How To Create An Index In Adobe InDesign CC

Hi there, in this video we're going to create an index, in InDesign. This beautiful one here tells me, that, chair, the word chair appears on page 2, 4, 9, and 12. I'll show you how to create them automatically, how to update them reasonably automatically, and how to make them as beautiful as this, Pink and Arial. All right, let's get started.

So to create an index, super easy. I've made it a little easier for you in this one unlike my, go and find the headings example in the last video. So what we need to do is open up the Index panel, it's under 'Window', go down to 'Type & Tables', and open up 'Index'. And we just need to add some parts to the index. What I've done is, on page 1, I've got a few things, like chair. I'm going to select it all, and in here, I'm going to click on this option here, it says 'New Index', click on the little page. And then I'm going to click the word 'Add All'. It's going to go through my whole document, and find all uses of chair. Now you'll see, under 'C', there's Chair, and these are all the pages that it's on. We're going to add a few other options, so let's add Shelf. Add you. Make sure you click on 'Add All'.

Adding one is fine, if you want to do it, like per word usage, you might have it just too many times in your document, so you can go through with your 'Find & Change'. So you can go through with your 'Edit', 'Find', and just highlight the words you want to add to the reference, maybe not all of them, and just click 'Add'. I'm going to add all of mine, so we've got Chair, there's one called Table. I'm going to add you, 'Add All', and click 'Done'. And there was one more, I swear there was one more, I can't see a Chair, Shelf, Table. It doesn't matter.

So next thing I need to do is decide where I'm going to put it, traditionally at the back. So I'm going to go to my last page. If you don't have a last page, blank page, like I do currently, you can just grab a new page. I'm going to go to page 16 here. I'm going to zoom out so I can see the whole thing, move it to the side. And now you need to generate it, and it's just this option here. It says 'Generate Index', click on that. I'm going to leave all the defaults. Click 'OK'. And I'm going to drag out an index. I'm going to make mine just one column, just because my index is not very big. So one of the things that's generated obviously, it's got my C's, and there's Chair, and they're all out there like a traditional index.

What I'd like to do is change the styles. And what InDesign has done, is it's gone to-- let's click off in the background, so we got nothing selected, let's go to 'Window', let's go to 'Styles', and let's go to 'Paragraph Styles'. You'll notice that it's created a few extra styles for me. So it's created 'Index Level 1' which is this small type here, the Index Title, which is the big thing at the top here, and the section here, which is the letters here in bold. So what you need to do is, go through, and let's say I want to change my Index Title, double click on it, and say actually, 'Basic Character Formats'. I'm going to pick the Arial that I've been using in this particular document. Font size is a lot smaller, you can see it updating over here. And just go through and update that. Alternatively you can just select it in here. Pick a font, I'm going to pick 'Arial Bold'. My lovely color. And then you can right click this, and say, I'd like to 'Redefine Style'. Either way you like to work. Do the same thing for these guys.

So you need to update the style, because, say you do some changes in here and you're like, "Okay, I'm going to make this Arial, but I'm not going to update the style." 'Arial Italic'. I'm going to do it for all of these. Here's my Eye Dropper, steal the formating. Paint the formating on that. So I've updated it, but not updated the style. What happens is, if I go and move, say, Chair, if I delete Chair from page 1, 'Command-J-1', and I go to 'chair', say goodbye. What I need to do now is go back to my last page, 'Command-J-16'. Now this is a two stage updating process. Don’t know why it's so confusing, but that's why we got this video. What we need to do is, click on this 'Refresh' button, and you're like "Oh, update preview. Great. Hmm." All it does is update in here, that this no longer has one in there. We don't do it, but it will still have one, as one of the options.

So once we've done that though, we're going to have to update this. Why are you updating? So that the contents is easy. This thing here, we need to do something a little weird. You just click on this option here, 'Generate Index', and you're like, "Why do I make a new one?" But see in here, it's got a little check box that says 'Replace Existing Index'. And you're like, "Ugh, okay." See, update. It updates, removes that one but because we didn't update our Paragraph Style it returns to our Minion.

So that's how to update it, and just make sure that when you do any changes to the styling you go and-- you can see the little '+' there, you right click it, and say, actually redefine this style for me. What I'll also do is, go into Paragraph Styles and actually push the padding from the right hand side, let's make an Indent. Now I'm going to 'Redefine Style'. I use Redefine Style all the time, that is a shortcut. It's a bit of a hard one I guess, it's there. It's all buttons plus 'R'. So 'Command-Option-Shift' on a Mac, and 'Control-Alt-Shift' on a PC. I use it a lot anyway, it's a shortcut that I like. Now if I refresh it, it's going to look like that again.

So that is how to create an index. Let's get on to the next video.