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Aki_Ameko
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Weird Symbols in my Tabs?

Sep 7, 2012 4:49 PM

Tags: #cs4 #text #indesign #tables #characters #pink #symbols #tabs #weird #funny

The Problem: There are weird symbols in my tabs that I don't know how to get rid of. They are highlighted in pink, which indicates to me that they are an unrecognized font or symbol. I cannot figure out how to get rid of them and return my tabs to normal display.

 

indesign tabs screenshot.jpg

 

The Process: While adding tabs I decided that I wanted an unbroken line between columns, and tried to figure out how to do that. While messing around I right-clicked Leader>Insert Unicode Control Character and selected one of the options. (I don't know which) I think it was after that that the funny symbols appeared. Now I just want white space in between columns/on tabs and I can't figure out how to get rid of those pinked-out symbols.

 

Tenchical Info: InDesign CS4, Windows 7

520 Views   6 Replies   Latest reply: Aki_Ameko, Sep 8, 2012 6:23 PM
 
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  • Steve Werner
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    1. Steve Werner,
    Sep 7, 2012 5:41 PM   in reply to Aki_Ameko
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    First step would be to find out what font is missing (that's what the pink highlighting means). Go to Type > Find Font, and take a look. See what happens if you open or replace it.

     
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  • Aki_Ameko
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    2. Aki_Ameko,
    Sep 8, 2012 2:35 PM   in reply to Steve Werner
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    Tried it. Found out it was the same font as text surrounding it. (Adobe Garamound Pro, Regular and Italic) Changed one segmant to Airal and instead of the pink text, it was replaced with this T-like symbols with arrows on top: (circled in blue)

    indesign tabs screenshot 2.jpg

    Hopefully this will now clue someone in to what's going on.

     
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  • [Jongware]
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    3. [Jongware],
    Sep 8, 2012 3:01 PM   in reply to Aki_Ameko
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    It's not a "symbol" per se, but rather a Unicode text direction character marker -- which actually *should* be invisible. Perhaps inserting it into the Tab Leader field was an unexpected enough action for InDesign to make it show.

     

    Since you inserted this character somehow into the Tab Leader field, wouldn't it be most logical to call up your tab set again and delete it from same?

     
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  • Aki_Ameko
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    4. Aki_Ameko,
    Sep 8, 2012 3:11 PM   in reply to [Jongware]
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    Delete it how? There is nothing shown in the Leader field.

    indesign tabs screenshot 3.jpg

     
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  • [Jongware]
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    5. [Jongware],
    Sep 8, 2012 4:39 PM   in reply to Aki_Ameko
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    Umm, that's what I meant with "it *should* be invisible".

     

    Just try it: do *not* click the mouse in the leader field, use the tab key to move to it. That's so you are *sure* all text inside it is selected, invisible or otherwise. Then press Delete.

     
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  • Aki_Ameko
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    6. Aki_Ameko,
    Sep 8, 2012 6:23 PM   in reply to [Jongware]
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    Sorry! Thought you meant that the weird character in the body text should be invisible.

     

    Success! Tried again: Used the tab key to navigate to the leader field. Deleted it and selected another paragraph and the pinked-out text was gone and my normal tab was there! Thank you!

     
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