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In desktop publishing, a column guide is a nonprinting layout line that marks where columns of type should sit on a page. It helps organize and align content; it is not normally part of the printed page.
What a column guide does
A column guide indicates the intended position or boundaries of columns in a page layout. The glossary in Typographic Design: Form and Communication defines it as “Nonprinting lines that define the location of columns of type.” Designers use the guides as visual aids when placing text and other content.
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The guides describe the layout structure; they do not, by themselves, create or print the columns. Their appearance and behavior depend on the publishing application.
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Column guides, margins, and text-frame columns
These terms refer to different parts of a layout:
- Margin guides mark the outer content boundary of a page.
- Column guides divide the page area within the margins into columns. The space between adjacent columns is the gutter.
- Text-frame columns divide text inside one particular text frame. They are separate from the page’s column guides and page margins.
In Adobe InDesign, page-level columns are set with the page or spread’s margins and columns, while columns inside a selected text frame are set through Text Frame Options. Changing one does not mean you have changed the other.
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Set page-level column guides in InDesign
- Select the page or spread you want to configure.
- Choose Layout > Margins and Columns.
- Enter the desired number of columns and gutter value.
InDesign also allows column guides to be adjusted on individual pages or spreads, including to create unequal column widths. Settings on a parent page can be inherited by pages that use that parent.
Set columns inside a text frame
To control columns within a specific frame in InDesign, select the frame and choose Object > Text Frame Options. Set the number of columns, their width, and the gutter there. These are frame-level settings, not page-level column guides.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Show or hide guides
In InDesign, choose View > Grids & Guides > Show Guides or Hide Guides. Hiding guides changes what you see while working; it does not remove or alter the document’s content.
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