Centering text frame into rectangle

Hi everybody, i'm pretty a new-by with indesign so be kind with me
I was trying to center "2 objects": actually, a text frame inside a colored rectangles. My goal is to have the frame containing the text exactly centered into the main rectangle.
As you can see i'd like to be able to center the text frame "Address" into the big cyan rectangle. I could do it manually but the result would be different from the rest of the text frame i have to center (date of birth...and so on).
Thanks for your help people!

Also keep in mind that whether you use two objects (text frame and colored box) or one text frame like Peter suggested, the positioning of the text is based on the full size of the font, which is measured from the lowest descender to the highest ascender. So, a box with an upper case A and one with a lower case j will have different distances from the top and bottom of the box, so if what you want is an even amount of box around your text, you might have to make an adjustment.
All boxes are aligned the same, but not visually centered.

Similar Messages

How to insert, merge linked text frames into existing long linked frame story?

I have a book with a single story, many linked frames/pages. The index takes 4 pages in the last part of the book, but not the final pages. I have regenerated the index and it is 4 pages of linked frames in a separate story in extra pages I generated at the end of the book. I selected the new index pages from the pages panel and moved them to the proper location in the book. I want to delete the old index & pages, but that still leaves me with two stories with the main story frames jumping around the index story frames. I want the index to be part of the main story so that if the text expands the index will move.
In short, insert and merge a story and its associated text frames in the middle of another story.
My move pages approach got it in the right location, but it will not float if the page count changes.
The only way I can see to do this is go back to my new index, select it all in the story editor, copy it, go to story editor on the original story, and paste in the proper location. This works, but it seems as if there should be a way of also doing it with frames, in ports, out ports, etc.

I must be unclear on the concept. I moved my new index into the existing story between the two desired pages. This shows the original story on the left with the text threads going around the inserted Index story:
Now I click the outport of the text frame on the left and alt click into the Index frame. That overwrites the contents of Index.
Not what I want. I actually want to split the text as well, and just thread thru the index frames and then continue with the original story. I did the above as a test case. For my actual problem, copying the index story in story mode, and pasting it over the appropriate text in the original story solved my problem.

Break two threaded text frames into 2 separate unthreaded text frames

I have the most trouble with this. CS4.
What I'm wanting to do is separate two sections, if this is the same answer. I want my sections stand alone, unthreaded. Thanks!!!!!

In your scripts panel you'll find one under Application > Samples called Break Frame. Select the frame and click that. Done!

How can a 2 column text frame be split into 2 separate text frames?

Hi InDesigners,
I have a 12 spread (22 page) document that was originally created with a single column primary text frame in CS6. It contains text and anchored images throughout the doc. (images are anchored to the text frame).
My client now wants each page split into 2 columns, but the columns need to have different widths - the left column needs to be narrower than the right. Although I can create 2 columns in a single frame, it's not possible to adjust the column widths separately, so I need to get them into 2 separate frames.
Is there a way to convert a 2 column text frame into 2 separate text frames, so I can resize the column widths invididually?
kind regards,
-c

hi, Thanks for the replies,
The doc size is 8.5"x11", with 1/2 " margins. I never mentioned anything about it being a book. (It's just a paper my client wrote and woud like a PDF of it). The reason for the uneven columns is he wants the images to be 4" wide. For some reason, he wasn't keen on just a single column with text wrapped around the pix. I proposed making a 3" left column threaded into a 4" right col with a .5" gutter between them and he wants it that way.
Thank you both for your respones. I'll try the script
-c

Text Frame Options. Room for Side Heads added without warning

Hi -
I just got asked this and have no clue how to help. Anyone know what this is?
Every now and then, my Frame file will –apparently on its own – reset most of its text frames into having room for side heads. Makes for lots of bad labels on graphics – everything’s suddenly offset and scrolling off the bottom.
This will happen suddenly. It will usually be only one or two chapters in a book, but if I ignore it has been known spread like the black death throughout the book.
The only solution I’ve found so far has been to revert to a backup or touch each text frame individually. Setting properties for two at a time messes up location on the page.

