Creating Grid Layouts

7/25/2019 Creating Grid Layouts

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Effective document design depends on a clear visual structurethat conveys and complements the main message. The rightlayout should provide a consistent framework to help youorganize the various elements of your pages, but should also beflexible enough to let you exercise your creativity.

In the previous tutorial, Designing on a Grid, we explored thevarious ways that layout elements can be placed together on anunderlying invisible grid structure.

In this tutorial, we will continue with this theme and show youhow to set up a basic grid for a multi-column layout.

Youll learn how to:

Use the Page Setupdialog to set up your page size andtype.

Use the Layout Guidesdialog to set up margins, columns,rows, and bleed area guides.

Work with ruler guides.

Create asymmetrical grids.

View and customize the dot grid.

Creating Grid Layouts


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Design2

Creating Grid LayoutsThe grid is a traditional layout tool that dates back to the days when textwas typeset onto vertical strips of paper, which were then manually cutand pasted onto card sheets. The print production process has changeddramatically since then, but the grid is still a popular page layout toolbecause it provides some crucial functionsfor both reader and designer.

When reading any type of document, we expect a certain consistency frompage to page. For example, we expect to find page numbers, footnotes,sidebar text, and so on, in the same place on each page. When all the textand design elements in a document have a consistent look and feel,readability is significantly enhanced.

A grid structuresuch as the oneillustrated here (used for thisdocument)makes it easier to providethis consistency by helping to determinesuch things as the width of text columns,the space around images and graphicobjects, the placement of repeatingelements throughout a publication, and

so on. As you work with the grid, youllfind that having these guidelines forobject placement significantly speeds upthe layout process, and helps to ensure that your final layout will be asuccess.

In this tutorial, well introduce you to the various elements of the grid, andshow you how to set up a basic grid structure in PagePlus.

Using grid templatesIf you want to use a grid, but dont want to create one from scratch, youcan quickly get started with one of our ready-made grid templates. In astandard installation, youll find these in the ...\Workspace\GridLayoutsfolder in the following location:

C:\Program Files\Serif\PagePlus\X4\Tutorials

You can use the templates as is, or customize them to suit your needs

using the procedures outlined in the following sections.


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1: Setting up the page

Our first task is to create a new document and set up our page size andtype.

To set up the page

1 On the File menu, select New, then

clickNew from Startup Wizard.

In the Startup Wizard, clickStartNew Publication, chooseA4 orLettersize paper, and clickOK.

Lets add two pages to this

publication.

2 In the Hintline toolbar, click the

Page Manager(or clickInsert, then Page).

3 In the Page Managerdialog, on the Inserttab:

In the Number of pagesbox, type 2.

Notice that we can alsoselect whereto add ourpages. For example, if thiswere a multi-pagedocument, we could selectBeforeor After, and thenchoose the page numberfrom the drop-down list.

We just have one page, soaccept the default values(After, Page ). ClickOK.

The Hintline toolbar now displays 2of 3, indicating that you are currentlyworking on page 2 of a 3 pagedocument.


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4 On the File menu, click

Page Setup. In the PageSetupdialog:

To set up the pagelayout as facing pages(also known as spreads),select the Facingpagescheck box.

To set up dual masterpages (allowing you torun elements across the

spread in thebackground of thepublication, or positionleft- and right-side pagenumbers), select theDual master pages

check box.

ClickOK.

You will now see a double-page spreadpages 2 and 3 ofyour document, as indicated inthe Hintline toolbar.

The blue box outlining thepages indicates the defaultpage margins, which welladjust in the next section.

If youre setting up a facing-page layout

where both left and right pages share the samemaster page, and you don't need to runbackground elements across the spread, clearthe Dual master pages check box.


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2: Setting up layout guides

Layout guides are visual guide lines that help you position layout elements,

either by eye or with snapping turned on (youll find the Snapping

button at the right of the Hintline toolbar). Layout guides include pagemargins, row and column guides, and bleed area guides. In PagePlus,margins are shown as solid blue lines; row, column, and bleed area guidesare shown as dashed blue lines.

