InDesign CS6: Flexible Width Text Columns

Text frame options for InDesign CS6 has gotten a couple of upgrades. First up, is flexible text columns.

In CS5, you set the number of columns, and when you change the width of the frame, the width of the columns adjusted. Alternatively, you can check the [Fixed Column Width] checkbox and the width of the column will be the same, but columns will be added or subtracted automatically.

In CS6, there are three options for managing text columns, Fixed Number, Fixed Width, and Flexible Width.

• Fixed number is like the default setting in CS5. When the text frame is reszied, the width changed accordingly.
• Fixed Width is the equivalent of the [Fixed Column Width] checkbox. The width of the column stays the same, but when the text frame is resized, columns are added or taken away.
• Flexible Width is a new option that can do both things. That is, it can resize each individual column, or it can add/remove columns, depending on the number that is plugged in as the Maximum value, relative to the width. Basically, within a certain amount of resizing, the columns will change size, but when you go over the maximum width value, a column will be added. Not sure how it calculates when to remove a column, but it’ll do that too, when you size the width of your text frame down.

Combine with Auto-Size for Text Frame options and see what happens!