Adobe InDesign CS5 - Manual (Page 436)

430 USING INDESIGN
Frames and objects
Last updated 11/16/2011
Duplicate a selected object as you transform
You can duplicate an object each time you change its position, orientation, or proportions. For example, you can create
a flower by drawing one petal, setting its reference point at the base of the petal, and repeatedly rotating at incremental
angles, simultaneously duplicating to leave behind a new copy of the petal at each angle.
❖ During a transformation, do one of the following:
• If you’re dragging the Selection tool , the Rotate tool , the Scale tool , or the Shear tool , start
dragging, and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) after you begin dragging. To constrain the
duplicate’s transformation, Alt+Shift-drag (Windows) or Option+Shift-drag (Mac OS).
• If you’re specifying a value in the Transform or Control panel, press Alt+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return
(Mac
OS) after you’ve typed the value.
• If you’re pressing arrow keys to move objects, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you press the keys.
Use Step and Repeat to duplicate objects
Use the Step and Repeat command to instantly create rows or columns of duplicates. For example, you can fill a page
with evenly spaced duplicates of a single business card design.
1 Select the object or objects you want to duplicate.
2 Choose Edit > Step and Repeat.
3 For Repeat Count, specify how many duplicates you want to make, not counting the original.
4 For Horizontal Offset and Vertical Offset, specify how far to shift the position of each new duplicate from the
previous duplicate along the x and y axes, respectively, and click OK.
To create a page full of duplicates, first use Step and Repeat with Vertical Offset set to 0 (zero); this will create one row
of duplicates. Then select the entire row and use Step and Repeat with Horizontal Offset set to 0; this will repeat the
row down the page.
Duplicate objects into a grid
By dragging and using modifier keys, you can create a grid of object identical to the object being duplicated.
For a video on using grid mode, see http://tv.adobe.com/go/4949/ .
1 Select an object.
2 Using the Selection tool, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and begin dragging.
3 While still dragging, release the Alt or Option key. Press the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to change the number
of columns. Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the number of rows. Drag a rectangle to specify
the size of the grid.
4 Release the mouse button.
Create nonprinting objects
You might want to create objects that appear onscreen, but will not be printed or appear in portable versions of the
document.
You can also use layers to selectively hide or show elements in a document, and you can assign layers a non-printing
status.
1 Select the object or text frame that you don’t want to be printed.
2 Open the Attributes panel (Window > Output > Attributes).