Tabs and indents

Tabs position text at specific horizontal locations in a frame. The default tab settings depend on the Horizontal ruler units setting in the Units & Increments preferences dialog box.

Tabs apply to an entire paragraph. The first tab you set deletes all default tab stops to its left. Subsequent tabs delete all default tabs between the tabs you set. You can set left, center, right, and decimal or special-character tabs.

You set tabs using the Tabs dialog box.

When you do this in a vertical text frame, the Tabs dialog box also becomes vertical. When the Tabs dialog box direction is not consistent with the text frame direction, click on the magnet icon to snap the rulers to the current text frame.

Open the Tabs dialog box

If the top of the frame is visible, the Tabs dialog box snaps to the current text frame and matches its width to the current column.

When the top of a horizontal frame is displayed, the Tabs dialog box will snap to the top of the current text frame, and the width will change to conform to the width of the current column. When there is a text insertion point in a vertical frame, the Tabs dialog box will snap to the right side of the text frame, and the length displayed will conform to the length of the current column.

Align the Tabs dialog box ruler with your text

Set tabs

You can set left, center, right, and decimal or special-character tabs. When you use the special-character tab, you can set a tab to align to any character you choose, such as a colon or a dollar sign.

Repeat tabs

The Repeat Tab command creates multiple tabs based on the distance between the tab and the left indent or the previous tab stop.

Move, delete, and edit tab settings

Use the Tabs dialog box to move, delete, and edit tab settings.

Move a tab setting

Delete a tab setting

Change a tab from one alignment to another

Specify characters for decimal tabs

You use decimal tabs to align text with a character you specify, such as a period or a dollar sign.

Add tab leaders

A tab leader is a repeated pattern of characters, such as a series of dots or dashes, between a tab and the following text.

Insert right indent tabs

In one step, you can add a right-aligned tab at the right indent, making it easier to prepare tabular text that spans an entire column. Right indent tabs are slightly different from regular tabs. A right indent tab:

• Aligns all subsequent text to the right edge of the text frame. If the same paragraph includes any tabs after the right indent tab, those tabs and their text are pushed to the next line.

• Is a special character located in the text, not in the Tabs dialog box. You add a right indent tab using a context menu, not the Tabs dialog box. As a result, a right indent tab can’t be part of a paragraph style.

• Is different from the Right Indent value in the Paragraph panel. The Right Indent value keeps the entire right edge of the paragraph away from the right edge of the text frame.

• Can be used with a tab leader. Right indent tabs use the tab leader of the first tab stop past the right margin, or, if there isn't one, the last tab stop before the right margin.

Set indents

Indents move text inward from the right and left edges of the frame. In general, use first‑line indents, not spaces or tabs, to indent the first line of a paragraph.

A first-line indent is positioned relative to the left-margin indent. For example, if a paragraph’s left edge is indented one pica, setting the first-line indent to one pica indents the first line of the paragraph two picas from the left edge of the frame or inset.

You can set indents using the Tabs dialog box, the Paragraph panel, or the Control panel. You can also set indents when you create bulleted or numbered lists.

When setting CJK characters, you can use the mojikumi setting to specify the indent for the first line. However, for text in which the first line indent was specified in the Paragraph panel, if you specify indents in mojikumi settings, you can make the text indent the sum value of both indents.

Set an indent using the Tabs dialog box

For more information on using the Tabs dialog box, see Tabs dialog box overview.

Set indents using the Paragraph panel or the Control panel

Reset indents

Create a hanging indent

In a hanging indent, all the lines in a paragraph are indented except for the first line. Hanging indents are especially useful when you want to add inline graphics at the beginning of the paragraph.

In most cases, you’ll specify the negative equivalent of the value you entered in step 2; for instance, if you specified a left indent of 2 picas, your first-line left indent will typically be –2 picas.

Right-indent the last line of a paragraph

You can use the Last Line Right Indent option to add a hanging indent on the right side of the last line in a paragraph. This option is especially useful for right-aligning prices in a sales catalog.

Use Indent To Here

You can use the Indent To Here special character to indent lines in a paragraph independently of a paragraph’s left indent value. The Indent To Here special character is different from the paragraph’s left indent in the following ways:

• Indent To Here is part of the text flow, as if it were a visible character. If text reflows, the indent moves with it.

• Indent To Here affects all lines after the line where you’ve added its special characters, so you can indent just some of the lines in a paragraph.

• When you choose Type > Show Hidden Characters, the Indent To Here character  is visible.