Frame edge highlighting

[Jeremy AB]

A new feature in InDesign CS5 is Frame edge highlighting. I find it quite annoying and can't find a way to disable it... anyone know how?

[Ben_Frey]

I have uploaded a video to YouTube. it is processing now, so if you click the link it might not work yet, just give it a few minutes.

Notice that when I have the white box selected, I cannot select the text frame with the quote in it unless I am right on the edge of the (invisible in W mode) frame. I cannot simply click on the center of the text frame (which is higher in the stack than the white frame, obviously) to select it. This is counter-intuitive and counter-productive and it is slowly driving me insane. I mean it bothers me enough that I downloaded a screen capture program to demonstrate it to you guys. If this isn't related to Frame Edge Highlighting, then it's just something they changed from CS4, and they need to change it back.

[Eugene Tyson]

I agree that there should be an option - certainly.

I work with plenty of complex layouts and I honestly don't have a problem with the frame edge highlighting.

I do miss the center point for  grabbing a frame - which I have no idea why they removed it was awesome.

But you can hide an object with CTRL (CMD) 3 or use CTRL (CMD) click to go deeper into the frames.

I don't know, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I do agree, there should be an option to turn it on/off.

[Ben_Frey]

I don't need to go deeper. If I do, then I CMD-Click like you said. That was a perfectly useful way to get to things. Frame edge highlighting seems to like to "stay" deep regardless of what you might want. I want to go less deep, (i.e. to the top) and it is ridiculous that I have to deselect everything for the normal "selection" action to function as it used to and as you would logically expect it to. Hiding an object isn't really a solution to what should be the most basic of selection operations: click on an object to select it.

[haydenad]

Agreed... i can't imagine people not having bigger issues with this. Maybe I just design in too many layers. It's extremely cumbersome to make the simplest selection. if you wanted to go deep in previous versions just cmd click. Very simple. Why re-invent the wheel and not at least let people revert back to their previously productive workflow. Makes no sense to me.

Adobe products, post Macromedia merger, seems to be written by an entire group of people who had previously written very polished, design-conscious applications. Now all Adobe products seem incredibly clunky, slow and very Microsoft-esque and they're getting worse with each subsequent release. Open an App written by a developer such as Panic (Transmit, Coda, etc) then use Dreamweaver CS5 or Bridge. Adobe's programs feel amateurish. They're the only game in town so I'll have to deal. I just wish there were alternatives, i'd switch in a heartbeat.

[BobLevine]

The very fact that very few people are complaining should tell you that you might just in the vast minority. The fact is, I happen to like the new selection features.

That said, it wouldn't bother me to have it as an option so instead of complaining here, go make a feature request.

Bob

[Kris Hunt]

There are probably hundreds of people just as ticked off that don't know about this forum.

[ukdesign1]

Done that many times over the years. Many requests get ignored.

Instead they add bulk we dont need and make apps slower on faster computers.

[Ben_Frey]

Fun fact: InDesign CS2 runs faster on a 2008 Mac Pro in Rosetta emulation mode than CS5 does. In fact if you launch both of them from a fresh reboot at the same time, you can have drawn a couple frames and typed into them in CS2 (emulated from the PPC compile, mind you!) before CS5 has fully loaded.

I tell you what, if I worked in a vacuum, I would probably still be using CS3 right now.

[BobLevine]

I don't doubt it but there's a lot more going on with CS5 than there is in CS2.

Bob

[ukdesign1]

Yep loads more going on in id5

like unnecessary frame highlighting!

[Ben_Frey]

BobLevine wrote:

I don't doubt it but there's a lot more going on with CS5 than there is in CS2.

Bob

Well of course there is! But how many of those features really affect print design/production users in a really tangible, everyday way?

Table Styles, Rotate Spread and Live Preflight are the only three things I can think of. If you work with web, then cross references is also useful.

If they didn't arbitrarily break compatibility between version documents, I would still be using CS3, honestly. The reality is that we don't get that option if we work in the real world and collaborate and modify other people's jobs before they are printed, etc.

I shudder to think what kind of overhead all that animation stuff is adding to my documents. How many people are realistically doing Flash in InDesign instead of in Flash? I played with it for about a week when I got CS5, but I couldn't figure out a way to use it, practically.

Any company that does Flash will do it in Flash to begin with. What's the next killer feature for InDesign? Video editing? Podcasts? iPhone Apps? Oh and in addition to all of that, they will put in a checkbox to disable "Frame Edge Highlighting" for only $699!

[Peter Spier]

Ben Frey wrote:

Table Styles, Rotate Spread and Live Preflight are the only three things I can think of. If you work with web, then cross references is also useful.

If they didn't arbitrarily break compatibility between version documents, I would still be using CS3, honestly. The reality is that we don't get that option if we work in the real world and collaborate and modify other people's jobs before they are printed, etc.

