Delete all Tabs

To delete a tab stop in the Tabs palette, you click and drag it off the Tab Ruler. Rather than manually dragging every tab stop to delete them all, hold down Command and click-and-drag the left-most tab stop off the Tab Ruler. All tab stops will be deleted.

Use the same shortcut anytime you need to delete all the tab stops to the right of the tab stop: Press Command and click-and-drag the first tab stop you want to delete off the palette and all the tab stops to the right of that tab stop will also be deleted.

Thread Text on Two Paths

Hey, thereÕs no rule that says you have to use closed shapes as text frames when your threading text (mind you, in Illustrator 10 there was). You can also thread text on a path to another path, from a closed object to a path, or from a path to a closed object. Use the regular method of clicking on the first text objectÕs Out Port icon (the tiny red box on the path with an ÒXÓ indicating text overflow), and then clicking on the next text object to create the thread.

Angled Margins

Need to create angled margins for a text box? ItÕs pretty easy with the Direct Selection tool: Make sure only the text frame is selected with the Direct Selection tool and click on the bottom left cornerÕs anchor point. Then drag the anchor point to the left or right to create an angle on the left side of the text box.

Hide the Highlight

When you highlight a word using the type tool and attempt to change its color the highlight ends up giving you an inversed color effect for the type. So, keep the text highlighted and ÒseeÓ the real color, press Command-H to hide the highlight. Keep in mind that the text is still highlighted, but you just canÕt see the highlight.

Open and Start Editing

HereÕs a cool way to jump right into formatting your text if the Character palette isnÕt visible Ð or even open. Press Command-Option-Shift-M to highlight the Font field in the character palette, which will also open the palette if necessary (whether you are using the Type tool or not).