Changing p0 to inches

[djliefer]

How do I change the p0 in the document set up to inches? I already tried changing in the preferences, but it reverts back to the p0 which I don't even know what that is.

[BobLevine]

You'd be surprised.

It's a default and is easily changed. In fact, you could have done it faster than posting here.

Bob

[Vikrant R]

For additional information on specifying measurements, see Rulers & Measurement Units help article. The article also contains a table with examples on how to specify values using non-default units.

[jpinc]

+100 on the fact that I haven't come across someone using picas since 1998. It's an all but dead measurement system.

[Mike Witherell]

Consider the professional benefits of knowing and using the Pica (and its sub-unit, points) measurement system:

1. PostScript computer drawing language is founded on Picas/Points at 6 picas per inch / 12 points per pica / 72 points per inch. Therefore, all the math within InDesign is most accurate at its native measurement system.

2. Bear in mind that this electronic-era Pica/Point system is different (slightly, at 72.27 points to the inch) from the Pica system of metal typesetting days.

3. Why use it if North Americans are born and raised on inches? Why use it if Europeans are familiar with the metric system? (And I'm not trying to define all parts of the globe ... this is just a rough illustration.) The main benefit is the simplicity of math that is based on sixes and twelves as opposed to twos and fours (inches) and tens (metric). A unit of measure based on sixes and twelves can easily be divided by 2, 3, and 4. This makes a tri-fold brochure or a three-column newsletter easier to measure. Ask yourself: Have you ever measured a third of an inch? Likely No! Imperial inches often bring you to fractions like 11/32. Can you type that into a dialog box field easily? No! Can you divide an 8.5 x 11 inch page easily into thirds without painful repeating decimal inches. No again! Can you even calculate that in your head? My experience says no, you cannot. But it is all easy, whole numbers when you use Picas.

4. Professionals in the printing and graphic design industry in the US where I live commonly work in Picas/Points and are natively comfortable with inches, too. Maybe you should consider the two to be close cousin measurement systems, affording simple math advantages sometimes in one; sometimes in the other. It is trivial in at least two ways to change the measurement system of any document: Either right-click the ruler's Zero point, or type the explicit measurement system into a dialog box field. There is even a shortcut for it (Cmd+Opt+Shift+U, I think.)

I have to comment on the claim that you haven't come across picas since 1998. As the native measurement system of all PostScript Adobe software, it is certainly not dead. It is a reborn innovation. The fact that many aren't using it simply indicates the enormous paucity of education in our industry. With the 1980s, many seasoned folks retired when computers came along. The next generations were mainly self-taught, and this has left big experience gaps for us all to re-discover.

Next time you encounter Picas/Points, give them a hug, why don't you?!

[Steve Werner]

Another advantage of learning and using picas which I like to teach my students. It's much easier to do quick calculations.

You need to add 1-5/8" to 3-7/8". Bet you can't do that in your head. Yes, we learned fractions in grade school but most people still have problems with them.

But if you have something that's 5p3 wide and you need to add 1p2. I bet you can do that one more easily. With picas, you're working with integers.

[Sandee Cohen]

What about the fact that YOU may think in inches, but designers in Europe don't.

Picas/points are the country-neutral measurement for all over the world.

[Mohammed Mahmood]

Please run the InDesign application and do not create any new document and go to Preferences>>>Units & Increments and set the  unit as inches  in Horizontal and  Vertical fields and press ok , from now onward you will get inches by default in the new document set up window

[redbourn]

This is actually a very good answer to my question.

http://www.indesignskills.com/skills/indesign-basics-creating-your-first-document/

Michael