Alignment & Distribution

Layout isn’t simply about getting a bunch of text and image frames on a page or spread. Hopefully, we create a nice arrangement of them. To help us achieve that, a number of features exist.

Guides

As you may know from other applications you have used, guides are nonprinting lines to which you can snap objects. As you move an object around on a page, when the object’s edge gets close to a guide, it gently attaches itself. I say “gently” because you can easily move the object past this point without noticing.

When you create a new document, you specify its margins and the number of columns on each page. Actually, you’re specifying where margin and column guides should be. If you desire more structure for your spreads, you may add ruler guides as well. Arbitrary ruler guides can be drawn by dragging them from the rulers at the top or left edge of the document window.

Note: Freshly created ruler guides are selected when you first draw them (unless something else was selected when you created the guide). You may select a guide as you would any other object: with the Selection tool. When a guide is selected, you can precisely position it via the Control panel (X position for vertical guides, Y for horizontal). Change the color of selected guides by choosing Layout > Ruler Guides…, where you may also choose a magnification level below which those guides aren’t shown.

A method for creating many guides at once as a custom grid is to choose Layout > Create Guides…. That is how the horizontal guides in the example figure were made.

I deleted the guides made by this command at the top and bottom because I already had the margin guides. Note that you may have those rows or columns of guides divide up the page or the margins (Fit Guides to:), and you can remove previous experiments with the Remove Existing Ruler Guides checkbox.

Smart Guides

Even if your layout doesn’t require a strict grid, you likely will still want objects aligned to each other or to parts of the page. Smart Guides (and the Align panel) make that easy.

As you move an object slowly, green lines will indicate when it’s aligned (or spaced evenly) with others. Violet lines show when it’s aligned to the page, and magenta lines show when it’s aligned to the margins. When you have few shapes, Smart Guides are super-helpful.

Align Panel

I adore the Align panel! The icons are easily recognizable for what they do and their names clearly state their function (are you listening, Illustrator?).

Many of these icons also appear in the Control panel, but not the last, very useful row (Distribute Spacing). I suggest having the Align panel on screen: Window > Object & Layout > Align.

Here we have three objects (which could be any combination of text, image, or unassigned frames). When distributed accoring to their horizontal centers (the midpoint between the left and right edges), they don’t look evenly distributed because they’re different sizes.

What gives a better impression of even distribution is equalizing the space between them. Note that only the central object moved. When we choose Align To: > Align to Selection in the Align panel, the outermost objects are stationary. If you select more than one object, then give one of them a single extra click with the Selection tool, it will exhibit a blue highlight on its edges:

The ellipse above is now a Key Object and the Align To: menu now shows a small key icon. This object will keep its position as you try other alignment settings. You can set one object to be the key before aligning top edges, then another when you distribute right edges, for example. Also, when aligning to a Key Object, the Use Spacing checkbox under Distribute Spacing becomes active (with a default value of 0). You may enter any distance you wish, then use a distribute space button. The selected objects will now be that far apart.

You can enable the Use Spacing feature at any time, but InDesign will keep the topmost or leftmost object in place and move the other selected objects to achieve the specified distribution. Align to Margins treats the margins much like key objects. If you choose Align top edges, for example, the tops of all selected objects will align to the top margin. Distribution will attempt to lay out objects evenly within the margins. Align to Page and Align to Spread behave analogously: the page or spread are the items to which objects align.

Precise Positioning and Sizing

Both the Control panel and the Transform panel (Window > Object & Layout > Transform) offer fields that allow us to specify position and/or size to at least 4 decimal places!

Sometimes you want something where you want it. Of course, you can drag objects around with the Selection tool, dropping them anywhere. Or you can select an object and use the arrow keys to nudge it. Holding down ⌘-shift/Ctrl-Shift as you press the arrow keys nudges the object one-tenth as far. The shift key alone nudges 10 times as far. But for precise positioning, we have other options. Size and position can also be specified in “Object Styles” (page 267).