InDesign

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Change dictionary preferences

Use Dictionary preferences to specify how InDesign handles hyphenation and spelling dictionaries. Most languages in InDesign use Proximity dictionaries to verify spelling and to hyphenate words. If you have installed hyphenation or spelling components from a different company, you can select a different vendor for each installed language.

Note: The Dictionary Preferences dialog box does not enable you to specify the language dictionary used for spell checking or hyphenating text. This dialog box is used to specify which hyphenation and spelling plug‑ins InDesign uses for the language specified in the Language field. If you use only the default hyphenation and spelling plug‑in, you don't need to change any settings in the Dictionary Preferences dialog box. If you install a different spelling or hyphenation plug‑in provided by a third-party developer, it appears as an option in the Hyphenation Vendor and Spelling Vendor menus in this dialog box. This would let you select one vendor's hyphenation or spelling engine for some languages and another vendor's hyphenation or spelling engine for other languages.
  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Dictionary (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Dictionary (Mac OS).
  2. For Language, specify the language for which you want to edit settings or change the hyphenation or spelling vendor.
  3. Create, add, or remove user dictionaries. (See Create or add user dictionaries.)
  4. If you have installed a hyphenation component from a company other than Adobe, select it in the Hyphenation menu.
  5. If you have installed a spelling dictionary component from a company other than Adobe, select it in the Spelling menu.
  6. In the Compose Using menu in the Hyphenation Exceptions menu, do one of the following:

    • To compose text using the hyphenation exceptions list stored in the external user dictionary, choose User Dictionary.

    • To compose text using the hyphenation exceptions list stored inside the document, choose Document.

    • To compose text using both lists, choose User Dictionary and Document. This is the default setting.

  7. To add the exceptions list stored in the external user dictionary to the exceptions list stored within the document, select Merge User Dictionary Into Document.
    Note: If you work with many different partners or clients, you might want to deselect the Merge User Dictionary Into Document option. For example, if you’re a service provider, you probably don’t want your user dictionary merged with every customer’s file.
  8. To recompose all stories when certain settings are changed, select Recompose All Stories When Modified. Selecting this option recomposes stories when you change the Compose Using settings (see step 6) or when you use the Dictionary command to add or remove words. Recomposing all stories can take some time, depending on the amount of text in the document.
  9. Click OK.