Adobe InDesign 2027: 3 NEW Features You Need to See
Adobe InDesign 2027 is here, bringing exciting new features and enhancements designed to help you work smarter, streamline your workflow, and create more flexible layouts.
In this tutorial, we'll explore three of the newest features and improvements in Adobe InDesign 2027, including the much-anticipated AI Assistant, the new Check Document feature, and enhancements to Flex Layout.
From automating tasks with AI to identifying document errors and creating more responsive layouts, these updates introduce new ways to work more efficiently in InDesign.
If you'd like to follow along with the video tutorial, you can download the exercise files by clicking the link below.
Let's take a closer look at what's new!
1. AI Assistant
One of the biggest additions to InDesign 2027 is the AI Assistant, a new feature that allows you to use natural-language prompts to create, modify, and automate tasks directly within your document.
Rather than navigating through multiple panels and menus, you can simply describe what you want to accomplish, and the AI Assistant can help you complete the task.
How to Access AI Assistant
Step 1: Open a document in Adobe InDesign 2027.
Step 2: Go to Window > AI Assistant to open the panel. Alternatively, click the AI Assistant icon at the top of the screen in the Control Bar.
Step 3: Once the panel opens, you'll see several suggested prompts and commands to help you get started.
You can ask the AI Assistant general questions about InDesign, such as "How do I resolve overset text in a document?" The assistant will provide instructions to help you understand and resolve the issue.
However, AI Assistant goes beyond answering questions. It can also perform tasks directly within your layouts.
Example: Creating a Tabbed Index Using AI Assistant
Let's say you're working on a publication containing an index page with a list of topics and corresponding page numbers.
Instead of manually creating tabs and leaders, you can ask the AI Assistant to handle the formatting.
Step 1: Select the text frame containing your index.
Step 2: Open the AI Assistant panel.
Step 3: Enter the following prompt: "Create a tabbed index using the text in the selected frame, with right-aligned tabs and a . leader."
Step 4: Submit the prompt and allow the AI Assistant to process the request.
The assistant will format the index with right-aligned page numbers and period leaders, creating a cleaner and more professional appearance.
You can take this a step further by asking the AI Assistant to save the formatting as a Paragraph Style.
Simply enter a follow-up prompt asking it to create a Paragraph Style based on the formatting.
The AI Assistant will create and name the style, making it available in the Paragraph Styles panel for future use.
This is just one example of how the AI Assistant can help reduce repetitive formatting tasks in InDesign.
2. Check Document
Another exciting addition to InDesign 2027 is Check Document, an AI-powered feature designed to help identify and correct potential issues throughout your document.
Check Document can analyze your content for grammar errors, inconsistent formatting, and accessibility issues, helping you prepare more accurate and accessible documents.
Rather than manually reviewing every page, you can use this feature to generate a report containing recommendations for improvement.
How to Use Check Document
Step 1: Open your InDesign document.
Step 2: Go to Window > Check Document to open the panel.
Step 3: Review the initial recommendations displayed in the panel.
Step 4: Click Start Scan to analyze your document.
Once the scan is complete, InDesign displays recommendations organized into different categories, including grammar, copy consistency, and accessibility.
You can review each recommendation individually and decide whether to apply or ignore the suggested correction.
Example 1: Generating Alt Text for Images
Alternative text, commonly referred to as Alt Text, provides descriptions of images for people using assistive technologies such as screen readers.
If Check Document identifies images without Alt Text, it can recommend generating descriptions automatically.
Step 1: Open the Accessibility recommendations within the Check Document panel.
Step 2: Locate the recommendation to generate Alt Text for images.
Step 3: Click Fix All to generate and apply Alt Text to the identified images.
InDesign will generate descriptive text for the images in your document.
Keep in mind that generating Alt Text may consume generative credits depending on your Creative Cloud plan. You should also review the generated descriptions to ensure they're accurate and meaningful.
Example 2: Correcting Copy Consistency
Check Document can also identify inconsistencies in how information is written throughout your document.
For example, imagine your publication contains two different references to percentages. One instance uses the word "percent," while another uses the percentage symbol (%).
Although both formats may be correct, using them inconsistently can affect the overall presentation of your content.
Here's how to fix the issue.
Step 1: Locate the copy consistency recommendation in the Check Document panel.
Step 2: Review the different formatting variations identified in your document.
Step 3: Click the Change all to this format dropdown and select your preferred formatting option.
Step 4: Click Fix All to apply the selected formatting consistently throughout your document.
You can also dismiss recommendations that don't require changes by clicking the X icon.
Once you've resolved the identified issues, you can refresh the report to scan your document again.
For the best results, consider running Check Document toward the end of your design process, once most of your content has been finalized.
This allows you to review grammar, consistency, and accessibility before sharing or publishing your document.
3. Flex Layout Improvements
Flex Layout was introduced in an earlier version of InDesign, allowing designers to create layouts that automatically adapt when content or frame dimensions change.
With InDesign 2027, Adobe has introduced additional improvements that make Flex Layout even more flexible and easier to work with.
Two enhancements worth exploring are automatic text-frame resizing and the ability to adjust spacing and padding directly on the canvas.
Improvement 1: Automatically Resize Text Frames
One of the latest improvements to Flex Layout is support for automatically resizing text frames within a Flex container.
Previously, adding more text to a frame could require manually adjusting its dimensions to accommodate the additional content.
With the new Auto setting, text frames can expand as content is added, allowing the surrounding layout to respond accordingly.
Here's how it works.
Step 1: Open a document containing a Flex Layout with text frames.
Step 2: Select a text frame inside the Flex container.
Step 3: In the Properties panel, under Flex Layout, you will see the Flex Layout Child selected.
Step 4: Locate the text-frame sizing setting and change it from Fixed to Auto.
Step 5: Add additional text to the selected frame.
As you type, the text frame can automatically expand to accommodate the new content, and the Flex Layout adjusts based on the updated frame dimensions.
This is particularly useful when working with presentation slides, marketing materials, or layouts where the amount of text may change throughout the design process.
Improvement 2: Adjust Spacing and Padding Directly on the Canvas
Another useful improvement in InDesign 2027 is the ability to adjust spacing and padding within Flex Layout containers directly on the canvas.
Previously, these adjustments were primarily controlled through the Flex Layout panel.
Now, you can make these changes visually using interactive handles.
Adjusting Spacing
Spacing controls the distance between objects inside a Flex container.
Step 1: Select a Flex container containing multiple objects, such as images or text frames.
Step 2: Hover over the space between objects to reveal the adjustment handles.
Step 3: Click and drag a handle inward or outward to decrease or increase the spacing.
As you drag, the objects respond to the changes, allowing you to fine-tune the layout visually.
Adjusting Padding
Padding controls the space between the content and the outer edges of the Flex container.
Step 1: Select the Flex container.
Step 2: Hover over the padding adjustment handles near the container's edges.
Step 3: Click and drag the handles to increase or decrease the padding.
These new controls make it easier to experiment with spacing and padding without constantly returning to the Flex Layout panel.
For precise measurements, you can still use the settings within the panel to make additional adjustments.
Together, these improvements provide greater flexibility when designing layouts that need to adapt to different amounts of content.
