A Script for Accessing OpenType Features in InDesign

Mike Rankin

2

It’s great that InDesign allows you to access the many typographic features of some OpenType fonts. But the way you access those features leaves something to be desired, especially when working with large volumes of text. Normally, you have to select the text and either use the OpenType adornment (which some folks would rather disable) or the Control panel menu.

But now there’s a script that makes accessing OpenType features easier than ever. It was written by Roland Dreger and you can download and read the full set of instructions at GitHub.

Once the script is installed, run it and you’ll get a large non-modal dialog (i.e. it can stay open like a panel) where you can turn OpenType features on and off.

You can apply OpenType features to a selection of text, an entire paragraph (just have your cursor anywhere in the paragraph), or all the text in a text frame (select the frame).

The script makes it a cinch to apply things like regular ligatures,

discretionary ligatures,

fractions,

figure styles,

And much, much more.

As an added bonus you can even create a character style in the script’s dialog that applies the selected OpenType features.

Just be aware that there’s no option to apply the style to the current text, so you’ll have to remember to do that manually.

I know I’ll be using the script a lot when working with OpenType features. Thanks, Roland!