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menus
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Now, go to the Menus command at the bottom of the Edit menu to open Menu Customization
(see Figure 1.13). Similar to customizing keyboard shortcuts, you have sets to create and choose
from and two categories of menus—Application Menus, those that appear within the menu bar
at the top of the InDesign window, and Context & Panel Menus, which are the flyout menus on
panels as well as those menus that appear when you right-click (Control-click for you single-
button Mac mouse users) something. Every menu in InDesign can be customized. Pick one.
Click the arrow to the left to expand the menu, showing commands and submenus in the order
in which they appear on the menu itself.
If there’s a command that you never use, one you’d like out of your way, click its eyeball icon
in the Visibility column. The menu command or submenu will disappear from the application
as if it didn’t exist. To highlight a menu like those that turned blue in the New in CS5 workspace,
change the color in the third column. Sorry, no custom colors, just the basic rainbow red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, violet, and gray (for rain clouds, I assume).
Why would I want to remove some commands? you might ask. Well, the vast majority of
InDesign users never use everything in the application. Do you do any XML work? If not, you
can hide the XML-centric commands and unclutter the interface a little.
Next, I’d expect you to ask, Why would I want to color-code my menu commands? As you saw
Adobe do with its set, color-coding menus is a great way to learn new features and commands.
It can also help in memory: Where do I set the options for an inline graphic so that it has vertical spac-
ing? Oh, duh! Here it is: Anchored Objects on the Objects menu. I colored it red last time I used it six
months ago so I’d remember where to find it again.
For you production managers, editors, and other team leaders, customizing menus presents a
new level of production control through customized workstation installs without messing with
installer scripts or disabling plug-ins. Check out the sidebar “Customizing InDesign to Easily
Create Workflow-Focused Workstations” to see how I helped the editor of one small newspaper
keep her staff focused and her layouts clean and press ready.
Figure 1.13
Customizing
menus
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