Outline type and bullets in INDESIGN

[Michelle243007171z7l]

How to outline bullet points InDesign? I read that if I change the bullet points to type in the "paragraph styles" I could outline the bullets. When I did that I lost the tab. The bullet was outlined but I could not move the type horizontally to compensate for the lost tab.

[Doc Maik]

Being curious: what's the purpose of outlining?

[Michelle243007171z7l]

It is for a large banner. I was told I had to do that to send to print. I guess when I think back, it was a few years ago. Do I not have to do that anymore?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

All correct. You cannot preserve bullets if you outline text. Only "manually built" bullets and numbering will survive.

The solution is not to convert text to outline form, something that was once useful long ago but is now (other than for small amounts of relatively large "art text") wholly obsolete.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Do I not have to outline the type anymore for large banners or large walls? When did it become obsolete?

What is the best way to get this new information? I feel wayyyyy  behind if this is true.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Outlining type — turning it to curves instead of fonts — was driven by two aims: to turn type into graphic elements that could be combined and reshaped for art purposes, and to either support or get around the limitations of certain printing and output processes. It's still kosher to turn type to curves for "art's sake," but most of the reasons for outlining type for more or less regular printing have long gone away.

You still see designers who slavishly convert to outlines because they did or had to for a long time. You still see printers request outlines because they either don't know any better (that modern RIPs etc. don't need it) or are running antiquated RIPs and processes. (The usual advice when that turns up is "find a new printer, in both senses.")

There is no reason to outline text for large format or grand format printing. It is just barely possible it's still an advantage or a requirement for some kinds of cut-vinyl work, but even there, I haven't sent anything but a regular PDF for a very long time. And, my understanding is that some letterpress processes work better with outlined type.

So — if you're sending work for cut-vinyl output, check directly with your vendor and see if they still want or need text outlined. I'd bet they're flexible about it and running RIPs and cutters that no longer work at the "stupid vectors" level. And if you do wedding invites and have then run letterpress, again check with the vendor to get a best-format recommendation.

But no, there's no way to get ID to outline bullets etc. because that text is sort of "not there." If you're doing really large printing, you probably don't have that many bullets or numbers anyway, so just set them up manually. Or find a print provider that doesn't rely on outlined fonts any more.

[Peter Spier]

If you absolutely positively have to create outlines (and there probably fewer reasons to do it than you can count on the fingers of one hand), it should be done after export using Preflight in Acrobat Pro.