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emilymills
Known Participant
December 28, 2018
Answered

Shift/scaling confusion. Help!

  • December 28, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 390 views

I've been using InDesign for over a decade and with the latest update my work is at a standstill because keyboard shortcuts have apparently changed, and functions are different. I'm on a macbook pro running CC 2019.

I'm having a lot of problems figuring out how to scale. I know in Photoshop you don't have to hold shift anymore- it just scales proportionately automatically. But that's not the case in InDesign (of course! Why would they make it that easy?).

Here's what I used to do:

  1. Click on rectangle frame tool. Hold shift and drag to get perfect square. Place.
  2. Select box, place photo in the frame. Not centered perfectly? Select the image and hit Shift+Option+Command+C. Voila.
  3. Oh, you want to change the container size again? Select the frame and hold Shift+Command to scale both the frame and the image proportionately.

If I ever wanted to move something around on a perfect axis or in-line, I'd hold down the shift key while dragging.

None of these work anymore.

Here's what I need to do:

- Make a perfect square or circle frame by holding shift.

- Scale frames with images proportionately

- move things around the canvas easier by holding shift.

A friend told me to just hit "e" and then it should work, but it doesn't for me. I'm at a loss. Any help appreciated! Happy to send screenshots.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bill Silbert

All of those functions you describe still work perfectly with CC 2019 for me on both a Mac Pro (work) and an iMac (home). If they are not working for you then I suggest that you try trashing your InDesign preferences and see if the functions work when the program is back to its clean defaults.

To do so on a Mac:

The User Library folder in which InDesign’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that InDesign is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N). With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe InDesign” and the file called “com.adobe.InDesign.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When InDesign is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files in this manner is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

1 reply

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
December 28, 2018

All of those functions you describe still work perfectly with CC 2019 for me on both a Mac Pro (work) and an iMac (home). If they are not working for you then I suggest that you try trashing your InDesign preferences and see if the functions work when the program is back to its clean defaults.

To do so on a Mac:

The User Library folder in which InDesign’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that InDesign is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N). With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe InDesign” and the file called “com.adobe.InDesign.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When InDesign is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files in this manner is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

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