Paragraph Spacing & Working with Tabs

Topics Covered in This InDesign Tutorial:

Paragraph Spacing, Tabs

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

Mastering paragraph spacing and tabs is fundamental to professional typography in InDesign. In this comprehensive exercise, you'll gain proficiency in controlling paragraph space before and after, adjusting leading for optimal readability, and creating clean, professional tabbed layouts that present data clearly and attractively. These skills are essential for everything from business correspondence to financial reports and technical documentation.

Creating the Letter

We'll begin by establishing a professional document structure using industry-standard measurements and layout principles.

1. Choose File > New > Document.

   • At the top, click on the Print tab.
   • Click once on the Letter (8.5 X 11 in) preset.

   • On the right, set Units to Picas.

     Picas remain InDesign's default measurement system and are the preferred unit among typography professionals for their precision in text layout. One pica equals 12 points, providing finer control over spacing and alignment than inches or millimeters.

   • Uncheck Facing Pages.

   • Expand the Margins section if needed, and make all Margins 1 in (InDesign will automatically convert the 1 in to 6p0 for you.)

2. Click Create.
3. Go to File > Place.
4. In the InDesign Class folder, double–click on Sales info.txt to choose it.

5. The text will be loaded into your cursor. Position the cursor precisely at the top margin guide (indicated by the pink guide) and click once.

   This creates a text frame that spans the full width of your margin guides, automatically flowing from your click point to the bottom margin. This technique ensures consistent text boundaries and professional spacing.

Formatting the Text

Now we'll apply typographic fundamentals to create readable, professional text formatting that enhances communication effectiveness.

1. In the View menu, select Zoom In to magnify the text for precise editing.
2. To reveal paragraph breaks, tabs, and spaces, choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.
3. With the text frame still selected, activate the Type tool .

4. In the Control panel (at the top of the screen), apply these professional typography specifications:

   Size :	12 pt
   Leading :	17 pt

5. Select the first 2 paragraphs.

6. In the Control panel, on the far left side, click the Paragraph Formatting Controls button .

7. In the Control panel, navigate to Space After and enter p6 (refer to the screenshot below if you need to locate this option).

   

   NOTE: The display will show 0p6 but you can efficiently type just p6 as a shortcut.

8. Select the column labels line (Color Store 1 etc.).

9. Set the Space Before to p6.

10. Select the final paragraph of text (These figures will…).

11. Set the Space Before to 1p.

Tabs: Formatting the Statistics

Professional data presentation requires precise tab alignment. We'll now transform raw tabbed data into a polished, easy-to-scan format that enhances data comprehension.

1. Select the column labels line (Color Store 1 etc.).
2. In the Control panel, switch to the Character options using the button on the left.

3. In the Control panel, change the font weight from Regular to Bold.

   TIP: For faster workflow, use the keyboard shortcut Command–Shift–B (Mac) or Control–Shift–B (Windows) to apply bold formatting to the current font.

4. Select the column labels line plus all 4 data rows (5 lines total).
5. Go to the Type menu and choose Tabs.

6. At the top left of the Tabs panel, ensure the Left-Justified Tab button is selected.

7. Create your first tab stop by clicking in the light gray area above the ruler—a small arrow will appear to mark the position.

   

8. Drag the arrow until the X field displays approximately 9p0 (precise alignment isn't critical at this stage).

9. Create a second tab by clicking above the ruler near the 15p mark.

10. Drag this new arrow to approximately 16p0.

11. Add your final tab stop at 23p0.

12. Review your tab alignment in the document. If the layout appears balanced and professional, close the Tabs panel. If adjustments are needed, fine-tune the tab arrows before closing the panel.

13. From the File menu, select Save As.

14. Name the document yourname-tabs.indd, and choose the appropriate save location:

    Mac:	If you're currently in the InDesign Class folder, simply click Save. Otherwise, navigate to Desktop > Class Files > InDesign Class and click Save.
    Windows:	If the file path bar displays InDesign Class, click Save. If not, select Desktop from the location menu, then navigate to Class Files > InDesign Class and click Save.