HI -
Here's what I heard back.
I believe it’s for everything except main text flow, including headers&footers on master pages, and special elements on unused master pages.
It appears to be spontaneous, but I can’t guarantee that.
I don’t use MIFs, and I’m pretty sure no one else does.
Yes to formatting imports , because we frequently change variables in one chapter and copy them back to the rest (esp date doc was last edited – not same as print date per our regulatory agency.) Likewise conditional text. We know not to copy from a file into itself in a book, although it has happened and we do exchange manuals between revisions at times.

Can an InCopy editor add, remove and edit a text frame placed inside the main story text frame?

I think I already know the answer to this which is - no. I'll explain why I am asking the question in a second, but the reason I think the simple answer is no is because - text frames are controlled by a designer in the layout file, an editor using incopy can only edit the text and images placed inside text frames, and so cannot resize them, add or delete them.
Ok, so the reason I have asked this.
Is there a way around this so that editors in incopy can edit certain types of text frame that are contained within the main text frame? I'm using these text frames to contain specific paragraph styles, giving them a boxed look and also with an anchored icon in the top left of the text frame depending on the type of paragraph it is. See screenshot as an example of a green text frame that I am using to contain paragraphs of type "tip".
If it is not possible for editors in incopy to add, edit or resize these text frames (green tip frame in the example above), then how else can I style these paragraphs to give the same visual appearance, but without the use of wrapping them in a text frame?
One (not so good) way around this is for the designer to add the text frames in the layout file after he gets the content back from the editor, then moving the "tip" paragraphs into these newly created text frames. However when the editor updates the content in incopy and gets these new text frames in their copy, they can not then delete them if they wish to, or if they add or reduce content inside of these green text frames then the frames dont grow to fit their edited content. So I dont think its a solution for the designer to control the adding, removing and resizing of these frames.
UPDATE: I have just discovered that once a text frame has been placed into the document by the designer and the editor updates their copy in incopy- they can then use the "Position Tool" to select that text frame - allowing them to resize it, or delete it! Fantastic. But would the editor be able to add these frames in themselves to begin with? Maybe have a document containing all of the objects available to them, copy and paste one of them into the main document and edit its content? Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this? Essentially I would like the editor to control the insertion, editing and removal of these inline text frames.

True. But when all I am trying to achieve is a border around a paragraph, use of a table seems overkill to me. But if thats the only solution I have so far then I will have to go down that route.
It would be useful to have an object libraries panel in InCopy so that editors can drag across predefined text frames into their doc via InCopy, but I cant see that option in InCopy. is there one? I have also thought about exporting the frames as seperate InDesign Snippets and saving them to an objects folder, then when an editor needs to insert one into their doc they simply use File > Place > "Choose required text frame snippet". However I have found that InCopy can't place InDesign snippets so that theory was a failure. Is there another format I could use to save the objects and bring them into InCopy? List below shows my findings so far for trying to save/export a text frame from InDesign and then import into InCopy:
InDesign Snippet (.idms) - can't import into InCopy
InDesign Document (.indd) - imports content as an image - only editable in InDesign
InDesign Template (.indt) - imports content as an image - only editable in InDesign
InDesign Library (.indl) - can't import into InCopy - no panel available in InCopy for object libraries (that I can see...)
InCopy Markup (.icml) - only imports the text, loses the text frame

Columns with text frames inside

hi,
I created a new master and I set 3 columns.
I would like to know if I can automatically add text frames into the columns so that I can start to type directly in and see the text flow, instead of doing it manually.
thanks

This link is to information about Smart Text Reflow, which was added as an option in CS4.
http://community.adobe.com/help/search.html?searchterm=Smart+Text+Reflow&q=Smart+Text+Refl ow&l=indesign_product_adobelr&x=0&y=0&area=0&lr=en_US&hl=en_US

Text put into a canvas element with context.fillText() always has a black box where each letter goes. If the text is black you just see the black rectangle. If the text is not black you see it on the black bounding box. Surely this is not right.

This has happened on the last few versions of firefox, as long as canvas has been supported. I see other people's screen shots from canvas tutorials, and the text always looks normal. On my system, any text put into a canvas element via context.fillText() will have a black bounding box for each letter, sized appropriately for the letter. If the text is black, of course you only see rectangles. If the text is a contrasting color, then you can read it, but it looks bizarre.

