What’s new

Live preflight

Preflight while you design for better results, greater time savings, and lower production costs. Continuous preflighting alerts you to potential production problems in real time. The new Preflight panel lets you navigate to and select the objects that are triggering the preflight error. View contextual tips to help you correct errors directly in layout. See Preflighting files before handoff.

Spread view rotation

Temporarily rotate the spread view without physically turning your monitor. Enjoy full editing capability at 90 and 180 degree angles so that you can work on non-horizontal design elements, such as rotated calendar spreads and tables. See Rotate the spread view.

Smart Guides

Align, space, rotate, and resize multiple objects in one step. Align to the horizontal, vertical, or center of page edges. The guides, object dimensions, rotation, and X,Y coordinates appear dynamically so you can snap objects in relation to other objects in the layout. See Use smart guides.

Smart Dimensions

When you create, resize, or rotate one object, Smart Dimensions shows the width, height, or rotation of your object, highlighting when the dimensions or rotation matches nearby objects.

Smart Spacing

Evenly space multiple items on your page by snapping objects into position without having to use the Align panel.

Smart Cursors

When transforming objects, the cursor displays X and Y position, width and height, or rotation information.

Versatile Links panel

Find, sort, and organize placed content with the redesigned Links panel. Scan link attributes and click to view details such as scale, rotation, and resolution. Customize the Links panel to suit your working preferences.

Quickly replace low-resolution images used as placeholders with high-resolution images based on filename. Filename extensions are ignored. Simply relink to a new folder. See Links panel overview.

Visual Pages panel

See thumbnails of your pages in the Pages panel for easy navigation and page arrangement. If transparency, page transitions, or spread rotation have been applied to pages, you can turn off their associated icons for a cleaner Pages panel. See Change the page and spread display.

New pages sizes

New common monitor resolution sizes are available in the Page Size menu in the New Document dialog box. These options make it easier to design a document to a specific monitor size for interactive Flash and PDF workflows.

See Create new documents.

Quick guide deletion

Instantly clear all selectable guides on your current spread or master page by right-clicking (Windows) or Ctrl-clicking (Mac OS) a ruler and choosing Delete All Guides.

Data merge output to PDF

Run a data merge operation and output directly to PDF in a single pass, thanks to the Export to PDF command now included in the Data Merge panel. An intermediate InDesign document is no longer created. The PDF file takes advantage of PDF XObjects for static parts of the page, resulting in a reduced-size PDF.

See Data merge.

Ruler origin on spine

Correctly place the ruler’s zero position of X at the spine of your document so that the X values are positive for right sided pages and negative for left sided pages when Facing Pages is enabled.

Leading-based baseline grid increments

If you specify a different measurement system, such as millimeters or inches, baseline grid values still use points to match text size and leading.

Slug area enhancements

Move pages and see that your objects in the slug and bleed area also move. Page numbers in the slug area display a number rather than the pasteboard index entry (PB).

Undo improvements

Viewing actions such as Set Preview and Show Guides are no longer included as Undo items.

Conditional text

Use conditional text deliver multiple versions of a document for different users and channels. Create conditions and apply them to text for audience customization. If you hide conditions, the remaining text and anchored objects reflows automatically in your layout. See Use conditional text.

All language user dictionary

Add a custom word, name, or phrase to a user dictionary and all languages treat the term as correctly spelled. See Add words to dictionaries.

Smart Text Reflow

Treat InDesign as a word processor. Let InDesign add or remove pages automatically when you type text, hide conditions, or change or your text flow. See Use Smart Text Reflow.

Autocorrect editing

Edit entries on your Autocorrect misspelling list without having to delete and add entries.

Table enhancements

Tables in the Story Editor display text in sequential columns and rows for easy editing.

Apply changes to cell and table borders without reselecting the stroke proxy borders.

Add inline notes in tables to collaborate more effectively. Store alternate text, designer communications, and other annotations in notes linked to specific text in a table.

Nested line styles

Use nested line styles to apply complex character formatting through the end of a line. Formatting remains unchanged when text is edited. See Create nested line styles.

Style creation in context

In dialog boxes where you can select a character or paragraph style, you can create a style without having to exit the dialog box. This ability is especially useful when you’re generating a table of contents, creating nested styles or GREP styles, or using Find/Change to change text formatting to a style.

GREP styles

Apply character styles to any text in a paragraph that matches the GREP expression you specify. See Create GREP styles.

Better style group management

Move styles in or out of style groups when synchronizing a book without creating duplicate styles. See Synchronize book documents.

Edit Original flexibility

Use the Open With command to choose which application to use to edit a placed item instead of relying on the operating system to default to the appropriate program. See Edit original artwork.

Constrained placement of graphics

A frame drawn while an image is in the loaded cursor constrains to the proportions of the graphic. The graphic then fits to the frame proportionally and is centered unless frame fitting options have been applied to the frame. While dragging out a frame with the loaded cursor, the scale is displayed as part of the cursor. Hold down Shift to drag a non-constrained frame.

Placing multiple graphics as a contact sheet

Quickly create a contact sheet by placing multiple images in a grid arrangement. When placing multiple images, hold down Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) to drag a grid of images. Use the arrow keys to control the number of rows and columns in the grid.

Multiple artboard placement

Cycle through multiple artboards created in Adobe Illustrator® CS4 for quick placement in your InDesign document. See Importing PDF pages.

New Pathfinder panel buttons

Use one step to join paths, open paths, or reverse paths by clicking a button in the new Paths row in the Pathfinder panel.

Convert Point menu commands

Convert corner points to smooth or line end points using the Convert Point commands that are now accessible through the menus.

