Indesign text problems

In my leading box there's a parenthesis(14.4pt) around the size. I think it should be on ''auto''. However, it makes my text big and won't show the original 12pt font size. In other words, my font size says it's 12pt, but it's way bigger than 12pt. I think it's the leading box that's affecting this problem. Any suggestion?
Indesign text problems
The leading box is telling you that (a) you've chosen Auto for your leading -- that's what the parentheses mean -- and (b) because your text is 12 point and your choice for autoleading is 120% the value of the leading is 14.4 points.



Have you checked the scale of the text frame holding the text? If that is larger than 100% then that would explain the text being larger than the 12 points displayed.



Which version of InDesign are you using?



Dave
Indesign text problems
I'm using CS4 right now for a class assignment. I check my scale and it's at 100%. My font size says it's at 12pt and showing like a 30pt. In order for me to make it near a 12pt font, I have to change the 12pt into 4 or 6pt.

Does this happen to all text in all documents or just some particular text in a particular document?



Can you export it as a snippet and post it somewhere so we can take a look at it?



Dave

It's happening in all documents. All i know is that my insert point is always big. I'm not sure how to export it.

Have you tried trashing your preferences? Restart InDesign and immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift. You'll be prompted to reset your preferences. Choose OK. If the problem persists then maybe you could provide a screen capture showing the condition you're seeing.



Dave

Also, does this happen regardless of what font is selected for the text?

Dave, I tried the CTRL+ALT+SHIFT and it didn't work. I have the screenshot and it's not allowing me to post it.

Thomas, yes it happens with all the fonts.

To post a screen shot, you need to upload it somewhere on the web and then post a link to the file. If you don't have your own web site, there are a number of free services you can use -- although I'm not familiar with them because I do use my own web site.



When you say CTRL+ALT+SHIFT didn't work, do you mean restoring the preferences failed to make a difference or you didn't get the message about restoring them?



Dave

I mean't that restoring the preferences failed to make a difference. Even when I create the text frame, the letters bunch up on one line and not allowing to show as a paragraph.

That's sounds like a different problem. Do you have No Break activated for your text?



Dave

When you say ''bunch up'' do you mean successive lines are being drawn on top of the preceding lines, or or that they aren't showing up at all?



Also, it wasn't clear to me that your response to Dave's question about all documents being affected included new ones or only existing docs. Replacing preferences will have no effect on any document already in existence -- you have to fix those manually. Below are the places to look for oddities in your text defaults, which are set for the application with no documents open. For existing documents, open the doc and look in the same places, but be sure there is no active text cursor or text frame selected.



With no documents open, look in the character panel and tell us what is listed for font, size, and leading. Open the panel menu and also be

sure ''No Break'' does not have a check mark next to it.



Now open the Paragraph Styles panel and double-click on the [Basic Paragraph] style. What is listed under basic character formats? Are there any other styles listed?



Open the Character Styles panel. Are there any styles listed besides [None]? if so, is one of them highlighted?



Open the Object Styles panel. Double-click on [Basic Text Frame]. Is the Paragraph styles box checked? If so, what style is being used? Are there any other styles besides the two [Basic ...] styles and [None] listed in the panel? If so, does one of those have the little default icon with the ''T'' inside it next to the style name?



Make a new document and set some type. Is it still wrong?



Peter

Peter,I mean that the words are on top of words. For my character panel it shows: Times New Roman, 12pt, leading (14.4pt).



Paragraph style-basic character format: same as above, but Ligatures is check off.



Character style: none



In the object style: None,Basic Graphic Frames,Basic Text Frame.

Did you start a new document and try to set type?



When you tried replacing your preferences before, did you see the confirmation dialog and respond that you really did mean to replace the preferences?

I'm not understanding when you say ''set type''. I open a new document and it has the same settings from the existing document.



It ask me if I want to reset the preference and I click yes.

Also I would like to add that when I started the new document, my zoom level started at 498% Is that too high?

If you're looking at your page magnified by almost 500% that might be a clue as to why 12 point type looks so large.



Dave

By set type I mean draw a text frame and start typing. Does the new document behave the same as the old?

Dave, How can I change the zoom level before I set up my new document? Because if I just begin a new document, the zoom level will automatically set to 500% or more.

Peter, yes I set my text frame and it behave the same way.

Did things EVER work correctly?



Can we get a verification of the version and build numbers, please? Open the help menu and then hold down the Ctrl key while choosing About InDesign. Let us know the version number (including what is listed in parentheses) in the upper left of the detailed dialog that should pop up.



I'm beginning to think there is something major that has been damaged in the installation and that you may need to re-install. You can try a ''repair'' from the original installation disk.

Are you working on a very small document on a very large screen? Is the document fitting within the window at 498% or are you only seeing a fraction of it?



Change the zoom level to something sensible (depends on your screen what sensible means -- on mine, a zoom value of 136% is about actual size). Then save your document using Save As to overwrite the original. That should cause it to open at the zoom setting you chose.



Dave

New documents should be opening so that the page fits in the window.

Indeed, but if the window is on a 30-inch screen and the document is 4 inches tall by 6 inches wide, then perhaps 500% is to be expected.



Dave

Absolutley. Just want to be sure that new docs are, indeed, showing the whole page and not some small chunk, which would lead me to think there was a SERIOUS problem with the installation. I don't know of any way to change the default new doc zoom, do you? Is it scriptable?



Peter

Not in the sense that a new document would automatically open at some other percentage. You can run a script on the open event. You can even run it ''after'' the open. But even though it is after the open it is before the window is drawn and so you can't actually do anything useful at that point in time.



Dave