Creating Style in PageMaker

Creating Style:

To create a style, you use the Define Style dialog box to assign a style name to a formatted paragraph, and the formatting contained in the paragraph is then associated with the name. The style contains instructions on character formatting (such as font, size, leading, and type style), as well as paragraph formatting (such as indents, tabs, space above and below, hyphenation, window / orphan control, and column breaks). Note that only one type style can be associated with a style.

You can create style at any point in the design and layout process, but the earlier the better. You can refine the style later. To create a style, click anywhere in the formatted paragraph with the text tool selected, for which you wish to create the style. Choose Type > Define Styles (or Ctrl + 3). When the Define Styles dialog box appears, [Selection] is highlighted. This indicates the style is based on the formatting in the selected paragraph. The paragraph and character formats are listed at the bottom of the dialog box. Click the New command button. The Edit Style dialog box appears. 

In the Name text box, type a name for the style (up to 31 characters). Hold down the Shift and click Ok to close both dialog boxes. The new style is now listed in your Styles Palette. However, this style is not yet applied to any paragraph, not even the current one, because creating a style does not apply the style.

PageMaker offers a couple of other ways to create a style. These techniques bypass the menu and are even faster than the Ctrl + 3 keyboard shortcut. The first shortcut uses the keyboard : hold down Ctrl and click [No Style] in the Style palette. This takes you directly to the Edit Style dialog box.

The second shortcut uses the Ctrl Palettes. The style field is available in the palette’s paragraph view, so you may have to click the  button to see this field. 

To create a new style in the Control Palette, select the Paragraph-style field and type the new name. When you press Enter, PageMaker will display the message – Style Name does not exist. Press Ok to add this style. After you click Ok, the style name will be added and the style is automatically applied to the currently selected paragraph(s). This is the only technique that creates and assigns style names in one step.