Datasheet

CHAPTER 1 Customizing

The very last object on the Control panel’s right end, a button that looks like three horizontal

lines, is the Control panel’s ﬂyout menu. Like the face of the Control panel, the commands on

the ﬂyout menu are context variable. At the bottom of the list, the Customize command is con-

stant and opens the Customize Control Panel dialog box (see Figure 1.8). Here, by unchecking

the show box in the expanding lists, you can selectively disable groups of controls or an entire

mode. Maybe, while working with general objects, you’d rather not see the new Corner Shape

controls section on the Control panel. To hide the Corner Shape controls, expand the Other sec-

tion of the Customize Control Panel dialog box and uncheck Corner Shape. The same goes for

anything else you’d rather not see on the Control panel.

Also on the Control panel ﬂyout menu are commands to dock the panel to the top of the appli-

cation window, its default location, dock it to the bottom, or ﬂoat it free à la PageMaker’s Control

palette and QuarkXPress’s Measurements palette. Once free ﬂoating, the Control panel can be

positioned anywhere you like onscreen but always horizontal. In addition to using the menu com-

mands, dragging the vertical double bar of dotted lines on the left edge of the panel moves the

panel around as well, attaching it to, or detaching it from, the top or bottom edge of the applica-

tion. When you drag a ﬂoating Control panel close enough to either the top or bottom edge, a thick

horizontal line, similar to the one you see when docking other panels, will appear above or below

the panel; release the mouse button and the panel will snap into its docked position.

If you’re running a monitor with a horizontal resolution greater than 1024 pixels, you should

take advantage of dynamic controls in the Control panel. All the primary controls of each mode

are contained within the ﬁrst 1024 pixels. After the primary controls have been rendered, several

modes of the Control panel will present additional controls for your convenience. In Character

mode, for example, more paragraph-centric ﬁelds and options will ﬁll the extra space after all

character-centric ﬁelds. In Paragraph mode, more of the character-centric controls slip in there.

The idea, of course, is that if you have the space to use, InDesign will use it to save you a few

times toggling between Character and Paragraph modes.

Panels You Don’t Need

So upgraded is the Control panel, in fact, that it negates the need to use some other panels

almost entirely. Conversely, you can elect to hide the Control panel, saving yourself some vertical

screen real estate. The main advantage to using the Control panel is its context-sensitive nature;

Figure 1.8

Customizing the

Control panel

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