InDesign: Paragraph vs. Character Styles

Are you confused about the difference between paragraph styles and character styles in InDesign? Not to worry, because I explain the purpose of each in this week’s video. I also explain how I go about creating my styles initially.
I’ll be covering much more on styles in upcoming videos, so be sure to let me know what I should cover next. Leave me a comment or question here, or find me on social media (links below).
Twitter: / ericagamet
Instagram: / ericagamet
Facebook: / learnwitherica
Snapchat: @ekwoman
Website: ericagamet.com

[@manamedia]

Even 4 years later, this tutorial is profound, even if it's addressing the basics. Thank you Erica! Very much appreciated! xx

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it’s still helpful!

[@adriennegrace8870]

Sending this to a few colleagues. We have a few people that are newbie INDD users and this encapsulates the info. Thank you!

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@saschac1895]

Thank you Erica. This is the clearest explanation I've heard on this subject. Very helpful indeed.

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@maggiebolden2008]

Thank you for explaining this concept. You're a great instructor and the way you explain concepts is clear and well thought out.

[@ursalaoutrageous9249]

Thank you SO much! Been InDesigning for nearly twenty years and you have cleared away a big stumbling block. Of course I subscribed!

[@EricaGamet]

So glad it was helpful!

[@Ingeniousconcept1]

Wow,. Thank you very much!!!! For the longest time. . I never got the two until now.

[@EricaGamet]

Glad to help!

[@dianemurphy1403]

Super, very grateful I found your videos, thank you for your clear instructions!

[@EricaGamet]

So glad they're helpful!

[@corinnecowper1339]

The best explanation ever! I've been struggling with a really long text heavy document and character and paragraph styles have been driving me batty. I've now found the solution - YAY!

[@EricaGamet]

So glad it was helpful! -EG

[@Gr1g0l1]

I've been looking for someone to explain this clearly for the past 4 days and get frustrated everytime because they just dance around the point. THIS was exactly what i needed to hear, clear and to the point. Thanks for that

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful! It makes it easier to build styles once you know the difference!

[@rastahailu7335]

You make it clear and easy. Thank You.

[@brushfuse]

Nice video. Very clear explanation for those of us who never read the manual.

[@EricaGamet]

Wait. There’s a manual for this thing? 😂 Glad to help clear up confusion on styles!

[@zuraad]

Hi Ericka! Thank you for these vids. I appreciate you. Extremely Helpful!

[@EricaGamet]

I'm so glad!

[@cowgirlinthesand3499]

At last, you explained it soooo well!

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Luna_2085]

I've watched a couple of your videos since yesterday, and I just had to write to thank you, the way you explain things is very clear and enjoyable.

[@EricaGamet]

Thank you... glad you are enjoying them! I do some videos over on the InDesignSecrets KZbin channel, if you want more!

[@Luna_2085]

@@EricaGamet thank you! I subscribed :)

[@cakebakerb1846]

Erica, I am taking an InDesign course at the moment, but when away from the class, I review the material in the next lesson. The Paragraph and Character styles were confusing to me but your tutorial was very helpful in preparing me for the upcoming lesson. To add to that, you have a very clear, well explained tutorial that gets you headed on the right track. And your voice is very engaging, making it easy to understand what you are teaching. Thank you so much!

[@EricaGamet]

Well, I’m happy the explanation helped! Now you’ll be all ready for the class…good luck!

[@brendanpotash]

Elegantly simple, painless and understandable explanation of a muddy ID detail. Thank you!

[@EricaGamet]

Once you get used to them, you'll love them!

[@stephenwhitehead21]

Thank you Erica, this is so easy to follow. I have been through a number of tutorials and come out the other end not knowing what to do. You are a great teacher! I am a retired nurse in the UK and it's not easy to find help when you are trying to develop new skills. Well done!

[@EricaGamet]

Thank you! When you've exhausted these videos (since I haven't done any new ones in a while), check out the ones on InDesign Secrets' channel... I do many of them over there! kzbin.info

[@alistoica6273]

I searched the answer for quite some time now, thank you! Finally KZbin recommeded me your video.

[@MFJLabs]

Nice job Erica -- concise and content-rich. You're a natural. Thanks Best, Frank

[@EricaGamet]

Thanks, Frank! I'm glad it was useful for you!

[@ANEWCreationLimited]

Very helpful explanation and house analogy! Thank you, Erica!

[@calvancandy8384]

Very well explained. Paragraph and character styles are nice control centers thank you

[@EricaGamet]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the explanation...and, yes, they are great to use!

