Creating a Typography Workspace

Anchored Objects

A discussion of text wraps wouldn't be complete without mentioning anchored objects, a great new feature of InDesign CS2. If you've ever positioned a graphic, a caption, or a pull quote next to its associated piece of text only to have to reposition it when the text is edited, then you'll appreciate anchored objects. "Inline graphics" have been around for years. If you want a graphic inserted into the text flow, you cut it to the clipboard, place your pointer in the text frame (usually on a separate line) where you want the graphic to go, then paste it. Thereafter it moves with the text, remaining "anchored" to its position in the text flow. You may have to futz around with its position relative to the text and certain unpredictable things may happen, but for the most part it's an approach that works. Until, that is, you want to position a graphic relative to a portion of text, but outside the text frame. Cue anchored objects…

Figure 17.16. The sidebar article in the left column wraps around the circle shape, but ignores the text wrap applied to the picture (necessary to offset the body text in columns 2 and 3).

Anchored objects can be positioned outside a text frame and will maintain their relative position to that text frame no matter what. You can even have them positioned relative to the spine, so that the anchored object is always outside the text frame it is anchored toin the left margin for left pages, the right margin for right pages.

An anchored object can be a text frame, a picture frame, or any combination of grouped objects. You can evenand this is why I include them in this chapterapply text wraps to anchored objects. However, when you do so, the wrap doesn't apply to the line preceding the object. Don't ask me whyit just doesn't. But here's the workaround: Use a Y offset instead.

To create an anchored object, insert your cursor at the beginning of the paragraph and then choose Object > Anchored Objects > Insert to get a blank frame that is anchored to the text. Alternatively, if you already have the text frame created, you can cut it (Cmd+X/Ctrl+X), insert your type cursor into the main story, and paste the sidebar frame as an inline graphic. To determine the placement of the sidebar frame relative to the main text frame, choose Object > Anchored Objects > Options, and change its Position from Inline or Above to Custom.

Figure 17.7. The sidebar frame is anchored to the adjacent paragraph in the text. It will remain in the same relative position to this paragraph regardless of how the text is edited. Because its alignment is Relative to Spine, if editing causes this paragraph to move to a right-hand page (example B), the sidebar frame will be positioned to its right in the outside margin.