InDesign Refresher · Page 8 of 8

Shortcuts & Production Notes

A shortcut cheat sheet, and the Production Notes sheet to include with your assignments.

Shortcut cheat sheet

Task	Mac	Windows
Place a file	`Cmd`+`D`	`Ctrl`+`D`
Show hidden characters	`Opt`+`Cmd`+`I`	`Alt`+`Ctrl`+`I`
Story Editor	`Cmd`+`Y`	`Ctrl`+`Y`
Paragraph Styles / Character Styles	`F11` / `Shift`+`F11`	`F11` / `Shift`+`F11`
Object Styles	`Cmd`+`F7`	`Ctrl`+`F7`
Pages panel	`Cmd`+`F12`	`F12`
Quick Apply a style	`Cmd`+`Return`	`Ctrl`+`Enter`
Redefine paragraph style	`Opt`+`Shift`+`Cmd`+`R`	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Ctrl`+`R`
Current page number	`Opt`+`Shift`+`Cmd`+`N`	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Ctrl`+`N`
Override a parent item	`Shift`+`Cmd`+click	`Shift`+`Ctrl`+click
Show baseline grid	`Opt`+`Cmd`+`'`	`Alt`+`Ctrl`+`'`
Text Wrap panel	`Opt`+`Cmd`+`W`	`Alt`+`Ctrl`+`W`
Fill frame proportionally	`Opt`+`Shift`+`Cmd`+`C`	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Ctrl`+`C`
Indent to Here	`Cmd`+`\`	`Ctrl`+`\`
Right-indent tab (flush-right page numbers)	`Shift`+`Tab`	`Shift`+`Tab`
Preview mode	`W`	`W`
Export / Package	`Cmd`+`E` / `Opt`+`Shift`+`Cmd`+`P`	`Ctrl`+`E` / `Alt`+`Shift`+`Ctrl`+`P`

On a Mac laptop you may need to hold fn for the F-keys.

Include in your assignment: Production Notes

With each InDesign exercise, and with the Brochure and Pulse projects, turn in a one-page Production Notes sheet (or add it to your Project Strategy Brief). It shows the system behind your design and that you used InDesign’s tools, which is part of your grade (“InDesign tools utilized appropriately: Styles, Master Pages, etc.”).

Your Production Notes should list

Document setup: page size, facing pages on or off, bleed, margins (top, bottom, inside, outside).
Grid: number of columns and gutter, number of rows and row gutter, baseline grid increment.
Paragraph styles: each style’s name with its font, size/leading and one key setting (for example: Body — Minion Pro Regular 9.5/12, first-line indent 1p0, align to grid).
Character styles and object styles, with what each one is for.
Parent pages: the name of each parent, what’s on it, and which pages use it.
A screenshot of your Paragraph Styles panel and your Pages panel.

Production Notes Jordan Lee · GRPH 340 · Exercise 2

Document: 8.5 × 11 in, facing pages off, 0.125 in bleed
Margins: Top 0.5 · Bottom 0.75 · Left 0.75 · Right 0.5 in
Grid: 6 columns, 1p0 gutter · 5 rows, 1p0 gutter · baseline 12 pt
Parent pages: A-Base (folio, page number) → pages 1–2

Paragraph style	Font & size	Key setting
Headline	Playfair Display Black 42/44	No hyphenation
Body	Lora Regular 9.5/12	Indent 1p0, align to grid
Caption	Montserrat Regular 7.5/12	Based on Body

Object styles: Photo – Rounded, Caption Frame · Screenshots: Paragraph Styles, Pages panel

A sample Production Notes sheet. One page is enough: specs at the top, styles in a table, screenshots attached.

Self-check before you submit

No + signs (overrides) next to style names when you click through your text.
No red + (overset text) and a green preflight dot.
Page numbers come from the parent page, not typed by hand.
Images reach the bleed line, and every image has a caption or credit.
File and package folder are named as the brief says.

Want to go further? Adobe’s InDesign User Guide (opens in a new tab) covers every tool in detail. Your Course Resources folder in OneDrive also has InDesign tip sheets.