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how to use paragraph styles in indesign

HeyBraza points at the styles panel and shows whether you need a paragraph style or a character style for what you've selected.

paragraph styles let you format a heading or body once and reuse it across the whole document - change the style and every instance updates. the catch is paragraph vs character styles. here's how to set one up and apply it.

or do it yourself

  1. 1format one paragraph the way you want it (font, size, spacing) with the type tool.
  2. 2open window > styles > paragraph styles, then click the panel menu and choose 'new paragraph style' - it captures your formatting.
  3. 3name the style, click ok, then click into any other paragraph and click the style name to apply it.
  4. 4to change every instance at once, double-click the style, edit its settings, and every paragraph using it updates instantly.
  5. 5use a character style (window > styles > character styles) instead when you only want to format part of a line, like one bold word.

let HeyBraza do this with you

HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.

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common questions

what's the difference between paragraph and character styles?

a paragraph style formats the whole paragraph (alignment, spacing, font); a character style formats only selected characters within it, like a bold or coloured word.

why does a '+' appear next to my paragraph style name?

the '+' means an override - you've manually changed formatting on top of the style. alt-click (option-click) the style to clear overrides and snap back to it.

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