Adjusting underline in InDesign

Question

i have a question to do with formatting in Indesign. i'm currently working on a pre-existing document/brochure template at work which as been used in the past a presentation tool. As i'm repurposing this tool i'm working through and adjusting visual elements eg. colour and imagery to suit the client but ive got stuck on this underline that used for on the section titles. the underline adjusts size based on the size of the text frame not the text itself.

could anyone explain how to adjust this underline, and more specifically the colour? i cant seem to find any option within the paragraph/character styles.

i've attached a image for reference as i'm not the best explainer ;)

Answer 1

That is a rule. In inDesign it is called a paragraph rule, and you can get to the configuration dialog via the paragraph palette drop-down menu, or via ctrl+alt+j/opt+cmd+j.

You can also set rules in styles.

Answer 2

I don't know how that line was created so my first step would be to recreate that specific text style and then add the underline that adjusts to the text length and not the frame length.

1. Create a new text box and write you title. Set the same font, colour, spacing so it matches what you already have. If you know how to disable that underline you don't need to recreate the text style, just disable it.

2. Select the title and create a new Paragraph Style. If the Paragraph Style is not visible, hit F11. It appeared on the Paragraph Style list.

3. Double click on the recently created Paragraph Style and a new window should appear. On that window, select Underline on the left pane (3rd counting from the bottom)
4. Turn the Underline on by ticking the "Underline On" box. There are several settings you can control like width, offset and colour(you can specify it to have the same colour as the text or any other colour).

Extra tip: If you increase the weight a lot and decrease the offset to negative values, you can create a background that adapts to the text only.