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?

[peter_minneapolis]

Eugene Tyson wrote:

3. This would only in the file that you make then export to PDF - I can see the potential danger if sending to a vendor the acutal indesign files.

Murphy's Law always lurks.

5. If you make a paragraph rule, say to highlight a heading, if you have other headings that are over 2 lines, then the Paragraph Rule doesn't cover both lines. I'd much prefer a "percentage" where it would cover 100% of the paragraph and not just a set unit of measurement, like "pts".

Unless the rule above and the rule below are different in some properties, such as color, width, etc.,  wouldn't setting an underline paragraph style property work in this case?

6. I understand the issues with Backsaving, but I can absolute legitimate reasons for this. E.g., if you are starting up a company and you are likely to buy CS5 Master. Then you land a client working on CS2 or CS3. You wouldn't know that files can't be opened back in CS2 or CS3 (unless you look up but who knows to look it up?) Think about it, there are versions, CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5 and eventually CS6, CS7 and so on.

Perhaps a Back Save option is too literal here - but perhaps a way to turn on only features available in a previous version. Perhaps a CS3 mode, or CS2 mode, where only the things native to those programs are accessible in CS5, CS6 etc. Then some way to save it to CS3 or an inx file. That would mean the onus would be on you to make sure the file is accurate going to the client. Just an idea I dreamt up one day and I'm not sure how plausible it is.

The onus would be on the developers, IMO, to maintain one or more feet in the past product architecture while moving forward technologically. Would you as a purchaser want to pay this extra cost, perhaps built into all new releases, or perhaps as a third-party product variant like the Middle Eastern versions?

7. The use of actual Chapter Numbers in a single document - using ^H

I think there's more to this than increasing the ability of the variable, because of page numbering within a document and in generated files like TOCs, indexes, and cross-references.

9. I often have to use tables and would like a way to include a calculation, when I update figures it would total it for me. I'm sure it has it's mertis. I see your link to DTP tools.

Check out the free trial and let us know if it fits your needs.

10. Fills, Strokes, etc. would be retained. The cell splits over a frame or column or whatever, and naturally there would be no stroke where it spits as it runs on. Insets etc. should be retained.

Well, sure, now, in a case where that's what you want. Would you want split rows to follow a thread whose next frame was on a non-consecutive page? Would you need jump indicators to inform the readers?

22. I'm not familiar with Framemaker - but it sounds like the ticket.

This context-aware intelligence is theoretically like a GREP paragraph style. I've submitted feature requests in the past. Add your own if you like. The same intelligence could apply to smart rule above/below behavior, inter-paragraph spacing, and more...

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[Two_By_Two]

Eugene Tyson wrote:

23. Master Colours for sections (so that I can set a colour say Pantone 376 to the master page of a section, then I can set the Paragraph Style to use the master colour. That way I can use Multiple Master Pages, and whatever page that is applied to I can change the Master Page colour to change the colour in the paragraph style. Currently I have to create a master page, add the colours, styles etc. for each heading and folio, and then duplicate the master page and make the options again. Much handier to set the Master Page colour to Pantone 376, in the Paragraph Style choose Master Page colour. Then when I apply that master page to a page whatever Paragraph Style has that "Master Colour" selected in Character Colour, then it uses the colour I set up on the master page.

Hi Eugene - seems like great minds really do think alike!

Posted this in the Indesign Feature Requests forum a while back... no sign of it yet though

Peter

[Eugene Tyson]

Yes - it makes sense really to have a Master colour for master pages. Or perhaps you could colour scheme your sections using Master colours per master page.

[kevin_cecil]

I added my voice to the chorus of "Give us a way to turn this off" by submitting a feature request to Adobe.

I am in IT and have over 300 InDesign/InCopy users that I support in my organization. I haven't found one yet that I have upgraded that likes this feature. I get it that some people on this forum like it. But I have a serious number of users who insist this is an annoyance that gets in the way of productivity. Maybe it is herd mentality, maybe they all really hate it. You know how it goes; the first Designer gets the application early AM and by lunchtime all of the others know what they are not going to like about the upgrade…

However, I do not see a preference setting that allows this new feature to be disabled being that hard for Adobe to implement.

[BobLevine]

You've done all you can. I happen to like it but I agree there should be a way to turn it off.

The workarounds have all been discussed.

Bob

[Kris Hunt]

Why not have all 300 of your users individually submit similar requests to Adobe? The squeaky wheel yada yada...

[kevin_cecil]

Already in the works!

[megashredz]

I also find this feature very annoying and agitating and would love to have a permanent off-switch for it. On a page full of links and objects it is very distracting and actually makes it more difficult to find what I am looking for.

[mzrichee]

DEAR ADOBE,

please take off this feature or give us an option to hide it. definitely not a plus, it's so bad. it's VERY FRUSTRATING trying to work in indesign with this thing on. i feel like i can't get anything done because it's so annoying.

thank you!

[Kris Hunt]

You posted that here as well, right?

[_scott_]

I came here today looking for a way to disable all the hover effects (frame highlighting) in Indesign CS5.

It's exceptionally annoying and completely unnecessary.

It's a shame that there is no apparent way to remove it. I find it horribly distracting.

[Eugene Tyson]

The frame highlighting only occurs when using the Direct or Select Tools.

Switch to another tool and use the modifier keys (CTRL/CMD) to select frames... perhaps?

