How do you get objects to scale proportionally?

[Nohjekim]

Hi

InDesign CS4.

I can't get objects to scale proportionally using the scale tool.

The usual holding the shift key doesn't work.

So how do I grab a corner drag it to a new proportionate size?

Mike

[Steve Werner]

Be more specific. What kind of object are you trying to scale? If you want content to scale, you also need to hold down the Cmd/Ctrl key as well as the Shift key.

[Peter Spier]

Personally, I never got into the habit of using the Scale tool as it seems superflous. If you use the Selection tool (Black arrow) and hold Cmd or Ctrl (press the key first on Windows before you click) then drag, tthe conten of the frame will resize with the frame. Add the Shift key to resize proportionally.

[kiski]

I've been using InDesign for years and never knew that. Aaargh!

THANK YOU!!!!!

🙂

[Nohjekim]

Hi

Thanks for the help.

I've been having problems with this ever since I switched to CS4.

I don't know exactly how it's different from my older version but I never used to have a problem with it.

I only started trying to use the scaling tool because I was having trouble doing it with the selection tool.

I'm really retired now and only do an occasional job so I'm not using it on a day to day basis which makes it harder to remember this stuff.

Mike

[Peter Spier]

Waht's differnt is something happened in Windows so that scaling only works right if you press the Ctrl key before you click the mouse. If you don't it gets ignored and the content doesn't resize. I reported the bug at the time, but it lives on.

[Guest]

Hi Peter,

Do you know where I can set the reference point for the scale proportional command? I upgraded from CS4, where I could drag a corner to scale proportionally. However, in CS6, when I hold down Cmd+Opt+Shift (Mac), it is only allowing me to scale from the center. I haven't been able to find any preferences to set this -- nor does it respond to when I set the "reference point" in the upper left of the tool bar. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Jessica W.

[Steve Werner]

Adding the Option key when scaling always scales from the center. Just use Cmd+Shift on the Mac to scale proportionally.

[Guest]

Thank you Steve! I don't know where that extra +option came from, but you just saved me a lot of sanity!

Cheers,

Jessica W.

[phild44251133]

btw this doesn't work in ID CC 2015. The following combos on mac + mouse drag enable me to drag to any proportion:

CMD+SHIFT

CMD+OPT+SHIFT

OPT+SHIFT

CMD+OPT

None of the tried and true combos do anything. This is rough.

[Steve Werner]

When modifier keys like Shift don't work, it's almost always because of confliciting third-party software on your computer. There can be many sources but currently it's mostly likely because of browser plug-ins (Chrome seems to be popular).

To test, this reboot your computer. Launch InDesign first before any other software. See if the problem reoccurs. Then as you open other software, observe when the problem re-occurs.

[it@caotti.net]

I'm having the same problem.

I downloaded a PDF of a poster that I need to reformat to letter size. I used Markzware's PDF2DTP to translate it to InDesign CS6. I grouped everything in the document, but when I try to scale it, it just bounces back to its original size.

I thought maybe the Markzware plugin might be to blame for this, so I quit out of InDesign and rebooted, but I'm still having the same problem.

So I thought maybe if I copied everything, then created a new document with InDesign CC (which doesn't have the Markzware plugin), and pasted it, it might let me scale it in the new document. But the whole group pasted as if it were an image. The individual text boxes were no longer editable; it was all just an image (that looked low res).

Is there a way to work around this problem? Or maybe I'll just have to re-create the whole document from scratch in letter size?