Eugene Tyson
Community Expert
Eugene Tyson
Community Expert
Activity
‎Mar 10, 2025
11:01 AM
1 Upvote
You might need some sorcery in a table - sorry forgot to mention
https://creativepro.com/using-data-merge-to-create-a-table-for-a-directory/
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‎Mar 10, 2025
10:59 AM
One idea
So you can see what's going on - you don't need this on all the time
Go to View>Grids & Guides> Show Baseline Grid (it says Hide for me because they are on at the moment)
In your paragraph style for the Chapter Heading (numbering)
This can then be adjusted Globally in the Preferences if you go to Grids in the InDesign preferences
You may need to increase your paragraph shading
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‎Mar 10, 2025
10:34 AM
2 Upvotes
Hello - I had a similar script in my folders and adapted it for you
It may not be the best approach but it works for me
It should ignore header and footer rows - so you can define those in the table so the script doesn't pick them up.
Then it will add the Base URL - first line - change to the URL you need.
Then select all the table - and run the script.
Downside is if the URL hyperlinks exists it can't add the same one again - if that's an issue maybe there's a way around it to assign the hyperlink that already exists, you might have the product in different categories for example.
Let us know how it goes and if you need any improvements.
var baseURL = "https://www.url.com/"; // Change as needed
function addHyperlinksToTable() {
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var selection = app.selection;
if (selection.length === 0 || !(selection[0] instanceof Table)) {
alert("Please select a table.");
return;
}
var table = selection[0];
for (var i = 0; i < table.rows.length; i++) {
var row = table.rows[i];
// Ignore header and footer rows
if (row.rowType !== RowTypes.BODY_ROW) {
continue;
}
var cell = row.cells[0]; // First column assumed to contain the reference
var refText = String(cell.contents).replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, ""); // Ensure it's a string and trim spaces
if (refText !== "") {
var hyperlinkURL = baseURL + refText;
// Check if a destination already exists with this name
var destination;
try {
destination = doc.hyperlinkURLDestinations.itemByName(refText);
if (!destination.isValid) {
destination = doc.hyperlinkURLDestinations.add(hyperlinkURL);
}
} catch (e) {
destination = doc.hyperlinkURLDestinations.add(hyperlinkURL);
}
// Explicitly set the destination name
destination.name = refText;
// Create a hyperlink text source
var source = doc.hyperlinkTextSources.add(cell.texts[0]);
// Add the hyperlink
var hyperlink = doc.hyperlinks.add(source, destination);
// Ensure the hyperlink itself is named properly
hyperlink.name = refText;
}
}
alert("Hyperlinks added successfully!");
}
addHyperlinksToTable();
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‎Mar 10, 2025
04:46 AM
Unfortunately, they will probably need it that way to maintain the page 1 starting on the left.
Otherwise this can happen
Issue starts when you have page 1 on the left, and adding more pages, the pages want to be right way around.
Instead, indesign pops both pages on the right of the spine.
 So just need to have the option turned off and then drag your page into position
 Here I've dragged page 13 to the left of the spine area - I would need to do the same for page 15.
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‎Mar 10, 2025
04:11 AM
Typically in book publishing page 1 is a right hand page, you've setup your document for odd numbers to be on the left page, which is unusual.
InDesign wants to work with you - but wants to force the pages into the correct layout, evens on the left, odds on the right, like most other books out there.
For page 17 I drew an an arrow - showing you were InDesign thinks the Spine is.
So you have to drag page 17 over to the LEFT so it is left of the spine and 18 is RIGHT.
At the moment both page 17 and 18 are right of the spine.
As you add pages, InDesign will try to correct the layout of the page numbering, so you'll need to adjust each new spread move the odd number left of the spine area.
  
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‎Mar 10, 2025
03:09 AM
I apologise, I thought when you meant saving to RTF to strip the styles, but I was erroneous in this instance.
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‎Mar 10, 2025
01:32 AM
@Robert at ID-Tasker has some good ideas, strippng the styles and the text in a plain text editor.
Just want to weigh in on some issues you're facing
Sounds like text paste from another file makes it crash so it would lend to being a sneaky corruption or hidden formatting that’s triggering a bug in the reflowable EPUB export engine. The EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION error in KERNELBASE.dll is essentially InDesign’s way of saying it tried to access memory it wasn’t allowed.
