dugost
Explorer
dugost
Explorer
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‎Mar 01, 2023
05:53 PM
1 Upvote
@Barb Binder This works perfectly! I can't thank you enough. I had tried using rules above and below at the same time but it never worked. I think I was focused on handling indents for everything via the rules themselves. I hadn't tried paragraph indents and then negative indents on the rules. Seems so simple now once it's pointed out. Thank you so much for taking the time to provide that example!
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‎Feb 28, 2023
07:13 PM
Yes, that's it exactly @Barb Binder. I need part of the rule to adjust its length based on the text but also retain equal padding around it regardless of text alignment.
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‎Feb 28, 2023
07:12 PM
Yes, using an inset moves everything in (text and underline).
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‎Feb 28, 2023
12:57 PM
In InDesign 13.0.1 on Mac, I have running headers using text variables that begin and end with an en space. Those that are left-aligned (or left Away from Spine) display both en spaces but right-aligned (or right Away from Spine) headers ignore any trailing whitespace. This isn't a running header/text variable issue. I realize that any right-aligned text ignores trailing whitespace but I'm providing this situation for context. The attachment illustrates the following: My running header style has a Paragraph Rule above in one colour plus an elevated Underline using the text colour. The result is a dual-colour rule where one side can automatically adjust as the header length changes section-to-section. I want this expanding line padded on either side, hence the en spaces. Combining styles in this way means only a single style needs changing in any given section rather than 2 separate elements. I tried setting a Right or Last Line indent but it pushes the elevated Underline away from the edge. Using an inset space on the right moves everything in. Is there any way to get InDesign to preserve trailing whitespace or do I need to approach this differently? Am I stuck nudging right-hand headers inwards next to a similarly styled box for padding? Or adding some sort of "invisible text" as padding? One is fussy, especially in a long document. The other seems hacky as it adds unnecessary text which could be problematic for accessibility. Any help is appreciated!
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‎Dec 13, 2022
01:40 PM
Thanks. I'm trying to theme sections of a document conditionally. The top margin has a text variable for displaying the author credit of the current article. I would like to style the margin's text and rule colour based on the author. My thinking was to have distinct styles for each author and corresponding text variables. If the text variable in the top margin could have a GREP style conditional to the current author then a unique colour could be applied automatically. For example: Stack separate text frames for authors A, B and C in the top margin. Apply a paragraph style with the text colour set to None and the rule set to Text Colour (rendering frame content invisible). Create a unique paragraph style for each author for their name at the beginning of each article. Create a Running Header Text Variable for each author and add them to the corresponding frame in the top margin. Create a character style for each author with a unique text colour only. In the paragraph style used in the margin text frames, add a new GREP style for each author (e.g. Apply Style: Author A Colour / To Text: ~Y=Author A, etc.). The text and rule in the margin would change from invisible to the current author's specific colour. Without that condition the GREP Style, every text frame displays the current author's name in all colours instead of keeping the other frame content invisible. As this isn't possible, I'm about to approach this a different way to see if I can make it work, though.
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‎Dec 13, 2022
12:25 PM
1 Upvote
Hi. I'm wondering if it's possible to have GREP Style target Text Variables in a couple of ways in order to meet some conditions. 1. In the GREP Style's To Text field, I can enter ~v for Any Variable, ~Y for Running Header (Paragraph Style), ~u for Custom Text, etc. Can these metacharacters be included in an expression to target Text Variables by name as a string? For example, a Running Header called "Name" using something like ~Y=Name or a Custom Text Variable called "Country" as ~u=Country. Obviously, those won't work but I don't know if it's because I haven't formatted the expression properly or if it's simply impossible. Anything I've tried so far has failed. 2. Similarly, can a GREP Style target a sequence of Text Variables? Either a simple sequence like Custom+Running Paragraph+Custom (~u~Y~u) or specifically by name like (~u=Prefix~Y=Name~u=Country)? The goal is to set up pages with conditions that these GREP styles target conditionally. Any help is appreciated!
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‎Feb 28, 2018
10:50 AM
I know this is an older post and might not be what you're looking for but I felt I should share a trick an animator friend gave me for this problem. Using Export (Legacy) to create SVG files from Animate CC 2018, a number of illustrations from old .fla files were ending up with thickened line weights on certain parts. While I have no quick fix for exporting SVG files that retain the stroke widths for problem areas, the trick is simply to select the stroke and use Modify > Shape > Convert Lines to Fills in Animate. No changing stroke widths in either application. Files exported after that looked as they should and I made the process faster by setting up a keyboard shortcut for that command.
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‎Sep 27, 2017
02:36 PM
I do find Illustrator to be the one app that causes more trouble than the others but Photoshop and InDesign give me no trouble with Spaces at all. I may have to simply reset Illustrator entirely somehow.
