Using the Grid Manager

Using the Grid Manager

The Grid Manager allows you to create a grid of horizontal and/or vertical lines automatically instead of manually. Two of the uses are business cards and note cards. You must decide if you want word wrapping within the grid or if the words can go over the gridlines before you decide what kind of guides to use in your grid. Column guides force word wrapping while Ruler guides simply mark divisions.

Creating a Grid

1. From the Utilities menu, select Plug-ins » Grid Manager... The Grid Manager dialog box appears.

2. In the Apply section of the dialog box, from the To masters pull-down listing, select the desired option.

3. In the Apply section of the dialog box, in the To pages text box, type in a page number or range.

4. In the Apply section of the dialog box, under Options, select the items that you would like to use. 5. In the Define grid section of the dialog box, from the Guide type pull-down listing, select the desired choice. Notes Columns sets the number of columns designated, evenly divided within the page or page margins. Column guides force word wrapping. Rulers sets horizontal rules indicating rows across the page, evenly divided within the page or page margins. Ruler guides simply mark divisions and do not force word wrapping. Baseline sets horizontal rules based on a designated pica placement with the page or page margins. 6. Fill in the corresponding Columns, Row, or Baseline text boxes with appropriate divisions or measures. Note: The text boxes change according to which Guide type and Options are chosen. 7. Optional: After defining one guide selection, another selection can be chosen and layered on top by following steps 6 and 7 again. 8. In the Define grid section of the dialog box, from the Fit to pull-down listing, select the desired choice. Notes Margins make the designated changes with the set page margins. Page makes the designated changes with the physical page margins. 9. Fill in the corresponding Gutter text boxes with appropriate measures. 10. When done, click Close. The grid will be created.

Example Grids

Selecting more than one type of guide allows different options. The first grid was created using only Column guides, dividing the pages into 3 columns each. The second grid was created using only Ruler guides, dividing each page into 2 columns and 6 rows. The third grid was created using Column guides, dividing the pages into 3 columns each, and Ruler guides, dividing the page into 2 columns and 6 rows. All the guides were fit to Margins in these examples.