Baseline grids

The baseline grid is overlaid over your page to help you align text. A baseline grid can be applied to the entire document or individual text frames within it, and will align baselines across linked or completely separate text frames.

The baseline grid's Spacing option overrides the leading value of frame text. Setting the grid spacing to the same size as your body text leading means that your frame text should snap to, and perfectly align with, the baseline grid. The baseline grid is blue by default but can be any colour you choose.

You can adjust your Document baseline grid for a baseline grid spanning across a whole page or use a baseline grid that has instead been applied only to an individual text frame or table.

Frame-specific baseline grids are useful for text frames that use a different font sizes (e.g. for caption text, quotes, etc) to the main document's body text, where the frame text will adopt its own independent baseline grid rules and not those of the Document baseline grid.

To enable the baseline grid:

On the Toggle Preview Mode menu (to the right of the Preview button), select Baseline Grid Settings.
On the context toolbar, tap Enable to activate the baseline grid.
Adjust the position (Start and Relative to) and Spacing of your baseline grid.

To hide (show) the baseline grid:

On the Toggle Preview Mode menu (to the right of the Preview button), select Baseline Grid.
In the Baseline Grid Settings, on the context toolbar toggle the eye icon on or off.

To align text to the baseline grid:

Go to the Text panel.
Toggle Baseline Grid on.

To snap objects to the baseline grid:

Tap Snapping.

To set up an independent text frame baseline grid:

Go to the Text panel.
On the Baseline Grid section, tap the Baseline Grid More arrow.
Toggle Use Independent Baseline Grid on.
Adjust settings as required.

To ignore the underlying document baseline grid on text frames:

With a text frame selected, on the Text panel's Text Frame section, toggle Ignore Baseline Grid off.

To set up an independent table baseline grid:

Go to the Table panel.
On the Baseline Grid section, toggle Use Baseline Grid on.

To ignore the underlying document baseline grid on tables:

With a table selected, on the Table panel, toggle Ignore Baseline Grid off.

Settings

The following settings can be adjusted from the context toolbar:

Enable—tapping this option will enable the Document baseline grid.
Start—specify the offset of the first grid line from the origin at Relative to.
Relative to—specify what the baseline grid's starting position is in relation to. The Top of Page option is used for facing page spreads arranged vertically—you can restart the grid from the top of the second page in the spread.
Spacing—specify how far apart consecutive horizontal grid lines are.
Grid—tap on the swatch to display a pop-up panel to set the line colour.
Show—Enable to show or hide the Document baseline grid.
Threshold—adjust the zoom level below which the Document baseline grid will not be displayed. For example, choosing 100% will make the baseline grid visible at a zoom level of 100% or above.

Settings

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