Working with Guides


Guides are nonprinting lines that help you position objects. InDesign has many different types of guides that you can work with .

  • Ruler guides can be positioned anywhere on the page or pasteboard.

  • Margin guides show the settings of the margins for the document.

  • Column guides show the column settings for a page or master page (see Chapter 10, "Pages and Books").

  • Bleed guides show the bleed area for the document.

  • Slug guides show the slug area for the document.

Examples of the various types of guides on a page.

InDesign gives you options for how to work with guides.

To change the guide preferences:

1.

Choose Edit > Preferences > Guides & Pasteboard (Win) or InDesign > Preferences > Guides & Pasteboard (Mac) to open the Guides & Pasteboard Preferences .

The dialog box for the guides preferences.

2.

Use each of the menus to set the colors of the guides.

3.

Check Guides in Back to position the guides behind text and graphics on the page .

The Guides in Back command changes how guides are displayed as they pass through text and artwork.

4.

Enter an amount in the Snap to Zone field. This is the distance, in pixels, for how close an object must be before it will snap or jump to align with a guide.

To show and hide guides:

  • To see the margin, column, and ruler guides, choose View > Grids & Guides > Show Guides.

    or

    To hide the guides, choose View > Grids & Guides > Hide Guides.

Objects can be set to automatically snap to guides as you move them. This makes it easier to align objects to guides.

To make objects snap to guides:

  • Choose View > Grids & Guides > Snap to Guides.

    Tip

    Choose the command again to turn off the feature.

There may be times when you want to move a column guide manually. This results in a custom guide setting.

To unlock and move column guides:

1.

If View > Grids & Guides > Lock Column Guides is checked, choose the command to unlock the column guides.

2.

Position the cursor over the guide you want to move.

3.

Press the mouse button. The cursor turns into a two-headed arrow that indicates that the column has been selected .

The two-headed arrow indicates that a column guide can be moved.

4.

Drag the column guide to the new position.

Tip

You cannot change the width of the gutter space between the columns by moving a column guide. But you can change it in the Margins and Columns dialog box (see page 23).

Ruler guides are more flexible than margin or column guides and can be positioned anywhere on the page to help with object placement.

To create ruler guides:

1.

Position the cursor over the horizontal or vertical ruler. (See page 26 for how to display the rulers.)

2.

Press the mouse button. The cursor turns into a two-headed arrow.

3.

Drag to pull the guide out onto the page .

You can drag ruler guides out from the horizontal ruler or vertical ruler.

Rather than pulling guides out one at a time, you can also create a series of ruler guides in rows and columns.

To create rows and columns using guides:

1.

Choose Layout > Create Guides. This opens the Create Guides dialog box .

The Create Guides dialog box lets you automatically add many guides on a page.

2.

Enter the number of rows (horizontal guides) in the Rows Number field.

3.

Enter the amount for the space between the rows in the Rows Gutter field.

4.

Enter the number of columns (vertical guides) in the Columns Number field.

5.

Enter the amount for the space between the columns in the Columns Gutter field.

6.

Choose between Fit Guides to Margins or Fit Guides to Page .

Fit Guides to Margin spaces the guides equally inside the page margins. Fit Guides to Page spaces the guides equally inside the page trim.

7.

Check Remove Existing Ruler Guides to delete all the ruler guides that were previously on the page. This includes ruler guides that were manually added to the page.

8.

Click OK to apply the guides.

Tip

Check Preview to see the guides on the page change as you enter the values within the dialog box.

Tip

If you set the Number fields to zero for both the Rows and Columns, you can use the Remove Existing Ruler Guides setting as a quick way to delete all the ruler guides on the page.

To reposition ruler guides:

1.

Position the cursor over the guide you want to move.

2.

Press the mouse button. The cursor turns into a two-headed arrow and the guide changes to a darker color. This indicates that the guide has been selected.

3.

Drag the ruler guide to a new position.

You can also manually move or delete ruler guides.

To move existing ruler guides:

  • Use either of the Selection tools to drag the ruler guide to a new position .

Use either of the Selection tools to select a ruler guide.

To delete ruler guides:

1.

Click the ruler guide with one of the Selection tools. The ruler guide turns a darker color, indicating it is selected.

2.

Press the Delete/Backspace key. This deletes the ruler guide.

You may want to lock your ruler guides so they don't move inadvertently.

To lock guides:

  • Choose View > Grids & Guides > Lock Guides.

    Tip

    Choose the command again to unlock the guides.

You can change the color of ruler guides. You can also set the magnification at which the guides are not visible.

To change the appearance of ruler guides:

1.

Choose Layout > Ruler Guides to open the dialog box .

Use the Ruler Guides dialog box to change the color of the ruler guides. You can also set the threshold to determine at what magnification the guides are visible.

2.

Use the Color pop-up list to pick the color for the ruler guides.

3.

Set a percentage for the View Threshold. This sets the amount of magnification below which the ruler guides are not displayed .

A view threshold of 200% means the guides are visible only when the magnification is 200% or higher.

Tip

Increase the View Threshold if you have many guides on the page. This hides the guides at low magnifications and shows them at higher ones. (See page 33 for setting the view magnifications.)



InDesign CS2 for Macintosh and Windows(c) Visual QuickStart Guide
InDesign CS4 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide
ISBN: 0321573579
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 309
Authors: Sandee Cohen

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