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apa68177991
Inspiring
April 22, 2023
Answered

How to get a Text shift automatically in InDesign?

  • April 22, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2967 views

I was wondering if you can do such a text shift automatically in a text field with paragraph styles or in a similar way. It is important that the first few words align on the right edge, followed by equal spacing, and then the last word-aligned on the left edge. And last but not least, everything shifted by an oblique.
I'm a bit stumped on the quick, maybe one of you has an idea. Should be something like the screenshot.

 

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Correct answer apa68177991

OK, I had some time to experiment, and the skewed frame doesn't work -- it skews the text as well.


Definitely the best solution so far. I find the textwrap method better than the pathfinder approach for my purposes, if you have an idea how to do the line between the would be perfect.

4 replies

Peter Spier
Adobe Expert
April 25, 2023

I have finally figured this out. See screen capture.

Peter Spier
Adobe Expert
April 25, 2023

To be fair, this is based on suggestions from Scott Falkner and James Gifford.

Brainiac
April 24, 2023

Something like this?

Text frame with two columns.

First column right aligned.

Text wrap around a sheared rect.

 

 

Brainiac
April 24, 2023

Instead of text wrap, Pathfinder subtract also works.

apa68177991
Inspiring
April 25, 2023

Definitely the best solution so far. I find the textwrap method better than the pathfinder approach for my purposes, if you have an idea how to do the line between the would be perfect.

James Gifford—NitroPress
Brainiac
April 23, 2023

Other than scripting, I can't think of any way to do this automatically or even "assisted." It's going to take individual attention and adjustment, either by you or by a script that automates the steps for each line.

 

The combination of requirements is just outside any conventional layout features. Slanting the text box, as Scott suggests, might be an alternative method, but it still needs manual set up of the style and tabs in each line.

 

Peter Spier
Adobe Expert
April 23, 2023

Actually I think you are onto something withthe flush spaces. If you use one between each segment of the line it should spread any empty space evenly between them. Combine that with a SKEWED text frame so both left and right edges are sloped identically and I think it can be done without anty other special attention.

Peter Spier
Adobe Expert
April 24, 2023

OK, I had some time to experiment, and the skewed frame doesn't work -- it skews the text as well.

Scott Falkner
Adobe Expert
April 22, 2023

Looks like you want to add some tabs to the tab ruler. Just click and drag to add a tab, then select the type of tab you want while the tab is highlighted. For the first tab you'll want a right aligned tab. You will need to type a tab at the beginning of the paragraph. 

As for "shifted by an oblique." I guess you could create multiple Paragraph Styles giving each of them different tan positions. Use Next Style to apply each style in series. 

Perhaps this can better be done with scripting. If so, I can't help you there. 

apa68177991
Inspiring
April 22, 2023

Exactly, I've already thought of tabs, but it would only be advantageous if you could set them relatively

Scott Falkner
Adobe Expert
April 23, 2023

I just thought of something but I'm not at my computer to test it. Try giving the text frame a slanted left edge. Say, drag the top left corner to the left.