InDesign Efficiency: Keep Your Hand on the Keyboard

Excerpted from the InDesign Secrets video training course on lynda.com.


If you’re some kind of crazy InDesign ninja, you’ve memorized every keyboard shortcut there is because you know that taking your hands off the keyboard to go to menus and panels just slows you down. But if your brain is too full to memorize everything, you can still be an InDesign speed demon as long as you remember one thing: Quick Apply.
You summon the Quick Apply panel by typing Command-Return (Mac) or Control-Enter (Windows). Then, just type a few letters of the thing you want in the Quick Apply panel’s field and hit Return/Enter.
For example, say you want to apply the paragraph style you’ve named “October Surprise Section” to one or more paragraphs. Select the text, bring up Quick Apply, and type “oct” in the field at the top of the panel. Quick Apply will almost instantaneously show you a prioritized list of styles, menu commands, scripts, and variables that contain the letters “oct” in their name. Select the one you want, hit Return/Enter again, and InDesign immediately applies the “October Surprise Section” paragraph style to your text!
Even InDesigners who know all the keyboard shortcuts can benefit from Quick Apply; for example, there is no shortcut for dynamic spellcheck, but with Quick Apply, you can quickly turn dynamic spelling on and off without leaving the keyboard.
In the video tutorial below, I’ll show you even more ways to get the most out of InDesign’s Quick Apply feature.

Visit InDesign Secrets on lynda.com to watch more videos of effects projects you can complete in ten minutes or less.

David Blatner is the co-founder of the Creative Publishing Network, InDesign Magazine, CreativePro Magazine, and the author or co-author of 15 books, including Real World InDesign. His InDesign videos at LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) are among the most watched InDesign training in the world.
You can find more about David at 63p.com

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  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve been putting off learning this command, but this clear explanation did the trick. Thanks.

    Terry Veiga

  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve been an ID user since beginning but do not use this feature. I’ll give it a try. I normally have one hand on keyboard the other on my mouse, so not sure how much time this will save me, but I’m willing to try anything new. Thanks for the tip!

  • Anonymous says:

    This ID ninja also keeps one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse. I have a custom workspace to keep the palettes I need the most accessible, including para/char/obj styles. I have used Quick Apply, but for my workflow, this is the most efficient. Great tip to keep in mind, though, should things change.

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