Adobe InDesign has many precompressing features that make it popular among users. It provides users with many editing options and has a wide range of creative tools. Crop marks are one of these features. They indicate where the document should be cropped to trim it to the correct dimensions. So how do we add these crop marks? 

You can add crop marks to an InDesign document, and its print dialogue with an already installed crop marks palette on InDesign. For this, you will need to install an InDesign script if you don’t already have one. You may need to check whether you have installed the script and palette. The process becomes easier if you already have these installed. 

Crop Marks are an essential feature, especially if you need printed versions of your documents, as they let you know where exactly the document should be trimmed. If you want to know how to add these to your InDesign document, our guide will help you through the process. 

Inserting The Crop Marks

Crop Marks can be inserted on both shapes and any other document form. Adding crop marks can become vital if you follow strict guidelines for the desired document size and its many copies. You could add crop marks for any other reason too. For that, you need to follow the following steps: 

1. First, you need to check whether you have installed the InDesign script. We can only add crop marks through the InDesign script. 

2. You can check this by going to “View” > “Automation” > “Scripts.” It will open up the script palette.

3. Next, you need to click on this script palette and check for the crop marks script. These crop marks scripts are usually already installed. 

4. You can insert and install the InDesign or Creative Suite CD if the crop marks script is not installed. After installing it, drag that script into your script folder.

5. When you are done, and the script is installed, click on the specific object in your file to which you want to add crop marks. 

6. Check the palette and double-click on the crop marks script that you installed. 

You will now see the dialogue box appear on your screen. Enter your crop marks requirements there according to what you desire. Click on “OK.” Your requirements in the dialogue box will now be applied to the object you selected.

The following video has guidelines shown directly on the program:

Print Marks

Print marks are the marks that will make sure that your file is print-ready, which is the same as crop marks. This term is different from bleed marks, which are meant to be the image beyond the final cropping that will be cut off after the document has been printed and trimmed, while crop marks are the marks positioned on your file which determine the trim line.

Conclusion

Making your InDesign document print-ready is one of the final steps of finishing up your document, and print marks, namely crop marks, help in doing so. This article will help you add these crop marks.