Here is a quick rundown of the three frame types offered within the popular InDesign庐 page layout program.
Graphic Frames:聽When you use one of the Frame tools (those are the ones with an 鈥淴鈥� in the middle of them), InDesign creates a graphic frame. The X means exactly the same thing in both InDesign and XPress: a graphic goes here. When you use File > Place, select an image and click (or drag) on an empty part of your page, InDesign creates a graphic frame and places the image within it.
Text Frames:聽The only way to create an empty text frame is to drag with the Type tool. You can also create a text frame by using File > Place and importing a text story. And it鈥檚 possible to convert another type of frame, which I discuss under Object Styles.
Unassigned Frames:聽This is the least understood of InDesign鈥檚 frames. All the Path and Shape drawing tools 鈥� including the Rectangle tool (that鈥檚 the rectangle with no 鈥淴鈥� in it) and the Pen tool 鈥� draw unassigned frames. These are frames that, by default, are not meant to include text or graphics. They have no content. You might use these for drawing a shape on your page, a background color or part of a logo, just as though you were drawing in Illustrator庐.
Object Styles:聽When you create a text frame, for example, InDesign automatically assigns the [Basic Text Frame]; that is, unless you create your own custom Object Style and make it the default. You can change the default by dragging the icon to your style.
