How to Use Paragraph Styles in Indesign

InDesign, the typesetting and layout program, has a number of powerful tools that let users make complicated, beautiful print documents quickly and efficiently. One of these tools is the paragraph styles palette. Using paragraph styles lets you save the layout of a body of text, and apply that layout to any other text bodies in a document with the click of a button. Using paragraph styles will dramatically cut the amount of time you spend laying out text bodies in a document, and the longer the document the more time you will save.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer
• InDesign
• Text

When to Use Paragraph Styles

1. Create and use paragraph styles when creating a long publication with stretches of uniform text layouts or several pages of the same style.
2. Use paragraph styles while playing with text bodies to determine what the best look for your publication will be. Creating paragraph styles as you move along is a great way of creating a history of the styles you create.
3. Create a new paragraph style whenever you create a unique body of text. You might only intend to use a text body once in an entire document, but it's always good to have the option to create more whenever you want them. You never know when you might change your mind, or accidentally delete or corrupt the original text body.

Creating Paragraph Styles

4. Find and bring up the paragraph styles palette. If it isn't already on the screen you can find it under the "Windows" pull-down menu in the main menu bar.
5. Create your body of text. Do this by using the text tool and either the paragraph palette or the paragraph quick buttons on the top option bar.
6. Select the entire text body once you have the text arranged how you want.
7. Click the "New Paragraph Style" button on the paragraph palette. It's the button to the immediate left of the "Delete Paragraph Style" button, which looks like a trash can. You have now saved the selected layout as a paragraph style.
8. Name the paragraph style. This isn't necessary but is helpful in the long run. Do this by double clicking on the style name in the paragraph style palette.
9. Apply the paragraph style to other text bodies by selecting all the text in the target text body and then clicking on the paragraph style you want applied to it.
10. Make modifications to a paragraph style by highlighting the text in a text body and making any modifications you want. The style governing the modified text body (assuming there is one) will register the changes by displaying a plus symbol next to the name of the paragraph style.
11. Make the paragraph style modifications permanent by clicking the "New Paragraph Style" button. The modified text body will now be assigned to the new paragraph style. Name the new paragraph style.
12. Click the "Clear Overrides in Selection" button to delete the paragraph modifications and return the text body to its original text style. It's the button to the immediate left of the "Create New Paragraph style" button.
13. Double click on a paragraph style (not on the name of the style) to bring up the advanced paragraph style options palette. From here you can set many advanced style options, such as the appearance of bullets and numbering, hyphenation and setting open type options.

Tips & Warnings

• Even if you want different paragraph styles in a document, a paragraph style can preserve paragraph elements for repeated use. For example, say that you want different text formats but know you want a 1/2 inch margin on all text bodies. Create a paragraph style with a 1/2 inch margin, then use that style to create each new text body and modify your text bodies from there.
• Making modifications to a text body won't actually affect the paragraph style associated with that body, even if you see a plus symbol next to the associated paragraph style. That plus symbol is associated with the text box in which the modified text body rests. If you want the modifications to carry over to other text bodies, you must make the modified style into a new paragraph style, then apply that style to all the text bodies you want modified.
• Always name your paragraph styles. Even medium length publications can incorporate 10 or 15 styles, and it isn't easy to tell which style is which by scrolling through different styles and looking at how the text body changes. Name styles after page numbers, content or distinctive text features.