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drgangles
Participant
August 7, 2024
Answered

New to InDesign - Unable to Edit Text and Maintain Formatting

  • August 7, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1145 views

Please note - I have lots of experience with PhotoShop but am very new to InDesign.

 

I have some pages that were created for me by a graphic designer and all I want to do is edit one single word in the document. I can select the text using the type tool, but when I start typing the new word it loses all formatting. 

The other thing that I notice that is odd is that I can get a type cursor to start before the word or after the word, yet it will not allow me to place a type cursor within the word itself.

Is there something I am missing that is preventing me from simply updating the existing text and retaining the same formatting? I have read all the help articles on editing text in InDesign and still cannot figure this out. Any help is greatly appreciated.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Nick Passmore

Thank you for your reply. Attached is the file for your reference.


As m'learned friends above have said, the "type" is actually two separate anchored graphics that have been made by outlining the characters and placing the result as anchored graphics. To be able to make an edit you will need to replace them with live text. The font seems to be some version of Eurostyle (medium I think) so if you have that it should be easy to redo the text.

 

With a bit of fiddling this could just be one text frame with a paragraph style that draws a border on the left side. You might need to make a custom stroke. This could then be edited to make changes across the whole document.  Some designers just love to do everything "by hand" though . . . . 

 

I don't have the font but here's a jpeg of a rough version — 1 text frame, 1 paragraph style, 1 character style. 

 

2 replies

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 7, 2024

That is not text, it's an inline graphic.

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
August 7, 2024

Yeah, need to see the hidden characters and background to sort it out any further.

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 7, 2024

Dead giveaway...It's a graphic frame, not a text frame that it's in and the text cursor goes from one side to the other.

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
August 7, 2024

There is something very odd going on in those screen shots; it looks as if the word SERVICES is in its own text frame, which is not standard/good practice for the layout as it's shown. (The text should all be one string, or paragraph, with a character style appled to the last word, in the simplest normal method.)

 

You'd have to post the file, or at least a part of it, to get a really good answer, but it looks as if the designer used some very.... complicated methods to construct that simple string of text.

 

Looking closer, the word may be converted to outlines to allow it to blend with the background image, which means it's not editable. Again, sorta-kinda poor practice unless the overall design demands it.

 

More screen grabs in Normal (layout) view, with all graphics set to show at high quality (it looks as if some graphics are turned off/hidden by the box behind the text) would help. Also, turn on hidden characters (bottom of the Type menu.)

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drganglesAuthor
Participant
August 9, 2024

Thank you for the replies. Attached is the file for your reference.

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