Adobe InDesign is an industry-standard tool for creating and publishing professional documents, from books and magazines to posters and brochures. One of the many powerful features in InDesign is the ability to outline text. Outlining text is a process that converts text characters into vector shapes. This technique is commonly used for various reasons, such as preparing artwork for print, creating unique effects, or preserving font appearance when sharing a file. In this article, we will cover how to outline text in InDesign, the reasons for doing so, and best practices for using this feature effectively.
Why Outline Text in InDesign?
Outlining text is useful in a variety of scenarios, including:
- Ensuring Font Consistency: When you outline text, it becomes vector artwork, meaning you no longer need the original font installed to display it correctly. This is especially important when sharing files with a printer or other designers who may not have the fonts used in your design.
- Avoiding Font Issues in Printing: If a specific font is not embedded properly or is missing when a file is sent to a printer, the final print can be affected. Outlining text helps to prevent these problems.
- Creating Custom Effects: Outlining text allows you to manipulate each character as an object, making it easy to create custom effects, adjust individual points, or use the text as part of a more intricate design.
Important Note: Before outlining text, it’s a good idea to save a copy of your document or work on a separate layer. Once text is outlined, it becomes uneditable, meaning you cannot go back and change the font, size, or wording without re-typing the text.
Steps to Outline Text in InDesign
To outline text in InDesign, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Select the Text
- Activate the Type Tool: Press T on your keyboard or select the Type Tool from the Tools panel on the left side of your workspace.
- Highlight the Text: Click and drag over the text you want to outline, or simply click on the text frame with the Selection Tool (V) to select all the text within the frame.
Step 2: Create Outlines
- Switch to the Selection Tool: Press V to activate the Selection Tool or click on it in the Tools panel. This allows you to select the entire text frame.
- Create Outlines: With the text frame selected, go to the top menu and click on Type > Create Outlines. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Shift + Command + O (Mac) or Shift + Control + O (Windows).
- Observe the Result: After outlining, the text is converted to vector shapes, which means it is no longer editable as regular text. Each character can now be manipulated as an individual object.
Editing Outlined Text
Once text has been outlined, it becomes a series of vector shapes that you can manipulate using InDesign’s vector editing tools.
Using the Direct Selection Tool
- Select the Outlined Text: Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to click on the individual points or paths of the outlined text.
- Adjust Anchor Points: With the Direct Selection Tool, you can click on anchor points and use the direction handles to modify the shape of each character. This is useful for creating custom effects, like elongating parts of a letter or reshaping the text to create a unique design.
Grouping and Ungrouping Characters
- Ungroup Characters: After outlining text, you may want to work on each letter individually. To do this, select the outlined text and right-click, then choose Ungroup. Now, each character can be manipulated independently.
- Group Characters: If you need to move or adjust the outlined text as a single unit after ungrouping, you can select all the characters and press Command + G (Mac) or Control + G (Windows) to group them again.
Applying Colors and Effects to Outlined Text
Once your text is outlined, it acts as a vector shape, which allows for greater creative freedom when applying colors, gradients, and effects.
Fill and Stroke
- Adding Fill: You can change the color of the outlined text by selecting it and using the Swatches Panel or Color Panel to apply a fill color. Click on the Fill icon to choose a solid color, gradient, or even pattern to fill the characters.
- Adding Stroke: With outlined text, you can also add a stroke to the path of each character. Use the Stroke Panel to adjust the stroke weight, color, and style, giving your outlined text more visual impact.
Applying Effects
- Drop Shadow: Since outlined text is now treated as a vector object, you can easily apply effects like Drop Shadow to enhance its appearance. Go to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow to add depth to your outlined text.
- Other Effects: Explore additional effects such as Inner Glow, Outer Glow, or Bevel and Emboss to add more dimension and make your text stand out.
Best Practices for Outlining Text
Outlining text can be a powerful tool in your InDesign workflow, but it’s important to follow best practices to ensure you maintain flexibility and quality.
1. Keep a Copy of Editable Text
Once text is outlined, it is no longer editable. To avoid losing flexibility, duplicate the text frame before outlining it. This way, if you need to make any edits to the wording or typography later, you still have an editable version available.
2. Outline Text Only When Necessary
Outlining text should generally be reserved for situations where you need to ensure consistency or create special effects. Avoid outlining text if it’s not necessary, especially for body copy, as it can make future edits difficult and may increase file size.
3. Work on Separate Layers
To keep your workflow organized, place your outlined text on a separate layer. This allows you to easily manage and differentiate between outlined and editable text elements. Use the Layers Panel to create a new layer before outlining text and drag the text frames into this new layer.
4. Check Before Printing
If you’re preparing a document for print, always check with your printer before outlining text. While some printers require outlined text, others may prefer embedded fonts. Outlining can also increase file size, so it’s important to ensure that it doesn’t negatively impact the printing process.
Outlining vs. Using PDF for Font Preservation
One of the main reasons for outlining text is to ensure that fonts display correctly when sharing files. However, an alternative approach is to export your InDesign file as a PDF with embedded fonts. This allows you to maintain text editability while ensuring font consistency.
Exporting as a PDF with Embedded Fonts
- Go to File > Export: Choose Adobe PDF (Print) as the format.
- Adjust Settings: In the Export Adobe PDF dialog box, go to the Advanced tab and make sure that fonts are set to be embedded.
- Export: Click Export to create a PDF that retains the fonts, eliminating the need to outline the text.
This approach is often more convenient when working with text that might need edits later, as it maintains the ability to copy and edit text without converting it into vector shapes.
Conclusion
Outlining text in Adobe InDesign is a useful feature that can help ensure your text appears correctly across different devices and printers, and it provides flexibility for creating custom visual effects. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can convert text into vector shapes, apply unique styles, and adjust individual characters to create visually stunning layouts. However, remember that outlined text cannot be edited like normal text, so always keep a copy of the original version to preserve flexibility.
Whether you’re preparing artwork for print or creating intricate design effects, mastering the process of outlining text will be a valuable addition to your InDesign skill set. Happy designing!
