Am I wrong to use multi column text frames

In every publication I encounter, all articles use one text frame per column on a page.
Why not simply use multi-column text frame per article instead of threaded text frames, one per column.
Am I the only person who thinks its better to use a single text frame with multiple columns.
I only ask be cause I would like to conform to a standard if it had any benefits... but I'm really struggling to find any.
Most of my publications are newsletters where the articles span anywhere from 2-5 columns but mostly 4-5. I like the confidence in knowing that all lines on an article are perfectly aligned.

It all depends on your circumstances. When you need columns of unequal width you have to use threaded text frames: when you set a text frame to more than one column, you can't specify the width of the individual columns.
Another difference is that in a frame with columns, footnotes always span the width of the frame. If you want footnotes the width of a column, you need a frame for each column.
Yet another reason why you sometimes need frames rather than columns is when a page contain different stories which may continue on other pages, as as the case in most newspapers.
So if your documents contain one story, don't use footnotes (or if they do, can span all columns), and all columns have the same width, then use columns. For example, indexes at the end of a book are candidates for columns; columns are probably good for telephone directories; and newspapers and magazines are maybe best set in frames.
Peter

Similar Messages

ID CS3 - text wrap doesn't work at the end of a long multi-columned text frame

Did a search - don't think this specific issue has been addressed:
We design large graphics often used on walls. When working with a text frame that that was 11 feet long and had 8 columns, text wrap would not work on an image placed in the last column. The same image with the same text wrap applied will work fine anywhere else in the text frame. I found that if I shortened the width of the text frame a little bit at a time eventually it would work, but there doesn't seem to be a specific cut-off width - sometimes the last column won't text wrap when the frame is 115 inches wide and sometimes it doesn't work when the frame is only 80 inches wide. Again, all of the other columns work fine. I have tried all of the obvious stuff, the only variable between the columns that wrap and the one that doesn't is it's position at the end of the text frame.
We have gotten around this issue by using multiple threaded frames instead of one long frame with multiple columns, but I am curious if anyone else has run into this or might know what the issue is.
thanks

Did a search - don't think this specific issue has been addressed:
We design large graphics often used on walls. When working with a text frame that that was 11 feet long and had 8 columns, text wrap would not work on an image placed in the last column. The same image with the same text wrap applied will work fine anywhere else in the text frame. I found that if I shortened the width of the text frame a little bit at a time eventually it would work, but there doesn't seem to be a specific cut-off width - sometimes the last column won't text wrap when the frame is 115 inches wide and sometimes it doesn't work when the frame is only 80 inches wide. Again, all of the other columns work fine. I have tried all of the obvious stuff, the only variable between the columns that wrap and the one that doesn't is it's position at the end of the text frame.
We have gotten around this issue by using multiple threaded frames instead of one long frame with multiple columns, but I am curious if anyone else has run into this or might know what the issue is.
thanks

Horizontal paragraph rule across two-column text frame?

Hi,
as the title suggests, how do i get a horizontal rule to run across a two-column text frame?
I have either had the rule just apply to the entered text; had a gap where the column gutter is;
or I have had to set the column gutter to 0mm/px and manually set carriage returns to give the impression of a gutter.
Surely there is a better way?
I'll attach a jpeg of my various options.
Hope I've been clear-enough. All help is appreciated.
Cheers, Matt

You can put the rule in a paragraph which is spanning a columns.
Or you can extend the paragraph rules by inputing minus values to left and right (e.g. -5mm)
Or you can use a table instead.
Or you can use negative left and right intend for the text but extend the rule to the end of the frame.
Never set a carriage return manually.

How can a 2 column text frame be split into 2 separate text frames?

Hi InDesigners,
I have a 12 spread (22 page) document that was originally created with a single column primary text frame in CS6. It contains text and anchored images throughout the doc. (images are anchored to the text frame).
My client now wants each page split into 2 columns, but the columns need to have different widths - the left column needs to be narrower than the right. Although I can create 2 columns in a single frame, it's not possible to adjust the column widths separately, so I need to get them into 2 separate frames.
Is there a way to convert a 2 column text frame into 2 separate text frames, so I can resize the column widths invididually?
kind regards,
-c

hi, Thanks for the replies,
The doc size is 8.5"x11", with 1/2 " margins. I never mentioned anything about it being a book. (It's just a paper my client wrote and woud like a PDF of it). The reason for the uneven columns is he wants the images to be 4" wide. For some reason, he wasn't keen on just a single column with text wrapped around the pix. I proposed making a 3" left column threaded into a 4" right col with a .5" gutter between them and he wants it that way.
Thank you both for your respones. I'll try the script
-c

Working with Multi-column text in Illustrator CS6 - highly irritating! How do I do the following ...

