Leaders are a great tool for guiding a reader's eye across a page. Leaders are lines that connect one column to another. A dot leader is one of the more common types of leaders because it is less obtrusive than a solid line. You could create a dot leader by pressing the period key repeatedly until you got to the correct length; however, getting the columns to line up perfectly would be difficult, and your leader would not change if you change your paragraph. A better way is to use InDesign's tab panel to add leaders of any character to tab stops.
Step 1
Select the text if you are adding the leader to text that is already typed; otherwise position the cursor at the beginning of the text frame.
Step 2
Click on the "Type" menu and select "Tabs."
Step 3
Click inside the "Leader" text box.
Step 4
Type "." (period) or any other character for your leader.
Step 5
Click in the area directly above the tab ruler to set the tabs.
Step 6
Position the cursor prior to the tab stop with the leader. Press the "Tab" key.