Use Quick Apply

Use Quick Apply to find and apply styles, menu commands, scripts, variables, and most other commands that can be found in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box.

 When the Quick Apply list is displayed, press the left and right arrow keys to scroll through the edit field; press the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list of items.

Related resources

• Control panel overview
• Apply colors using the Eyedropper tool

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