InDesign

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Base one paragraph or character style on another

Many document designs feature hierarchies of styles sharing certain attributes. The headings and subheads, for example, often use the same font. You can easily create links between similar styles by creating a base, or parent, style. When you edit the parent style, the child styles will change as well. You can then edit the child styles to distinguish it from the parent style.

To create a style that’s nearly identical to another style, but without the parent-child relationship, use the Duplicate Style command and then edit the copy.
  1. Create a new style.
  2. In the New Paragraph Style or New Character Style dialog box, select the parent style in the Based On menu. The new style becomes the child style.

    By default, new styles are based on [No Paragraph Style] or [None], or on the style of any currently selected text.

  3. Specify formatting in the new style to distinguish it from the style on which it’s based. For example, you might want to make the font used in a subheading slightly smaller than the one used in the heading (parent) style.
If you make changes to the formatting of a child style and decide you want to start over, click Reset to Base. That restores the child style’s formatting to be identical to the style on which it’s based. Then you can specify new formatting. Similarly, if you change the Based On style of the child style, the child style definition is updated to match its new parent style.