I shudder to think what kind of overhead all that animation stuff is adding to my documents. How many people are realistically doing Flash in InDesign instead of in Flash? I played with it for about a week when I got CS5, but I couldn't figure out a way to use it, practically.

Any company that does Flash will do it in Flash to begin with. What's the next killer feature for InDesign? Video editing? Podcasts? iPhone Apps? Oh and in addition to all of that, they will put in a checkbox to disable "Frame Edge Highlighting" for only $699!

I don't do any web work at all, but I find cross-refs extremely useful for doing, of all things, cross-referencing like see figure x on page y when things may move around during editing. No more misplaced reference pages.

I doubt that animation is adding any overhead at all to a document that has no animation, and I also think that many people misinterpret the intentions of the addition of interactive abilities in ID. I'm not going to get into whether I think interactive features are a good thing -- I don't use them -- but they were added by request from designers who wanted to be able to do simple things like presentations without having to learn Flash or Actionscript. They are not necessarily the best tools for all kinds of interactive design, but they put a certain capability in a familair setting into the hands of people who use it.

[TᴀW]

I design books, but sometimes I think I need a spreadsheet to do my accounts. I really don't want to have to learn Excel.

Is there any chance that they could add a spreadsheet feature to InDesign so that I don't have to learn Excel? Who do I ask at Adobe?

[Peter Spier]

I believe the man to ask is now Chris Kitchener, but I don't think you control enough licenses to see much action until at least version 10.

[Eugene Tyson]

I shudder to think what kind of overhead all that animation stuff is adding to my documents. How many people are realistically doing Flash in InDesign instead of in Flash? I played with it for about a week when I got CS5, but I couldn't figure out a way to use it, practically.

It would only add interactive elements to the document if you use Interactive things in the file? If you don't use them then the file size isn't affected??? If that's what you're asking?

I realistically use Flash. I had  Flyer that was designed in CS5 and they wanted to attach it as a PDF to a e-newsletter, which was fine. But I also gave them a SWF file for the landing page of the website, so if they decided to open the PDF via the link in the newsletter they got a static version of the flyer. When they opened the webpage via the link in the newsletter they had a SWF on the landing page.

The background image faded in, then a banner flew in from the right, text faded into the banner, then the main body of the text appeared. It was snazzy and a snap to do in InDesign without having to crank open Flash to create a simple animation.

Granted I wouldn't use InDesign for very complex Flash animations.

[Eugene Tyson]

Oh and as far as I'm aware - I don't think any of the intereactive elements used in the SWF export are exported to PDF - the PDF is the same size regardless of what Animation you have going on in the file.

[haydenad]

Bob... I really want to like this feature or at the very least make it useable, I really do. If I have 5 objects layered which I do probably in every document I use every day it's incredibly cumbersome to get to the object I want quickly without many clicks and unwanted things highlighting. Before a simple CMD click on the top object worked fine and quickly. Multiply this 100 times a day and it really slows me down. I used to be able to fly through ID. I love new features and maybe I am doing something wrong. idk. I know I've probably converted 30 people from Quark since ID version 1 and have been a huge evangelist for the program. It's just getting worse and worse with each release and I really wish there was a viable alternative b/c I'm ready for a divorce...

[BobLevine]

Look, I get it...you hate it and you have every right to your opinion...but you couldn't pay me to go back to a behavior that made me click 5 times instead of one as soon as the frame highlights...and as a bonus, once it's selected you don't have to go hunting for that center point. Just start dragging to move it.

Bob

[Peter Spier]

haydenad wrote:

...If I have 5 objects layered which I do probably in every document I use every day it's incredibly cumbersome to get to the object I want quickly without many clicks and unwanted things highlighting. Before a simple CMD click on the top object worked fine and quickly...

That behavior has not changed...

[haydenad]

One more thing maybe someone would be so kind to help out on. Using the scale tool you used to be able to re-define the scale-point by option-clicking. Now when you option click the scale-point redefines however a pop-up window opens. Requiring you to then close this window then use the scale tool as usual.

[BobLevine]

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to.

Bob

[Peter Spier]

haydenad wrote:

If I have 5 objects layered which I do probably in every document I use every day it's incredibly cumbersome to get to the object I want quickly without many clicks and unwanted things highlighting.

It just occurred to me that I forgot to mention the other REALLY EASY way to select anything you want, no matter what layer, or how deep on that layer it might be. The new Illustrator-style layers panel gives you full access to select anything, including multiple hidden objects (and even objects that don't happen to be displayed at the current zoom level because they are off the edge of the screen). This is WAAAAY mor versatile than anything you could do before -- even can eliminate the need for multiple layers in some situations.

[BobLevine]

Yup...and the select and fit item command (right click any object in the layers panel) will bring it front and center on your screen.

Bob

[haydenad]

Some people have developed workflows that make them incredibly productive over the course of years and years of use. Forcing a change that alters that workflow (without the ability to disable it) that may help some actually hinders others quite severely....

[BobLevine]

Nothing has been done that forces anyone to alter the way they work.

Bob