Now, that we have this four text frames on our page, let’s actually start adding some type and formatting it. So, let’s come up here to the control panel and we will make some font decisions. For example, we might want to use minion pro and we can choose that from the menu here. If you have a really long menu with lots and lots of font installed, it might be easier just to type the font name up here and that will queue up your options. And from here, we can just start typing texts. I’ll zoom in the 200% Control-2 on windows or Command-2 on the Mac to make that a little bit larger. So, we basically inserted our text cursor here, done some typing, changed the attributes. However, if you want to make sure that all of your new text frames use a certain text attribute, go ahead and click of on the pasteboard with your selection tool so nothing is selected. Enable your type tool and change this font options.
For example, let’s say I was creating a piece for my favorite Wild West Team Restaurants and I wouldn’t use the mesquite standard font. I got to type in mesquite. We’ll choose the medium phase for it. And now, anytime I click and start typing it will use this mesquite font. It’s so great for your Wild West Team Restaurant there. To increase the font size on windows, press Shift-Control->. On the Macintosh, that would be Shift-Command->. So, let’s go ahead and select that frame and delete it. The trick here is with no frame selected, change our text attributes. And where this will bite you is when you make this change and you don’t realize it. So, what will happen is you’ll start creating frames and you’ll start typing and you’re wondering why in the world is everything set in mesquite or why in the world is everything set in comic sense. I want to get rid of that. The trick again makes sure no frames are selected, come in here, type your minion pro and then all of your new frames will use the appropriate type.
Now, if you want that to apply to all new documents you would change your type attributes up here in the control panel with no documents open. Then, from that point on, all new text frames and all new documents will be set in minion pro.
Another approach to this issue is by editing your paragraph styles. So, come over here to the right side of your monitor, open the paragraph styles panel and find basic paragraph. Double click basic paragraph and you can make changes here including basic font formatting. So, here we might type minion and regular. And you could change all sorts of other options here. I’m just going to keep it to the basics for now, basic character formatting. Click Ok and now all of my new paragraph styles will use those new attributes of the basic paragraph style.
Now, we could spend the rest of this lesson watching me type but I don’t think that would be fun for you or me. So, what I’m going to do is select this text and delete it and show you a very useful command under the type menu that is “fill with placeholder text.” I’ve access to that command in the type menu. You can also access that from the context menu so that would be a right click or control click on a single button Macintosh mouse and I’ll choose “fill with placeholder text.” But before we’re done, there’s one other way that I want to show you to invoke this command or any command. And this is actually new in InDesign CS3. Now, in the previous version of InDesign, we had Quick Apply which was an easy way to apply character and paragraph and object styles. But we’ve expanded Quick Apply with InDesign CS3. So, to invoke this command, you would press Control-Enter on windows or Command-Return on the Mac. And that will open up this little window up here in the top right corner. And you can type all sorts of things into this window. For example, you could start typing the name of a character style, a paragraph style. You could also start typing the name of a script that you wanted to run or you can even type the name of a menu command that you want to apply. For example, if there’s an obscure menu command that you can’t remember where it is or it’s
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