Tabs

Tabs position text at specific horizontal locations, known as tab stops, in a text frame.

Before
After

Several tab stop types are available:

The positions of tab stops are displayed on the text ruler and on the Text panel's Indents section.

The text ruler can be shown or hidden via Toggle Preview Mode's options menu.

tab stop types
Tab stops for: left alignment (A), center alignment (B), right alignment (C) and decimal alignment (D).

The insertion point or selection in a text frame determines which tab stops are shown on the text ruler and Text panel. If a selection encompasses multiple paragraphs, the first paragraph's tab stops are shown and, if modified, are applied to all paragraphs in the selection.

Paragraph indentation level and tab stops

When the insertion point is at the start of a paragraph, the increases the paragraph's indentation level rather than typing a tab character. This is indicated by the first-line indent marker (aligned to the top of the text ruler), which can be dragged to fine-tune indentation.

If you would rather the always typed a tab character at the start of a paragraph, disable Use tab to alter paragraph level instead of inserting a tab character in Affinity Publisher's Auto-Correct settings. You can still drag the first-line indent marker to set paragraph indentation precisely.

Toggle Preview Mode To show/hide the text ruler:

When Show Text Ruler is turned on, the text ruler will appear above a text frame when an insertion point is made in the frame. Tab stops won't appear on the ruler until you add them.

To set a tab stop using the text ruler:
  1. Put the insertion point in the paragraph in which you want to set tab stops, or make a selection that includes multiple paragraphs.
  2. Tap on the text ruler where you want to create a tab stop.
  3. To edit the tab stop:
    • To edit a tab stop's settings, tap the tab stop.
    • To move a tab stop, drag it to a new ruler position.
    • To delete a tab stop, drag it off the ruler.
To set a tab stop via the Text panel:
  1. Select the paragraph(s) in which you want to set tab stops.
  2. From the Text panel, adjust the settings in the Indents section, specifying the tab position, then tap Add Tab Stop.
  3. Tab Stop Advance Tap Expand to set different tab stop types and leader types in the Tab Stop Advance section where necessary.

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