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A
Anonymous
January 23, 2013
Answered

Second Line Indent - Bullets

  • January 23, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 201393 views

Hey there.  Newbie here.  I haven't been in Indesign for 6 months.  I am creating a bulleted list using a pragraph style.  I used to hit (I think) Ctrl \ to get the second line of a bullet to line up with the text on the first line.  When I am doing it now, it indents the second line but way too far to the right.

    Correct answer Chris1868

    Here is an image to further show what Peter is talking about.

    4 replies

    J
    joeln13442755
    Participant
    June 18, 2024

    I need help as well. I have a bulleted list inside a table and the second linne of the second bullet has an extra indent.

     

    I have the left indent and first line indent opposing each other mathmatically. It still isnt working. This software would greatly benefit from what Apple did with Logic., as to where it has a help button and whatever you hover your mouse over, it explains what the object is and how it works. Too many times am I lost in inDesign due to how specifically it works. Its not intuitive at all.

     

    It would make sens that if I have a bulleted list and I dont add hard return, the next line would line up. This is bonkers to me. When would I ever need my second line of text to do this, if its apart of the previous sentence?

     

    Here is the example. Notice my second bullet point. It is inside a table and I have no idea how to make it behave.


    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    June 18, 2024

    In InDesign, each level of a list is a separate Paragraph Style. Set up your first style (BULLET-1, say) as you like it. Then create a child style of that ("Based On" BULLET-1), named BULLET-2, and adjust the spacing for it to suit your preferences. Repeat for third and fourth levels, if you like.

     

    While you can have basics like the font and font size cascade through this list, you can also make any changes you like to each level, including different bullets (or, for numbering, different numbering styles).

     

    Ask again if that's not clear enough.

     

    ID's list feature is very, very powerful and allows extensive configuration of every element. To be honest, pop-up help wouldn't be more than a guide to the very basics. When you need help with a topic, it's best to find the relevant InDesign help page, which might be 1,000 words long and will link to other, associated pages, like this one: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/bullets-numbering.html.

     

    ID's list feature is somewhat more complex to set up but completely avoids the tricky nonsense and gotchas of, for example, Word's version. Easy to use at first usually means a tangled mess later, and that's a good example of it.

    D
    DAVID293523471b2l
    Participant
    April 11, 2023

    Tabs are the way to go here. Just set your tab size and soft return and hit tab instead of worrying about indent.

    S
    SJRiegel
    Legend
    April 11, 2023

    This is terrible advice. I have had the misfortune to have to make edits to files set up this way. The first bit of added or removed text throws all of the rest of the lines out of wack, and suddenly your indent is not longer correct and you have tabs randomly placed throughout your lines.

      C
      Chris1868Correct answer
      Participant
      January 23, 2013

      Here is an image to further show what Peter is talking about.

        vivekg17706440
        vivekg17706440
        Known Participant
        December 3, 2018

        I'm having the same issue (trying to get the second line of a numbered section to start with the text of the line above). Adjusting the settings to match the ones above doesn't seem to fix it.

          L
          Community Expert
          LaubenderCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          December 3, 2018

          Increase the value for left indent a bit and set first line indent and tab position accordingly.

          Regards,
          Uwe

            Peter Spier
            Community Expert
            Peter SpierCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            January 23, 2013

            In the paragraph style, make sure you've got bullets enabled, then set the left indent on the paragraph to the amount you want all but the first line to be indented, then set a negaive indent of equal size on the first line (this is called a hanging indent). You can adjust the tab value as well to match the left indent to make the first line text start at the same point after the bullet as the following lines. You don't need the indent to here character.

              MADink_Designs27
              MADink_Designs27
              Inspiring
              March 27, 2024

              This works, but I've always felt like there should be an easier way.

               

              I used to do negative indent, but if you set the alignment to right instead of left, you'll notice it's only indenting the second line. You can then indent until the first line moves without the need to negative indent. I always place an upper case character on the second line matching the first line such as a B, L, or H to ensure both line up the delete it after I've set up the style.

               

              I still think in 2024 there should be a more automatic way. Honestly, in what use-case would you not want your bullet to hang?

                Willi Adelberger
                Community Expert
                Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                March 27, 2024

                There is a fast waz> Create a Paragraph Stzle with automatic buletts and a character stzle for the buletts. Where is the problem_

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