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SuzzyFlamingo
SuzzyFlamingo
Inspiring
September 4, 2025
Answered

Looking for script/utility

  • September 4, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 424 views

I do the layout for a scholarly, weekly newsletter, and sometimes the schedule is very tight. The NL, for printing purposes, has to be exactly 4 pages. But sometimes, alas, it comes out a little longer, which will not fly. So I go back and tighten here and tighten there, and decrease font size and leading here and there. Very tedious.

 

Is there a tool that could do this automatically, where i input the page number and boooom it does it magically while adjusting important things only minimally. There is a function in MS Word similar so I guess it is possible.

Thank you, and have a good day!
Susan Flamingo

Correct answer TᴀW

Ok, so now the doc is 4 .5 pages long. And yes it is that because of one threaded text frame passing over those pages. So I get rid of page 5 with it's text frame which takes up half of the page and now the frame on page 4 is overflowing. I choose that frame and it will fit everything (no graphics) onto the 4 available pages.

Is the above correct?

 

Also if I decide in the future to actually add pages (I am allowed anything that is a multiple of 4) can I undo what it did even though it is a while after running it to fit?

 

Thank you

SF


quote

Ok, so now the doc is 4 .5 pages long. And yes it is that because of one threaded text frame passing over those pages. So I get rid of page 5 with it's text frame which takes up half of the page and now the frame on page 4 is overflowing. I choose that frame and it will fit everything (no graphics) onto the 4 available pages.

Is the above correct?

Yes, that's correct.

quote

Also if I decide in the future to actually add pages (I am allowed anything that is a multiple of 4) can I undo what it did even though it is a while after running it to fit?

After adding some empty frames to the thread (so now more space is available), you can simply run FitText again. It will enlarge the text to fit the available space.

1 reply

TᴀW
TᴀW
Legend
September 4, 2025

The answer depends on the details of the layout.

If it's just a question of resizing text in a single story that spans 4 pages, Fit Text would do that with a single click: https://www.id-extras.com/products/fit-text-to-frame/

Visit www.id-extras.com for powerful InDesign scripts that save hours of work — automation, batch tools, and workflow boosters for serious designers.
SuzzyFlamingo
SuzzyFlamingoAuthor
Inspiring
September 4, 2025

Thank you for your attention and reply!

I saw this utility a while back.

Will it do the main thing i want: I tell it 4 pages," and it adjusts everything in one swoop, or i have to do each frame separately?

Thank you, and have a good day!
Susan Flamingo

TᴀW
TᴀW
Legend
September 4, 2025

So, to be clear, it works on a per-story basis. It will enlarge or reduce all text (and indents, tabs, tables, etc.) proportionally that is threaded together in a single story, to fit the available space.

So, if you have 4 text frames on 4 separate pages, all threaded together, and you notice that the last frame has some overset text, you would select one of the 4 frames, run FitText, and all the text in all 4 frames will be reduced by the same percentage to eliminate the overset text.

Anything else on those pages, though, that is not part of the threaded text, will not be changed in any way. So, for instance, graphics that ARE anchored to the flow of the text in those 4 frames will be resized. But graphics which are placed on the page and are not part of the text flow will not be changed.

Visit www.id-extras.com for powerful InDesign scripts that save hours of work — automation, batch tools, and workflow boosters for serious designers.
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