Thomas...same kind of crap here.
I used Custom Text - entered a sentence, hit return, entered another.
Set to 72 pt.
The default alignment is centred - I want left aligned text...the text start point stays at the centre of frame and the sentence runs off the edge of the bounding box.
There is no settings in the Text or Title inspector dialog to correct that!
Using Transform will not sort it!

InDesign CS3 Scripting XML Import Multiple Images into same Text Frame

I am having trouble importing multiple images into the same Text Frame using XML import. I imported 5 images into the text frame. However, all 5 images are laying on top of one another. Does anyone know if there is a way to have all images laying out like how Microsoft Word handles inline images, i.e., laying out next image to the right of previsous image in the same line and if there is not enough space left in the line, then wrap to next line. Thanks in advance. I understand I could use JavaScript to do post import processing, e.g, calculate the image size and place each images accordingly. But I am trying to see whether there is a way to do this without scripts.

You can apply an object style to all anchored images by script. A text frame containing main flow should be selected.
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var textFrame = app.selection[0];
var rectangles = textFrame.texts[0].rectangles;
if (rectangles.length > 0) {
for (var i=0; i < rectangles.length; i++) {
rectangles[i].appliedObjectStyle = doc.objectStyles.item("Cover");
However, there is a better approach:
Step 1
Create place holders for a single "Book" element and format it as needed -- apply an object style to the cover.
Step 2
Import the xml file -- the placeholders are replaced with data from the 1st xml element
Step 3
Drag & drop the element containing all "Books" elements into the main flow -- all elements are placed and formatted the same way as in step 1.
Finally, add a new page, click the overset text icon and autoflow text to add pages so that to fit all the text.
Hope this helps.
Kasyan

How to create, place, format and paste the clipboard contents into a text frame

I am new to scripting and need help. I have an existing Indesign document. I need to be able to create a text frame on my current page, the width of my margins with the top of the text frame at the top margin and 1" in height, then format it to be 1-column, and then paste the clipboard contents into it and tag the text with a particular paragraph style. I am using Indesign CS4 on a mac, if that makes any difference. Thanks for any help.

