Inspiring

Answered

How do i uncheck a character style?

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
March 7, 2025
5 replies
1302 views

I have some problematic character styles that I believe are causing some paragraph styles from staying when I close and reopen the document.

There are several character styles that are checked (and I presume applied to a paragraph style) and I believe it is causing paragraph styles to not stay when I close and reopen the document. I am a point that every time I close the document and open it again, the application of the paragraph style disappears, despite the fact that when I select the text, the paragraph catalog shows that the style is applied, and shows the style has all the correct properties in the paragraph catalog (it shows the paragraph style as a 6pt font, but the text appears as 9 point).
I'm assuming the problem has to do with something in the character styles. So i'm trying to uncheck the character styles. Also, ive even tried to delete some of these character formats and I've gone through the process of doing so, and the delete doesn't take effect.

I've looked on the internet to try to solve this problem, and all I find are outdated solutions that show a "delete" button at the bottom of the character catalog panel. I don't want to delete it. I just want to un-apply it because it's causing trouble, I think. Also, the "delete" button does not exist in the version of FrameMaker I have (2020).
Thank you for your help.

Correct answer Barb Binder

Hi @Susan305351693t3o:

Paragraph styles and character styles function completely independently of each other, except in auto-numbering, where a character style can be nested in a paragraph style.

But isn't Gear Reducers a cross reference (X-ref)? I think the X-ref is calling in the character style, which explains why you can't remove it without editing either the cross reference, or the character style it is calling in.

In my example below, the text is huge (12 pts) because the character style <Emphasis> is being called into the X-ref definition. It doesn't show in the Character Catalog and all indicators show that it is 6 pt even though it is now 12 pt.

But now that I know the X-ref is assigned Emphasis, I can select Emphasis in the Character Designer, and modify the definition. Update style will update all usages of Emphasis, including the ones associated with the X-refs. Alternatively, I could have removed <Emphasis> from the X-ref definition, since your paragraph style is handling the color, underline and size.

~Barb

Barb Binder

Adobe Expert

Thanks for sharing those links, @Jeff_Coatsworth!

And @Susan305351693t3o, styles are the topic of an upcoming webinar. The website went live this morning, but they haven't been announced yet. If you are on the email list, you will get a notification.
https://unlocking-the-power-of-styles.meetus.adobeevents.com/

~Barb

Barb BinderCorrect answer

Adobe Expert

Hi @Susan305351693t3o:

Paragraph styles and character styles function completely independently of each other, except in auto-numbering, where a character style can be nested in a paragraph style.

But isn't Gear Reducers a cross reference (X-ref)? I think the X-ref is calling in the character style, which explains why you can't remove it without editing either the cross reference, or the character style it is calling in.

In my example below, the text is huge (12 pts) because the character style <Emphasis> is being called into the X-ref definition. It doesn't show in the Character Catalog and all indicators show that it is 6 pt even though it is now 12 pt.

But now that I know the X-ref is assigned Emphasis, I can select Emphasis in the Character Designer, and modify the definition. Update style will update all usages of Emphasis, including the ones associated with the X-refs. Alternatively, I could have removed <Emphasis> from the X-ref definition, since your paragraph style is handling the color, underline and size.

~Barb

Susan305351693t3oAuthor

Inspiring

Barb, once again, you've solved my problem. I created new character and paragraph styles for Safety Notes cross references, and deleted the "emphasis" tag from the Cross Reference tag. That was the thing that ultimately did the trick! Thank you so much. Mystery solved, and now I've learned yet another aspect of this very complex program!

I was wondering if you could point me to one of your YouTube videos that talks about the all the aspects of paragraph/character styles?

Also, on another topic, do you have any Illustrator vidoes?

Thank you SO much! I will mark this as the correct answer.

Susy

Jeff_Coatsworth

Adobe Expert

Check out Barb's site - https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/blog/

frameexpert

Adobe Expert

Hi Susan,

The checkmarks simply show that the Character Format is used somewhere in the document. It is not used to unapply the Format. Try this:

Navigate to the paragraph that is not formatted correctly.
Select the entire paragraph (triple-click).
From the Character Catalog, choose Default Paragraph Font.
From the Paragraph Catalog, reapply the correct Paragraph Format.

-Rick

Susan305351693t3oAuthor

Inspiring

Hello,

Thank you for your help. I did exactly what you said. This is what I start with. The text is 9 point, despite the fact that the style that is assigned to it has 6 pt font.

I triple-clicked on the paragraph, and selected "default font."

And then I went back and re-applied the style.

Note how the paragraph designer shows the style to be a 6 point font, but it is displays as a 9 point font. This is why I think there is something going on with character styles, because everything seems fine with the paragraph style. I've also tried removing all defaults.

Anyway, I saved the file, re-opened it, and the paragraph I "fixed" in the last session is back to being 9 point, despite triple clicking, selecting "default font," and re-applying the paragraph style.

Any thoughts? I mean, I could just "default font" that part of the document everytime I open it, but I'd really like to get to the bottom of what is happening. Thank you.