Hi ...
I'm finding working with multi column\row text box ("table") in Illustrator CS6 really irritating and non-intuitive. Maybe just my ignorance but I can't find simple ways to do the following:
1. Click in a different cell of the "table" to the one currently active. Cursor does not move to new cell. How do I move focus to a different cell?
2. Begin entering text in an empty table - I can't get the cursor to appear, despite clicking inside cell area, on text box border etc.
Is there any simple way to perform these basic, simple tasks?
Thanks
Richard

In my quick test I was able to enter the text by beginning at the upper left of the box and clicking. When I entered the text it appeared in the first box. Then I was able to tab through to the other boxes.

Placing a single line at the top of a 2-column text frame

I am creating a text frame that is two columns and that will be adjusted in height size for each page. What I would like to do is add a single .5 line at the top of the frame and join it to the frame so both the line and the frame will move simultaneously. I would like to do this without having to select both the line and the frame each time. Is there a way to permanently attach the line to the frame or is there a way to create a line within the frame that has nothing to do with the text. I'd prefer not to use above/below paragraph lines. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

kathi_uk wrote:
I am creating a text frame that is two columns and that will be adjusted in height size for each page. What I would like to do is add a single .5 line at the top of the frame and join it to the frame so both the line and the frame will move simultaneously. I would like to do this without having to select both the line and the frame each time. Is there a way to permanently attach the line to the frame or is there a way to create a line within the frame that has nothing to do with the text. I'd prefer not to use above/below paragraph lines. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
It's not clear if the first paragraph below the two-column line will straddle the two columns.
ID CS5 paragraphs can straddle columns. An inline graphic at the top of a two-column straddled paragraph will do what you want. The paragraph that follows can be either a one- or two-column paragraph.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

Locking text frames to a layout (for threaded text)

I am currently working on a long document and am using threaded text throughout. There are few parts in the book where I am using 2 column text frames and other irregular text frames. Is there a way to lock that style of text (2-column..etc) with the text/layout? Currently it looks like the text frame is locked to the page, and so when text is added or removed and everything moves up or down a page, the wrong text/layout is now in the 2 column - and basically it gets messed up.
My current fix is to wait to do the column text parts until the end.. However I'm working on a new document and was wondering if there was a solution to this?

Is this a general InDesign question or an InDesign EPUB issue? This forum is for EPUB produced by InDesign.

Text query using a Multi Column datastore index slow

I have created a text index using multi column datastore preference. I have specified two clob columns in my preference. Searching on this new index works, but it is slower than I expected.
I have done the following comparison:
My original two clob columns are: DocumentBody and DocumentFields. I have built an individual text index on each column. My new column with Multi Column index is DocumentBodyAndFields;
I did two queries:
1. search 'dog' on DocumentBody UNION search 'dog' on DocumentFields;
2. search 'dog' on DocumentBodyAndFields;
I would think the second search should be faster than the first one because it is a single query. But this is not the case. The second query is consistently slower than the first query by about 10-20%.
Things are getting much worse when I search on preceding wildcards. If I search '%job', the multi column index is twice as slow as the first query! I am very confused by this result. Is this a bug?

