Guides are non-printing, non-exporting lines that float over page objects and assist with their positioning. There are two types of guides to aid a variety of designs—ruler and column. They can be created and positioned by dragging from a ruler (for 'by eye' placement) or via View>Guides (for precision using the document's units or a percentage).
Vertical and horizontal ruler guides (blue) over a three-column guide layout (grey).
Ruler guides
Ruler guides can be set in accordance with the horizontal or vertical ruler, but can be freely moved and positioned on your page.
To open Guides settings:
Do one of the following:
On the View menu, select Guides.
With the Move Tool selected, double-click an existing ruler guide in the document view. The guide will become selected.
To add a ruler guide:
Do one of the following:
With the Move Tool active, for 'by eye' placement, drag from either the horizontal or vertical ruler which can be switched on via the View menu.
On Guides settings, click the Add new guide icon for either horizontal or vertical ruler guides.
To clone a ruler guide:
With the Move Tool active, drag a guide with the pressed.
To move a placed ruler guide:
Do one of the following:
Drag the guide with the Move Tool when you see the cursor change.
With any tool, ensure that Show Rulers is switched on (via the View menu) and drag the guide marker directly from the horizontal or vertical ruler to reposition the guide.
From the View menu, select Guides. Double-click on the value for the guide you want to edit and type a new position into the value field, use your keyboard's up/down keys or mouse scroll wheel.
To position ruler guides by percentage:
From the View menu, select Guides.
Select the Percent option.
Percentages are calculated from the top-left of the document page.
To reposition the spread origin:
Do one of the following:
Drag the spread origin from the ruler intersection to position it on the page. If snapping has been activated, the spread origin will be able to snap to objects on the page.
From the View menu, access Guides. Enter X and Y values into the Spread Origin section.
To show or hide ruler guides:
From the View menu, select Show Guides. A check mark is displayed next to the menu item when the guides are visible.
To remove ruler guides:
Do one of the following:
With the Move Tool selected, drag the guide off the page.
With the pressed, click on a guide.
From the View menu, select Guides. Click to select the value for the guide you want to delete and then click the Remove guide icon.
To lock all guides:
From the View menu, select Lock Guides.
Column guides
Column guides allow you to specify a number of evenly spaced columns and rows and are perfect for designing layouts such as web mockups.
To add a column guide:
From the View menu, switch on Show Column Guides then select Guides. The Column Guides section allows you to manage the following:
Columns—defines the number of vertical guides that will appear.
Rows—defines the number of horizontal guides that will appear.
Gutter—defines the size of the gutter.
Style—select from Filled or Outline.
To change ruler or column guide colour:
From the top menu, select View>Guides.
On the pop-up dialog, click Set the column guide colour and set the new colour.
To show or hide column guides:
From the View menu, select Show Column Guides. A check mark is displayed next to the menu item when the guides are visible.
To remove column guides:
From the View menu, select Guides. Reduce the number of Columns and Rows in the Column Guides section to 1.
With the Move Tool selected, double-click an existing ruler guide in the document view. The guide will become selected.
On Guides settings, click the Add new guide icon for either horizontal or vertical ruler guides.
To move a placed ruler guide:
From the View menu, select Guides. Click to select the value for the guide you want to delete and then click the Remove guide icon.