Creating cross-references

Create cross-references that can be updated quickly when the target text or pagination changes. Create a custom cross-reference format.

• View full-size on Adobe TV
• View more videos like this

Requirements

To complete the tasks demonstrated in this tutorial, you need the following software and files:

Adobe InDesign CS4

• Try
• Buy

Sample file

lrvid4024_id.zip (ZIP, 161MB)

Prerequisite knowledge

Intermediate knowledge of editing in InDesign CS4

Creating cross-references

Adobe® InDesign® CS4 takes the tedium out of cross-referencing with its new cross-referencing management feature. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create, update, and format cross-references in InDesign CS4.

Inserting a cross-reference

When citing the pages of a magazine or other publication, it’s best to use a cross-reference in case those page numbers change during the publication process. To insert a cross-reference:

1. Select the Type tool from the InDesign toolbox.
2. Zoom in on the area of the page where you would like to insert the cross-reference.
3. Type in the text introducing the cross-reference.
4. Choose Window > Type And Tables > Cross-References. The Cross-References panel opens. Notice that this panel is combined with the Hyperlinks panel; cross-references act as hyperlinks when you export an interactive document. In other words, cross-references become clickable links when you export an InDesign document to an Adobe PDF file.

   

   Figure 1: The Cross-References panel
5. Make sure the text cursor is still flashing in the text frame. Click the Cross-References panel menu and select Insert Cross-Reference. The New Cross-Reference dialog box opens.

   

   Figure 2: Inserting a cross-reference

   Note: You can insert a link or reference to any part of your open document or to any other open document. This feature is helpful if you are editing multiple chapters in a book and want to cross-reference from one chapter to the next.

6. In the Destination section of the New Cross-Reference dialog box, select the paragraph style of the text you want to link to. Then, choose that text or paragraph from the right-hand pane, as shown in Figure 4.

   

   Figure 3: Assigning a paragraph style
7. InDesign CS4 includes prebuilt cross-reference formats. You can insert a page number, paragraph number, or the full paragraph text itself. To access these formats, click the Format menu in the New Cross-Reference dialog box and select the desired format.

   

   Figure 4: Accessing the Format menu
8. Leave the Appearance settings at their defaults. Click OK to close the dialog box.

   Note: You will notice that the cross-reference appears as an item in the Cross-References panel, as well as directly on the document page as plain text.

Resetting cross-references

Because cross-references are composed of standard text, you can select, format, and edit them. When you modify a cross-reference in the document, a Modified icon appears in the Cross-References panel. Although the cross-reference will still work, you may wish to reset it to match the destination source and/or original formatting.

To reset the cross-reference, click the Update button at the bottom of the Cross-References panel. The Modified icon disappears from the Cross-References panel.

Figure 5: The Update button

Customizing cross-reference formats

You are not restricted to the prebuilt cross-reference formats included with InDesign; you can customize them to suit your design. To customize a cross-reference format:

1. Choose the Type tool and click on the artboard to create a text frame.
2. Click the Create New Cross-Reference button at the bottom of the panel. When the New Cross-Reference dialog box opens, choose a paragraph style from the left pane and select a paragraph from the right pane of the Destination area.

   

   Figure 6: The Create New Cross-Reference button
3. Choose Paragraph Text from the Format menu. Move the dialog box to the left. Notice that InDesign has added the text to your document, but it also inserted quotes around it.
4. Although the prebuilt Paragraph Text format uses quotes by default, you can edit it. Click the pencil icon next to the Format menu in the New Cross-Reference dialog box. The Cross-Reference Formats dialog box opens.
5. Choose the format you want to edit from the Format menu in the Cross-Reference Formats dialog box.

   

   Figure 7: The Cross-Reference Formats dialog box
6. Click the Add button, which looks like a plus sign, to create a duplicate copy of the format.
7. In the Name text box, enter a new name to distinguish your new or edited format.
8. Remove the quotes (or whatever else you would like to change) from the code in the Definition box. Click OK to apply the changes to your InDesign document.

Updating cross-references

Automated cross-references are most beneficial when editing a multi-page InDesign document. Instead of manually finding and editing page number and article references, you can update them all quickly and easily using the Cross-References panel. To update a cross-reference:

1. To add pages to a document, choose Layout > Pages > Insert Pages. The Insert Pages dialog box opens. Enter the desired number of pages in the Pages text box of the dialog box and click OK. Notice that page number cross-references automatically update when you insert pages.
2. To change the name, or destination text, of a cross-reference, select the cross-reference in the Cross-Reference panel.
3. Click the Go To Destination button, which is the right-facing arrow at the bottom of the Cross-Reference panel. Clicking this button allows you to jump to the place in the document that contains the pertinent text, which you can then edit as needed.
4. Click the Go To Source button, which is the left-facing arrow in the Cross-Reference panel. You will return to the place in the document at which you inserted the cross-reference.

   

   Figure 8: The Go To Source button
5. While cross-reference does not update automatically to show the edits to the destination text, the Modified icon appears in the Cross-Reference panel. To remove this icon, click the Update button. InDesign updates the cross-reference in the document and in the Cross-References panel.

Where to go from here

• InDesign CS4 Help and Support
• Learn InDesign CS4
• Introducing InDesign CS4, by David Blatner
• Creating conditional text, by David Blatner
• Applying GREP styles, by Michael Ninness
• Lynda.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

About the authors