Line Weight Defaults Don't Remain

[Darrell M]

Hello

I've tried setting the line weight with nothing selected but it doesn't hold that setting as the default. It remains at zero thickness. Is there a way to set a default?

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Steve Werner]

To set the default line weight, you must do it while NO DOCUMENT IS OPEN. Select the Line tool. Then go to the Control Panel and set the line weight to the desired value. When you create a new document, that will be be applied.

This won't change the line weight of documents which have been saved with a particular line weight.

[Darrell M]

Thanks Steve. I'm a bit confused, though. I'm quite new to InDesign. If no file is open, I'm unclear on how I can select the Line tool.

[Steve Werner]

There is no file open, and my screen looks like this. I can select the Line tool (circled) and set the line weights (circled)

[Steve Werner]

After making those settings, when I create a new document, the new document now has those settings:

[Barb Binder]

To get to the defaults (and match Steve's screen shots), close all the files then choose Window > Tools. This brings up the UI but without a file open.

Note that the number you type in will impact the Pencil, Rectangle and Pen tool defaults too. Correct me if I'm wrong Steve, but I don't think we can define just the Line tool's line weight? Maybe I'm missing something.

~Barb

[Steve Werner]

Thanks, Barb. I think you're right, you can't choose a weight for a specific tool, you're setting the default line weight for however it may be applied. That would also set the default line weight for an ellipse:

[Darrell M]

Hi again, Steve and Barb

I changed the settings as you both described. With a new file, created after I made the change, it works. However, when I open the file I've been working on, the setting doesn't remain. Drawing a line, rectangle, etc. has the lineweight revert to zero. 

Thanks to both of you for the help. 

[Steve Werner]

That's the way it works: The default settings, created with no documents, open ALL FUTURE CREATED FILES. It cannot change files which you've already created. Those you have to change manually.

[Barb Binder]

Hi Darrell:

You can change future lines in that file by choosing Edit > Deselect All and setting the line weight. 

Here's some more info on setting document defaults vs system defaults:

https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-setting-and-removing-defaults/

~Barb

[Darrell M]

I wonder if it's a Windows vs Mac issue. Deselecting All, then setting lineweights looks like it works, until I draw something, upon which the setting assigns a zero value to it. Here are the settings with nothing selected.

Here they are upon drawing a line. The lineweight, fill colour and stroke colour all revert.

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

Hi @Darrell M ,

make sure that you use the Rectangle tool and not the Rectangle Frame tool when you draw out a rectangle.

The default value of the stroke and the fill is determined by the default object style. If it is not showing a 1 Pt default stroke weight change the values of the default object style for frames using the Object Styles panel. Double-click the default object style there and change the value for stroke weight.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Darrell M]

Uwe

You seem to have cracked the code on this! I just added some settings for the [Basic Graphics Frame] in Object Styles and it appears to be working!! I'll cross my fingers that I don't do some other dumb thing along the way to mess this up.

Thanks so much to you, Barb and Steve for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it very much.

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Darrell M:

As per @Laubender, the Rectangle tool and the Rectangle Frame tool work differently, yet look very similar, particularly if you have View > Extras > Show Frame Edges disabled. (The Rectangle Frame tool will show an X inside until we an image). I'm thinking Show Frame Edges is disabled on your system?

FWIW, the experts on this forum are pretty well split between macOS and Windows. For example, Steve is on a Mac, I think Uwe is Windows, I'm primarly on a Mac but also have InDesign on Windows. The application is basically the same: slight keyboard shortcut variations (and sometimes, platform-specific bugs) but I think this is an issue of understanding how InDesign works, and not a new bug.

Please feel free to continue to clarify until you get the answers you need—that's what we are here for. 

~Barb

[Laubender]

@Barb Binder said: "… I think this is an issue of understanding how InDesign works, and not a new bug."

Well, Barb, I'm not sure about this. To get deeper into the issue we need the InDesign document Darrell had problems with.

FWIW: currently I'm on macOS with InDesign 2024 version 19.4. so I cannot test with Windows.

@Darrell M said: "… Deselecting All, then setting lineweights looks like it works, until I draw something, upon which the setting assigns a zero value to it. "

That's not how InDesign should work.

Whatever the selection in the Object Styles panel is, changing the values in the Control panel should override the current object style and stick as override of the default object style. On macOS and Windows.

To @Darrell M :

Was this particular document you had issues with created with a previous version of InDesign?

Open the document. Check the history of the document by holding the Ctrl key ( when on macOS hold the Cmd key ) while clicking on menu About InDesign. Then write a report of the document history to your disk and inspect it. You may find entries that point to crashes perhaps…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Darrell M]

Hi Uwe

I saved a report, as you suggested. The was originally created on a Mac by a colleague, back in April. I've been working on it with my Windows laptop, from a network location, ever since. I've had many, many crashes with the file until I had noticed that a text box I tried to access seemed to be causing the problem. I deleted it and all copies of it and now have it on my local drive, with the network location as my backup. I was crash free for a week or so, until yesterday, when I had only 1.

I found it odd that adding settings to [Basic Graphics Frame] fixed my lineweights issue but I'll gladly take it. As a beginner with InDesign, I do find its interface quite non-intuitive in many ways, including this issue. Keyboard shortcuts are now my closest friend. 🙂 

[Barb Binder]

Sorry about that, Uwe. I haven't seen you around much lately—for some reason I thought you were on Windows. I'll play with this in the morning on my Windows laptop to see if I can recreate it. 

~Barb