These work on Mac or Windows in InDesign 2.X or CS:

Bounce: Choose "About InDesign" from the menu, and when the splash screen comes up, type BOUNCE.

SVG: Same as above, but instead of typing BOUNCE, type SVG (Adobe's interesting vector/web image format)

Rainbow: Choose Stroke Styles from the Stroke palette menu, and create a new striped stroke. It doesn't matter what it looks like, just make sure to name it "Rainbow." Apply the stroke to an object.

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A few weeks ago I gave a presentation to the Chicago InDesign User Group called "InDesign Style Sheet Power Tips." Along with my hour-long talk and presentation, I distributed a hand-out with a summary of what I talked about. I thought any of you DesignGeek readers who are using InDesign might find it handy.

You can download the handout (a PDF file) in the meeting notes page:
<http://www.indesignusergroup.com/chicago/chi_notes/chi_notes_2004_03_25.html> more >

The need to center something on page is so common, you'd think design software would have a command for it. But most don't.

Sure, there's usually an Align palette or command hidden someplace, with a Center Align option, but that's for aligning two or more things you've created; not for aligning one thing with the page itself.

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While the press releases and hoopla have died out to a great extent, many companies are just now getting around to updating to the Adobe Creative Suite.

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One of my favorite tricks for getting type on a path to be perfectly centered at the top of a circle, aligned to its arc, still works in QuarkXPress 6.1 (It's been around since v4.11):

1. Create a circular text box (hold down the Shift key to create a perfect circle, but this works with ovals too).
2. Enter the soon-to-be text on a path _inside_ the text box, as usual.
3. Change the horizontal paragraph alignment for the text to Centered.
4. Go to Item —> Shape and choose the last option in the fly-out menu, Path.

Voila! The circular text box is converted to a circular text path, and the text jumps to the top of it, hugging the curve and centered.more >

Having problems with your InDesign documents getting stuck in print spooler limbo whenever you try to print them?

Try this: In the Print dialog, click the Graphics category on the left, and then in the Graphics settings panel on the right, change the default method of downloading your fonts to your printer from "Complete" to "Subset."

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[Though it's an InDesign tip, this is from a post I sent to the QuarkXPress listserv. The original thread was about some of the members' experiences in moving to InDesign from Quark, and the message I replied to is partially quoted below. David Blatner's message follows my reply.]

Subscriber Post:

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A significant number of Windows-based designers have difficulty getting special characters (bullets, em dashes, etc.) into their layout files. I see this a lot when I'm doing on-site training. They use the old ASCII code method of pressing ALT while entering a 4-digit code on their keypad, and often have cheat sheets of these taped to their monitors. Or they've got one "good" digital file containing the characters which they keep handy on their desktop, and copy/paste the characters from there when they need them.

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Quark 5 and 6, and all versions of InDesign, let you create tables in your document. Entering and formatting text inside each table cell is essentially the same for both programs. But moving that text insertion bar from one cell to the next using the Tab key is handled differently. If you bounce back and forth between Quark and InDy, as I do, it can be hard to keep straight.

Here's a brief rundown:

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You can export a text file containing all the keyboard shortcuts for InDesign (2.X or CS), and keep it as a handy reference on your computer or print it out to tack on your wall.

Just go to Edit->Keyboard Shortcuts, choose the Set you want to inspect, and click the Show Set button in the dialog box. Show Set creates a text file showing all the keyboard shortcuts in the set, organized the same way the dialog box organizes them (by menu/palette.more >