The layout tools available from the Design and Page ribbons help you to build pixel-perfect publications. These tools are used to align content items in the publication, whether via the use of the ruler of grid lines, or by aligning groups of items.
View Tools
The View layout tools are exposed from the Design ribbon.
Ruler
Enable the ruler to show a horizontal ruler above the page, and a vertical ruler to the left of the page. The location of the cursor in relation to the rulers is indicated by a red tick mark on both rulers (as in the image below).
The rulers are enabled automatically; toggle the Ruler button from the Design ribbon to show or hide the rulers.
Grid Lines
Enable grid lines to assist in aligning the content items on the page. Grid lines are shown as intersecting dotted horizontal and vertical lines. Grid lines are disabled by default; toggle the Grid button from the Design ribbon to show or hide grid lines.
Guides
Add vertical and/ or horizontal guide lines to the page, to assist in setting the layout of items on the page. Guide lines can be moved as needed. To add guide lines, go to the Guides drop-down from the Design ribbon. There are 4 guide line options:
- Normal Preset: adds 2 vertical and 2 horizontal guidelines; each guideline is located at the page borders.
- Narrow Preset: adds guidelines to each page border; this preset is narrow than the Normal Preset.
- Vertical Guideline: add a single vertical guideline.
- Horizontal Guideline: add a single horizontal guideline.
To move a guideline, hover over it with the cursor; when the cursor is displayed as a double-headed arrow, drag the guideline to the required location. You can add multiple vertical and/ or horizontal guidelines along with a preset. If you add multiple guidelines, changing or adding a preset will reset the guidelines.
To show or hide guidelines, toggle the Guides button from the Design ribbon.
Snap to Grid
Enable snap to grid to automatically align items along grid lines. By default, grid lines are hidden; grid line visibility does not affect grid snapping. Snap to Grid is enabled by default; toggle the button from the Design ribbon to disable or enable it.
Adjust Grid Size
You can adjust the default size of the grid by clicking on the drop down arrow. The grid size options range from 5 to 20 pixels.
Arrange Tools
The Arrange layout tools are available from the Page ribbon and from the context menu.
Order
Use the Order functions to order content items on the page. Open the Order drop-down from the Page ribbon to select one of the order options. The chosen order function will be applied to the currently selected item(s):
- Bring to Front: make the given item the front-most item in the group of items.
- Send to Back: make the given item the back-most item in the group.
- Bring Forward: bring the given item one step closer to the front of the group.
- Send Backward: send the given item one step closer to the back of the group.
These functions can also be accessed from the context menu of a given content item.
Alignment
Use the alignment tools to align a single content item along the page, or to align a group of content items in relation to each other. If you apply an alignment function to a single content item, that item will be aligned to the corresponding location on the page. For instance, to align a single item to the center of the page, click the content item and choose Align Center.
To align a group of content items, select the relevant items and then choose the required alignment:
- Align Left: vertically align all selected items along the left-most side of the group.
- Align Center: vertically center all items in the group, in relation to the group center (not the page center).
- Align Right: vertically align all selected items along the right-most side of the group.
- Align Top: horizontally align all selected items along the top-most side of the group.
- Align Middle: horizontally align all selected items along the middle axis of the group.
- Align Bottom: horizontally align all selected items along the bottom-most side of the group.
The alignment tools can also be accessed from the context menu of the given content item(s).
Distribute
Use the distribution layout tools to apply evenly horizontal or vertical spacing to a group of content items. You must select a group of 3 or more items to enabled to the distribution tools. To distribute a group of items, select the relevant content items, then click the Distribute drop-down form the Page ribbon.
Choose the required option:
- Distribute Horizontally: evenly distribute the items in the group horizontally.
- Distribute Vertically: evenly distribute the items in the group vertically.
- Click here to learn how to automatically change the layout using the Auto Layout tool.