To set up layout guides

1 Click on a blank area of the page and then on the Page context

toolbar, click . (You can also click File, then LayoutGuides, or right-click on a blank area of the page and choose LayoutGuides.)

In the Layout Guidesdialog, in theMargin Guidessection:

Select the Mirrored marginscheckbox.

This tells PagePlus to change theLeftmargin setting to the Insidemargin on both facing pages, and tochange the Rightmargin to theOutside margin on both pages.

Set the Inside page margin to2.00cm.

Set the Outside page marginto1.00cm.

Set the Top page margin to 2.00cm.

Set theBottom page margin to1.00cm.

2 In the Row and Column Guides

section:

Set the number ofRows to 5.

Set the number ofColumns to 5.

Set the Row gap (the space between your rows) to 0.30cm.


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Set the Column gap(the space between yourcolumns) to 0.30cm.

Set the Bleed areaguides (the trim edgeof the page) to 0.30cm.

3 ClickOK.

You should now see a 5 x5 blue grid superimposedon each of your pages.

Note also that the positionof the margins haschanged.

Cant see your layout guides? On the Viewmenu, ensure that GuideLinesand Bleed Area Guidesare selected, and that TrimmedMode is not selected.

3: Adding ruler guidesYou can set up horizontal and verticalsnap-to ruler guidesnon-printing, solidred lines that you can use to alignheadlines, pictures, and other layoutelements.

There are two ways to create rulerguides:

Automaticallyin the LayoutGuidesdialog, on the Guidestab.Use this method to place multipleruler guides onto a page in precisepositions.

- or -

Manuallyby clicking and dragging onthe rulers. Use this method to placeindividual ruler guides onto a page asyou work.

Bleed area guides

These guides helpyou to positionbleed elements that you want torun to the edge of a page. If yourdocument is to be professionallyprinted, we suggest that youallow for inaccuracies in thetrimming process by extendingany bleed elements beyond thetrim edge.

The page border expands by thedistance specified, and the trimedge is shown with dashed linesand scissors symbols.

Note that these guide lines arevisual aidsonly; the PrintdialogsBleed limitsetting extends theactualoutput page size.

See Setting prepress optionsin theGenerating professional outputonline Help topic.


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To create a ruler guide automatically

1 Click on a blank area of the page and then on the Page context bar,

click .

2 In the Layout Guidesdialog, on the

Guidestab, type the desired positionof your guide into the HorizontalorVerticalbox. ClickAdd.

3 As required, repeat step 2 to add

more guides, and then clickOK.

Solid red lines now indicate

the ruler guides you created.

To create a guide manually

Click and drag on thehorizontal or vertical ruler.

A red line indicates thenew ruler guide.

If you now open the Layout Guidesdialog and view the Guidestab, youllsee that your guide has been added tothe list.

The dialog on the right shows theguides we created to position thepage headers and numbers in ourpublication.

If a text object is selected, clicking within

the object's ruler region adds a tab stop;clicking and dragging elsewhere on the rulercreates a ruler guide.


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Moving and deleting ruler guides

Whichever method you use to create your ruler guides, you can movethem around or delete them at any time.

To move a ruler guide

Click and drag the red guide line.

As you drag, the solid line changes toa dashed line; once positioned, theline again becomes solid.

To delete a ruler guide In the Layout Guidesdialog: On the

Guidestab, select the guide and clickRemove(to delete all ruler guides,clickRemove All.)

- or -

On the page: Drag and drop the redguide line anywhere outside the pagearea.

Locking and resetting your guide lines

To prevent your margins, columns, rows, and ruler guides from accidentally being moved,

you can lock them.To lock your guides:

1 On the Toolsmenu, clickOptions.

2 In the left Optionslist, expand the Layout category and clickDisplay.

3 Select the Lock guide linescheck box and clickOK.

Note that this option will also lock the red ruler guides, so you will not be able to dragthem freely around your page.

If you choose not to lock your guidelines, you can still easily reset your original layout.

To reset your layout

ClickFile > Layout Guides, click the Marginstab, and then clickOK.