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‎Sep 27, 2017
01:49 PM
I was really hoping resetting a workspace would do the trick but no luck there either. I got the Application Frame set up like I wanted it, saved it as a New Workspace then quit. Upon reopening, the frame was still off-screen and choosing my new workspace and resetting it did nothing to fix it. Thanks for the suggestion though.
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‎Sep 27, 2017
01:42 PM
Yes, I use Spaces. I've tried moving Illustrator's window to another Space but it ends up hidden no matter where I move it. I'm at a loss to figure out how to keep it where it should be. Unless there's a fix for this, I'll have to turn off Application Frame and stick with Application Bar instead. It stays where it's meant to be.
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‎Sep 27, 2017
11:17 AM
No, I'm only using the single monitor of my iMac. That thread led me down the right path by reminding me that I could change my resolution to reveal a portion of the Application Frame. When I did that I was able to maximize it, reset my resolution and then maximize it again for my entire screen's native resolution. It's just that each time I reopen Illustrator it doesn't remember the last placement of my Application Frame and sets it off-screen again. I need to know how to force it to appear where it should be each time I launch Illustrator.
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‎Sep 27, 2017
10:34 AM
I'm running Illustrator CC 2015 on a 27" iMac under Sierra 10.12.6. It has started the annoying behaviour of opening with the Application Frame fully off-screen. This post (Illustrator 2017 Application Frame opens offscreen on second monitor and i can't reset it to be fully onscreen ) helped me get it back by changing my resolution to reveal the frame and dragging it out to be maximized. However, after quitting Illustrator it refuses to retain that screen setting. Each time it opens now with the Application Frame off-screen again. Does anyone know how I can force Illustrator to keep the Application Frame on-screen from now on?
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‎Sep 27, 2017
10:22 AM
1 Upvote
Thanks. This led me to get my Application Frame back when I did the following on my iMac. I turned on Illustrator's Application Frame which essentially made the entire interface disappear off-screen. Opening System Prefs > Display, I changed the resolution to Scaled and picked the lowest setting. That revealed a portion of the Application Frame and allowed me to drag it across the screen until I could click the green Maximize button. I set my resolution back to the default and clicked Maximize again to fill the screen. I also then quit and reopened Illustrator to see if the change stuck. No dice. I need to repeat this process every time I open Illustrator now. So frustrating.
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‎Aug 16, 2017
09:01 AM
Fantastic tip. Thanks for that info. I've always wondered why copy and pasting from PDFs often creates problems. I'll definitely be creating tagged PDFs from now on with my presets. Cheers!
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‎Aug 13, 2017
10:02 AM
1 Upvote
Thanks, everyone, for your advice. I'll be sure to talk to the client some more and do some reading on PDF/A. I'll also be sure to have a linked ToC and bookmarks. All great ideas.
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‎Aug 12, 2017
02:32 PM
I have a client who needs a publication designed that will be distributed to academics as a PDF. Nothing fancy but presented in an attractive way. I'll be designing the document in InDesign and provide a final PDF but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to ensure that the PDF itself remains useful for researchers and others in an academic setting who want to index/archive/search the file. Or if I should provide supplementary files as well that are better suited for those things and don't necessarily focus on design but on accessible content instead. Like XML files or other formats I could export to that would be preferred by academics. Any advice is appreciated.
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‎Mar 09, 2017
10:46 AM
Thank you! That solved the issue entirely, both in the display and in the selections within the properties dialog. Can't believe I didn't think to try that in the first place. Cheers.
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‎Mar 09, 2017
10:06 AM
dugost wrote Related to this, I'm unable to move down the Item List in the Dropdown Properties > Options shown in the screenshots in my original post. NB (15%) is followed by NS (15%) so I'm immediately shifted back up to NB (15%). I can't cursor down. If I scroll down the list, selecting any province that doesn't have a unique tax rate will automatically move the selection up to the highest instance of that rate in the list. Appears to be doing the same thing as the actual dropdown in the form when displayed in Preview, Mail App and QuickLook. Thought maybe that might shed some light on the issue.
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‎Mar 08, 2017
02:41 PM
I generally do in favour of Acrobat. However, despite the value being retained when opened in Acrobat, I worry what customers might see and if Preview/QuickLook for customers using Macs might cause some confusion. The value is intact and I will let my client know they will see the correct into if they use Acrobat but I don't want confusion with customers to cause them headaches. The calculations are at least still correct, thankfully, but it's a bit troubling that the display isn't retained across the board.
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‎Mar 08, 2017
02:34 PM
I should also mention that it does the same thing as the attachment's Preview in Apple Mail when I use QuickLook from the email message, and also when I use QuickLook from the Finder. The dropdown is also changed as described in my original post when opened in Preview but is actually correct when opened in Acrobat DC. Even after emailing the PDF to myself and downloading it, Preview and the Finder are incorrect but Acrobat is correct. I don't know if this happens on Windows or other platforms but so far this seems to be Mac-specific. Any ideas on why?