Experiment with exporting a small section at a time to see if you can isolate the offending content. A good way is to divide and conquer method, so 50% of the pages, then the other 50% - then whichever side it fails on you can go 50% again until you find the page(s) causing the issue.
As you already mentioned rolling back to a previous version of InDesign, here's a link to do so if you are not sure how to.
https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html#:~:text=Open%20the%20Creative%20Cloud%20desktop,down%20list%2C%20select%20Other%20Versions.
You may also want to give this a go to remove other versions or reinstall a previous version
Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html
Let us know how you get on.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
12:12 PM
1 Upvote
Great combo of efforts across the forums
Interesting challenge
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‎Mar 08, 2025
02:14 AM
I have one setup on the Mac but on my laptop traveling at the moment, I'll be back on Monday, and if nobody has replied by then let me know and I'll share the XML I have already for something similar.
I just cannot remember off the top of my head how it works and can't test it.
Touch base Monday if you have no further replies.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
02:08 AM
I might have some insights here
Review the list of standard PDF tags available in InDesign's Tags panel. Understand their semantic meaning (e.g., <P> for paragraph, <H1> for heading level 1, <Figure> for images, <Table> for tables, etc.).
Structure your InDesign document semantically. Use paragraph styles for different text types (body text, headings, captions, lists, etc.), object styles for consistent object formatting, and well-structured tables with header rows.
Tags Panel > Map Styles to Tags as your primary tagging method: Map your InDesign paragraph styles to the appropriate standard PDF tags (e.g., map your "Heading 1" paragraph style to <H1>, your "Body Text" style to <P>, your "Caption" style to <Caption>, etc.). For character styles, consider if they are truly semantically meaningful or purely stylistic. If semantic, map them to appropriate tags (e.g., <Emphasis> or <Strong>). If purely stylistic, they might not need tags.
For object styles, use Object Style Options > Export Options > Tagged PDF > Apply Tag: From Structure this ensures objects are included in the tagged structure.
Use the Structure Pane to review and refine the tag structure, especially for complex layouts, objects, figures, and tables. Manually tag objects or groups as needed in the Structure Pane. Add meaningful alt text to figures and images in the Structure Pane (Object Export Options > Alt Text).
Test, Test, Test: Export a tagged PDF and test it thoroughly with a screen reader and the PAC tool. Iterate and refine your tagging based on testing results.
For your book project, you can automate a large portion of the tagging process. Remember to test your tagged PDF with assistive technology to ensure it meets accessibility standards.
Let us know if you need more info - I'm be no means an Accessiblity Expert or anything like that but did a few projects years and years ago, so my memory may be foggy.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:57 AM
Quite a lot to understand here - I've been reading it and rereading it so let me try to help here
Creating a single PDF that's perfectly mobile-friendly, internally hyperlinked, fully accessible, AND reflowable in Acrobat is extremely challenging, and likely involves compromises.
PDF reflow mode and interactive hyperlinks/buttons don't play nicely together. Reflow disrupts the fixed layout that hyperlinks rely on.
I think you may need two separate documents or at least layouts @Barb Binder explained this method beautifully recently, and might chime in, I can't find the thread now.
I think you need a Mobile-Friendly PDF (with Links & Tags) focussed on readability and in-document navigation using hyperlinks. Tag it well for accessibility etc.
Then you might need a Reflowable EPUB (with Tags, Simple/No Links): EPUB is designed for reflow. Navigation will be simpler (Table of Contents), and complex hyperlinks/buttons might not work well. Best for screen reader users and reflow.
You may have to manage two files or at least multiple layouts .
@James Gifford—NitroPress is a whiz with epub and might have some ideas for for you (and me :D)
Single "Compromise" PDF won't be perfect.
You'll need a
Mobile-friendly page size.
Internal text hyperlinks (minimize buttons/complex navigation).
Full accessibility tagging in InDesign (crucial!).
Accept that reflow might be imperfect; hyperlinks may be visually disrupted or less functional in reflow mode.
I don't know the best user experience across the board, maybe creating two separate documents (PDF and EPUB) is likely the most practical and robust solution. If you must have a single PDF, be prepared to make compromises and testing.
Looking forward to reading more about this conundrum!
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:49 AM
No idea to be honest - maybe @Dirk Becker or @m1b ----system won't let me tag people easily, sigh.
Let me ramble for a moment and see if it tingles any spidey senses for you.
