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Roger Breton
Roger Breton
Legend
October 23, 2024
Answered

How to Outline Strokes in InDesign: Is It Possible?

  • October 23, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 2900 views

I think I know the answer to this question. Just in case I am missing something very obvious.

I don't need such a feature to the point that I wouldn't be able to copy/paste the shape to Illustrator, outline it there and copy it back as a "surface". 

To me this feature will never be found in InDesign... but I have to ask...

Maybe through the help of a "script"?

 

Thank you for your patience and kind help.

 

 

<Title renamed by MOD>

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Steve Werner

There is no such command in InDesign. I don't know the limitations of scripting for InDesign well enought to say it can't be done with scripting but I doubt it.

 

Of course, it's easy in Illustrator because fundamentally it is a drawing program and InDesign is not: Object > Path > Outline Stroke.

3 replies

Robert at ID-Tasker
Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
October 23, 2024

@Roger Breton

 

Yes, it's possible through scripting.

 

If you work on a PC - you could use free version of my ID-Tasker tool for small amount of objects / infrequent use. 

Full / paid version can do it in bulk, on all or only selected objects, automatically process multiple files. 

 

Roger Breton
Roger BretonAuthor
Legend
October 24, 2024

Win11 Microsoft Edge didn't allow downloading the ZIP file but Chrome did 🙂

Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 23, 2024

It is not possible in InDesign. What is the reason to do so?

 

 

Roger Breton
Roger BretonAuthor
Legend
October 24, 2024

Well, for reasons of "convenience" which happens all the time. Take the example of this simple cross :

It started out as two overlapping 4 points black strokes. Easy enough to center the strokes but I needed to have a small white area at their overlap. In other words, this was a perfect case for the Exclusion pathfinder. But it does not do anything on "Strokes"? If I would have been in Illustrator, I would have simply oulined the two strokes and we would have been done. As "filled surfaces", the pathfinder filter would have worked. So I ended up redoing the cross with two small filled rectangles in InDesign and then the pathfinder filter worked. You see?

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
October 23, 2024

There is no such command in InDesign. I don't know the limitations of scripting for InDesign well enought to say it can't be done with scripting but I doubt it.

 

Of course, it's easy in Illustrator because fundamentally it is a drawing program and InDesign is not: Object > Path > Outline Stroke.

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