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‎Mar 08, 2017
02:28 PM
I've created a fillable product order form in Acrobat DC that has a tax calculation performed when the location/tax rate is chosen from a dropdown list. However, when I click the submit button to email the form to Apple Mail, the location/tax rate in the dropdown changes in a strange way in the PDF that ends up attached to my email. I'm in Canada so the list is of all Canadian provinces and territories and their associated tax rates. I'm outlining them here because the issue relates to the specific values in the Properties Dialog > Options: Item: Choose Province (this is selected and the default) / Export Value: (blank) Item: AB (5%) / Export Value: 0.05 (this is multiplied by the subtotal to output the tax amount in dollars) BC (12%) / .12 MB (13%) / .13 NB (15%) / etc. NL (15%) NS (15%) NT (5%) NU (5%) ON (13%) PE (15%) QC (14.975%) SK (10%) YT (5%) Through trial and error, I discovered that the rate chosen will only stick if it's unique, otherwise it ends up displaying whichever province / tax rate is highest up in the list that matches the same multiplier, as per: AB (5%) - fine BC (12%) - fine MB (13%) - fine NB (15%) - fine NL (15%) - switches to NB (15%) NS (15%) - switches to NB (15%) NT (5%) - switches to AB (5%) NU (5%) - switches to AB (5%) ON (13%) - fine PE (15%) - switches to NB (15%) QC (14.975%) - fine SK (10%) - fine YT (5%) - switches to AB (5%) Here's the dialog where you can see it's listed in the same order. And below the dialog you can see the selection made in Acrobat Reader for PE (15%) and the PDF Acrobat Reader attached to my email with the value switched to NB (15%). Any idea what's causing this behaviour when the form is submitted as an email attachment and how to avoid this problem? It occurs whether or not I save the PDF in Acrobat Reader prior to clicking the 'Email Form' button.
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‎Mar 06, 2017
09:47 AM
Thanks so much for that walk-through. I totally get how that method works now and may do that in the future. The only drawback I can think of is that you wouldn't then be able to select multiple graphic cells converted to fields should you want to make any batch changes. However, the method you outlined is pretty simple so redoing the fields wouldn't be a huge issue. Plus after the PDF is created there's always the option of making multiple field edits at the same time in Acrobat if InDesign is too clunky.
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‎Mar 03, 2017
10:48 AM
Thanks for the tips but I'm afraid I'm not seeing how that would allow me to make and duplicate table cells into form text fields. You perfectly described how to select, copy and paste cell/row/column content into another area of a table but that doesn't work for form text fields, as far as I can tell. Since a table cell can't be changed to a form text field using the Buttons and Forms panel, all that achieves is selecting table elements. Am I overlooking something?
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‎Mar 03, 2017
10:20 AM
I didn't realize that when it concerns buttons but I'm mostly dealing with text fields for data entry. And once I converted text frames to text fields instead of using Graphic Cells I was easily able to select all of my text fields and apply the same properties to them. After that it was a much quicker process to specify unique names for each field instead of clicking a bunch of same checkboxes over and over.
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‎Mar 03, 2017
08:31 AM
Thanks very much for the explanation and tips. Yes, I dropped the idea of using Graphic Cells for form fields. The reason I set up the form in a table is that tabled data for product listings and pricing was the most sensible format to arrange the info. Having fields next to the prices for specifying quantities was also the most sensible format in this case and then the form can calculate the cost based on those quantities, like a spreadsheet with formulas. It's too bad InDesign doesn't have the capabilities for converting table cells directly into form fields. It would make things a lot easier for those of us making price sheets full of tabled data.
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‎Mar 02, 2017
01:00 PM
Thanks for the info. I may have to go that route but, in the meantime, I created text frames the same size as my table cells on a new layer and was able to select them all at once to apply the same form field options before I customize the name of each one. A test export to Acrobat seemed to get better results for field detection with those text frames converted to text fields than using the base table I set up for the product info and entry fields. Acrobat wasn't detecting all of the cells or grouping several cells into 1 big cell. It was messy and would require creating individual cells regardless so InDesign seemed to be a faster method for creating uniform fields that were properly aligned and spaced.
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‎Mar 02, 2017
11:59 AM
1 Upvote
It's been a while since I've created a fillable PDF but I have one set up in InDesign CC 2015 using a table for product pricing that will calculate costs based on quantities. I've converted the table cells where the customer will enter their quantities to Graphic Cells in order to make them Text Fields using the Buttons and Forms panel. If I don't do that, there doesn't seem to be any way to select a regular table cell and make it a text field using that panel. There are dozens of fields I need to label and set options for (i.e. printable, required, scrollable, etc.) and I am finding I can only do one at a time. Is there any way to select multiple Graphic Cells at once in order to set them all to, say, text fields in the Buttons and Forms panel that have specific PDF options? It's unbelievably time-consuming to click the same options over and over. If they could be batch edited then I could go through them and give them specific names after they're all given the same properties.
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