How do I display InDesign on 2 monitors?

[mariel80612222]

Hi ---

I have a two-monitor system and I would like to have InDesign files open (so that I can work on them) on both monitors. I've discovered how to create a new window and drag it over to my second monitor. The problem is that only the file goes over, without any of the toolbars that would allow me to work on it. Is there a way to get the toolbars and control panels to duplicate on the second monitor as well? Or do I simply use the toolbars on the first monitor to work on the file that's on the second monitor? I think that works, but it's very awkward.

Thanks for your help!

Marie

[Steve Werner]

This is operating system-specific. What version of InDesign and what exact operating system version are you running?

[mariel80612222]

Hi, Steve ---

I'm running InDesign 14.0.2 on Windows 10, version 1903.

And a related question... Is InDesign generally buggy on Windows? I'm a newbie user, and it's driving me nuts. Even things I think know how to do don't always work.

Thanks for your help!

Marie

[Steve Werner]

I'm a Mac user and have no idea how windowing is done in Windows so I'll leave that to the Windows OS gurus here.

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

What you want to do cannot be done on Windows. Additionally, UI scaling is a hot mess.

Why Adobe does nothing about it is a mystery to me.

As for buggy...please define that as well as providing your system specs. I have no real issues running InDesign on a dual monitor setup with 1903 beyond the previously mentioned crappy UI scaling. For reference, I have 32GB or RAM, a 6th Gen i7 processor and I'm using a SSD.

[mariel80612222]

Thanks, Bob! It’s a nuisance to have to wriggle my neck back and forth between screens, but it’s good to know that the problem is InDesign and not me (for a change).

I’m not sure I know what you mean by UI scaling. If it’s what users see onscreen when working with the program, I don’t much like it. Again, I thought the problem was me. I’m still learning my way through the program.

Re bugginess, there are several things that are driving me nuts. I can’t always select the text or frames I want without clicking several times. I can’t always move a graphic and frame together, even when I follow the user manual instructions to a T. The caption and grouping options are often greyed out when they shouldn’t be. Grouped graphics and captions don’t stay grouped, and resize when I don’t want them to. Locked items jump when I don’t want them to. The program crashes regularly, even when I’m not doing much. There’s no warning when I’m adding an identical paragraph style to a custom library, so I end up with duplications that have to be deleted. The display resets and is pixelated even when I set it to high quality. Etc.

I’m running Windows 10 with 16 GB RAM. Processor is AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core, 3.2 GHz. 64-bit operating system. Maybe I need more RAM??

I appreciate your help.

Marie

[BobLevine]

All of that is very strange behavior. Do you have any third party plug ins? And, as weird as this may sound are you using an interactive slideshow theme? Some of them have been known to cause all kinds of problems and I can attest to the fact that they do.

Just use the basic Windows theme.

As for UI scaling, what do you have your operating system scaling set to for your monitors?

[mariel80612222]

Thanks, Bob. I have no plug-ins and I use the basic Windows theme.

I don't know anything about UI scaling, and don't even know where to check the operating system scaling. In Windows System Display settings, I have the "scale and layout" set at 150% and resolution at the recommended 1920 x 1200. I have two identically sized 24" monitors. Screen dimensions are ~13" high and 20.5" across, so I can display two full-size 8.5x11 pages on each monitor.

I'm wondering if a reinstall of InDesign might fix my buggy issues? What do you think? At first I thought the problem was me, because I'm just learning the program. Now I'm not so sure.

Cheers,

Marie

[BobLevine]

Well, you can set the UI scaling in your prefs. Fortunately, ID supports 150%.

The rest of the stuff I'd really need to see. You can try resetting your preferences to see if it corrects the rest of the stuff, but I can't guarantee anything.

[mariel80612222]

Thanks, Bob!