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Brushes for Strokes

Contributor ,
Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

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I am under the impression that I cannot create/add custom brushes in InDesign for strokes.

I am creating a number of sidebar text boxes that I would like to apply a custom brush (eg. charcoal line) around. This seems to be like it would be a very basic feature similar to Illustrator.

Am I missing something?

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Adobe Employee , Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

Indesign has only limited option for strokes which you can access from the strokes panel (Window - Strokes) and you can only apply a specific pattern of Custom strokes which fall under three categories - Stripe , dotted , dash. If you really want to add a custom border around a text frame, then one workaround would be to use Type on a path tool and place a bordered Glyph or similar things around. This is what you can try https://indesignsecrets.com/making-custom-borders-type-path.php .

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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

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Indesign has only limited option for strokes which you can access from the strokes panel (Window - Strokes) and you can only apply a specific pattern of Custom strokes which fall under three categories - Stripe , dotted , dash. If you really want to add a custom border around a text frame, then one workaround would be to use Type on a path tool and place a bordered Glyph or similar things around. This is what you can try https://indesignsecrets.com/making-custom-borders-type-path.php .

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Community Expert ,
Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

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Great link Rihit_ID. I love these tips. I just finished a brochure using custum brush strokes inside of InDesign.

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Contributor ,
Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

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Yeah, I'm familiar with these "jimmy-rig" techniques, but they are limited and wonky. I must admit it's almost laughable that I can do paw print strokes but I can't create custom strokes using brushes. I'm not designing amateur newsletters for the local dog shelter. I also know this is not the right place to voice complaints and you are just offering the only help that's available.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 30, 2017 Mar 30, 2017

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Not everything can be done in InDesign. Sometimes you have to use one of the "InDesign plug-ins"—Illustrator or Photoshop.

In this case, Illustrator would be the tool for creating and applying brushes.

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Contributor ,
Mar 31, 2017 Mar 31, 2017

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Steve, in this one book project I have about 30 different sidebar boxes. All different sizes. Wouldn't it be nice to add a stroke and then choose a brush that gives it a thin inkpen stroke for example? The manual work back and forth between Illustrator and Indesign is highly inefficient.

Same thing with Rules, Lines above footnotes, etc. 

It's a feature request for sure, but I would think designers would be clamoring for this.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 31, 2017 Mar 31, 2017

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You can't use something that's not there.

It's a pretty rare request as far as I remember, but you should make a good case for it in Feature Requests.

Feature Requests/Bug Reports

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Participant ,
May 06, 2017 May 06, 2017

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+1 for this request.

I'm surprised it's not something that more designers are clamoring for.  I mean, a dozen-and-a-half stroke options is not a lot to choose from. The pre-packaged strokes are lurking somewhere deep in the bowels of InDesign's code. Seems like adding a few more shouldn't be too difficult, especially since you can do precisely that in Illustrator.

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Explorer ,
Mar 26, 2020 Mar 26, 2020

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The feature/bug report link is no good.

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New Here ,
Mar 15, 2018 Mar 15, 2018

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I would love this as a feature - it would make life so much easier

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New Here ,
Oct 15, 2024 Oct 15, 2024

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LATEST

Im with you, Shannon!

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New Here ,
Sep 24, 2023 Sep 24, 2023

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Have you tried to use CC plugins browser? One of the worst UIs out there.

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New Here ,
Feb 04, 2019 Feb 04, 2019

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+2 for this request.

I am designing a menu on InDesign which will be used as a template and updated by other people (and I have no control over their level of design experience). As the menu items in the restaurant change, the rules and boxes I am designing now may be resized (or new ones may be added). It is unreasonable in this company's workflow to ask them to go re-draw boxes and lines with the correct brush on an illustrator file every time they need to make these changes. If InDesign can apply a footprint texture to a stroke, surely it can do more with strokes than it currently does. It would be very helpful to be able to create (or import) other textures for InDesign strokes.

The link for the feature request form posted in this thread no longer works, but I am adding my voice to this request here.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 20, 2020 Feb 20, 2020

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I would like to be able to use a brushstroke in InDesign I would use it alot and so would many other people!

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