Empty Objects

Not all objects have items in them or serve a function. If you’ve included empty objects in your document, you should clean them up before you send your work out to others.

Don’t leave empty points on the page

The vector-graphic Pen tool in both InDesign and QuarkXPress is very powerful. With it you place points on the page that are connected by straight or curved line segments. You can draw all sorts of intricate shapes.

Unfortunately, many designers have never learned how to properly use the Pen tool. Their instinct is to press and drag to try to create a shape. When the result isn’t what they want, they give up. This leaves an “empty point” on the page.

You can also create empty points in InDesign if you delete some of the points in an object but leave others. For instance, I can delete three of the four points of a rectangle, but then I have left an empty point. I won’t be able to see the point unless it is selected, but it is there.