One of the signs of a very rich application is that it includes features that have been around for many years but which even some advanced users don’t realize are there. Such is the case with InDesign’s ability to do math. For example, if you want to move a frame to the right by 9p3 (9 picas, 3 points), just add “+9p3” after the current value in the X field of the Control palette. When you press Return/Enter, InDesign does the math and moves the object.
ID can handle all basic math operations: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/). And it handles these in any field in which you can type a number or measurement. For example, if you want a new document that is three times wider than 115mm, you can type “3*115mm” in the Width field of the New Document dialog box. If you want a gradient to be at the angle of one-fifth of 90 degrees, you can type “90/5” in the Angle field of the Gradient palette. Anywhere!
If your current measurement system is inches, you don’t have to type “in” or “i” in your equation; it assumes it for you. But you can also combine measurement systems — for example, “20cm-3p” is three picas less than 20 cm.
Note that InDesign can only perform one operation at a time. That is, it can handle “4in+2p” but it cannot handle “4in+2p-1p” because that’s two different operations. (Yes, I’m aware that QuarkXPress can do multiple operations in one equation. But we’re not here to compare. ;) )
What are your favorite math tricks in InDesign?
This article was last modified on December 18, 2021
This article was first published on October 30, 2006
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