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Participant
July 14, 2023
Question

Align multiple indents

  • July 14, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 468 views

I am working on a form that has a line for initial caps, then an indent for the paragraph. They want the paragraph to align with the number. Is there a way to do this? I have tried number bullets but it deletes the line on the left. I did not build this form so not sure how the line to the left was created.

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3 replies

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 14, 2023

"I did not build this form so not sure how the line to the left was created"

They probably used an underscore leader in the first tab defined. This adds as many underscore characters that will fit up to that tab. Like so:

(in my example. My indent is set at 6p, my first line is set at -6p, and my first tab for the "line" is set at 5p with the underscore leader set)

This will work fine as long as you don't use a list automatic numbering.

It could work if InDesign allowed a tab character before a number in their number list options, but sadly it does not.

Sooo, alternatively, here's my jerry-rigged solution if you do want to create an auto number list. Since the line was created out of actual underscore characters,  create a prefix to the number of exactly the same amount of those characters. (they are usually the width of an EN space, so you would need to uses 2 of them to fill 1 pica of space, so in my example i have 10 of them to fill 5p of space). I followed that with one EM space (green). This pushed my number over to the 6p indent.

 I also changed the trailing tab that would normally be in the list with an EN space. This helps space your numbers properly when you get to double digits and beyond.

Participant
July 14, 2023

Thank you, this is a huge help. I didn't see an underscore leader but this is something I will remember for future use.

pixxxelschubser
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 14, 2023

Hi @defaultts6vo6v3tohu 

As I said, I wouldn't even try to recreate the document as complicated as in the template. Too many unnecessary characters and too many drawbacks.

 

Rather cleanly constructed and easy to edit with a clean text flow using the normal numbering function in a paragraph format.

pixxxelschubser
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 14, 2023

IMHO there is a better solution than shown in your example (no extra tabs and no indent to here sign needed).

Just use the "paragraph rule above" in your paragraph style with numbering:

 

 

Sorry for the German UI

Participant
July 14, 2023

Thank you, I will give it a try

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 14, 2023

You'll need to define lists. See this InDesign Help article. See the section "Define Lists":

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/bullets-numbering.html