Indesign will work in RGB space, even if your swatches are CMYK, the dialog itself is RGB... right?
So setting the CMYK colour directly means that the system might be converting it to RGB or simply not recognise cmyk?
Maybe it's something like your CMYK values and convert them to the corresponding RGB values using InDesign’s colour management. Use APIs like the ColorSetting interface (check out the ColorSetting DOM API ) to query the current colour settings and then apply the appropriate conversion. Maybe you can get RGB value that mimics your intended CMYK output.
Thinking out side the box, on a topic I'm not comfortable with at all, but maybe another approach is to define a CMYK swatch within your document.
Once you define your CMYK values, can then maybe get InDesign’s API methods (such as SetTextInkColor (if I have that right???)) to assign that swatch to your text. It could mean that InDesign’s internal colour management deals with the conversion.
I guess what I'm wondering is if your your document’s CMYK working space is set correctly and that you’re aware of how InDesign’s colour management might be influencing the appearance of your drawn text.
You might also consider testing with Overprint Preview. Sometimes toggling Overprint Preview or viewing a PDF export can help confirm if your conversion or swatch approach is working as intended.
I'm thinking by either converting your CMYK values manually or leveraging a CMYK swatch with InDesign’s built-in methods, you might be able to achieve the correct appearance for your text in the dialog.
But I'm out of my depth - and been looking at this post for a while and this is the best I can come up with.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:37 AM
I suspect there's more to your story here.
Can you share more details - as usual the more we know about your issues the more the answer grows 😄 Are your diagrams placed image files, or are they created directly in InDesign using shapes and lines?
Experiment with Built-in Captions (if applicable): If you are using placed images, try adapting InDesign's built-in caption feature.
See if it can be made to work for your needs with metadata and text style application.
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/captions.html
If built-in captions are insufficient, maybe can be done with InDesign scripting.
Select objects by object style.
Create text frames.
Position objects relative to each other.
Apply text styles and object styles.
But let us know what exactly you're doing, what's not working and why it's not working, and your exact needs so we can better help you.
Thanks
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:31 AM
Maybe you need to add row elements?
<Table xmlns:aid="http://ns.adobe.com/AdobeInDesign/2024/" aid:table="table" aid:trows="2" aid:tcols="1">
<Row aid:table="row">
<Cell aid:table="cell" aid:theader="" aid:crows="1" aid:ccols="1" aid:ccolwidth="442.7142857142858" >
Some cell content row 1
</Cell>
</Row>
<Row aid:table="row">
<Cell aid:table="cell" aid:theader="" aid:crows="1" aid:ccols="1" aid:ccolwidth="442.7142857142858" >
Some cell content row 2
</Cell>
</Row>
</Table>
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:25 AM
Maybe @Dirk Becker has an idea but from what I can find out
It might still use CEP 11.x. so a runtime to version 11.0 from what I can gather.
I think some parts of Photoshop and maybe some other apps have - that's probably why you're seeing docs for CEP12.
So your hotlist might need to match INDesign 2025 range, something like 20.0,20.9...
Look forward to hearing more about this and if it helps at all or I could be way off the mark. If you need more help or info let me know and I'll do more digging.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:13 AM
Hi,
I would like to understand your specific setup better to see if there is any configuration issue on your side. Could you let me know which operating system you are using and which version of InDesign you have installed?
Interesting, I don't know if this is a bug, I haven't noticed this, but maybe its an artefact of how InDesign manages its background tasks. The background tasks panel may not always refresh its progress indicator in real time because the export process runs on a separate thread.
The fact that toggling the Preflight setting triggers a UI refresh suggests that the export is progressing correctly, even though the panel does not update immediately.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
01:08 AM
Are you sure your TOC is setup correctly? Did you generate the TOC in InDesign or setup a TOC style, can you show your TOC page in InDesign.
What caught my eyes and maybe you have got it setup correctly, but the paragraph style names are confusing me.
are your paragraphs in the story called 20 Things Headers TOC?
Your entry style is 20 Things Subheaders
In my mind - the 20 Things Subheaders are the headings your story - and the 20 Things Headers TOC should be the entry style?
Can you confirm the paragraph style names?
Other than that @James Gifford—NitroPress is an ePub whiz and probably has more insight to the ePub side.
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‎Mar 08, 2025
12:55 AM
1 Upvote
Thanks for chiming in @m1b - great figuring out
@dublove you can uninstall in Windows using the default uninstallers. But I'd also suggest using something like Glary Utilities to uninstall and do a deep system cleanse - this is completely up to you - do a full backup before doing anything like this.
