InDesign Shorts: Tip #7 – Ctrl+B (The Best InDesign Shortcut)

InDesign Shorts is a recurring series to help everyone of all levels master the ins and outs of the program and become more efficient designers. Got a burning InDesign question? Drop a comment below or join the LinkedIn group for more.

Today I want to tell you about my favorite InDesign shortcut: Text Frame Options.

What’s so cool about Text Frame Options? Everything, that’s what. This menu allows you to customize columns for individual text boxes, adjust inset margins, and obey or ignore text wrapping. I use it all the time to:

Create columns for bulleted lists to save space on a page.

Adjust the number of columns using either the arrows or by inputting a number in the columns menu. Adjust the gutter (this is the margin between your columns) to add or detract space as-needed. In the example above, notice that the text block below the one being edited is overset until the bullet columns are created.

*Note that your bulleted list will need to be in its own text frame otherwise the columns option will affect all of your text.

Quickly ignore text wrapping on a photo caption.

Simply check the box for ‘ignore text wrapping’ to enable this feature.

Create a colored call-out box with inset margins.

You can adjust the inset margins with the arrows or by inputting a custom number. By clicking the link icon, you can change whether or not you adjust all of the margins at once (to the same setting), or just one. If the link icon is still linked, you’ll adjust all margins to the same setting. If it’s broken, you can change each margin individually.

What’s the shortcut?

CTRL+B (CMD+B for Mac)

Note that these are just the ‘General’ options for text frames because that’s all I usually need. Do you use the Text Frame Options menu often? What do you do (if anything) with the Baseline, Auto-size, and Footnote options?