Paragraph Styles Failure ID2.0.1,WIN-XP

[Ron_M_Anderson@adobeforums.com]

Why won't paragraph styles apply to some selected text? I've noticed that selecting text and then trying to apply a para style doesn't always work--even when I Alt-click on the paragraph style. This happens frequently if the preceding text is a hyperlink, but it can happen any old time. Say I want to put an article title in centered Arial 14 point bold. I select the text and click the "title" para style and nothing happens. Alt-click title; still nothing. I double check the para style and it is as it should be. I have to manually go through and select font/size/bold/centering to apply to the text: a pain in the neck. This is making me crazy!

[mikewitherell_at_jetsetcom_dot_net]

Ron,

After your lithium treatments are stabilizing, consider this:

Your text is like Beirut in the 70s. Three things are fighting for control of how the text will appear:

1. Paragraph styles
2. local, direct formatting (they override a paragraph style)
3. character styles (they override a paragraph style, too)

My guess is that you placed a word doc and all three of these things imported into your InDesign document and are slugging it out. If you take a peek at your Character Styles palette, you may find a vagrant character style active on the same text. Kill it off. The text will now behave out of fear and intimidation.

A trick is to hold down the alt and shift keys while clicking on the paragraph style. This drives off both local formatting and any character styles, leaving only the paragraph style.

Makes perfect sense if you think about it,

Mike Witherell in Washington DC

[Ron_M_Anderson@adobeforums.com]

Thanks, Mike. That fixed it. I must have missed that in the instruction manual! I went back to the manual and found it.

Ron