How to turn off hyphens in InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a powerful tool for creating professional publications and layouts. One of the features InDesign offers is automatic hyphenation, which helps improve text flow and readability by breaking words at the end of lines.

However, there are cases where you may prefer not to use hyphens in your document. In this article, we’ll discuss how to turn off hyphens in InDesign, giving you full control over your text formatting.

With just a few clicks, you can disable hyphens in InDesign for either one area or the entire document.

Disable hyphens in InDesign

Turn off hyphens for a specific text frame or paragraph

To disable hyphens for a specific text frame or paragraph, follow these steps:

1. Select the Text Tool (T) on the InDesign toolbar, or press the “T” key on your keyboard.
2. Click inside the text frame or paragraph where you want to disable hyphens.
3. If you want to disable hyphens for an entire text frame, press “Ctrl + A” (Windows) or “Cmd + A” (Mac) to select all the text within the frame. If you only want to disable hyphens for a specific paragraph, place the text cursor anywhere within the paragraph.
4. Open the Paragraph panel by clicking “Window” > “Type and Tables” > “Paragraph” in the top menu bar.
5. In the Paragraph panel, look for the “Copy” check box at the bottom of the panel. Uncheck the box to disable hyphens for the selected text frame or paragraph.

Turn off hyphens for an entire InDesign document

To disable hyphens for an entire InDesign document, follow these steps:

1. Open the Paragraph Styles panel by clicking “Window” > “Styles” > “Paragraph Styles” in the top menu bar.
2. In the Paragraph Styles panel, double-click the “[Basic Paragraph]” style to open the Paragraph Style Options dialog box. The “[Basic Paragraph]” style is the default style applied to all new text frames in your document.
3. In the Paragraph Style Options dialog box, select “Henning” from the list of categories on the left side of the dialog box.
4. Uncheck the “Abort” checkbox in the Abort section.
5. Click “OK” to apply the changes and close the Paragraph Style Options dialog box. This will disable hyphens for all text frames in your document by using the “[Basic Paragraph]”style.

Additional hyphen options

In addition to turning hyphens off completely, InDesign also offers options to adjust hyphen settings. Follow these steps to access these settings:

1. Select the text frame or paragraph for which you want to adjust hyphen settings.
2. Open the Paragraph panel by clicking “Window” > “Type and Tables” > “Paragraph” in the top menu bar.
3. Click the “Henning Settings” button (represented by three lines and a hyphen) in the lower right corner of the Paragraph panel.

In the Abort Settings dialog box, you can adjust various settings, such as:

• “Words with at least”: Sets the minimum number of characters required in a word for hyphens to occur.
• “After first” and “Before last”: Specify the minimum number of characters allowed before the first hyphen and after the last hyphen in a word.
• “Break Zone”: Adjusts the width of the hyphen zone at the end of each line.
• “Hyphen Limit”: Determines the maximum number of consecutive hyphen lines allowed in a paragraph.

After making the desired adjustments to the hyphen settings, click “OK” to apply the changes and close the Hyphenation Settings dialog box.

Closure

Whether you’re working on a book, brochure, or digital publication, knowing how to turn off or adjust hyphen settings empowers you to make informed decisions about your document’s layout and typography.

Disabling hyphens in InDesign gives you greater control over the appearance and readability of your text. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily turn off hyphens for specific text frames, paragraphs, or an entire document.

In addition, InDesign offers several customization options to fine-tune hyphen settings to your preferences, ensuring your publications look polished and professional.

Understanding how to manage hyphens in InDesign is a valuable skill that can improve the overall design and readability of your projects. Whether you’re working on a book, brochure, or digital publication, knowing how to turn off or adjust hyphen settings empowers you to make informed decisions about your document’s layout and typography.