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slowtoes
Participant
April 26, 2011
Question

Resizing objects while maintaining a fixed centre point

  • April 26, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 49421 views

Hi,

I'd like to know if there's a way to resize shapes and text frames while maintaining a fixed centre point in InDesign? Illustrator allows you to resize in this way by holding down the Alt key while dragging the objects handles. Any tips on how to do something similar would be gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Tom

2 replies

Mike Witherell
Community Expert
Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 28, 2025

In addition to all these fine comments, I often group (Cmd/Ctrl+G) multiple items together before I resize or scale them.

Mike Witherell
    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 26, 2011

    There are a number of differnt ways to scale in ID, and at least two of them will do what you want. The most similar to Illustrator would be to simply switch to the scale tool. By default ID uses the center, but you can click any other control point in the transform proxy to scale around that, as well, or you can drag the control point to any location on the screen.

    If you know the final dimensions, you can select the object, click the control point of your choice in the transform proxy, and enter the dimension in the horixontal or veritical scale fields. These fields use % by default, but you can enter acutal dimensions as well if you include the units.

    As far as I know, though, there is no way to constrain scaling to the center using the regualr selction tool, my normal scaling method...

    S
    slowtoesAuthor
    Participant
    April 26, 2011

    Many thanks Peter, that works great for shapes, however, with text frames it resizes the type at the same time rather than just the frame. I suspect there's no way to do this other than entering dimensions, as you suggest.

    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 26, 2011

    OK, there's a difference between "scaling" and "sizing" a frame in ID. Scaling involves changing BOTH the frame and the content, sizing changes only the frame, but leaves the content intact. For text frames, you'll want to enter the new dimension in the height and width fields, not the horizontal/vertical scale fields. Also, those fields by default expect the units used inthe corresponding ruler, but you can enter anything, including percentages, if you include the units.

    If you have CS5, you might find the Gap tool interesting....

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