Text frame problem

[roberto5265144]

I'm having a problem with text frames in inDesign. Is it possible to change the height of columns within a text frame? This would seem like a basic function but a person I was talking to on customer support says it cannot be done. Does this mean you are stuck with the same block of text at the same height and width once it is divided into columns? What if you want to put in a picture without using a runaround? Do you have to draw a different text frame each time and then adjust that? It just seems so clunky compared to other design programmes I have used when designing news pages, having to draw a new frame each time you want to adjust the height of a column. Was just wondering if there isn't something obvious I am missing here or are customer support correct?

[Moved by moderator from the nontechnical Lounge Forum to the InDesign forum]

[SJRiegel]

You can use a column break to force text into the next column.
For the picture, what is your objection to using Text Wrap with it?

[roberto5265144]

I'm just getting to grips with indesign and in the three previous page design software systems I used it was simple to adjust columns anyway you wanted (without having to draw new boxes each time). I have no problem using a text wrap (which i'm guessing is another name for a runaround)  but I find it hard to believe you cannot adjust columns in one text frame anyway you want (especially up and down). It just seems the most basic function necessary in page design or certainly has for me in the 12 years I've been designing newspages. It seems so basic to page drawing that I am wondering am I not getting my problem across right and there is an easy solution. Having to draw a new box to get a different height each time you want seems like an awful waste of time, what with adjusting the width, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by "use a column break to force text into the next column" so would you be able to give a brief explanantion.

Thanks for your reply SJ

Much appreciated

[SJRiegel]

Type > Insert > Break Character > Column Break (or use the Enter Key)

This forces all text after the break to move to the next column.

[BobLevine]

Just to be clear, the enter key to use is on the numeric keypad.

[roberto5265144]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm still a bit bemused by the fact individual columns cannot be adjusted up or down in the same frame, but I guess I've expressed that already! Anyway, I'm sure I'll get used to a new way of doing it.

[Derek Cross]

It might be worth you having a look at this online video tutorial: InDesign for Editors

You can get a 10-day free trial.

[Joel Cherney]

I wonder what the three other page layout systems you used were; I can only think of two likely candidates.

I don't do many projects that require as much flexibility in column positioning as you expect - but there are two such projects I work on every year, in around fifteen languages, so I take care to set up the document to make it easy to adjust column height individually. I draw three separate text frames on the master page, and thread them as BarbBinder described in post #2. I would expect that something like that might work for you.

[roberto5265144]

Thanks for all your help. I'll check out that video. My preferred way of learning is through just fiddling about and then asking questions (such as this one) on Google to find out what I can't figure out myself. Was surprised and frustrated I couldn't get answer for this one. Anyway, I'm sure I’ll get used to indesign and will learn some stuff from the video (I’ve shamefully downloaded CS5 for dummies too so that might help).

I’m pretty sure you haven’t heard of two of the layout systems Joel. While I learned page design on Quark, the newspaper I work for used a system called Citrix, that long ago went out of business, but our IT department kept up and running. I thought it was a step down from Quark for the first year but as I got familiar with it it worked quite well for our purpose and we could design some pretty decent newspaper layouts on it, with cutouts (somewhat laborious) and cloning. It wasn't the best tool but you did what you could with it.

Little did I think I would pine for the days of Citrix when our new system (Alfa News Suite, from Germany) was brought in. It is a template system, which was introduced mainly to end the job of page-drawing. I could write for quite a while on the user-unfriendliness of this system but my colleagues and I have wasted enough time decrying it for the past two years. A template system would be grand I suppose if everyone who wrote for the paper was a machine, if all pics were the same shape and every news story uniform, but alas the vast majority of pages need tinkering or more often wholesale changes. And trust me Alfa is not the system you want to use in that case. The best way to explain it would be to imagine if you wanted to walk around your house, having to lock and unlock every door as you go, turning on and off lights in every room even in the daylight and... well let's just say to make even the smallest change takes more clicks than a member of a Kalahari tribe to say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" . As bad as Alfa is (and it is so bad it can often feel like you are part of some evil experiment) you can change column heights in the same story!

Anyway have only just bought (or rented I should say) the Adobe software - to design some adverts, newsletters etc for local businesses for extra income. I'm sure it I'll be singing indesign's praises in good time.

Thanks again for the suggestions

[Barb Binder]

There are two ways to approach a multi-column layout:

1. Draw one frame and divide it into columns, and add the text.
2. Add multiple threaded frames that can be manipulated individually. While at first glance, this 2nd option might seem like a lot of work, it's what happens naturally when you place text from Word onto a spread without template frames.

[Barb Binder]

I agree with Derek—take a few minutes (ok, maybe 30) to familiarize yourself with text frames in InDesign. Once you understand them, it's pretty darn quick. In particular, read about manual flow (slow but controlled), semi-automatic flow (faster but still provides control for multi-story documents) and autoflow (one click to draw all the threaded frames needed to add the text to your established layout).

There's always a learning curve on any new application, even when you arrive with years of layout experience on other applications. I love having students like you in my classes—all I have to do is show how to accomplish the tasks in InDesign. You already know why you need to know, and we don't have to spend time on all the basic concepts that we do for a brand new user. Those are my easiest (and fastest) classes!