May this will help you. It will create an anchored object with a text what you desired, with object style. You should create an object style before with the x and y co ordinates. You can choose either para style or character style.
var the_document = app.documents.item(0);
// Create a list of paragraph styles
var list_of_paragraph_styles = the_document.paragraphStyles.everyItem().name;
// Create a list of character styles
var list_of_character_styles = the_document.characterStyles.everyItem().name;
// Create a list of object styles
var list_of_object_styles = the_document.objectStyles.everyItem().name;
// Make dialog box for selecting the styles
var the_dialog = app.dialogs.add({name:"Create anchored text frames"});
with(the_dialog.dialogColumns.add()){
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Make the anchored frames from ..."});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"This character style:"});
var find_cstyle = dropdowns.add({stringList:list_of_character_styles, selectedIndex:0});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Or this paragraph style:"});
var find_pstyle = dropdowns.add({stringList:list_of_paragraph_styles, selectedIndex:0});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Leave one dropdown unchanged!"});
dialogRows.add();
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Delete matches?"});
var delete_refs = dropdowns.add({stringList:["Yes","No"], selectedIndex:0});
dialogRows.add();
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Anchored text frame settings:"});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Object style:"});
var anchor_style = dropdowns.add({stringList:list_of_object_styles, selectedIndex:0});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Frame width:"});
var anchor_width = measurementEditboxes.add({editUnits:MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS, editValue:72});
with(dialogRows.add()){
staticTexts.add({staticLabel:"Frame height:"});
var anchor_height = measurementEditboxes.add({editUnits:MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS, editValue:72});
the_dialog.show();
// Define the selected styles
var real_find_cstyle = the_document.characterStyles.item(find_cstyle.selectedIndex);
var real_find_pstyle = the_document.paragraphStyles.item(find_pstyle.selectedIndex);
var real_anchor_style = the_document.objectStyles.item(anchor_style.selectedIndex);
// Check if a style is selected
if(find_cstyle.selectedIndex != 0 || find_pstyle.selectedIndex != 0) {
// Define whether to search for character styles or paragraph styles
app.findChangeGrepOptions.includeFootnotes = false;
app.findChangeGrepOptions.includeHiddenLayers = false;
app.findChangeGrepOptions.includeLockedLayersForFind = false;
app.findChangeGrepOptions.includeLockedStoriesForFind = false;
app.findChangeGrepOptions.includeMasterPages = false;
if(find_cstyle.selectedIndex != 0) {
app.findGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing;
app.findGrepPreferences.appliedCharacterStyle = real_find_cstyle;
} else {
app.findGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing;
app.findGrepPreferences.appliedParagraphStyle = real_find_pstyle;
app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = "^";
// Search the document
var found_items = the_document.findGrep();
myCounter = found_items.length-1;
do {
// Select and copy the found text
var current_item = found_items[myCounter];
if(find_pstyle.selectedIndex != 0) {
var found_text = current_item.paragraphs.firstItem();
var insertion_character = (found_text.characters.lastItem().index) + 1;
var check_insertion_character = insertion_character + 1;
var alt_insertion_character = (found_text.characters.firstItem().index) - 1;
var the_story = found_text.parentStory;
app.selection = found_text;
if(delete_refs.selectedIndex == 0) {
app.cut();
} else {
app.copy();
} else {
var found_text = current_item;
var insertion_character = (found_text.characters.lastItem().index) + 2;
var check_insertion_character = insertion_character;
var alt_insertion_character = (found_text.characters.firstItem().index) - 1;
var the_story = found_text.parentStory;
app.selection = found_text;
if(delete_refs.selectedIndex == 0) {
app.cut();
} else {
app.copy();
// Make text frame from selection
try {
app.selection = the_story.insertionPoints[check_insertion_character];
app.selection = the_story.insertionPoints[insertion_character];
} catch(err) {
app.selection = the_story.insertionPoints[alt_insertion_character];
var the_anchored_frame = app.selection[0].textFrames.add({geometricBounds:["0","0",anchor_height.editContents,anch or_width.editContents],anchoredObjectSettings:{anchoredPosition: AnchorPosition.ANCHORED}});
app.selection = the_anchored_frame.insertionPoints[0];
app.paste();
// Apply the object style now to "force apply" paragraph style set in the object style
if(anchor_style.selectedIndex != 0) {
the_anchored_frame.appliedObjectStyle = real_anchor_style;
myCounter--;
} while (myCounter >= 0);
} else {
alert("No styles selected!");

Scripting Selective XML into a Single Text Frame? (& Some Other Stuff...)

Hi all, I could use some help (using version CS5.5).
I want to import (via Javascript) an XML file similar to this:
<movieRoot>
     <dvds>
          <movie>
               <title>2001: A Space Odyssey</title>
               <edition>Special Edition</edition>
               <features>NOTHING</features>
               <notes/>
          </movie>
          <movie>
               <title>Airplane!</title>
               <edition />
               <features>Extra Laughs</features>
               <notes/>
          </movie>
     </dvds>
</movieRoot>
I've been able to successfully do this, so no problem there.
Then I want to dump the child elements under the XML element "<dvds>" into a single text frame that spans 2 columns per page. That's easy enough too, except:
1) I want to filter the data so that empty elements or whose contents equal "NOTHING" do not appear.
2) I want to add static text title above some of the elements that remain (outside the XML proper).
3) Then I want to format the text (using Paragraph Styles).
Tall order, I know, but I'm keen on figuring it out. I initially created a document using placeholders and used the standard XML Import to populate it with data, which was filtered using scripts to remove extraneous placeholders and static text. It gave me the result I wanted, but as the XML will be regularly updated and since the "filtered" tags result in non-standard XML entries, it means starting over from scratch after every XML update. So I turned to scripting...
For point #1, I was able to filter properly using a recursive IF statement, tested here using message alerts:
I've included a bunch of variables for (hopefully) easier viewing.
var myXMLRoot = myDocument.xmlElements.item(0); //movieRoot
var myXMLParent = myXMLRoot.xmlElements.item(0); //dvds
var myXMLElement = myXMLParent.xmlElements.item(0); //movie
var currElement = myXMLElement.xmlElements.item(0); //title
for (i = 0; i < myXMLParent.xmlElements.length; i++)
    myXMLElement = myXMLParent.xmlElements.item(i);
    for (j = 0; j < myXMLElement.xmlElements.length; j++)
        currElement = myXMLElement.xmlElements.item(j);
        if (currElement.contents != "" && currElement.contents != "NOTHING")
            alert (currElement.markupTag.name + ": " + currElement.contents);
It worked great until I tried to get it into an existing text frame. Since I want all the info in one text frame, placexml was out of the question, and markup worked but overwrote XML tags -- such as assigning the entire text frame to <movie/title> when I wanted it assigned to <dvds> with <movie/title> tags nested within it.
If you can help me with anything, this is really where I need pointed in the right direction most. But if you're feeling generous or bored...
Then for points #2 and #3, I want to take what's left ("filtered" XML data) and add additional text and formatting wherever certain tags are found.
For example, applying the paragraph style "MovieTitles" for any text within <title></title> XML tags; or adding the phrase "Special Features" (with paragraph style "Headers") above any text marked with <features> tags, while the content within those <features> tags applies the paragraph style "NormalText."
I've got some of this worked out in pieces already, but it generally falls apart because I can't get the tag structure correct in the text frame. I can provide more info as requested. Any help would be mighty appreciated!
UPDATE: Surprisingly, I've actually had some good success this evening on solving most of these problems. I'll post my results once I've finished up just in case anyone else can be helped by what I've learned.
One question remains for the moment: I've inserted text within an XML element, but outside of XML tags (e.g., </title>EDITION:<edition>) using "insertTextAsContent":
[xmlElementHere].insertTextAsContent("EDITION:", XMLElementPosition.beforeElement);
Does anyone know a good way to apply a paragraph style to that text without using a find & replace function later (after placing the XML into a text frame)?

