InCopyPerfect

Formatting consistency is one of the hallmarks of professional publishing — and Adobe InCopy makes it simple. Instead of manually adjusting every headline, caption, or paragraph, you can use Paragraph Styles and Character Styles to keep your text perfectly uniform across large documents.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create, apply, and modify styles in InCopy — just like the pros do in InDesign.

🧩 What Are Styles in InCopy?

Styles are reusable formatting presets that control how your text looks.
They’re divided into two main types:

• Paragraph Styles: Control the entire paragraph — including font, size, alignment, spacing, and indents.
• Character Styles: Apply to selected text within a paragraph — such as a word, phrase, or name.

By using styles, you can make global updates in seconds and ensure design consistency throughout your publication.

💡 Think of styles as a rulebook for typography — change the rule once, and every matching section updates automatically.

✏️ Step 1: Open the Styles Panels

To begin working with styles, open both panels from the menu:

• Window → Styles → Paragraph Styles
• Window → Styles → Character Styles

These panels list all available styles in your document — including any imported from InDesign if you’re working in a linked layout.

🪶 Step 2: Create a New Paragraph Style

1. Select a block of text that’s formatted the way you like.
2. In the Paragraph Styles panel, click the New Style button (the page icon).
3. Double-click the new style to open the Paragraph Style Options dialog box.
4. Name your style (e.g., “Body Text” or “Feature Headline”).
5. Adjust settings like Font Family, Size, Leading, Alignment, and Space After.
6. Click OK to save.

Your new style appears in the list — and can be applied to any paragraph instantly.

💡 Pro tip: Prefix style names with categories (e.g., “H1_Headline,” “P_BodyText”) to stay organized in multi-author projects.

✒️ Step 3: Create a Character Style

Character styles are great for specific text elements like pull quotes, speaker names, or links.

1. Select the text you want to format.
2. In the Character Styles panel, click New Style.
3. Name it (e.g., “Emphasis” or “Byline”).
4. Define attributes like Font Style, Color, or Underline Options.
5. Click OK to save.

Now you can apply that style anywhere with one click.

🧭 Step 4: Apply Styles Consistently

Once your styles are defined:

• Place your cursor in a paragraph and click a Paragraph Style to apply it.
• Highlight text and click a Character Style for inline formatting.

InCopy automatically inherits styles from linked InDesign documents too — making it easy to stay in sync with your designer’s layout.

⚙️ Step 5: Update and Redefine Styles

If you decide to change your formatting later:

1. Update the text manually.
2. In the panel menu, choose Redefine Style.

InCopy instantly applies those changes across every instance where that style is used — no tedious manual reformatting required.

🧠 Why Styles Matter

Using styles ensures:

• Consistency: Every headline and paragraph matches perfectly.
• Speed: One change updates your entire document.
• Collaboration: Designers can map your styles directly to InDesign templates.

This is especially useful for magazines, newsletters, and long-form reports where multiple writers work on the same project.

💰 Try Adobe InCopy for Free

Start mastering professional text formatting with Adobe InCopy’s style system.
👉 Start your 7-day free trial here

You’ll experience how efficient and precise your editing process becomes when you harness the power of styles.

✏️ Final Thought

Formatting shouldn’t be tedious — and with InCopy’s styles, it isn’t. Once you set up your Paragraph and Character Styles, you’ll never need to manually tweak font sizes or spacing again. It’s faster, cleaner, and perfectly consistent — every single time.