PDF (adobe.com)

About automatic layout adjustment



If you use the Document Setup or Margins and Columns commands to make changes to an existing layout, such as altering column widths or page orientation, you could spend considerable time and effort in rearranging objects to fit the new layout. The Layout Adjustment feature can do much of that work automatically. For example, you can quickly reformat a wide four-column document designed for an A4-size page to a tall two-column format on a U.S. legal-size page. With Layout Adjustment, text and graphics frames are moved and resized as necessary based on the new relative positions of column guides, page margins, and page edges.

Note: Dragging column guides does not trigger layout adjustment.

The Layout Adjustment feature produces more predictable results when a layout is tightly based on a framework of margins, page columns, and ruler guides, and where objects are snapped to guides. Results are less predictable when objects don’t adhere to margins, columns, and guides, or when extraneous ruler and column guides clutter a page. Layout adjustment is not affected by the document grid or the baseline grid.

Page designed vertically, for print (left); page orientation changed for on‑screen viewing, with layout automatically refitted by the Layout Adjustment feature (right)

You can modify the rules in the Layout Adjustment dialog box. The Layout Adjustment feature attempts to approximate the proportions of the old layout in the new layout by doing the following:

  • Adding or removing column guides, if the new layout specifies a different number of columns.

  • If the page size changes, moving ruler guides to maintain proportional distances from page edges, margins, or column guides.

  • Moving objects already aligned to any margin, column, bleed/slug, or ruler guide, or to any two guides perpendicular to each other, so that the objects stay with those guides if the guides move during layout adjustment. Also, objects already aligned to any page edge or to any page edges perpendicular to each other are moved.

  • Proportionally resizing objects already aligned to two parallel margin, column, bleed/slug, or ruler guides or to guides on three sides, so that the objects stay with those guides if the guides move during layout adjustment. Also, objects aligned to two parallel page edges or to page edges on three sides are moved.

  • Maintain the relative position of objects that are anchored to the text as specified in the Anchored Object Options dialog box.

  • Moving objects to keep them in the same relative position on the page, if the page size changes.

Note: Layout Adjustment affects columns inside a text frame differently than it does page columns. If the frame itself is resized by Layout Adjustment and the Fixed Column Width option is not selected in the Object > Text Frame Options dialog box, text frame columns are resized proportionally. If the Fixed Column Width option is selected, columns are added or removed as necessary.

Set options for layout adjustment

Note that changing options in the Layout Adjustment dialog box does not immediately change anything. Layout adjustment is triggered only by changes to page size, page orientation, margins, or column settings, or when a new master is applied. When you want to restore a layout to its previous state, you must undo the action that triggered the layout adjustment.

  1. Choose Layout > Layout Adjustment.

  2. Select Enable Layout Adjustment.

  3. Specify the layout adjustment options, and click OK.

Layout Adjustment options

Enable Layout Adjustment
Select this option so that layout adjustment will occur whenever you change page size, page orientation, margins, or columns.

Snap Zone
Type a value to specify how near an object must be to the closest margin guide, column guide, or page edge to snap to that element during layout adjustment.

Allow Graphics And Groups To Resize
Select this option to let the Layout Adjustment feature scale graphics, frames, and groups. When deselected, graphics and groups can be moved by Layout Adjustment, but not resized.

Allow Ruler Guides To Move
Select this option when you want ruler guides to be repositioned by the Layout Adjustment feature.

Ignore Ruler Guide Alignments
Select this option when ruler guides are not well positioned for layout adjustment. Objects will still align to column and margin guides and to page edges.

Ignore Object And Layer Locks
Select this option when you want the Layout Adjustment feature to reposition objects that are locked individually, or locked as a result of being on a locked layer.