How to Make an Index in InDesign
If you work hard to create a document that contains accurate and useful information, you need to make this information easy to find. An index is one of the standard tools for finding information in long documents, especially in informative books. Fortunately, InDesign includes an index panel that allows you to quickly generate topics and references for an index. You can then add that index to your InDesign document and design it using all the same tools you used to design the rest of your document.
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Instructions
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Create a Topic List
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Open the document that includes the references that you want to index.
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Click on "Window" from the menu bar and hover over "Types & Tables". Select "Index" to open the index panel.
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3
Click on the "Topic" radial button.
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Click on the index flyout menu and select "New Topic."
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Type the main topic entry in the text box labeled "1". Add any subtopics to the 2, 3 or 4 text boxes.
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Click "Add" to add the topics and subtopics to the index. Click "Done" when you are finished creating your topic list.
Add Index References
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Place the cursor in the document or select text where you want to add an index marker.
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Click on the "Reference" radial button.
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Click on the "Create a new index entry" button.
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Type the top level topic and any subtopics in the 1, 2, or 3 text boxes. Alternatively, place the cursor inside the first box and double-click the topic or subtopic from the topic list.
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Type the reference text. If you selected text, the text will automatically be inserted into the first text box; press the "Down" arrow next to the text box to move the reference to a lower box. Follow the preceding step to add the reference to a topic.
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Select what you want the reference to refer to from the "Type" drop-down menu. Select "Current Page" to display the page where the index marker resides. Select one of the types that begins with "To" or "For Next" to display the range specified in the selected type; for example, "To End of Story" will display a page range that begins with the index marker and ends with the page where the story ends. Select "Suppress Page Range" to turn off the page reference. Select any of the types in the bottom section to create a cross-reference to another section.
Generate the Index
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Create the page where you want to add the index.
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Select "Generate Index" from the index flyout menu.
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Specify how you want the index to appear in the "Generate Index" dialog box. Type the index title in the "Title" box and select the paragraph style for the title. Select "Include Book Documents" if you are creating an index from an InDesign Book. Select "More Options" to specify how the index topics and references appear on the page. Click "OK" when you are finished setting up the way the index will appear.
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Click inside the page to place the index in a story on the page.
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References
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