How to add Bullet Points in InDesign

Designers often need clear, structured lists when working in Adobe InDesign. Bullet points help organise information, guide the reader and support tidy layouts. Our video tutorial walks through three practical methods for creating bullet points, from standard black dots to custom shapes and multicoloured graphics.

Our video guide to adding bullet points in InDesign

If you’d prefer to follow the steps on screen, the video below shows Lucy demonstrating three reliable approaches. You’ll see how she creates basic bullet points, adds coloured characters and builds her own custom graphic bullets for a more personalised look.

What is Adobe InDesign used for?

Adobe InDesign is a layout programme used to bring text, images and graphic elements together in a controlled format. Designers use it for brochures, magazines, flyers, books, menus, posters and any project where structured layouts and precise typographic control matter.

Why choose InDesign for a project over Photoshop?

Photoshop is built for image editing. InDesign is built for layout work. It handles long documents, master pages, linked assets, paragraph styles and consistent typography. This makes it more suitable for multi-page print projects where text hierarchy, spacing and structure are central to the design.

Why use bullet points in InDesign projects?

Bullet points make information easier to process. They break complex ideas into steps, instructions or features. In print work, they support readability and help shape tidy, balanced layouts. InDesign’s styles system also means you can apply bullet formatting consistently across a long document with a single click.

What are the three methods for adding bullet points in InDesign?

Lucy’s tutorial demonstrates three approaches.

1. Standard bullet points created through paragraph styles
2. Custom coloured bullets using specific characters from your system fonts
3. Fully bespoke multicoloured bullets created as glyphs in a custom font

These methods scale well from simple lists to brand-led creative designs.

How do I set up basic bullet points in InDesign using paragraph styles?

The video begins with the most practical method. Paragraph styles keep your formatting consistent across a document, which is especially helpful for long reports, catalogues and book layouts.

Open the Paragraph Styles panel in Window then Styles. Create a new style from the panel menu, name it and apply it to your chosen text. Reopen the style settings then navigate to Bullets and Numbering. Turn on Preview to see changes as you make them, then switch the List Type to Bullets.

Spacing can be fine-tuned with Left Indent and First Line Indent. These controls set how text lines up after the first line wraps. When set correctly, multi-line bullet points will stay aligned rather than jumping back to the far left.

How can I add colours and special characters as bullet points in InDesign?

In the second method, Lucy introduces a coloured stylistic bullet. First create a new colour swatch in the Swatches panel. Then create a new paragraph style and add a bullet character. Any glyph from any installed font can be used, including decorative fonts. Lucy selects a character from a dingbat font she downloaded.

To colour the bullet, create a new character style. Set the colour in the Character Color section and apply the character style in your paragraph style’s bullet settings. This gives you full control over colour without affecting the text that follows each bullet.

Why use a multi-coloured bespoke graphic as a bullet point?

A custom graphic bullet can reinforce a brand when a standard symbol won’t do the job. In the final method Lucy creates her own SVG-supported font through FontStruct. Exporting the font as a TrueType plus SVG file preserves the colours when placed in InDesign. Once installed, the glyph can be added to the bullet list in the same way as a standard character.

If the bullet appears too large relative to the text, a character style with a reduced point size will let you scale it neatly.

Make some good points

Bullet points support clarity and structure, and InDesign gives you a wide range of ways to style them. Whether you need simple black dots, coloured icons or a bespoke graphic that reflects a brand, these methods give you reliable control across any project.

If you’d like to build more skills, explore our other InDesign tutorials and our wider design guides across the Adobe suite. They cover useful techniques for layout, colour, typography and preparing artwork for print.