InDesign Help

Shannon, a different Shannon from yesterday strangely enough, writes in ands asks, “Seems like a simple task, but how do you apply an arc to a text? I’m trying
to wrap text around my co. logo and I can’t seem to figure it out.” Unfortunately I don’t have the logo but I’ll still answer the question best I can based on the information given to me. I don’t know if Shannon is on a PC or Mac or which version of InDesign she has but since I’m in front of my test computer at the moment I’ll assume she’s running Windows XP and InDesign CS2. Everything should be basically the same, regardless or version or OS though.

How to arc text in InDesign CS2 or CS3:

1. Make a circle. Do this by selecting the ellipse tool and expanding out while holding down the shift key.

2. Select the Type on Path Tool (found two square above the ellipse tool) and click on the path where you wish to type.

That’s the quickest and easiest way to arc text. You may be able to use the type on path tool directly on your logo, if not you’ll probably want to create a shape in the form of your logo and you may not want to have an exact arc. For those needs I’d recommend reshaping using the pen tool as described in a past post or making an oval that suits your quasi arc needs. After reshaping just use the type on path tool and you’re golden. I hope that helps.

InDesign Help reader, Shannon, recently wrote in with a question about files with an IDLK file extension. Her problem ended up being a bit complex and somewhat specific to her permissions/network but I thought it would be beneficial to all to briefly go over what IDLK files are and what they aren’t.

IDLK files are created when you open up an indd document. They should appear in the same directory you opened your original file from and they exist to aid in work flows. The only point of the files is to keep others from opening the same file and doing redundant work. If you have multiple people working on a shared document you generally don’t want multiple people making changes at the same time. For more advanced shared work flows I recommend InCopy but that would be a whole new set of articles.

IDLK files are known as Lock Files, they prevent a coworker from opening your document when you are working on it.

IDLK files do not contain file information

You can open a file that is currently in use by making a copy of the indd and then opening it.

People tend to only notice lock files when they cause problems but I’m a firm believer in their benefits. Programs like Adobe Acrobat do not have a similar feature and as such have caused massive problems in the past when multiple people have simultaneously worked on the same document. Using InCopy is a much better way of sharing the work load between one document and something to look into purchasing if you use such a work flow on a regular basis.

That’s about it for idlks, they have a limit use and don’t do much more than keep others from editing a document you’re currently working on. I hope that helps and as always; happy InDesigning.

For those of you who did a little too much imbibing over the holidays.

Download Font by clicking HERE

YES. You can.

But remember that if you have (or ever have) installed InDesign CS3 on that machine before, you need to uninstall it (using the official uninstaller) before you can install CS2 successfully.

More info at PrintPlanet.

Good luck.