Since its initial release in 1999, Adobe InDesign has become the number one choice for layout design, particularly in the print media industry. In addition to making it easy to resize and organize visual elements on a page, InDesign gives you great control over the appearance and formatting of text.

And while you can edit text straight from text frames on the page, it’s often better to use the built-in Story Editor instead. Here, we look at how to use InDesign's Story Editor and why it's so useful.

What Is the InDesign Story Editor?

Quite simply, the Story Editor is a basic text editor built into InDesign. It enables you to edit text in a separate window, and it can be customized in various ways to make it easier to read.

indesign story editor open

For small amounts of text, such as headers and captions, it’s probably not worth opening the Story Editor. But when you’re working with larger chunks of material, the Story Editor is more manageable than working with text frames in your layout.

You can even compose whole documents in the Story Editor if you want. However, it’s better to write your text in a separate program, such as Microsoft Word or one of its many free alternatives.

Not only does that mean the changes you make in InDesign won’t affect the original, but you’ll also have a backup of the content.

Related: How to Master Adobe Creative Cloud

Why Use the InDesign Story Editor?

When you create a text frame in InDesign, you can type straight into it. You can also edit existing text in the same way. So why bother using the Story Editor at all?

One reason is legibility. The text on the page might be in an unusual font, or it might be on a background that makes it hard to read. Open it in the Story Editor, and that same text will be on a plain background in a standard typeface. That makes it much easier to read.

indesign story editor overset text

Secondly, the Story Editor simplifies the process of overset text, also known as overmatter. Overmatter is text that does not fit in the text frame. You can create more text frames for this content, but if there’s a lot of it, it can become difficult to work with.

With the Story Editor, overmatter is all in one place, clearly marked up by an Overset line and a red line in the border.

How to Open the InDesign Story Editor

Before you can start the Story Editor, you need to choose which text you want to edit. You can either select the relevant frame with the Selection Tool, or you can click inside the frame with the Type Tool.

Now, click Edit in the main menu, and choose Edit in Story Editor.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Y for Windows, or Cmd + Y for Mac.

indesign story editor multiple screens

Note that the Story Editor opens in a separate window, and InDesign will open a new one for every text frame you choose to edit. You can have multiple Story Editor windows open at once.

This is useful if you want to make comparisons or copy from one place to another. Otherwise, we recommend closing each one when you’re finished with it in order to avoid cluttering up your screen.

Related: Adobe InDesign vs. Canva: Which Is Best?

How to Customize the InDesign Story Editor Display

The first thing you might want to do is resize the left-hand column, which shows information such as paragraph styles. To do this, hover over the grey line that separates the two parts of the Story Editor until the cursor changes. Click and drag to resize the column.

To change the appearance of the text in the Story Editor, click Edit from the top menu, and then hover over Preferences. From there, select Story Editor Display.

indesign story editor preferences

You can now customize the appearance of the Story Editor. You can change the font, font size, line spacing, text color, and background.

There are also preset themes, including Terminal, which is green text on a black background. You can see a preview of what the text will look like after the changes have been made.

This is great if you find the default font too small or otherwise difficult to read. In this screenshot, we’ve set up the Story Editor with the Terminal theme, Arial font at 18pt, and double line spacing.

indesign story editor green on black double spaced

What you choose mostly comes down to personal preference. Some people claim that light text on a dark background (dark mode) reduces eyestrain, but others have pushed back on that idea. Under some conditions, some sources believe that dark mode may actually be worse for your eyes.

You can also toggle anti-aliasing, and choose the appearance of the cursor. This includes whether or not it blinks.

How to Mark Spelling Errors in the InDesign Story Editor

As well as a built-in spellchecker, InDesign has a feature called Dynamic Spelling. Similar to the spellchecker in Microsoft Word, this highlights grammatical and spelling errors with red and green squiggles.

indesign story editor spelling errors

Dynamic Spelling works on the page and in the Story Editor. To enable it, select Edit from the top menu, then hover over Spelling. Now, click Dynamic Spelling.

As you scroll through the text, you can now easily see errors that need fixing.

Track Changes in the InDesign Story Editor

As with most word processors, you can track your changes in the Story Editor. By doing so, any edits you make are highlighted. That includes added, deleted, and moved text.

By default, changes are highlighted in orange, with the text remaining black. You also get cyan color bars in the margin. This can all be customized in your Preferences.

indesign story editor track changes

To enable the Track Changes feature, select Window from the top menu, hover over Editorial, and choose Track Changes. This opens a new panel, where you can toggle the tracking, and choose whether or not to accept changes.

Change the Way You Work Using the InDesign Story Editor

The InDesign Story Editor is a relatively simple tool, but it can make a huge difference if you’re working with a lot of text.

The default font is a little difficult to read, and the font may appear too small on some screens. The Story Editor enables you to boost the point size and change the font to something you find more readable.

indesign alice in wonderland document

The Story Editor also makes it easier to deal with excess text, enabling you to quickly edit it down to fit. This is vital if you’re working on a print project, which will normally have a limited amount of space.

Whether you're producing a flyer, a brochure, or even an entire magazine or book, InDesign makes it easy to work with text as well as images. The Story Editor is just one reason why.

Image Credit: Flo Dahm/Pexels