Datasheet
12
Part I: Before You Begin
Specifying measurement values
Another situation in which you can choose between local or global controls
is specifying measurement values. Regardless of the default measurement unit
you set (that is, the measurement unit that appears in all dialog boxes and
panels), you can use any unit when entering measurements in an InDesign
dialog box. For example, if the default measurement is picas, but you’re new
to publishing and are more comfortable working in inches, go ahead and
enter measurements in inches.
InDesign accepts any of the following codes for measurement units. (Chap-
ter 2 explains how to change the default measurements.) Note that the x in
the following items indicates where you specify the value, such as 2i for 2
inches. It doesn’t matter whether you put a space between the value and
the code: Typing 2inch and typing 2 inch are the same as far as InDesign is
concerned:
✓ xi or x inch or x" (for inches)
✓ xp (for picas)
✓ xpt or 0px (for points)
✓ xpx (for pixels)
✓ xc (for ciceros, a European newspaper measurement)
✓ xag (for agates, an American newspaper measurement)
✓ xcm (for centimeters)
✓ xmm (for millimeters)
What to do when you make a mistake
InDesign is a very forgiving program. If you
make a mistake, change your mind, or work
yourself into a complete mess, you don’t have to
remain in your predicament or save your work.
InDesign offers several escape routes. You can
✓ Undo your last action by choosing
Edit➪Undo (Ô+Z or Ctrl+Z). (You can’t
undo some actions, particularly actions
such as scrolling that don’t affect any items
or the underlying document structure.)
You can undo multiple actions in the
reverse order in which they were done by
repeatedly choosing Edit➪Undo (Ô+Z or
Ctrl+Z); each time you undo, the preceding
action is undone.
✓ Redo an action you’ve undone by choosing
Edit➪Redo (Shift+Ô+Z or Ctrl+Shift+Z).
Alternatively, choosing Undo and Redo
is a handy way of seeing a before/after
view of a particular change. As with an
undo action, you can redo multiple undone
actions in the reverse of the order in which
they were undone.
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