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Adobe InDesign CS3

Working with Rulers & Guides

InDesign CS3 provides horizontal and vertical rulers and ruler guides to help you position and align text, objects, or graphics more precisely. As your needs change, you can choose to display, hide, move, and remove the rulers and ruler guides. For additional consistency and alignment, objects positioned near a guide can be "snapped to" the guide. This document gives instructions for the following:

return to topDisplaying Rulers

When InDesign is opened, horizontal and vertical rulers should already be displayed. These rulers assist you in positioning elements on your page. In order to place and use ruler guides, the horizontal and vertical rulers must be displayed.

  1. To display rulers, from the View menu, select Show Rulers
    OR
    Press [Ctrl] + [R]
    Vertical and horizontal rulers appear.

  2. To hide rulers, from the View menu, select Hide Rulers
    OR
    Press [Ctrl] + [R]
    Vertical and horizontal rulers disappear.

return to topChanging Ruler Measurements

InDesign allows you to choose the system of measurement displayed on the vertical and horizontal rulers. You can specify different systems of measurement for each ruler.

  1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences » Units & Increments...
    The Preferences dialog box reflecting the Units and Increments options appears.
    Preferences dialog box

  2. In the Ruler Units section, from the Horizontal and Vertical pull-down lists, select the desired measurement unit
    NOTE: You can select different measurement units for the horizontal and vertical ruler.

  3. Click OK

return to topUsing Ruler Guides

Ruler guides are non-printing lines that help position text, objects, and graphics more consistently and precisely in InDesign documents. You can display, lock, place, move, and remove ruler guides depending on your purposes and preferences.

Placing Ruler Guides

New ruler guides can be placed as you need them for alignment. You can place a guide regardless of what tool you currently have selected from the Toolbox.

NOTE: The ruler from which you will be placing the guide must be displayed (see Displaying Rulers).

  1. To place a vertical ruler guide, double click in the horizontal ruler area where you want the guide to be placed
    To place a horizontal ruler guide, double click in the vertical ruler area where you want the guide to be placed

Moving Existing Guides

You cannot move guides if the Lock Guides command is in effect (see Locking and Unlocking Ruler Guides).

  1. From the Toolbox, select the Selection ToolSelection Tool icon

  2. Click and hold the guide
    The Selection Tool appears as a double-headed arrow.
    HINT: In order to avoid selecting text or a graphic, click the guide in a margin or column gutter.

  3. Drag the guide to its new location and release

Locking and Unlocking Ruler Guides

To avoid inadvertently moving guides, you can lock the guides in place.

  1. To lock the ruler guides, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » Lock Guides
    OR
    Press [Alt] + [Ctrl] + [;]
    NOTE: When the ruler guides are locked, a check mark will appear next to Lock Guides.

  2. To unlock the ruler guides, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » deselect Lock Guides
    OR
    Press [Alt] + [Ctrl] + [;]

Displaying Ruler Guides

Displaying the ruler guides will help you position elements on your page; however, if you want to view the page with only the items that will print, you can hide the ruler guides.

  1. To display ruler guides, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » Show Guides
    OR
    Press [Ctrl] + [;]
    NOTE: If the guides are already showing, this option will not be available.

  2. To hide ruler guides, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » Hide Guides
    OR
    Press [Ctrl] + [;]
    NOTE: If the guides are already hidden, this option will not be available.

Removing Ruler Guides

As your publication progresses, you may find that you have placed a large number of guides on your document. You can easily remove any unnecessary guides. This option is not available if the Lock Guides command is in effect (see Locking and Unlocking Ruler Guides).

  1. From the Toolbox, select the Selection ToolSelection Tool icon

  2. Click the guide that you want to delete
    The guide changes color.

  3. Press [Delete]

return to topUsing Snap to Guides

Snap to Guides will align objects to a guide when they are placed within three pixels of the guide. The guide does not have to rest on a ruler increment.

  1. To activate the Snap to Guides feature, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » Snap to Guides
    OR
    Press [Shift] + [Ctrl] + [;]
    NOTE: When Snap to Guides is active, a check mark will appear next to Snap to Guides.

  2. To deactivate Snap to Guides feature, from the View menu, select Grids & Guides » deselect Snap to Guides
    OR
    Press [Shift] + [Ctrl] + [;]

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