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Flow text manually or automatically

Your pointer becomes a loaded text icon after you place text or click an in port or out port. The loaded text icon lets you flow text onto your pages. By holding down a modifier key, you can determine how the text is flowed. The loaded text icon changes appearance, depending on where it is placed.

When you position the loaded text icon over a text frame, parentheses enclose the icon . When you position the loaded text icon next to a guide or grid snapping point, the black pointer becomes white .

You can flow text using four methods:

Method	What it does
Manual text flow	Adds text one frame at a time. You must reload the text icon to continue flowing text.
Semi-autoflow by holding down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) when you click.	Works like manual text flow, except that the pointer becomes a loaded text icon each time the end of a frame is reached, until all text is flowed into your document.
Autoflow by Shift-clicking.	Adds pages and frames until all text is flowed into your document.
Fixed-page autoflow by holding down Shift+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Option (Mac OS) when you click.	Flows all text into the document without adding frames or pages. Any remaining text is overset.

Flow text manually

Use the Place command to select a file, or click the out port of a selected text frame.
Do one of the following:
- Position the loaded text icon anywhere within an existing frame or path, and then click. The text flows into the frame and any other frames linked to it. Note that text always starts filling the frame at the top of the leftmost column, even when you click in a different column.
- Position the loaded text icon in a column to create a text frame the width of that column. The top of the frame appears where you click.
- Drag the loaded text icon to create a text frame the width and height of the area you define.
If there is more text to be placed, click the out port and repeat steps 1 and 2 until all text has been placed.

Note: When you place text in a frame that is threaded to other frames, text autoflows through the threaded frames, regardless of the text flow method you choose.

Flow text semi-automatically

With a loaded text icon, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) a page or frame.

The text flows one column at a time, as in manual flow, but the loaded text icon automatically reloads after each column is placed.

Flow text automatically

With the loaded text icon displayed, hold down Shift as you do one of the following:

Click the loaded text icon in a column to create a frame the width of that column. InDesign creates new text frames and new document pages until all text is added to the document.
Click inside a text frame that is based on a master text frame. The text autoflows into the document page frame and generates new pages as needed, using the master frame’s attributes. (See About masters, stacking order, and layers.)

Flow text automatically without adding pages

With a loaded text icon, hold down Shift+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Option (Mac OS).

Comments

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Comments

amconcepcion said on Aug 11, 2007 at 7:45 AM :

Placing text with Fixed-Page Autoflow will add frames to the layout, contrary to the above. But it only adds frames to existing pages. It won't create new pages, even if there's an overset in the last frame it creates/flows the text into.

No screen name said on Apr 18, 2008 at 6:03 AM :

I'm trying to place objects (ie, full page illustrations) into a text frame, but instead of automatically creating new pages for the text to go onto I'm left with an overflow symbol at the bottom of the frame. Surely it's possible to add illustrations to a group of text pages and automatically have Indesign automatically create new pages for the text to flow into. Any solutions please.

No screen name said on Jun 3, 2008 at 1:16 PM :

What is the little text frame icon (with in port and out port) telling me? I see this little icon next to my text flow icon when I click an out port. Is it just letting me know this text is continued from a previous frame?

Bob - Adobe Writer said on Jun 3, 2008 at 1:36 PM :

The icon on the upper left side of a selected text frame is an inport; the icon on the lower right side of the frame is the out port. If these ports are empty, it means they're not threaded to another frame. If there is an arrow in the box, it means the frame is threaded to another frame. If there is a red plus sign in the out port, it means there is overset text -- more text than fits in the frame. You can click either the in port or out port to "load" the cursor so that you can click or drag to add a threaded frame.

No screen name said on Jun 4, 2008 at 9:38 AM :

That's not quite what I meant. I mean when I've already clicked on an out port and my text cursor is loaded with text ready to place . . . in addition to the loaded text cursor with text ready to place there is a little miniature frame with miniature in ports and out ports. It's a little light blue iconic representation of a frame (I think). What is that little doo-dad?

Bob - Adobe Writer said on Jun 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM :

Oh, now I see what you mean. I have no idea what the purpose of that little blue icon is. I'll check into it.

TaraCB said on Oct 20, 2008 at 7:05 PM :

Re: InDesign. When flowing the text automatically (Shift click) it's inserting blank pages inbetween each page. Anyone know why??

TCB.

Bob Bringhurst - Adobe said on Oct 20, 2008 at 8:21 PM :

It's likely that you're pasting into a text frame based on one side of a two-page master frame. Try linking the text frames on the facing master pages.