Captions – Adobe InDesign User Manual
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Captions
Note:
Generate a caption from an image
Specify caption setup options
Create captions using variables
Define caption variables
A caption is descriptive text that appears below an image. InDesign provides several methods for creating captions that display the image
metadata you specify. InDesign provides a special caption variable that displays the specified metadata of an image. If a text frame containing
the variable is next to or grouped with the image, the variable displays the metadata of that image. You can generate a caption from an existing
image or while placing it, and you can create a text frame that contains a caption variable.
For video tutorials on generating captions from metadata, see
.
Caption generated from image metadata
Generate a caption from an image
When you generate a caption from an existing image, you can generate either a static caption, which can be modified only manually, or a live
caption, which is updated if the image or the image metadata changes. For example, if you move a live caption next to a different image, the
caption displays metadata from the different image.
When you choose Generate Live Caption, a new variable is generated automatically based on the current caption settings. For example, if the
Description metadata type is selected in the Caption Setup dialog box, a variable called “Live Metadata Caption: Description” is created.
1. To determine the content and appearance of the caption you generate, choose Object > Captions > Caption Settings, and specify
settings. See
.
2. Choose Object > Captions > Generate Live Caption or Generate Static Caption.
When you generate a live caption that displays a long string of text, such as a Description, the caption does not break across lines
because it is a variable. If a caption is compressed into a single line, consider converting a live caption to a static caption. To convert a live
caption to a static caption, select the live caption and choose Object > Captions > Convert To Static Caption.
You can also generate a static caption while placing an image. In the Place dialog box, select Create Static Captions, and then place the
caption text frame after placing the image.
Specify caption setup options
Use the Captions Settings dialog box to determine the content and formatting of captions you generate. These captions affect only future
captions you generate, not existing captions.
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