InDesign plug-in increases scaling abilities

ProScale ID is a plug-in that may seem redundant with InDesign’s own scaling abilities—and in some cases that’s true. If you’re simply rescaling a page full of objects to a new size, you can use the built-in feature of grouping the objects and resizing them via a percentage or visually. However, if you have to change objects across multiple pages or want selected scaling, then this plug-in can save you hours of reformatting time.

One very useful feature is the ability to resize an entire document, including the page size, to a new size (e.g., change a letter-size document to an A4 document or vice versa). Besides working on entire documents, scaling can be limited to any consecutive page range, performed by size or percentage, and be either proportional or nonproportional. Another feature is the ability to resize selected objects to standard layout sizes, such as a half-page vertical or horizontal ads. Presets can be saved for easy access.

One look at the Options tab shows some of the power of ProScale. Several of the more interesting options include scaling only picture boxes, anchored boxes, or text wrap. Some of these options can be fixed by using InDesign’s Object Styles, but the power lies in combining them.

The only issue I had with the plug-in is how it scaled text. I had to turn off the text and style sheet options in order to get my example file to scale properly. I’m sure it had to do more with my learning the ins and outs of the plug-in; however, the manual was a little skimpy on how all the options work together.—David Creamer

PRICE $139
FROM GLUON, Inc.
PHONE 800-458-6698
WEB www.gluon.com
FOR Mac

LAYERS VERDICT
HOT Scaling entire document at once
NOT Text scaling can be confusing
RATING 4

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