Once you have this done or not done - up to you
I'd also highly recommend
Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html
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‎Mar 07, 2025
08:24 AM
Great, thanks for sharing!
Actually not sure why the 100 is not being picked up by my GREP, it works on the Mac, but not on Windows, very strange behaviour, as it does work... maybe too complex.
Beacause \d+ should pick up all the digits but it doesn't on Windows...
Anyway - a way to do it too.
Must remember this trick, of course I didn't test multiple GREPs.
It was challenging to come up with 1 GREP - which fits the scenario.
But not additional scenarios that were not present and didn't test - which is fine.
Turns out InDesign GREP is just too greedy and multiple grep approach seems to work smoother.
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‎Mar 07, 2025
06:03 AM
I'm not sure why it's not working maybe @m1b has an idea - sorry I know there's more scripters but the handles are escaping me to tag them.
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‎Mar 07, 2025
04:02 AM
No you don't need Adobe Bridge installed
Try changing
bt.target = "photoshop";
to
bt.target = "photoshop-2025";
or whatever Year PS you have
var bt = new BridgeTalk();
bt.target = "photoshop-2025";
bt.body = 'app.bringToFront(); app.open(new File("' + filePath + '"));';
bt.send();
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‎Mar 07, 2025
01:11 AM
Try resetting your preferences: Windows: Start InDesign, and then press Shift+Ctrl+Alt. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files. macOS: While pressing Shift+Option+Command+Control, start InDesign. Click Yes when asked if you want to delete preference files. A dialog will appear asking to delete the InDesign Preferences, select 'Yes' on this dialog. Further info and instructions here if needed: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/indesign/kb/indesign-preferences-support-file-locations.html
----
Reinstalling rarely fixes everything - you can do a complete reinstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html
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‎Mar 06, 2025
11:17 PM
2 Upvotes
copy this GREP
(?!\()\d+(\d+[\(\),\[\] ]*)\K\d+
Create a character style for the Red Text
In the Paragraph Styles go to the GREP Style section
Insert the code
and select your Red character style.  
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‎Mar 06, 2025
08:20 AM
Can you try this
//DESCRIPTION: Exchange commas and periods in numbers inside table cells
// Peter Kahrel
(function () {
function findItems() {
var items = [];
if (!app.selection.length) {
// Search in all text frames and table cells
var allTextFrames = app.activeDocument.textFrames;
for (var i = 0; i < allTextFrames.length; i++) {
var tf = allTextFrames[i];
for (var j = 0; j < tf.tables.length; j++) {
var table = tf.tables[j];
for (var k = 0; k < table.rows.length; k++) {
for (var l = 0; l < table.rows[k].cells.length; l++) {
var cell = table.rows[k].cells[l];
if (cell.contents.match(/\d+[,.]\d+/)) {
items.push(cell);
}
}
}
}
}
} else if (app.selection[0] instanceof TextFrame) {
// If selection is a text frame, check its table cells
var tf = app.selection[0];
for (var i = 0; i < tf.tables.length; i++) {
var table = tf.tables[i];
for (var j = 0; j < table.rows.length; j++) {
for (var k = 0; k < table.rows[j].cells.length; k++) {
var cell = table.rows[j].cells[k];
if (cell.contents.match(/\d+[,.]\d+/)) {
items.push(cell);
}
}
}
}
} else {
// Otherwise search only in selected text
try {
items.push(app.selection[0]);
} catch (_) {
exit();
}
}
return items;
}
app.findGrepPreferences = app.changeGrepPreferences = null;
app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = "\\d+[,.\\d]+\\d+";
var foundItems = findItems();
var temp;
for (var i = foundItems.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
temp = foundItems[i].contents.replace(/,/g, '#');
temp = temp.replace(/\./g, ',');
foundItems[i].contents = temp.replace(/#/g, '.');
}
}());
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‎Mar 06, 2025
08:17 AM
I'd start with 2 greps
Find
\d\K\d{3}$
Change to ,$0
2nd grep
\d\K\d{3}(?=,)
Change to
,$0
Since it's the same change you can run them both at the same time
\d\K\d{3}$|\d\K\d{3}(?=,)
Change to
,$0
But you have to do multiple find/changes the larger the number gets
1
10
100
1000
10000
100000
1000000
10000000
1000000000
10000000000
have to do multiple find/changes until they all are changed
1
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
1,000,000,000
10,000,000,000 ----------- This script seems to do the trick for the commas
Haven't fully tested and if you need it to do more please ask
// InDesign Script: Add commas to numbers
// Ensure an active document is open