I've found it more helpful than anything; and I don't really notice it at all when I'm working.

[dale223223223]

I see it's usefulness but it is silly that you can't disable it.

Just be glad you can disable the content grabber...

BTW I made a feature request to disable it so no need to chide me for not following proper complaint protocol.

[Jeremy AB]

As the person who started this thread I felt I needed to come back here, months later, and re-voice my frustration with this feature. I know it does nothing, so I've also once again visited the feature request page. I have not gotten "used to" it nor been able to work around it.

I haven't done a "large" project in awhile. I do a little work at home on the side with CS5, not too often, most of my Adobe dealings are with CS3 at work. Now I am into my annual Christmas project and between the highlighting "feature" and CS5's lagginess I'm practically swearing at the computer! just trying to select one item has become a task as all the objects around it start lighting up.

They ask me at work if we should ever get CS5 and I tell them to hold off. There are a lot of great time-saving features but too many annoying things to be sorted out first.

[haydenad]

Well said... try using the standard Apple Magic Mouse and you'll want to jump off a bridge. What's going on Adobe???? Can't believe I'm saying this but I've actually been considering going back to Quark.

[Peter Spier]

A different mouse would be a lot cheaper...

[Mr. Andersson]

The hover functions is of course there for the visible edges option together with a preview mode. The user wants to see frame edges and will do so when hovering. It's working like this already. Adobe forgot to turn off the hover thing for the user that chose to hide frame edges. It's as simple as that.

Personally I hate these things. Their constant need for attention breaks my thought patterns and I am having problems working like this. I have never had these thing active before either. These blue squares everywhere are more distracting than helpfull for me. I know where the objects are. I put them there.

[lisagorham]

Disabling is NOT an option. Earlier today (12/9/10 I posted this issue to @Adobe on twitter. After some discussion with @Adobe, it is official, there is NO way to disable this function. I am eqaully frustrated and annoyed by this function and cannot fathom it's purpose, as we are all quite intelligent enough to know where our frames are. @Adobe did however offer this hopeful light at the end of the tunnel > The Feature Request/Bug Report Form. If enough of us fill this out, perhaps they can resolve the FRAME EDGE HIGHLIGHTING THORN in our sides. Maybe.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

[BobLevine]

It's been official since the application was released. FWIW, I wouldn't count on seeing it changed in CS5.

Bob

[Ben_Frey]

I'm sure my boss will be very understanding when I explain to him that I need to 600 dollars to upgrade to CS6 to get a checkbox to disable a feature that he paid 600 dollars for CS5 to have added.

Someday soon, some small start-up company is going to decide to make a serious page layout application, and it's going to be 99 dollars, and it is going to get actual updates to fix problems and tweak interface issues without calling it a completely new version and charging users another fee.

It is only a matter of time. I think we'll see it emerge from this new OS X App Store. I can't tell you how many 10-20 dollar (and sometimes even free!) Apps I have that are an absolute joy to work with, that regularly get feature-rich updates from the developer. That communicate with their customers.

How many copies of InDesign are in use in the US right now? There are probably more people playing Angry Birds.

Quark got lazy and overconfident a few years ago, and I think they're three feet in the grave right now. You would think that Adobe would be making an effort to avoid suffering the same fate themselves.

This one little issue isn't going to do it, but the company culture that can let something like this end up requiring a paid update to get it resolved speaks volumes about how sedentary Adobe has become.

How many Adobe product engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

CS-Whatever-You-Have+1

[macinbytes]

Anything that could even dream of rivaling what Adobe produces is more likely to be bought out by a larger company to feed into a different vision before it even comes close to resembling a threat. Look at things like Creature House's Acrylic that get bought out by Microsoft and turned into an intolerable piece of junk.

Other applications like NoLobe's Iris can show some promise and get discontinued without making it into a second version. I love supporting the little guy, but seeing so many go MIA makes it hard to want to try something new, especially when Adobe products pay for themselves and then pay for little things like buildings and salaries for people to buy little things like houses and braces for their children.

Having a binder of junk that doesn't run on modern operating systems or hardware leaves me thinking that even with what I perceive to be flaws in Adobe's products I'll stick with it.

Surely there are more users of Angry Birds than their are InDesign. The audience of people who want to goof off for 30 minutes for a fee of $1–$5 is far greater than people who demand business critical color accurate output. Every time I get on an airplane I'm reminded that there are more people who use BrickBreaker than InDesign.

Can someone just lock this thread? It's just a running whinefest and exhausted its usefulness when it was determined the feature is annoying, not able to be turned off and not going away.  /thread

[Peter Spier]

@ Ben

Wow! Frame edges may be annoying, but I hardly think they are a fatal flaw that keeps anyone from being able to work or that would REQUIRE you to upgrade solely for the purpose of turning them off.

[Ben_Frey]

The problem is that we were required to upgrade to support customers who jumped on the CS5 bandwagon apparently the day it was released. I would still be on CS4 right now, awkwardly rounding frame corners with a script if it weren't for the fact that there is no backwards/forwards compatibility in the format. Besides, I think you know I wasn't being literal.

[Kris Hunt]

They are the sole reason I still use InDesign CS4, even though I have CS5.

[Peter Spier]

KrisHunt wrote:

They are the sole reason I still use InDesign CS4, even though I have CS5.

That's really a shame because I think you'd find your productivity would go way up. How often do your REALLY work in preview mode that this is such a big deal?