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4: Creating asymmetrical grids

Once youve set up your basicrow and column guides, you

can manually adjust them tomake your layouts even moreflexible. This feature isparticularly useful for settingup asymmetrical grid layouts,such as the three-columnlayout illustrated here.

(In order to move the row

and column guides, you mustclear the Lock guide linesoption in the Optionsdialog.)

To adjust custom rows and columns

Click and drag a dashed blue row or column guide line.

You will have to adjust the row and column guides on each page of yourdocument.

5: Asymmetrical grids on multi-page documents

When working on multi-page documents, rather than manually adjustingthe row and column guides on each page of your document, there arevarious ways to speed up the process.

Note:For each of the following methods,youll first need to make sure that theFacing pagesand Dual master pagesoptions are selected in the Page Setupdialog.

Asymmetrical grid: Method 1

1 In Normalpage view, open the

Layout Guides dialog.

On the Marginstab, set up the basic

number of grid units for yourpublication.


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2 In Master Pageview, add ruler

guides to mark the asymmetricalunits. You can set these up manually

or automatically, as you prefer (seesection 3,Adding ruler guides).

These guides will be visibleon all pages of thepublication.

3 In Normalpage view,

drag the row and columnguides onto the ruler

guides as you work oneach page. Youll need tozoom in quite a lot toachieve precise guideplacement. As the guides line up exactly, you may find that your rulerguide disappears underneath the layout guide.

Asymmetrical grid: Method 21 In Normalpage view, open the Layout Guidesdialog. On the

Marginstab, set up a basic grid comprising afew more grid units than you need.

For example, to end up with a three-columnasymmetrical grid, try starting with a basic five-or six-column grid.

In our illustration we used a basic seven-columngrid as the starting point for a four-columnasymmetrical layout.

You may need to experiment withthis to get it right.

2 In Master Page view, use ruler

guides to mark the asymmetrical gridunits. You can set these up manually

or automatically, as you prefer (seesection 3,Adding ruler guides).

These guides will be visible on allpages of the publication.


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3 When youve added all of your ruler guides, you

can remove the original row and column guides.

To do this, simply open the Layout Guides

dialog and type the number 1 in the RowsandColumnsboxes. ClickOK.

Asymmetrical grid: Method 3

1 In Normalpage view, in the Layout Guidesdialog, set up a onerow, one column grid.

2 In Master Pageview, set up your asymmetrical grid using only the

red ruler guides. You can set these up manually or automatically, asyou prefer (see section 3,Adding ruler guides).

These guides will be visible on all pages of the publication.

6: Using the dot gridPagePlus provides an optional dot grid, which you can use for preciseplacement of layout elements. If required, you can customize the dotgridfor example, by changing the grid display type and colour.

To display or hide the dot grid

On the Viewmenu, clickDot Grid.

Youll find some ready-made

asymmetrical layouts in the

...\Workspace\GridTemplates folder.


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To customize the dot grid

1 On the Toolsmenu, clickOptions.

2 In the left Optionslist, expand the Layout category and click

Snapping.

3 Select the Dot Gridcheck box.

4 Make the following changes as required:

In the Grid dots everybox, choose the dot grid spacing.

To highlight certain lines, set the Subdivisions. In our example,

every fifth line is highlighted. In the Grid style drop-down list, choose the grid display type.

For example, to create the graph-paper effect shown here, chooseSolid.

In the Colourbox, click to select a new grid colour from the drop-down palette. If you are using subdivisions, mid to light greysproduce the clearest display.

If you want your layout elements to snap to the dot grid, in theSnap tosection, select the Grid dots option.

Check the Dot grid to backoption if you want the grid to appearbehind the objects on the page.

Subdivisions


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Whats next?

If youve followed the steps of this tutorial, you should now know how toset up a grid layout for any type of publication.

When you are happy with your layout, you can start placing your text andgraphics elements onto it. If you need help with this, refer back to theprevious tutorial, Designing on a Grid, for some layout ideas.

Creating Grid Layouts

Documents