How to Make Arrows in InDesign
By Lori Kaufman
Creating and adding arrows to your InDesign project draws the attention of your readers to specific parts of your business document. Using the Stroke tool, you can create different arrows for different parts of the document. You can also copy one of the newly created arrows and paste it throughout the document if you want to use the same arrow in more than one place. Although you can't control the size of the arrows, you can make them more obvious by changing the Line Weight property.
Open the existing project or create a new project in Adobe InDesign and press "F10" to display the Stroke toolbox.
Increase or decrease the weight of the arrow by clicking the small arrows next to "Weight." The arrow will be more obvious if you increase its weight. Weight is measured in points (pt).
Select the type of line you wish to use for your arrow from the "Type" drop-down box. To create a visible, solid arrow, select "Solid" from the "Type" menu.
Select the start of the arrow from the "Start" drop-down box. If you want to start the arrow with just a line, select "None" from the "Start" menu.
Select the end of the arrow from the "End" drop-down box. For a simple arrow, you can choose the "Curved," "Barbed" or "Triangle" style from the "End" menu.
Press "\" to select the Line tool or select it from the toolbox.
Draw a line on the document. InDesign inserts the arrow automatically when you release the mouse button. To draw a straight line horizontally or vertically, hold the "Shift" key.
Tips
Press "V" to select the Selection tool, click the new arrow and press "Ctrl-C" to copy it to the clipboard; press "Ctrl-V" to paste it from the clipboard anywhere you need it in the document. You can reposition the arrows by clicking and dragging them around the document.
Warnings
Information in this article applies to Adobe InDesign CS6. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.