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Rotate, Scale, Shear, Free Transform Tools in Adobe InDesign

From Elisabetta Bruno, About.com Guest

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The Rotate Tool

InDesign Rotate

Rotate Objects with the Rotate Tool

Image by E. Bruno
If you don't remember how the Control Palette and reference points work, refer to this introduction to The Control Palette.
  1. Select the item to rotate.
  2. Select your reference point on the Control palette.
  3. Select the Rotate Tool.
  4. Move your Rotate Tool away from the reference point (the farther the better) and drag the tool in the direction you want your item to rotate.

Change your reference point by first clicking with the Rotate Tool on top of the object you want to rotate (the reference point will be where you click). You can then rotate the object as already explained.

If you want to rotate your object 45% or a multiple of 45%, hold down shift as you use the Rotate Tool.

You can rotate your item precisely by choosing the item you want to rotate and then double click on the rotate tool. A window called Rotate will appear. Enter the angle of rotation in the window. If you enter a positive value your object will rotate counter-clockwise, while if you enter a negative value, it will rotate clockwise.

You can also just rotate an object from your Control palette by entering your rotation value next to the Rotation Angle icon.

Note: if you have selected the item you want to rotate with the Selection tool, and then you use the Rotate Tool, you will rotate the image frame and the image contained within all together. If you have selected your item with the Direct Selection Tool, then your image will rotate, but the frame containing it won't. See the illustration.

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