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Writer's pictureAngelo Montilla

New Adobe InDesign Feature: Column Rules To Text Frames



Adobe InDesign unveiled a series of new updates this week, including the use of Column Rules.

This feature now allows users to create text frames and add lines or "rules" to the column gutters instead of having to draw them in manually with the Line Tool.

While this is not a groundbreaking update, it's one that will definitely come in handy, especially when working with large bodies of text where you require column dividers.

This feature also is helpful when creating horizontal sidebars which can be broken into individual columns with separate rules as well.

Here's how this simple update works in InDesign.


Column Rules

  1. Select the Type Tool to create a new text frame or go to File > Place to choose a text file to bring into your layout.

  2. With the frame selected, go to the Control Panel or Properties Panel and change the number of columns to two or more.

  3. Holding Option on a Mac or Control on Windows, double click the text frame to bring up the Text Frame Options. Here, you can adjust the column width and gutter size in then General tab.

  4. Select the Column Rules tab and check the Insert Column Rules box to activate the option. You can now see the rules included in the gutters of the text frame.

  5. Adjust the Rule Length by linking the values and changing the start and end points together. There is the option to break the link and adjust individually as well.

Other options in the Column Rules feature include adjusting the weight, type and colour of the line. It's important to note that if a change is made to the body text, such as weight or colour, the rules do not change. However, go to Object > Text Frame Options or Option + Double Click the frame to bring up the same window.

From here, make the same colour or weight change to the rules.

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