I am unable to reproduce the performance problem. In my tests, the search that uses the multicolumn_datastore performs better, as demonstrated below. Can you provide a similar test case that shows the table structure, datastore, index creations, and explain plan?
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE TABLE your_tab
2    (DocumentId            NUMBER,
3      DocumentBody            CLOB,
4      DocumentFields            CLOB,
5      DocumentBodyAndFields VARCHAR2 (1))
6 /
Table created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> INSERT ALL
2 INTO your_tab VALUES (-1, 'adog', 'bdog', NULL)
3 INTO your_tab VALUES (-2, 'adog', 'whatever', NULL)
4 INTO your_tab VALUES (-3, 'whatever', 'bdog', NULL)
5 SELECT * FROM DUAL
6 /
3 rows created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> INSERT INTO your_tab
2 SELECT object_id, object_name, object_name, NULL
3 FROM   all_objects
4 /
69063 rows created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> BEGIN
2    CTX_DDL.CREATE_PREFERENCE
3       ('your_datastore', 'MULTI_COLUMN_DATASTORE');
4    CTX_DDL.SET_ATTRIBUTE
5       ('your_datastore', 'COLUMNS', 'DocumentBody, DocumentFields');
6 END;
7 /
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE INDEX your_idx1 ON your_tab (DocumentBody)
2 INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT
3 /
Index created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE INDEX your_idx2 ON your_tab (DocumentFields)
2 INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT
3 /
Index created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE INDEX your_idx3 ON your_tab (DocumentBodyAndFields)
2 INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT
3 PARAMETERS ('DATASTORE your_datastore')
4 /
Index created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> EXEC DBMS_STATS.GATHER_TABLE_STATS (USER, 'YOUR_TAB')
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SET TIMING ON
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SET AUTOTRACE ON EXPLAIN
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SELECT DocumentId FROM your_tab
2 WHERE CONTAINS (DocumentBody, '%dog') > 0
3 UNION
4 SELECT DocumentId FROM your_tab
5 WHERE CONTAINS (DocumentFields, '%dog') > 0
6 /
DOCUMENTID
        -3
        -2
        -1
Elapsed: 00:00:00.65
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 4118340734
| Id | Operation                     | Name      | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT              |           |     4 |   576 |     2 (100)| 00:00:01 |
|   1 | SORT UNIQUE                  |           |     4 |   576 |     2 (100)| 00:00:01 |
|   2 |   UNION-ALL                   |           |       |       |            |          |
|   3 |    TABLE ACCESS BY INDEX ROWID| YOUR_TAB |     2 |   288 |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|* 4 |     DOMAIN INDEX              | YOUR_IDX1 |       |       |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|   5 |    TABLE ACCESS BY INDEX ROWID| YOUR_TAB |     2 |   288 |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|* 6 |     DOMAIN INDEX              | YOUR_IDX2 |       |       |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   4 - access("CTXSYS"."CONTAINS"("DOCUMENTBODY",'%dog')>0)
   6 - access("CTXSYS"."CONTAINS"("DOCUMENTFIELDS",'%dog')>0)
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SELECT DocumentId FROM your_tab
2 WHERE CONTAINS (DocumentBodyAndFields, '%dog') > 0
3 /
DOCUMENTID
        -1
        -2
        -3
Elapsed: 00:00:00.28
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 65113709
| Id | Operation                   | Name      | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT            |           |     4 |    76 |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|   1 | TABLE ACCESS BY INDEX ROWID| YOUR_TAB |     4 |    76 |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|* 2 |   DOMAIN INDEX              | YOUR_IDX3 |       |       |     0   (0)| 00:00:01 |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   2 - access("CTXSYS"."CONTAINS"("DOCUMENTBODYANDFIELDS",'%dog')>0)
SCOTT@orcl_11g>

How to justify text vertically in multi-column frame

How do I justify text vertically in a multi-column frame but within the baseline grid?
Working at a very busy publication, fitting text evenly in multi-column text boxes are crucial to be done quickly! I understand that it can be done manually by adjusting the tracking in order to force the text to end evenly on bottom. However I'm looking to achieve that result automatically, pretty much like the "Justify Vertically" feature except by doing so it spreads the last column lines out, but I need to keep the text on the grid.

You can ask over in scripting: InDesign Scripting

Problem with MULTI-COLUMN Data Store

I am using multi column store on 2 CLOB columns in the table while creating a context index. After creating the context index, when i run my contains clause for certain words; it actually returns all the records in that table. When i search the $i table for these words, it shows that the word occurs in all the records even though it doesn't. I assume that when indexing the words, the special characters aren't being handled at all. So, i need a way to efficiently handle the special characters in the text. Also, need to know; how are the special characters handled when context index is created on a single column (As i haven't been facing any problems when mining data such columns).
The script i used for creating the context index is given below :
BEGIN
ctx_ddl.create_preference ('MLT_COLUMN_STORE', 'MULTI_COLUMN_DATASTORE');
ctx_ddl.set_attribute ('MLT_COLUMN_STORE',
'columns',
'column1,column2'
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE INDEX routine_task_ctx_idx '
|| 'ON routine_table (column1) '
|| 'INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT '
|| 'PARAMETERS '
|| '(''DATASTORE MLT_COLUMN_STORE'
|| ' FILTER CTXSYS.NULL_FILTER'
|| ' STOPLIST CTXSYS.EMPTY_STOPLIST'
|| ' LEXER CTXSYS.BASIC_LEXER'')'
|| ' PARALLEL 2';
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Hi,
is it possible to give an example of how your data looks like? What are these special characters? Oracle Text includes option like printjoins and skipjoins which give special meanings to characters. So an example will guide us for helping you.
Herald ten Dam
http://htendam.wordpress.com

Multi-state scrollable text frames

I've created a multi-state object with 5 different articles the problem I seem to be having is after scrolling half way down on one and switching to another it remains half way down the scrollable frame. Is there a way to have it return to the top of each state when switching between the states ?