Text stroke control

Adjust stroke cap, end join, miter limit, and stroke alignment on text without having to convert characters to outlines. These stroke options are also available in styles. See Change the color, gradient, or stroke of text.

Free Transform tool improvements

Resize an object more easily using the Free Transform tool, thanks to larger hit zones around object handles and the ability to resize along object edges. See Transform objects with the Free Transform tool.

Keyboard shortcuts for scaling and sizing

Use new options in the keyboard shortcut editor to easily create shortcuts for increasing and decreasing size. Separate keyboard shortcuts are included for scaling and sizing objects.

Page transitions in PDF and SWF files

Apply page transitions directly in InDesign to individual pages or all spreads at once with a single click. See previews of available transition types, and control the direction and speed of your transitions for output to Flash (SWF file) and PDF. See Page transitions.

Enhanced buttons

Build interactive buttons using the updated Button panel. Design custom buttons or select a button from the integrated button library. Create buttons that let you navigate within a dynamic document, launch a movie, or play a sound. See Buttons.

Redesigned Hyperlinks panel

Use the redesigned Hyperlinks panel to easily create hyperlinks that navigate to external URLs, link to files with supplemental information, launch an e-mail client, or jump to a page or section of a page within the same or even a different document. Verify your hyperlinks directly in InDesign CS4 with no need to export the document to a PDF or SWF file for testing. See Hyperlinks.

Cross-references

Insert and edit cross-references. Choose among different formats, or create your own. Cross-references are easily updated when pagination changes. See Cross-references.

Export to Flash (SWF)

Create dynamic content without having to work in the authoring environment of Adobe Flash. Export SWF files directly from within InDesign, complete with page transitions, interactive buttons, rollovers, and hyperlinks.

Automatically launch the Adobe Flash Player and preview a SWF file simply by exporting your InDesign layout.

See Exporting.

Export to Flash (XFL)

Export your InDesign document in the new XFL file format for opening in Adobe Flash® CS4 Professional. Use the Flash authoring environment to add video, audio, animation, and complex interactivity.

InDesign text exported as XFL remains fully editable when the XFL file is opened in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional.

InDesign automatically converts high-resolution print assets (CMYK) to low-resolution web assets (RGB) upon export as an XFL file.

An image placed multiple times in your InDesign document is saved as a single image asset with shared locations when exported as an XFL file.

Interactive PDF enhancements

Author interactive PDF documents by adding SWF files, Quicktime movies, and sound clips to your page layouts. Create interactive buttons, apply page transitions, and embed hyperlinks, cross-references, and bookmarks to create an immersive reading experience.

Integration with Adobe Bridge CS4

Browse, organize, label, and preview graphics and InDesign documents, templates, and snippets in Adobe Bridge. Drag and drop assets from Bridge into layouts easily and efficiently. Search for files using metadata that specifies keywords, fonts, colors, and more. See About Adobe Bridge.

Integration with Adobe Version Cue CS4

Connect to Version Cue Server projects using Adobe Drive. The connected server appears like a hard drive or mapped network drive in Windows Explorer, Mac OS Finder, and dialog boxes such as Open and Save As. See Adobe Version Cue.

InDesign Markup Language (IDML)

InDesign Markup Language, an XML- based file format, allows developers to assemble and disassemble InDesign documents using standard XML tools and without having to open INDD files. See Save an InDesign Markup (IDML) document.

As a result of the new markup language, many filename extensions have changed in the InCopy workflow.

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ConnectNow

Collaborate with clients, colleagues, and vendors by sharing your desktop so that you can quickly complete group reviews and show your work with ease. Choose File > Share My Screen.

Adobe kuler panel

Explore, create, and share colors using Adobe kuler, a web-hosted application for experimenting with color and sharing themes with the online kuler community. Designed to both stand alone and complement Adobe Creative Suite software, kuler uses Adobe Flash technology to bring you online tools for color theme creation. You can save themes to your own Mykuler space, share them publicly, receive themes via RSS feeds, and more.

Customized workspace enhancements

Select a task-based workspace that unclutters your screen and presents only the menu commands and panel arrangements best for the current task. Customize your own menus and workspaces that can be shared and saved. See Save and switch workspaces.

Tabbed documents

Manage and work across multiple documents by tabbing through open documents to find the one you need without having to maximize each document individually. See Managing Document windows.

N-up view

Arrange viewing multiple documents in a single window so that you can compare content and drag objects across documents. Use a button to switch your views side by side, top and bottom, or however you want.

Application frame (Mac OS)

For Mac OS users, you have the option to work with documents and panels in a single window. Move or resize the window without losing access to panels or other opened documents. See Workspace overview.

Application bar

Use a new control buttons in the menu bar to switch to a new workspace, modify the view of a document, perform a search, or quickly access elements such as Adobe Bridge CS4.

Reactive panels

Drag related content from one panel to another without first opening the receiving panel. For example, drag a swatch from the Swatch panel into the Color panel without opening it first.

More nudge buttons

Use the up and down arrows to nudge values for paragraph and character styles, find/change formats, object styles, object corner options, and more.

Dialog box positioning

Dialog boxes open in the same screen location in which they were closed.

Mouse scroll wheel support

Navigate through document pages using the mouse scroll wheel. The longer you hold the mouse at the top or bottom of the application window, the faster the pages scroll.

Power zoom

Use the Hand tool to zoom out by holding down your mouse button. Continue to hold, and you can move the zoom area marquee across pages. Release, and the view returns to your original zoom level in your new location. Increase or decrease the size of the zoom area marquee using the up and down arrows or scroll wheel on the mouse. See Use power zoom.