You can also transform any shape into a text frame by simply double-clicking your type cursor onto the shape.

Select the Type Tool and drag onto the page to create a new text frame, or click into an existing text frame to activate editing. The Type Tool (T) is your gateway tool to putting together your very own text-based designs. InDesign is a publishing program, and as a result is perfectly designed for creating pro-standard typography. Click again on one of these white squares to select the anchor-point directly, and drag or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to adjust.Īs a beginner to InDesign, you’ll want to get to grips with creating text. Click on the object with the Direct Selection Tool and you’ll notice that small white squares appear around the edges. I tend to use this when editing the anchor-points of shapes or vector elements. Next is the Direct Selection Tool (Shortcut: A), which is the white arrow sitting below the Selection Tool on the panel, is better suited to adjusting the position of individual points. Top tip: Hold down Shift while using this tool to keep the proportions of an element fixed. Grab text frames, image frames and shapes with this tool to move them elsewhere, or click and drag corners of objects to adjust size.

Use this tool to, you guessed it, select things! This is your go-to tool for when you want to move or scale items. You can find it at the very top of the Tools panel. Top beginner tool number one – the Selection Tool (Shortcut: V, Escape), which is the tool activated by default when you first open up InDesign.

Indesign for beginners