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Getting Started with InDesign

Instructions for the basic tools of Adobe InDesign, which you might use to create a flier, brochure or newsletter.

Changing Color for Text and Graphics

You can change the color of the text, shapes you make, and the outline of pictures you place in your document.

When modifying color, you can change either the stroke (the outline of an object or text) or the fill (the area enclosed by the stroke). In circle 1 at the right, for example, the fill is dark blue () and the stroke () is teal. The icons for each overlap each other, and the icon in front shows which is selected. The two-headed arrow between the two will swap the colors, so in circle 2 the fill is now green and the stroke is now yellow. The same principle applies to text as well.

To change colors on an object or text,

  1. Select the object or highlight the text.
  2. Click the Color Panel Group to open the Color Panel.

  3. Double-click on the Fill icon in the Color Panel (or Stroke icon, as appropriate).
  4. In the dialog box that appears, use thin color bar to select the hue, and then click on a specific color in the large color box.

  5. Once you have the color you want, click OK.

You can change the stroke color of a placed image, but not the fill. You can also change the stroke thickness of the placed image as described below.

Changing the Stroke

You can change the thickness of the stroke (outline around the text box or object) as well as change the type.

  • Change the thickness in Weight: field.
  • Change the line style in the Type: field.
  • Add an arrow head by changing the Start: or End: fields.