InDesign 2.0: Numbered Lists
- Thread starter neuroman
- Start date
... can't be done inside InDesign as far as I know. I've just been looking though every menu and the Help just in case.
My best suggestion is to use Adobe GoLive to write a list then copy/paste to InDesign or as you said use MS Word or MS Excel. Maybe AppleWorks does it - but I haven't got it to test.
I thought you might be able to use the new table feature then sort it by a numbered column then use the convert table to text feature - but sadly no table sort in InDesign - again best to stick it in Excel then import the table back - which works pretty well. Then convert it to text or leave as a table.
Finally.... InDesign rules! It's so much better than Quark.
My best suggestion is to use Adobe GoLive to write a list then copy/paste to InDesign or as you said use MS Word or MS Excel. Maybe AppleWorks does it - but I haven't got it to test.
I thought you might be able to use the new table feature then sort it by a numbered column then use the convert table to text feature - but sadly no table sort in InDesign - again best to stick it in Excel then import the table back - which works pretty well. Then convert it to text or leave as a table.
Finally.... InDesign rules! It's so much better than Quark.
neuroman, in a famous movie ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), Paul Newman (Butch) utters an immortal line to Robert Redford (Sundance, an expert gunslinger): anonymously playing cards in an almost deserted saloon, Sundance is suddenly accused of cheating; he insists he wasn't cheating, then pleads with Butch to talk to his accuser, to get him to ask the pair to stay. He won't accept, but he wants to be ASKED to stay. Butch does his best, but to no avail, and, half lit by the afternoon sun cascading in through the saloon doors, delivers the classic line:
"I can't help you, Sundance."
InDesign doesn't do bulleted or numbered lists automatically. You have to format them yourself, or create a script or style to do it for you.
"I can't help you, Sundance."
InDesign doesn't do bulleted or numbered lists automatically. You have to format them yourself, or create a script or style to do it for you.
Well, that really make my day - but, yes, "You can't help me". Correct me if I'm wrong, but do giants like Adobe & Quark look at the calendar often? Jeez, it's 2002!!! How many basic word processors has this function? Adobe InDesign was the light in the tunnel, compared to what Quarks has to offer - expensive program, limited functionality, poor performance. Now I'm a bit dissapointed - clearly because it's one of the most basic functions anyone will look for in a DTP program...By the way, what exactly is a Microsoft Word - word prosessor? page layout app?
Just my 0.1 USD (adjusted for inflation)
P.S. By the way, the new Adobe site really sucks. For example see the new Macromedia Site.
Just my 0.1 USD (adjusted for inflation)
P.S. By the way, the new Adobe site really sucks. For example see the new Macromedia Site.
I'm right in the middle of writing my Masters thesis on InDesign 2.0, and I can't anyone imagine using numbered (especially) or bulleted lists; since my degree will be in Technical Communication, I think I can say that with at least a little authority. It's really not a problem to create these manually; AppleWorks is the best: it lets you go back and reformat anything as an outline, numbered list, bulleted list, plus ten or twelve other styles; I strongly suspect you can easily program InDesign and Quark to allow for this. Word is a piece of junk: no matter how adamantly you tell the program that you DON'T want a numbered list, it always tries to force one on you if you come even remotely close to creating one manually. By the way, Word is a through-and-through word processing program. Ask someone who's only used Word about leading or line tracking or trapping or halftone screens or optical kerning or any of the other million and one things basic to page layout and you'll get a dumb look followed by a blank stare. (Well, to be fair, you might get these things from a Word user under any circumstance, but definitely here; Word is NOT a page-layout program.)
Well, you said "a little authority"... let me explain it to you. Yes, I know that bulleted list are a bit outdated from designer's point of view. But most technical manuals use bulleted lists, not to mention the GRAND EXCUSE: The client wants it THAT way. Yes, I also monitored closely what happened with CorelDRAW through the years - it became "Jack-of-all-trades" application, trying to do everything - and fail on each and every point. I don't want "shadow" effects in InDesign - I'm sure, noone with a little experience & taste would use such things in a page layout program (or at least, will use the proper tool for that task). But I do think that lists are very basic task and they should be a part of every respectable page layout program. Or (correct me if I'm wrong) only word-processors (Word, AppleWorks, mariner Write, etc) are eligible to do lists? I doubt...
