how to change all text to black

[Elizabeth285754906b5l]

Hello!
I need to change all text set in non-black colours to 100% black. There are hundreds of pages, but not all text colours have been added to the swatches. Is there a way to do this, either through find-and-change or a script? Please help!

[jmlevy · Accepted solution]

This find change query should work:

^? means “any character”

But don't you use paragraph styles?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I could just test and see, but this approach leaves me with the feeling it might simply "paint over" other document flaws. It really may be this simple, but having colors in a doc with no corresponding swatches feels like a red flag for other structural problems.

[jmlevy]

but this approach leaves me with the feeling it might simply "paint over" other document flaws.

[…] but having colors in a doc with no corresponding swatches feels like a red flag for other structural problems.

I totally agree, but it answers to the OP question. And that's why I asked @Elizabeth285754906b5l if she used paragraph styles.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Can we assume that the colors are spot formatting, not Character Styles? (If the lattter, simply delete or change the relevant styles!)

It would be fairly simple to reset all Paragraph Styles to their defined state, and assuming their defined color is Black that would remove both spot and Character Style colors. It would also remove any other spot formatting (and Character Styles for italics, bold, etc. if applied).

A more effective step might be to back up to the source document — I am assuming something like Word — and fix the problem there, where it might be more "accessible" through color swatches you can delete, or in the import process.

A few more details about the colors, where they came from, whether their swatches can be preserved on a re-import, etc. would help if the above doesn't point you in a useful direction.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Easier method:

On the Swatches panel menu, select Add Unnamed Colors.

Then select them all (click on the top added swatch and shift-click on the bottom added swatch).

Delete the swatches.

Replace with Black.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Um, yeah, that might just work. 🙂

How do unnamed/unswatched colors get into an ID document, anyway? A bad import seems to be the only path.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Color panel can add unnamed colors. One reason why I never use it.