The Secret Power Of Keep Options In Adobe InDesign CC

Hey there, in this video we're going to look at Keep Options in InDesign. Now Keep Options are our magical potions that does things like this. If I've got this Heading now, I'm going to apply this Paragraph Style that I've made. With the Keep Option, that says whenever this is applied, you be on the next column. It's super handy to get some Paragraph Styles to start on a next page, maybe Chapter Headings, and in our case, it's the Sub Headings so it makes sure it jumps to the next column. We can also use it to make sure that the heading is always connected to the first paragraph and not broken across pages or columns. There's lots of things we can do with Keep Options. Let's go and look at those now in InDesign.

The first thing we need to do is we need to create a Paragraph Style. That's where the Keep Options are created, they're made in here. So what I'm going to do is, just after this first paragraph here I'm going to create a Sub Heading called 'Cube Storage'. And I'm going to make it a Sub Heading Paragraph Style. I'm just going to make it bold, make it a chunk bigger. And I'm going to make it 'MF Green'. Now I'm going to turn it into a Paragraph Style. So 'New' Paragraph Style, double click 'Paragraph Style 1'. This one's going to be called 'MF Sub Heading'. I don't want it to be based on another Paragraph Style. I just wanted to replace with nothing. I'll have all styles in for you there. Let's click 'OK'.

So we've created a Paragraph Style, and we've applied it to this. Now, what I'd like to do is prevent things like this. So whenever I'm doing, my notes, like longer notes, and I kind of add text up here on another page or up here in this other paragraph. So I'm going to add some text, and copy and paste this. And I paste it, paste it… and you start to see, I end up with this title. It's kind of by himself, he should be over there with that first paragraph. He shouldn't be just hanging here by himself. I want him to automatically, when he gets close to the bottom there, wherever the paragraph goes on to the next line, I want him to jump across and be on the next line there. It might be easier just to show you, so, I'm going to click off, have nothing selected, with my Black Arrow, I'm going to double click 'Sub Heading'. And in here I'm going to go down to the 'Keep Options'.

So I want to keep it with, how many lines, probably what would look nice, if it's a really long paragraph, maybe I want it to, maybe just one, two, three So maybe about four lines. I'm happy if it's back over on this one, if there's four lines or more I want it just to kind of jump across. Maybe three lines might be better because I could be happy with 'Cube Storage' being over on this column if there was the Heading, plus three lines. Actually I wouldn't. I want it just to push to the top of the next column. It's a lot easier for people to read and find titles if they go at the top of the column. So let's see how it works, let's click 'OK'. So if there is three lines, if I delete a couple of lines here, it will move back, but if it doesn't, it will jump to the next one. So it's just a nice way of kind of encouraging these guys to be in a nice space. Be on their own page if they need to be.

Another option to use Keep Options, I'm going to have nothing selected, I'm going to turn off the Keep thing that we just did. So I'm going to say, you can be on its own line, so back to zero. Click 'OK'. So now it's not doing that thing we've done previously, but what it's going to do now, let's say I've a really long Sub Heading. So, 'Cube Storage is a really handy way to store… whatever it is, so it's a really long Sub Heading. Watch this, if I add some text up here, copy and paste, if I get close to the bottom there, you'll notice it breaks across two lines. So that Paragraph Style allows this to break across lines. So let's say Heading, and we are like, "No way we want that to happen."

So what we can do is, nothing selected, open up 'Sub Heading', and I'll use Keep Options in a slightly different way. We're going to say keep lines together, all lines in that paragraph. So it just means, for this particular style, we're going to say keep that paragraph all together. So if it gets to the bottom of the column or a page, jump across to the next one. Let's click 'OK'. I'm going to undo that to go back to what it was before. Let's say we've got a different situation, so another use for Keep. Instead of doing the Keep Options where, if it spans a column, we keep it together like we just did. We want actually to say, every time there's a Sub Heading, I want it to go to a new column regardless of where it is, or a new page.

Say it's a Chapter Heading rather than the Sub Heading, we want to say, whenever this appears, go to its own page, or in our case, I want it to go to the next column. Doesn’t really matter where it is, just go to the next column when you're applied. So, let's have nothing selected again and just that Paragraph Style, and under 'Keep Options', we're going to use this option to say start this paragraph 'anywhere'. No, I want to start it on the next column, or the next page. So I want to say, you definitely have to start in the next column. I could say, next page, if I wanted to push this to another page to go to another page. It can be really useful for those kind of large headings, like Chapter Headings where you say, actually I just want it to be on its own column regardless of where it is in the paragraph. So that's it for Keep Options. Really handy, especially when you're dealing with little headings in the flow of text, like we've got here. Just to make sure they break, and keep together where they should. All right, on to the next video.