Adobe InDesign: Liquid Layout vs Layout Adjustment

 

At first I thought Liquid Layout took over Layout Adjustment.. but then I found out that you can still access the Layout Adjustment features (it’s in the pull out menu of the Liquid Layout panel!), but then, if you select [enable layout adjustment] you get a warning triangle in the liquid layout panel. it says “Liquid Layout Rules do not apply because Layout Adjustment is enabled for the document. Click to disable Layout adjustment“

I really wished the two features could work together. how cool would that be.

Adobe InDesign’s Layout Adjustment

I heart the Layout Adjustment feature in InDesign. I recently discovered that there’s a check box for it in the Margins and Columns dialog box, and now I just found out it’s also within the Page Tool too. That’s 3 ways to access the tool. Keep in mind, they are the same check box in 3 places. It’s a global toggle.

• Layout > Layout Adjustments : Turns on Layout adjustment with settings you can tweak.
• Layout > Margins and Columns: Quickly turn on/off layout adjustment when you are changing margins and columns for a page/Master Page
• Page Tool : Quickly turn on/off layout adjustment when you are changing the page size.

Margins & Columns Layout Adjustment: There and Back Again

I took some screen shots of the Margins & Columns Layout Adjustments changes as I increased and decreased columns to see how InDesign reworks the boxes. The blue boxes are snapped to both sides of the columns, and the yellow boxes are snapped to only one side.

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Layout Adjustment for Margins and Columns!

The Layout Adjustment feature lets InDesign do a lot of the heavy lifting when you re-size or reorient your page layout and moves the page items accordingly. Now, you can also have InDesign do the same when you change your margin’s and columns on a page!

What’s nice about layout adjust in Margins and Columns is that you get a Preview as you make the adjustments, so you know ahead of time whether you are pushing things too far and breaking the feature.

• Layout > Margins and Columns