As posted into the other thread:
Yes, each record will be in its own frame.
You can use one of a couple solutions to stitch (link) each frame to the other, delete all but the first page and the first merged record, then resize that first merge frame and reflow the entire document.
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1341730?start=0&tstart=0
Please review this thread. There is a couple posts with a script and you would want the last version of that script. You would have to follow the directions, as well as add a column at the beginning of your data and fill it with consecutive numbers.
Alternatively, there is a free plug-in by Rohiko for stitching merge data frames together, then follow the process above to reflow the document.
https://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/indesign-downloads/textstitch/
Mike

Import (and export) HTML text into a text frame (CS2)

Hi
As I know it is not possible to import or export text in or from a text frame in HTML format directly.
- Is there a way to do that?
- If yes how can I do that? A piece of sample code would be great...
- Actually I use this for Indesign CS2. Is the HTML import / export in CS3 possible?
Thanks for the help
Greetz
Hans

Yup. There's no HTML parser built into InDesign.
Actually, GREP is not a great way to go about it. How would you handle nested tags with GREP? A state machine is a much better way to parse HTML. You might want to look around for Javascript parsers.
Rorohiko has an HTML walker. I'm not sure if it would help you or not.

InDesign (CS5) beachballs when clicking into a text frame

Hi,
I'm working on a document that causes a weird problem: when I click into a text frame, sometimes this causes InDesign to beachball for a few seconds. Activity monitor shows that InDesign takes 100% CPU time - no other activity involved. After a few seconds, everything works smoothly again.
This does not happen every single time I click into a text frame. It happens especially after inserting sth from a library, or from another document (say, 7 out of 10 times). But it may also happen when copying (Cmd-C, Cmd-V or Alt-drag) a simple text frame within the same page.
I gets more weird: This only seems to happen in two of my documents (and copys thereof). There isn't anything special about these documents. They contain a lot of tables and anchored objects, but that's true for a lot of other documents, too. I tried copying a table from document A (no problems) to document B (the one with problems). Clicking into this table causes a beachball. Coping the very same table within document A is fine. Even copying the table back from document B does not cause any problems. It seems like the effect is document-exclusive. I just don't know what makes it so darn exlusive .
This problem occurs on different machines (all Macs, all 10.6, all CS5). The faster the machine, the shorter the beachball time. But even on an 8-core-iMac it easily takes up to 2 secs. Which is annoying, to say the least.
Any ideas?

