Go With the Flow

Ever lay out multiple pages with text and images only to have the client come back with copy edits requiring a repositioning of every image? Here's a quick Indesign tip for making those images flow with the text so that if you have to add or remove strings of text your image positioning is unaffected. Indesign has a feature called Object Anchoring.

The example here is typical of a catalog or brochure where several persons are featured. Editing a single page like this is no big deal, but what if you have 5, 10 or more pages to deal with? There are several ways to anchor an object to text, the easiest being simply pasting or placing an object into text using the Type tool, but if you want to have the text wrap around your object you need to modify the positioning of the anchor. You’ll have the most control over positioning if you choose Custom from the Position pop-up menu in the dialog box. You access this dialog box by choosing Object/Anchored Object/Insert. Click OK, by default the anchored frame will be placed just to the left of the text frame.

You can then drag the graphic with the Selection tool where you’d like it to be positioned. Assign a text wrap to the object. Next, insert the Type Tool anywhere in the story and open it in Story Editor view (Edit/Edit In StoryEditor), and you can view the anchor markers. Drag the anchor marker to the end of the previous paragraph. If you need to adjust the positioning of the object after repositioning the anchor just select the object and use the arrow keys to nudge it.