Use Pencil Tool in Adobe InDesign CS6

Edited by Freya, VisiHow, Eng, Visihow Admin

You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to use "Pencil Tool" in Adobe InDesign CS6 in Windows 7.

Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas190 859158.jpg

Steps

  1. 1
    To begin, you should open Adobe InDesign either from your desktop or by coming down to the bottom-left corner and clicking the Windows icon
    .
    Clicking this will bring up a list of your recently used programs. You might see "Adobe InDesign" here. It has a pink-and-purple icon with the letters "ID" on it.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas19 008808.jpg
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  2. 2
    Otherwise, click the search bar at the bottom of the screen and type "Adobe InDesign"
    .
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas34 430844.jpg
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  3. 3
    Then, click "Adobe InDesign CS6"
    .
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas36 298394.jpg
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  4. 4
    Click "File" on the bar at the top-left of the window
    .
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas49 370798.jpg
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  5. 5
    Move the cursor to "New" and click "Document..."
    .
    Alternatively, you could click "Open...". This will create a new document. You can also do this with the shortcut "Ctrl" + "N". For more information, refer to our tutorials on how to create a new document and on how to open an existing document.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas54 76024.jpg
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  6. 6
    Let's just click "OK"
    .
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas60 946404.jpg
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  7. 7
    Click "Pencil Tool"
    .
    It is in the vertical toolbar at the left side of the window. It is about halfway down the menu. In the bottom-right corner of the icon, you may notice a small black triangle. It indicates that when you click and drag the icon, a menu of similar tools will appear. The cursor will change to a pencil when the icon is clicked.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas85 935842.jpg
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  8. 8
    Before drawing, you can adjust the "Fill" and "Stroke" colors in the horizontal toolbar at the top of the screen
    .
    You can also adjust the size of the stroke. Use the drop-down menus at the top to change these settings.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas105 626278.jpg
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  9. 9
    Click and drag the cursor using the "Pencil Tool" to create a line across the canvas
    .
    The line will appear as a series of blue dots.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas114 595384.jpg
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  10. 10
    When you release the mouse button, the line will be applied to the canvas
    .
    "Pencil Tool" is much more organic than "Pen Tool" and allows for much more freedom.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas123 053522.jpg
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  11. 11
    You can click the "Selection Tool" black arrow to click away from the line
    .
    You can also press the "Esc" key on your keyboard to go back to the "Selection Tool".
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas132 984684.jpg
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  12. 12
    Then, you can click "Pencil Tool" again to create a new line
    .
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas193 012816.jpg
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  13. 13
    Click the line style drop-down menu in the horizontal toolbar to select various line styles
    .
    InDesign has a lot of various line styles, which are a bit different from the ones in Illustrator. InDesign is for working mostly with publications. Maybe you will need one of the line styles to work between text and images in a magazine article. You can, for example, create cartoon characters and use a dotted line. This "Pencil Tool" adds extra effect or quality to your work. Both Illustrator and InDesign polishes the corners when creating curved shapes. This is especially the case with "Pen Tool", whereas "Pencil Tool" is much more organic. "Pencil Tool" can look very professional.
    Use the Pencil Tool on Adobe InDesign CS6.mp4-canvas189 707717.jpg
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This concludes our tutorial showing you how to use "Pencil Tool" in Adobe InDesign CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding this video or the program used, then just add them to the comment section below. Thank you for choosing VisiHow!

Video: Use Pencil Tool in Adobe InDesign CS6

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Categories : Software

Recent edits by: Eng, VisiHow, Freya

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