Hmm, what version of 10.6 is this? I thought, as of 10.6.8, Sample Process always included the Binary Images section at the end. Unfortunately, because basically every one of the 250-odd plugins in InDesign has a GetPlugin() symbol, it's tough to know exactly what is going on there...
So, all 2126 samples recorded the same bottom 49 stack frames:
2126 start
2126 main
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 0x1cd60fef
2126 SendEventToEventTarget
2126 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*)
2126 DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*)
2126 ToolboxEventDispatcherHandler(OpaqueEventHandlerCallRef*, OpaqueEventRef*, void*)
2126 SendEventToEventTarget
2126 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*)
2126 DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*)
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 CEventDispatcher::DispatchEvent(IEvent*, IEvent::SystemHandledState)
2126 CEventDispatcher::DispatchToEventHandlers(IEvent*)
2126 CDefaultEH::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 CWindowEH::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 PanelEventHandler::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 PanelEventHandler::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 PanelEventHandler::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 PanelEventHandler::ButtonDblClk(IEvent*)
2126 0x1f6bb8b8
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 0x1cfbf039
2126 CSubject::Change(IDType<ClassID_tag>, IDType<PMIID_tag> const&, void*)
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 0x1afdcfdb
2126 0x1afdc658
2126 0x1afdb09c
2126 0x1cfa0675
2126 PanelView::Show(short)
2126 PanelView::ParentsVisibleStateChanged(short)
2126 CControlView::DoAutoAttach()
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 PanelView::Show(short)
2126 CControlView::Show(short)
2126 CComboBoxView::DoAutoAttach()
2126 CControlView::DoAutoAttach()
2126 CFontFamilyObserver::AutoAttach()
2126 CFontFamilyObserver::Init(short)
2126 0x1e757c45
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 GetPlugIn
2126 StoryEndCharHelper::FixEndCharacterSingleStory(UIDRef const&)
(Sorry, that's kind of long. Maybe I should have formatted it differently?)
But clearly it has something to do with Fonts (CFontFamilyObserver), and something to do with one particular story (FixEndCharacterSingleStory()).
Then when we look actually closer to the top of the stack:
    2121 StoryEndCharHelper::FixEndCharacterSingleThread(ITextModel*, long, long)
      2121 StoryEndCharHelper::GetFontAttributes(ITextModel*, long, boost::shared_ptr<AttributeBossList>*)
        2119 GetPlugIn
          1154 AttributeScanner::AttributeScanner(IComposeScanner const*, long, long, IDType<ClassID_tag> const*, IDType<ClassID_tag> const*, AttributeScanner::AttributeClassification)
            1151 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributeChunk(short)
              1143 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributesFromVOS(VOS_SimpleCursor*, short, short)
                1120 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributesFromRunIn(AttributeBossList const*, long*, short)
                  1117 GetPlugIn
                    1116 GetPlugIn
                      1102 GetPlugIn
                        1011 GetPlugIn
                          963 GetPlugIn
                            889 GetPlugIn
                              768 GetPlugIn
                                658 boost::basic_regex<int, boost::icu_regex_traits>::do_assign(int const*, int const*, unsigned int)
                                  596 boost::re_detail::get_icu_regex_traits_implementation(icu_3_6::Locale const&)
                                    587 icu_3_6::Collator::createInstance(icu_3_6::Locale const&, UErrorCode&)
                                      586 icu_3_6::Collator::makeInstance(icu_3_6::Locale const&, UErrorCode&)
                                        581 icu_3_6::RuleBasedCollator::RuleBasedCollator(icu_3_6::Locale const&, UErrorCode&)
                                          578 icu_3_6::RuleBasedCollator::setUCollator(char const*, UErrorCode&)
                                            578 ucol_open_internal_3_6
          958 AttributeScanner::GetSameRunLength()
            958 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributeChunk(short)
              958 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributesFromVOS(VOS_SimpleCursor*, short, short)
                944 AttributeScanner::ReadAttributesFromRunIn(AttributeBossList const*, long*, short)
                  942 GetPlugIn
                    941 GetPlugIn
                      933 GetPlugIn
                        865 GetPlugIn
                          812 GetPlugIn
                            744 GetPlugIn
                              647 GetPlugIn
                                538 boost::basic_regex<int, boost::icu_regex_traits>::do_assign(int const*, int const*, unsigned int)
Well, I made some attempt to filter out the weeds. A substantial amount of time is spent in the regular expression library. Do you have GREP styles? They may be part of the problem.
If we can resolve this without needing to know which GetPlugIn() are which, that would be helpful. Otherwise you'll need to [maybe?] upgrade to 10.6.8; force a crash (View > Send Signal > Abort (SIGABRT)) in Activity Monitor, which may not be easy to do usefully, since if the crash happens during one of the unremarkable parts of the beachball, it won't tell us anything; break out fancier less user-friendly tools like Instruments.app or gdb.
I don't suppose you're familiar with any of those tools?
So, I would try removing all your non-system fonts and seeing if that changes the behavior. Or tightening up GREP styles...
Or pulling out the heavy guns.

