10 Must-Know InDesign Shortcuts to Streamline Your Workflow
Efficiency is crucial for meeting deadlines as a designer, and Adobe InDesign features numerous shortcuts that save time and effort. Here's a list of 10 essential commands to seamlessly integrate into your workflow and boost your speed.
1. Text Alignment
Quickly cycle through how your text would appear aligned left, right, center, or justified with this shortcut.
| Alignment | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Left | Shift + Ctrl + L | Shift + Cmd + L |
| Right | Shift + Ctrl + R | Shift + Cmd + R |
| Center | Shift + Ctrl + C | Shift + Cmd + C |
| Justified | Shift + Ctrl + J | Shift + Cmd + J |
| Fully Justified | Shift + Ctrl + F | Shift + Cmd + F |
2. Paste in Exact Position
Copy or cut an object from one page and paste it into the exact same position on another. This shortcut saves me time that would otherwise be spent repositioning the object and ensures consistency throughout the document.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Paste in place | Shift + Ctrl + Alt + V |
Shift + Option + Cmd + V |
3. Scale Frame and Image Together
Want to scale the image and frame together instead of one at a time? There's a shortcut for that.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Scale image and frame |
Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Scale |
Shift + Cmd + Option + Scale |
4. Navigation Shortcuts
There are shortcuts to quickly zoom in or out and scroll around as you work on your document.
| Direction | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom in (out) |
Alt + Scroll wheel up (down) |
Option + Scroll wheel up (down) |
| Scroll up (down) |
Scroll wheel up (down) |
Scroll wheel up (down) |
| Hand tool | Hold spacebar + left click and drag |
Hold spacebar + left click and drag |
5. Lock and Unlock Objects
Instantly lock and unlock objects with these shortcuts, instead of navigating through the right-click menu.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Lock object | Ctrl + L | Cmd + L |
| Unlock all on spread |
Ctrl + Alt + L | Option + Cmd + L |
6. High Quality Display or Typical Display
Switch to high quality display for an accurate view of how your graphics look, then toggle back to typical display to improve InDesign's performance.
| Display | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| High quality | Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + H |
Ctrl + Option + Cmd + H |
| Typical | Alt + Ctrl + Z | Option + Cmd + Z |
7. Increase or Decrease Leading
Use this shortcut to increase or decrease the leading in your text.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Increase (decr.) leading |
Alt + down (up) | Option + down (up) |
8. Fit Frame to Content
Quickly fit the frame to its content without navigating through menus or icons on the control panel. This is one of my most frequently used shortcuts.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Fit frame to content |
Ctrl + Alt + C | Option + Cmd + C |
9. Override Parent Page Items
When necessary, use this shortcut to unlock parent page items that need to be altered.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Override parent page item |
Shift + Ctrl + Click item |
Shift + Cmd + Click item |
10. Scale Image Within Frame
Use this shortcut to scale an image while keeping the frame the same size.
| Command | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Scale image up (down) |
Ctrl + > (<) | Cmd + > (<) |
You can find more Adobe keyboard shortcuts here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/keyboard-shortcuts.html