Sorry for the misplacement,
I'm making a portfolio and have 5 separate projects to display, I was hoping to display them on one page with 5 separate buttons allowing the viewer to switch between them seamlessly than to have them on 5 separate pages.
I've got the desired effect thus far using 5 scrollable text frames combined into one multi-state object but switching between states keeps it relative to where the person was in the last state. Due to some articles being smaller vertically than others this can be a problem as it shows up blank which will probably create an impression of the information being non existent or the program not working.
I would appreciate any help on resetting the state to the upper left between changes and not just on the initial opening, or any alternative methods that would create the desired effect.

Is there a proper way to config multi-line text boxes so they're compatible with all/most browsers?

I've got forms that use multi-line text-boxes and they work fine with IE and Chrome. A user just discovered that in Firefox the fields don't wrap (it basically appears to be a large field but acts like a single-line).
Is there a workaround/fix for this?

Is the input text just some dummy text line e.g. "aaaaaaaaaaaaa...." without any spaces? Try by adding lorem ipsum sample text i.e. actual words with spaces between. It should wrap.
Thanks, Ransher Singh, MCP, MCTS | Click Vote As Helpful if you think that post is helpful in responding your question click Mark As Answer, if you think that this is your answer for your question.
Firefox 37.01 —Here's a screenshot of it not wrapping:
(each of the above are 2 long paragraphs that are not wrapping and showing as 2 single lines.)
And here's a screenshot of Text Box Properties (I've tried it with and without autocomplete and spell-check just for kicks).

Two-column text

This is driving me nuts. It's not that often that I import text into InDesign. I've got two column page formats set up for an index. I'm placing the index text, which is an RTF file, into this two-column format. And, it just boringly splats itself right across the whole page, damn the two columns. What's this about? Why can't imported text adhere to the columns that are set up?
Thanks,
Peter

Yeh, I fixed it, finally. Yes, I had to click, click, click in the text frame and make sure I saw a blinking cursor in there. I actually typed in some text and verified that it was wrapping in the first column, not spanning. Then, I placed my file. And, it finally came in right. I guess you just have to be totally sure that your cursor's there in the 2-column textbox. Sometimes when I brought in the text, it literally create another single-column text frame, on top of the two-column one!
Thanks, everyone.

Creating a two columns text reflow

Hi
I'm trying to create a two column page which needs to get data that will fill the columns. Upon filling one column, the text will need to reflow to the next one (as much as a two column text frame in a layout program does).
Is it possible in a Designer ES? (version 8.2.1.5161.1.566259) What is the best practice to do so?
Thanks,
Yossi Maoz

Are you trying to make it an interactive form or are you going to merge data onto the template and make a print form? In either case I modified your sample. The root Page subform must be set to flowed. You do not need a field in the second content area. I resized the 1st field to make it easier. I changed the layout to allow the field to expand in the Y direction (on the layout tab). I cahnged the Form Properties/Preview to Interactive so that I coudl enter in data. Now when the field fills up scroll bars will appear and when you tab off of the field the field will be redrawn to its actual size. Enter in enough data to case a page overflow and you will see the second column fill up.
Paul

I cant text flow using 3 different text files on the same document?????

Im starting out with 3 different files of text saved as "tab delimited text" from excel, I open a document in ID with 107 pages and create 3 boxes in the master on top of a pdf. I then override all 107 pages so that the text I insert will flow to the next page and so on, once I paste the 2nd text file into the next text frame it skips the original 107 files and starts flowing into new pages. Im ready to pull my hair out, I have been trying to figure this out for 2 hours. I dont know what to do at this point. I think Im getting a migraine.
I would have done a data merge on 2 of the files but the third HAS to be text flow (which gives me the same problem above) because it has to be physically changed to fit each page.

Are you Placing the text from an external file, or pasting it from the clipboard?
If Placing, move the loaded cursor inside one of the master frames on the first page, hold down the Shift key and click, being sure the cursor is not on any sort of guide. The entire text file will flow using the master text frames, and ID will add all the require pages to place all the text.
If pasting, you can either override the frame on the first page only, or make a temporary first frame on the pasteboard. Paste into this frame, which will result in a red plus sign in the bottom right corner of the text frame indicating overset text. Switch to the Selection tool (black arrow) and click on the plus sign to pick up the overset text. Hover the new loaded cursor over the frame on the second page, or over the first page as above if you used a temporary frame, hodl the Shift key and click. Delete the temporary frame, if you used one, and the text will reflow to start in the first real frame, but you may have to pick up overset again in the last frame due to the reflow.

Am I wrong to use multi column text frames

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