How do I create a series of text frames using values from Excel list?

First of all, this is the very first script I'm attempting to write from scratch. I'm completely green at scripting, and I've picked up a few snippets from Adobe's ID scripting guide, but nothing has really stuck yet relating to this particular objective.
My supervisor keeps a master list of ad spaces, with the name of the account, how wide the space is, and how tall the space is, all in an Excel sheet. These spaces can number in the hundreds, and I am stuck manually drawing one rectangle for every space, which takes a very long time.
I'd like to create/have help creating a script that will take these values and "automagically" draw these spaces in the form of text frames, with the width (in columns) and the height (in inches) defined by the values in the master list, as well as the name of each account appearing in the subsequent text frames.
The script doesn't necessarily need to be able to pull the values straight from the Excel sheet; I can transfer the values to a support text file if needed, or directly into the script, changing it as I need it. A big thing (if it is not able to pull right from an Excel sheet) is that the number of spaces changes weekly, and so do the accounts, and the width and the height. Accordingly, it would be ideal if the values from the sheet could be changed easily, so as to create a new set of spaces as needed.
Positioning for each space is not crucial, only height and width. If they all appear on top of each other on the same page, that will be a result for me. The main idea is to not have to draw them all manually, one by one.
To me, this sounds like a tall order, but hopefully some experienced scripters out there can assist me, as I wish to become experienced as well.
So, the TL;DR version:
- Script needs to draw a series of text frames.
- Text frames dimensions need to be defined by width and height values from Excel sheet.
- Text frames must have account name as contents (from account names in Excel sheet).
- Accounts, width and height change every week in the Excel sheet, so must be relatively easy to exchange all of the values.
- The width values are on the Excel sheet as columns. It would be ideal if the script could convert those numbers into multiples of columns as needed.
- (Optional) Script can pull values directly from Excel sheet.
- (Optional) Script can define text frame fill color as gray. (If it works as I think it will, I could just select all the resulting text frames myself and set them all to gray at once... I'm not that lazy )
Thanks in advance to whomever can assist in any possible way, even if it is just a push in the right direction. This script will save 1-2 hours of tedium every week.

Sound like the perfect thing for InDesign Scripting.
I would copy the Excel contents into a text file, to get a format that is easily read from InDesign, and there will automatically be a TAB for each "cell" just using copy/paste.
Here is a piece of code, that you perhaps could go on with (adding variable to change pages and location on page, and other stuff).
The readFileLineByLine function, can be easily re-used with any function using "callback". You simply supply the function to it, that you want to be executed for every line of text that is read:
const COLUMN_WIDTH = 2; // Define the column width in inch
var pageIndex;
var textFramesExported; // not implemented.
// Add a new dokument. Set myDoc to app.activeDocument to use
// the current document instead of creating a new one.
var myDoc = app.documents.add();
// The doSomethingWithTextRow function is called upon for every line of text read.
readFileLineByLine('c:\\test.txt', doSomethingWithTextRow);
function doSomethingWithTextRow(row){
    // We expect the text line to be TAB separated (\t = TAB). We get that from just copying the contents of an
    // excel file into a text document.
    var cells = row.split('\t');
    var companyName = cells[0]; // The Company name in the first slot of the array
    var width = COLUMN_WIDTH * cells[1];
    var height = cells[2];
    // Create a new text frame for every row handled
    if (pageIndex==undefined) pageIndex = 0; // Count up when you have exported a number of texts, I leave this for you to do.
    var newTextFrame = myDoc.pages[pageIndex].textFrames.add();
    newTextFrame.contents = companyName;
    // The text frame is created in the top left corner.
    newTextFrame.geometricBounds = [0, 0, height + ' in', width + ' in']; // Top, Left, Bottom, Right
    // You might want to move the textframes to other positions, keeping track of how many you put out per page.
    newTextFrame.move( [10, 10] );
function readFileLineByLine(path, callbackFn){
    var myFileIn = new File(path);
    if (File.fs == 'Windows'){
        // This was probably added to recognize UTF-8 (even without its start marker?)
        myFileIn.encoding = 'UTF-8';
    myFileIn.open('r');
    var myEncoding = myFileIn.encoding;
    try{
        if (!myFileIn.exists){
            throw('Missing file: ' + myFileIn.fsName)
        var ln = '';
        while(!myFileIn.eof){
            // Read the lines from the file, until an empty line is found [now as a remark].
            ln = myFileIn.readln()
            // if(ln !='' && ln!='\n'){
               // Call the function supplied as argument
               callbackFn(ln);
    }catch(e){
        alert(e);
        gCancel = true;
    finally{
        myFileIn.close();
The file in C:\ in my example was saved as UTF-8 and looks like this (showing hidden characters):
Message was edited by: Andreas Jansson

