Creating Inline Frames

In most cases, you'll want the objects you place on your pages to remain precisely where you put them. But sometimes, you'll want to place objects relative to related text in such a way that the objects move when the text is edited. For example, if you're creating a product catalog that's essentially a continuous list of product descriptions and you want to include a picture with each description, you can paste pictures within the text to create inline graphic frames.

An inline frame is treated like a single character. If you insert or delete text that precedes an inline frame, the frame moves forward or backward along with the rest of the text that follows the inserted/deleted text. There are two ways to create an inline frame: using the Paste command and using the Place command.

Caution ‚

Inline graphics may interfere with line spacing in paragraphs with automatic leading. If the inline graphic is larger than the point size in use, the automatic leading value for that line is calculated from the graphic. This leads to inconsistent line spacing in the paragraph. To work around this, you can either apply a fixed amount of leading to all characters in the paragraph, adjust the size of inline graphics, place inline graphics at the beginning of a paragraph, or place inline graphics in their own paragraphs.

QuarkXPress User ‚

InDesign's inline frames are similar to QuarkXPress's anchored boxes, with one important difference: If an inline frame is wider than the containing text frame, InDesign will hang the extra width of the inline frame outside of the width of the text frame, instead of causing a text overflow as it does in QuarkXPress.

Creating an inline frame with the Paste command

If you want to create an inline frame from an object you've already created, all you have to do is copy ‚ or cut ‚ the object and then paste it into text as you would a piece of highlighted text. Here's how:

Use the Selection tool to select the object you want to paste within text.

Any type of object can be used: a line, an empty shape, a text or picture frame, even a group of objects.
Choose Edit ‚ Copy or press z +C or Ctrl+C.

If you don't need the original item, you can use the Cut command (Edit ‚ Cut; z +X or Ctrl+X) instead of the Copy command. (An object that you cut or copy will remain on the Clipboard until you cut or copy something else or you turn off your computer. If you intend to use the original object elsewhere, it's better to use the Copy command when creating an inline frame.)
Select the Type tool (or press T), then click within the text where you want to place the copied object.

Make sure the cursor is flashing where you intend to place the inline frame.

Choose Edit ‚ Paste or press z +V or Ctrl+V.

Figure 12-7 shows an example of an inline frame.

Figure 12-7: The YMCA logo is placed in the text as an inline frame so it will move up and down with the surrounding text.

Tip ‚

Inline graphics often work best when placed at the beginning of a paragraph. If you place an inline frame within text to which automatic leading has been applied, the resulting line spacing can be inconsistent. To fix this problem, you can resize the inline frame.

Creating an inline frame with the Place command

In addition to using the Paste command to create an inline frame from an existing object, you can use the Place command to create an inline graphic from an external picture file. Here's how:

Select the Type tool (or press T), then click within a text frame to establish the insertion point.
Choose File ‚ Place or press z +D or Ctrl+D.
Locate and select the graphic file you want to place within the text, then click Choose or Open.

After you create an inline frame, you can adjust its position vertically or horizontally. To move an inline frame vertically:

Use the Type tool to highlight the inline frame as you would highlight an individual text character.

In the Character pane, enter a positive value in the Baseline Shift field to move the inline frame up; enter a negative value to move the frame down.
Use the Selection tool or Direct Selection tool to select the inline frame, then drag the frame up or down.

To move an inline frame horizontally:

With the Type tool selected, click between the inline frame and the character that precedes it.

Then use the kerning controls in the Character pane to enlarge or reduce the space between the inline frame and the preceding character.

Tip ‚

You can use the transform tools (Rotate, Scale, and Shear) and the Control palette or Transform pane to modify an inline frame as you modify any other frame.

Tip ‚

To delete an inline frame, you can select it, then choose Edit ‚ Clear or Edit ‚ Cut, or you can position the cursor next to it and then press the Delete or Backspace key.