Dear Adobe Team,

I am reaching out to amplify users' advocacy for the inclusion of non-contiguous text selection in Adobe InDesign. This enhancement would not only elevate InDesign’s capabilities but also significantly enhance user efficiency and align the software with industry standards.

Efficiency and Productivity: Introducing the ability to select non-contiguous text would revolutionize workflows for those of us who manage complex documents, such as books or extensive reports. Currently, the necessity for repetitive manual text selection and modification is a significant time drain. This feature would allow us to make simultaneous formatting adjustments across different sections of a document efficiently, markedly reducing the risk of errors and saving substantial time.

Consistency in User Experience Across Adobe Products: Adobe’s ecosystem already supports various forms of non-contiguous selection in certain applications. For example, Adobe Acrobat (formerly Adobe Reader) permits highlighting multiple non-adjacent text sections, and Adobe Photoshop enables similar functionalities through its marquee tools. Implementing this feature in InDesign would further harmonize the user experience across Adobe’s suite, reducing the learning curve and facilitating a smoother workflow transition between applications.

Enhanced Formatting Control and Design Precision: InDesign is acclaimed for its robust layout and typesetting capabilities. By introducing non-contiguous text selection, you would greatly enhance these capabilities by providing us with precise control over text formatting across multiple sections simultaneously. This feature is particularly crucial for maintaining design consistency and ensuring typographic coherence in professional layouts.

Competitive Advantage and User Retention: Many modern word processors and design tools already support non-contiguous text selection. By integrating this feature, InDesign would not only meet current industry standards but also enhance its competitive edge by combining its advanced design features with enhanced text manipulation capabilities. Additionally, responding to user-requested features like this is vital for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty, especially among professionals like myself who rely on InDesign’s efficiency and robustness for our daily tasks.

AI-Powered Non-Contiguous Selection: To further enhance the impact of non-contiguous selection, I propose that Adobe explore the integration of AI-powered guidance within this feature. The AI could analyze the document, identify text patterns, and suggest non-contiguous selections based on similar formatting, content types, or other relevant criteria. This would not only accelerate the selection process but also empower users with intelligent insights into their document workflows.

Understanding that integrating new features requires careful consideration of development resources and compatibility with existing architectures, I believe that non-contiguous text selection, particularly with the potential for AI enhancement, represents a compelling addition to InDesign’s feature set, with clear benefits to user productivity and satisfaction.

Thank you for considering this enhancement. I eagerly await your feedback on the feasibility of incorporating this feature into InDesign’s future development roadmap.

With appreciation,
Justin Rizzo-Weaver, CAMA, Santa Barbara, CA, camasb.org

Personally, I have wondered exactly the same thing, the benefit of this is saving time Scott!! And in case you accidentally clicked and lost your selection, the program is advanced enough that it should have the option to save your last selection!!!!

Another thing that bugs me is highlighting, why the **** can't we highlight text directly!!! I sometimes feel that word is more advanced than Indesign and I can work with it much faster, only that it doesn't have all the features Indesign has!! THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING to be honest I am disappointed with it!!

I don’t see any value in this. Select text, select, text, select text, etc. Then apply character style. I don’t see any benefit of that workflow over applying the character style to each selection. For every application of the character style (one keyword shortcut) you would need to use a modifier key to extend the selection, meaning you aren’t really saving any time. Further, I find when I have multiple non-contiguous selections, like when I’m selecting photos in Photos or Lightroom I get uncomfortable with large selections because I know one accidental click and I’ll lose my selection.

What you want can be accomplished already using the steps mentioned above or GREP.