What is the best way to import a graphic? & How do I create a text frame for a figure caption?

Hello all! I've been working from the FM book for almost 2 hrs trying to figure this out, so now I need your help. I am almost to this point:
Problem I: Importing a graphic
First of all, which is the best way?
-Insert an anchor frame and then import the graphic into the frame OR
-Just insert the graphic and get the anchor frame by default
Here’s my importing and sizing problem:
I hit ENTER to make a new paragraph line (side note: the book says make a new paragraph by hitting ENTER, import the graphic, and then ESC m+p to shrink wrap so that you can avoid the graphic overlapping the above text. I do exactly this (I believe), but my graphic still overlaps the above text when I shrink wrap. What the...?)
I insert an anchored frame with position Below Current Line and alignment CENTER (I chose to the insert anchor frame, since this way I have control over its alignment, correct?)
Anchor frame is selected when I import my image file
In the Imported Graphic Scaling box, what do I select if my file is HUGE (3072x2304)?
-Fit in selected rectangle (when I choose this the image imports small and fits in the anchored frame with lots of white space around it)
-72 dpi
-75 dpi
-150 dpi
-300 dpi
-Custom dpi: 96 (I’ve tried changing this to a smaller number (20) and I get a message that says “cannot handle a bitmap of that size.”)
I’ve had the best luck with selecting FIT IN SELECTED RECTANGLE, and then I just scale the image with my shift+click. If I choose 72 dpi or Custom, my image imports HUGE, and I just can’t manage it. I don’t have a method for resizing these images outside of FM.
Problem II: Creating a text frame for a caption
Once I have chosen FIT IN SELECTED RECTANGLE, I try to insert a text box underneath the image (and inside the anchor frame) to type a caption in it.
In Create New Text Frame box, the default is Number 1 and Gap 0.25. I click SET.
Next, I double-click inside the text frame to begin typing, but the cursor is OUTSIDE and UNDERNEATH the text frame! What the heck??? I’ve done this before and it has worked just fine. Then I had another problem where when I did get the text inside the text frame, I would select the text frame to move it, and it left the text behind! (I moved the frame but the text was separated from it and left behind.)
THANK YOU in advance for your help. I hope I wrote this out clearly enough. I appreciate those who respond. P.S. I'm in FM 10.

My favorite method is to use a one-cell table for graphics and captions.
Import the graphic by reference into the table cell. Create a "Caption"
paragraph tag and assign it to the table title. (The title can be set
for above or below the table cell. I prefer below.) Now, whenever you
insert this table, it will be ready for graphic and caption. Another
advantage of this method is that graphic and caption always stay
together at page/column breaks.
When you create the table format above, assign it to have a -2.0 space
above. Then, create a paragraph tag, such as "TableAnchor" and assign it
-2.0 pt font size and -2.0 space below. (You can substitute a different
point size, but it must be the same in all three places. The TableAnchor
paragraph will hold the table and these settings let tables fit against
the top margin where necessary. Otherwise, they dip down a bit.
I wrote this from memory, so I hope I remembered all the steps!

Centering text frame into rectangle

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