The subject of preferences may not be the most entertaining topic to cover, but it's certainly an important one. Preferences refer to settings regarding panel positions, measurement, and display options for graphics and text.
Here's the key to understanding how preferences actually work. There are two kinds of preferences, ones that are document specific (that will only stick to the opened document) and ones that are application wide and only affect documents you create after the fact.
In Windows, go to Edit > Preferences > General. Mac users, select InDesign > Preferences > General. The keyboard shortcut Ctrl-K or Command-K applies to both operating systems. Once in the Preferences dialog you will see over 18 different categories to choose from.
Let's change the unit of measurement that you will use with your documents. Press Ctrl/Command-K and in the Preferences dialog choose the Units & Increments category from the left column. Click Horizontal and Vertical, change them both to Centimeters, and click OK. You have just changed the unit of measurement to centimeters!
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The Preferences dialog contains over 18 different categories for setting how the application or document behaves. |
How do you know if the preference change you make will affect the opened document or the entire application going forward? Well, here's the key. To change an application wide preference, make sure there are no open documents.
