Change measurement units and rulers – Adobe InDesign CS3 User Manual
Page 53
INDESIGN CS3
User Guide
46
The default units of measure for the rulers are picas (a pica equals 12 points). However, you can change custom ruler
units and control where the major tick marks appear on a ruler. For example, if you change the custom ruler units
for the vertical ruler to 12 points, a major ruler increment appears every 12 points (if such display is possible in the
current magnification). The tick mark labels include your customized major tick marks, so when the ruler reads 3
in the same example, it marks the third instance of the 12-point increment, or 36 points.
Vertical ruler using inches (left), and custom 12-point increments (right)
Setting custom ruler increments in the vertical ruler is useful for lining up a ruler’s major tick marks with a baseline
grid.
See also
“Change the zero point” on page 47
Change measurement units and rulers
1
Choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Increments (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Units & Increments
(Mac OS).
2
To change the origin of the zero point, in the Origin menu under Ruler Units, do one of the following:
•
To set the ruler origin at the top-left corner of each spread, choose Spread. The horizontal ruler measures across
the entire spread.
•
To set the ruler origin at the top-left corner of each page, choose Page. The horizontal ruler starts at zero for each
page in a spread.
•
To set the ruler origin for multipage spreads on the top-left corner of the leftmost page, as well as at the top of the
binding spine, choose Spine. The horizontal ruler measures from the leftmost page to the binding edge; and from
the binding spine to the rightmost page.
3
To change the measurement system used for rulers, dialog boxes, and panels, choose the desired system for
Horizontal and Vertical, or choose Custom and type the number of points at which you want the ruler to display
major tick marks.
4
To change the value you want used for calculating points, specify the desired point size per inch for Points/Inch.
5
Set any of the following Keyboard Increments:
Cursor Key
Controls the increment for the arrow keys when nudging objects.
Size/Leading
Controls the increment for increasing or decreasing the point size or leading using the keyboard
shortcuts.
Baseline Shift
Controls the increment for shifting the baseline using the keyboard shortcuts.