InDesign 19.5 Adds Generative Expand, History Panel, and Find/Change Text Case

InDesign 19.5 delivers three significant new features. One uses generative AI, the other two fulfill long-standing feature requests

Mike Rankin

The July 2024 release of InDesign (version 19.5), sports three significant new features that are worth knowing about: Generative Expand, a History panel, and Find/Change Text Case. We’ll explore each one in future posts, but here’s a quick rundown to start.

Generative Expand

Official description: Generative Expand intelligently fills in missing areas when you resize an image, saving time and effort. For instance, it seamlessly adds background elements, like sky or grass, for a more complete composition.

Currently, Generative Expand is only available in the InDesign versions of English International and English North America.

To extend the four sides of this photo, simply open up the frame as far as you want the image to go, and click Generative Expand (You can also add a prompt if desired).
After using Generative Expand

The History panel

Official description: With the History panel, you can undo and redo multiple steps from a single panel, providing flexibility and control over your editing process. You can quickly revert to a previous state, delete it, or create a new document with it.

The History panel makes it easy to retrace your steps during a session. You can also create a new document from any history state.

Find/Change Text Case

Official description: You can seamlessly adjust text cases, ensuring design consistency and streamlining your workflow. Use the case enhancements from the Find/Change panel to simplify bulk text styling tasks.

InDesign 19.5 new feature Find/Change text case
The four options for changing text case via Find/Change
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This article was last modified on July 18, 2024

This article was first published on July 18, 2024

Comments (7)

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  1. James Dempsey
    August 10, 2024

    Is it me, or did Adobe also add more flexible UI scaling options in the preferences? If it’s new, it’s an extremely welcome addition!

    Reply
    1. Mike Rankin
      August 12, 2024

      I don’t see any difference in the UI scaling preferences. Nothing has changed since it was introduced in 2022.

      Reply
  2. Daniel Selzer
    July 23, 2024

    Does generative expand only work with jpgs? Prompt isn’t coming up on a placed TIFF, but is on a jpg.

    Reply
    1. Mike Rankin
      July 23, 2024

      Yes, that seems to be the case. I’m only seeing the option for Generative Expand with placed JPGs.

      Reply
      1. David Blatner
        July 23, 2024

        Seems to work with PNG files, too. But not TIFF or PSD (and definitely not any vector formats). That’s frustrating. Well, it’s technically still in beta!

      2. Mike Rankin
        July 23, 2024

        I’d say it works with PNGs but with an asterisk because if your PNG has transparency it won’t be preserved in the generated image. Neither will the file format. Likewise, if the JPG was in CMYK, it will be replaced with an RGB image. As far as I can tell, you always end up with a flat RGB JPG.

  3. David Blatner
    July 19, 2024

    Thanks, Mike! It’s so great to see some new features appear in InDesign, even in the middle of the year.

    Reply
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