if (app.documents.length === 0) {
alert("No document is open!");
} else {
var doc = app.activeDocument;
// Clear previous GREP search settings
app.findGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
app.changeGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
// Set up GREP to find sequences of digits
app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = "\\d+";
// Find all matches in the document
var foundNumbers = doc.findGrep();
// Function to add commas
function addCommas(numStr) {
// Regular expression to insert commas
return numStr.replace(/\B(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
}
// Process each found number
for (var i = 0; i < foundNumbers.length; i++) {
var found = foundNumbers[i];
// Get the current number string
var original = found.contents;
// Apply formatting only if it doesn't already contain commas
if (original.indexOf(",") === -1) {
var formatted = addCommas(original);
// Replace the text with the formatted version
found.contents = formatted;
}
}
// Clear GREP preferences after processing
app.findGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
app.changeGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
alert("Finished formatting numbers!");
}
@jmlevy beat me to it - but hopefully it helps still
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‎Mar 06, 2025
06:50 AM
1 Upvote
I've added the part to manually insert your photoshop path
if (app.documents.length > 0 && app.selection.length > 0) {
var sel = app.selection[0];
var imageItem = null;
// Check if the selection is an image directly
if (sel.constructor.name === "Image") {
imageItem = sel;
}
// Otherwise, check if it's a frame containing an image
else if (sel.hasOwnProperty("images") && sel.images.length > 0) {
imageItem = sel.images[0];
}
if (imageItem && imageItem.itemLink) {
var filePath = imageItem.itemLink.filePath;
openInPhotoshop(filePath);
} else {
alert("Please select an image or a frame that contains an image.");
}
} else {
alert("No document open or nothing selected.");
}
function openInPhotoshop(filePath) {
try {
var bt = new BridgeTalk();
bt.target = "photoshop";
bt.body = 'app.bringToFront(); app.open(new File("' + filePath + '"));';
var sent = bt.send();
if (!sent) {
throw new Error("BridgeTalk failed. Trying direct launch...");
}
} catch (e) {
alert("BridgeTalk failed: " + e.message + "\nAttempting to open Photoshop manually...");
// Manually launching Photoshop
try {
var photoshopPath = 'D:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Adobe Photoshop 2025\\Photoshop.exe';
var cmd = '"' + photoshopPath + '" "' + filePath + '"';
app.doScript('var wsh = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell"); wsh.Run(' + JSON.stringify(cmd) + ', 1, false);', ScriptLanguage.JAVASCRIPT);
} catch (manualError) {
alert("Failed to launch Photoshop manually: " + manualError);
}
}
}
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‎Mar 06, 2025
06:47 AM
Here's the crux of it - it doesn't exist in WIndows.
If you want it you have to ask for it.
https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests?query=gpu%20accelleration%20windows Search for GPU Acceleration and lots have requested it already.
I don't think there's any need for it on Windows, it's only for certain types of monitors with really high pixel density.
No idea why you think it's important, because it's not, most people are advised to turn it off.
If you truly want it, spend $3k on a Mac and $2k on a monitor, and get the same experience as you have your windows computer for the pricely sum of $5k.
That's not much anyone can do for you here.
I think I've explained thoroguhly enough what it's for, and it's really for niche Mac monitors that Apple didn't bother optimising and left it for 3rd partys to solve.
Good luck - vote for the idea by searching the database of feature requests, and maybe one day it will be added.
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‎Mar 06, 2025
05:44 AM
Anchor your image into a Text Frame
In the Anchoring Options you can select to which side the Image is aligned to
https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/indesign/using/anchored-objects.html#:~:text=the%20next%20page.-,Custom%20position%20options,-You%20can%20use
When your page moves then the image will shift relative to the spine.
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‎Mar 06, 2025
05:41 AM
You might need to save the file as IDML first, then resave it as an InDesign file, this should regenerate the file preview.
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‎Mar 06, 2025
05:34 AM
There's a way to do it with any font
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08nc-C7fbA&ab_channel=CreativeProNetwork
Does this suit your needs or do you require a font itself?
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