InDesign: insert bullets and numbering

To better structure lists, you can insert bullets or numbering in Adobe InDesign. To keep an overview even in long documents, you can find out how to format your lists with paragraph and character formats here.

Insert bullets in Adobe InDesign

If you create a list without a fixed order, uniform bullets are best. Follow these steps to add bullets to your InDesign list:

1. First write a list in your InDesign document or open an existing document that contains a list. Press [Enter] before each new bullet point to insert a new paragraph.
2. Now mark your list and open the window for character and paragraph formats. You can get there via "Font" -> "Paragraph formats".
3. Create a new paragraph format using the paper symbol (see screenshot). Now double-click on it to edit it.
4. Name the paragraph format - for example, "List enumeration" - and specify the font size, style and color.
5. Now switch to the "Bullets and Numbering" menu item and select "Bullets" as the list type.
6. Now choose one of the bullets that should appear in front of each element of your list. Save your paragraph format by clicking "OK".

Insert numbering in InDesign

If you want to create a numbered list in an InDesign document, first follow steps 1-4 of the previous paragraph. Use the following steps to create a numbering:

1. Change to the menu item "Bullets and numbering" and click on "Numbering" in the sub-item "List type".
2. Select the format in which your list should be numbered. Then click "OK" to save your paragraph format.

Adobe InDesign CS5 - a preview

To graph conclusions in an InDesign document, you can insert an arrow in Adobe InDesign. You can find out how this works in the next article.