SPD.ORG: Student Outreach

Shortcuts to Success: Learn to Kern and Track

Sure, there are huge lists of InDesign keyboard shortcuts out there, but are you going to sit down and memorize them all? We're here to help you learn some handy new ones, one by one, making it easier to add them to your mental list. Each week, we'll highlight a different shortcut to help you work faster, better and smarter.

SPD-U SHORTCUT OF THE WEEK

Adjust Kerning or Tracking

option left or right arrow

The keys you need are the left and right arrows, not the greater than or less than arrows, which are above the comma and period.

Kerning is adjusting the space between a pair of typographic characters, and doing it right is a sure sign that you're a pro. Tracking is the same, but that term applies to the process when more than one pair is involved.

KERNING: To tighten the space between two characters, click between them with the Type Tool to insert your cursor, hold down option and type the left arrow. To open the space, hold down option and type the right arrow.

TRACKING: To tighten the spaces between more than two characters, click hold and drag to select and highlight them with the Type Tool, hold down option and type the left arrow. To open the spaces, hold down option and type the right arrow.

Learn more, and watch a 1 minute video about kerning after the jump.

… MORE

Tips and Tricks

05.16.13posted by
Student Editors

Shortcuts to Success: Zip through Panels

Sure, there are huge lists of InDesign keyboard shortcuts out there, but are you going to sit down and memorize them all? We're here to help you learn some handy new ones, one by one, making it easier to add them to your mental list. Each week, we'll highlight a different shortcut to help you work faster, better and smarter.

SPD-U SHORTCUT OF THE WEEK

Move to Next Field in a Panel

tab

Move to Previous Field in a Panel

shift + tab

This week's shortcut is a twofer. Let's say you're entering info in a field of a panel, and you want to move to the next field. Type the Tab key to jump to the next field of the panel you're working in. Need to go back? No problem. Hold down Shift and type Tab to jump to the previous field of the panel. Remember, though, that Tab is also a text character, so make sure you've moved your cursor out of live text, and into the panel you want to work with, or you'll end up with a typo.

HOT TIP: This works across Adobe applications, and beyond. Use it in Microsoft Office, in a web browser, and pretty much anywhere.

PS: If you haven't done it yet, download a free poster with our first 25 Shortcuts to Success!

Got a favorite keyboard shortcut you'd like to share with everyone? Email it to us at spdstudentoutreach@gmail.com and we'll include it in our series, along with your own commentary if you'd like.

This week's shortcut brought to you by Joseph Caserto.

Student Design Competition

05.13.13posted by
Student Editors

Congrats to Our 2013 Student Design Competition Runners-Up!

We're continuing our announcement of 2013 Student Design Competition with this year's Runners-Up. We had an awesome group of finalists, making those top placement positions an extra-hard decision. Congrats to these talented students for their great work ... check it out after the jump.

… MORE

SPD-U Spotlight

05.10.13posted by
Student Editors

SPD-U Spotlight Q&A: Is It Free?

I am interested in entering the SPD-U Spotlight gallery show and am curious if there is an entry fee. I don't see anything mentioning one on the Call for Entries. --Colton Schools, Susquehanna University

… MORE

Tips and Tricks

05.09.13posted by
Student Editors

Shortcuts to Success: Number Pages Automatically

Sure, there are huge lists of InDesign keyboard shortcuts out there, but are you going to sit down and memorize them all? We're here to help you learn some handy new ones, one by one, making it easier to add them to your mental list. Each week, we'll highlight a different shortcut to help you work faster, better and smarter.

SPD-U SHORTCUT OF THE WEEK

Current Page Number

command + option + shift + N

Manually adding page numbers to a document in sequence, a process know as paginating, can be tedious, especially when the order of the pages changes. Save yourself lots of time and effort and let InDesign do the work for you. Click in a text frame with the Type Tool, and type command + option + shift + N to insert the Current Page Number Marker.

HOT TIP: Do this on the file's Master Page(s), and any existing or new Document Page based on those Master(s) will automatically paginate, even if moved to a different position.

PS: If you haven't done it yet, download a free poster with our first 25 Shortcuts to Success!

Got a favorite keyboard shortcut you'd like to share with everyone? Email it to us at spdstudentoutreach@gmail.com and we'll include it in our series, along with your own commentary if you'd like.

This week's shortcut brought to you by Joseph Caserto.

Student Design Competition

05.07.13posted by
Student Editors

Congrats to Our 2013 Student Design Competition 6th Place Winner!

We're continuing our announcement of our 2013 Student Design Competition winners today with our Third Honorable Mention, James E. Mocko. Read on to see the rest of his 6th-place winning entry and for links to our other winners... … MORE

Student Design Competition

05.06.13posted by
Student Editors

Congrats to Our 2013 Student Design Competition 5th Place Winner!

We're continuing our announcement of our 2013 Student Design Competition winners today with our Second Honorable Mention, Veronica Cordero. Read on to see the rest of her 5th-place winning entry and for links to our other winners...

… MORE

Student Design Competition

05.03.13posted by
Student Editors