When I began working in InDesign, style sheets were a little intimidating. But as I continued to learn more about designing large campaigns, it soon became evident how essential style sheets were for efficiency. In today’s post, I’ll be discussing the three types of style sheets and how they work together.
In the below example, two “character” styles will be used in the item rows. One style will be used to define the black text and the other the blue text. From there, two “paragraph” styles are defined, one for the heading format and another for the entire row format. Lastly, the whole box (the background and any borders) will be defined as an “object” style.
To define character styles, highlight the text, and press (shift, CMD, F11) or go to Windows>Styles>Character to open the Character Styles panel. The (none) line will be highlighted. Press the “new style” icon at the bottom of the window.
A new “character style 1” line will appear. Double click to access the character style definitions.
Go through each of the areas on the left side of the screen. Rename the style with something meaningful. Click OK.
The character style has been defined, but a link to the characters within the text box has also be established.
To define paragraph styles, place a cursor anywhere within the paragraph, press (CMD, F11), or go to Windows>Styles>Paragraph to open the Paragraph Styles panel. The “(basic paragraph)+” will be highlighted. Press and “new style” icon at the bottom of the window.
A new “paragraph style 1” line will appear. Double click to access the paragraph style definitions.
Go through each of the areas on the left side of the screen.
On the “Drop Caps & Nested Styles” panel, enter the nested character styles embedded within the paragraph.
On the main panel is an option to enter the “Next Style.” This option is used when several paragraph styles will be embedded within an object style. Rename the style with something meaningful. Click OK.
To define object styles, press (CMD, F7) or go to Windows>Styles>Objects to open the Object Styles panel. The “(basic text frame)+” will be highlighted. Press and “new style” icon at the bottom of the window.
A new “object style 1” line will appear. Double click to access the object style definitions.
You will note an option listed as “paragraph styles,” which will have a square icon with a negative sign on the left side of the screen. Double click on this option.
On the “paragraph styles” panel, enter the first paragraph style within the object. This option sets the chain of paragraph styles. (In this example, we defined the “New-head” as the first paragraph style within the object style and then defined “New-row” as the “next style” within the “New-head” paragraph style) Rename the style with something meaningful. Click OK.
If any of the styles need to be changed, the drop-down menu for paragraph styles is beneficial. If a “+” appears next to a style listing, this means that the style has been changed and that a link to a specific text box is not in line with the defined style. To correct this, select the “Redefine Style” option.
If, however, a text box unintentionally was linked to a style, use “Break Link to Style” to correct.
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