[@mrkjsmt]

Thanks! Clears a lot to me

[@gigikingsland4902]

Erica, this was brilliant! Clear descriptions of the creation and usage of paragraph styles, and layering character styles on top without causing typographical havoc throughout my documents. I look forward to learning more from your tutorials. Thank you! Now I just need to somehow magically fix my existing mess in a 120 page (4 separate 'chapters') book. 🙄 I wish I'd taken the time to learn this before! ☺

[@EricaGamet]

The important part is you ARE learning it, now! Well done, you! You might be able to use a script assign styles to text you've already formatted. I have one on my site (though it's old and the author is no longer supporting it)... but it takes formatted type and assigns paragraph and character styles. www.ericagamet.com/create-indesign-text-styles-automatically/

[@wendyreetz4634]

always great to get refreshers on things like this. thanks :)

[@EricaGamet]

+Wendy Reetz Sure thing! If you don't grasp this basic concept, it can be hard to get more advanced on styles.

[@wendyreetz4634]

oh so true!

[@BlueskyNewsNet]

hi

[@jaymeburns6752]

FANTASTIC tutorial!

[@EricaGamet]

Thank you...glad it was helpful to you!

[@bhinderbinder]

I'm SO glad I watched this and really took my time, as well as practiced along with you. Thanks for a great video.

[@EricaGamet]

You're welcome...glad it was helpful for you! Practice makes perfect, right?

[@bhinderbinder]

Yes. There is definitely a learning curve with InDesign. It's necessary to learn one feature at a time.

[@coralcohen1680]

Thank you Erica! Great video! Very good explanation. love the house. that's what really made me understand

[@EricaGamet]

Glad that analogy helped! It makes sense once you can get a clear picture of something in the "real" world, right? Enjoy!

[@faith9chang]

Thank you for your excellent explanation and instructions - very much appreciated.

[@JeffreyPWest]

This is VERY clearly explained here, thank you!

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ytubeyou]

Very useful! Thanks a lot. I am trying to do a restaurant menu and I wanted to give it a go to Indesign but couldn't find the way to use paragraphs and characters styles for the text lines of the menu with the price of the dish in a different size.

[@SuperK231]

You explained this so clearly! Thank you so much :)

[@dustine6421]

Very easy to retain. Thank so much! Highly recommed!!!!

[@EricaGamet]

Thank you so much!

[@aurelia1965]

Thank you very mutch ERICA GAMET!!

[@adrianprime]

It was very helpful! Thanks~

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@IvanIvan-nc3kd]

Exellent video !

[@EricaGamet]

Thanks!

[@graphiczonestudio]

Thanks for explaining with details and teaching us thanks a lot keep it up

[@EricaGamet]

Sure thing! Glad you liked it.

[@graphiczonestudio]

You explain it well I am glad I watched that video I would like to invite you to take a look to my channel if you have some time thanks again for this awsome video

[@akankshamhatre1956]

Thank you!! Such a useful video... learnt the difference after 5 years... ':)

[@EricaGamet]

Woo hoo!

[@marydoo7311]

Thank you so much! Very appreciative!

[@poserbag]

Super helpful!⭐️✨

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful...thanks!

[@IPASAustralia]

Very helpful video. Thank you for posting.

[@EricaGamet]

Glad you found it useful!

[@reginehaensel5960]

Thanks to Spencer Coffman for the various InDesign videos. Are there more on book production?

[@TheMoncompu]

nice vedio madam, thank you we are expecting more from indesign!!!

[@EricaGamet]

InDesign has so much to offer, it's hard to keep up!

[@BlueskyNewsNet]

helpful Ms.

[@ahmedsamisam77]

more tutorial please.. you are awesome.. thanks

[@EricaGamet]

Thank you! Yes I need more tutorials and hope to put some up in the near future.

[@ashes31]

This was the best explanation I ever had! THANK YOU for making this video. At the end this video you had mentioned that you were going to cover nesting styles. Did you create that video yet?

[@EricaGamet]

Ashley A I haven't covered nesting styles yet, no. I sort of took the summer off (due to moving twice). I'm starting up new vids in the next couple weeks...and I will put this topic at the top of the list! Thanks!

[@artistonline__thetaleofhyp3357]

I likd your video...by looking at this i found out what am I missing in this software...its incredible...thanks....can u show how will indesign be helpful in making brochures...an example is what i am asking.. Thank you

[@EricaGamet]

You can look at sample on Behance and search on InDesign. Good luck and have fun learning!

[@corydumont1141]

very informative, thank you

[@lindaparlove2520]

Excellent, thank you!

[@EricaGamet]

Quite welcome! Glad it helped!

[@rkiranadbe]

For a paragraph with Para style applied to it and then applying local overrides on a portion of text, there is no need to deselect everything before creating Char Style. The Char Style automatically comes with no Font family selected by default.

[@EricaGamet]

That is so true! I just prefer to always deselect for character styling to remain consistent and make the character style as bare-boned as possible to start. Also, if I want my char style to be "italic," for instance, I don't want it pre-populating with "hairline italic" or whatever gets applied based on the current paragraph style.

[@AnthonyWW68]

Thank you!

[@EricaGamet]

You’re quite welcome!

[@tamerahmed9860]

That was amazing.... Thank you

[@EricaGamet]

+TameR Ahmed Thank you. I'm glad it was helpful!

[@MrAnilbose]

very clear and lovely analagy

[@mahmoudmabrouk8887]

thank you so much!

[@EricaGamet]

You're quite welcome!

[@suzannesterzi8305]

so clear!

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dwainwilliams25]

Brilliant thank you

[@danielafusillo3737]

Hello, thank you for your tutorials Erica!! I am a beginner, will you make a video related to CC Libraries? I still don't know whether is possible to use them for a full project (e.g. in Ps) or only for assets. Ha ve a great summer, Daniela

[@EricaGamet]

Hi! I have CC Libraries on my list for upcoming videos, yes. But, yes, it's mainly used as a place to put assets to use in your projects. They're pretty cool, but a little clunky, especially since you can't arrange by client, then project, etc. like the hierarchy we are used to.

[@danielafusillo3737]

thank you, can't wait!

[@chris7475]

Erica, what's the proper way to add a drop cap? New paragraph style, character style, or other? Thanks!

[@EricaGamet]

Generally I like to create a paragraph style and set it using the "Drop Caps and Nested Styles" pane. But I usually have a character style that controls the look of the drop cap. So the character style might have a color and a different font set, but the number of lines the drop cap takes up is set in the paragraph style. I mostly do that because I want the paragraph with the drop cap to look a certain way (like maybe have it be the first paragraph in a chapter...maybe with a drop cap and first line in small caps).

[@chris7475]

Thanks, Erica. I'm currently going through your CreativeLive beginner course, and it is VERY informative, and you're a great teacher. I thought I knew the basics of InDesign but, as the course continues, I am continually exclaiming, "What?!!! Cool!!! I never knew that". Good work.

[@EricaGamet]

So glad that you're enjoying them! I will be adding more content soon! Let me know if there is something you want to see!

[@kura83janko]

Hi anybody who read this - I have a problem with paragraphs: I want to start new paragraph (new line), where the last line of the previous paragraph ends. Greetings from Slovakia and for tips...

[@EricaGamet]

Not quite sure what you mean. A new paragraph will start on the next line.

[@melisegerber1350]

How do you handle character styles when you are using a typeface that includes multiple definitions? For example, I just set a document in Franklin Gothic and it doesn't use "Bold," but instead uses "Medium" or "Demi." When I changed the paragraph style definition to use this font, suddenly I began to get all kinds of missing font error messages because Franklin Gothic doesn't include a "Bold" style. I resolved them by re-defining my character style to be "Medium" (even though I kept the style name the same), but in general, do you have a better way that you handle this?

[@EricaGamet]

Unfortunately, in most cases, if you have a character style named Bold (with bold as the main attribute), and you apply that to text styled with a paragraph style using a font that doesn't use/have bold, it won't apply. I've found that on occasion, a character style "italic" will be applied to a font with "oblique" as an option. Very rare though. If I'm not sure what my final paragraph style font will be, I'll try to keep to the ones with regular, italic, etc. The way you handled it is about as good as it gets.

[@EDDIEGARAGE]

I want to apply italic to a specific word to every page

[@EricaGamet]

If it's a specific word, in the Find/Change dialog box (text tab) put the word in the "find what" box and then in the "change format" box indicate an italic character style. If it's not the same word, but maybe it fits a pattern, you might be able to use GREP.

[@EDDIEGARAGE]

@@EricaGamet Thanks very much for your instructional tutorials 😛

[@EricaGamet]

You’re quite welcome!

[@Goodnessgraciius]

Would adding bullet points be a character style or paragraph style? I tried to make it a paragraph style (multi lines of text with a bullet point) but it added bullet points to blank lines.

[@EricaGamet]

Mary Anne Medlock Its a paragraph style item. If you hit return, it's a new paragraph. If you want spaces, use space before/after and you can also have a para style that has no bullets.

[@Goodnessgraciius]

Thanks Erica!

[@EricaGamet]

+Mary Anne Medlock Of course! You can always contact me via email if you need more info!

[@EDDIEGARAGE]

how to apply a character style to a particular word

[@selamaltami4531]

SUBSCRIBED 777 (:

[@EricaGamet]

Lucky 7s!! Thanks for subscribing!

[@KikeClipsSession]

very useful, thank you very much

[@EricaGamet]

Glad it will be useful for you!

[@ernakristin7916]

thank you so much!

[@EricaGamet]

You're welcome...hope it made it easy to remember when to use which one. Thanks!