Rulers, layout guides, and layout grids
Namo WebEditor’s visual authoring environment includes three optional design aids that can help you lay out Web documents more precisely. These are rulers, layout guides, and layout grids.
Rulers, guides, and grid
Using rulers
When you need to know exactly how big or how far apart various page elements are, you can turn on the display of rulers in document windows. A horizontal ruler and a vertical ruler are available, both showing distances in pixel units. To show or hide both rulers: on the View menu, select Ruler in the Screen tool section. You can also show or hide the horizontal and vertical rulers independently; to do so, right-click over the ruler and select or deselect Horizontal Ruler or Vertical Ruler from the shortcut menu.
Using layout guides
A layout guide is a thin, horizontal or vertical line that you can place across a document window to help align page elements. The guide is not a part of the document and does not appear in a browser or in Preview mode. When the Snap option is enabled, the edges of layers “snap” to layout guides, making it easier to position or align the layers. In a table, cell borders also snap to layout guides when you resize cells by dragging their borders.
- To create a layout guide, click anywhere within the horizontal or vertical ruler and drag down or to the right. When the dotted line is at the desired position, release the mouse button, and the guide will appear.
- To move a guide, click and drag it to the desired position.
- To remove a guide, drag it back to the ruler.
- To hide all guides, on the View menu, deselect Guides in the Screen tool section.
- To enable or disable snapping to guides, on the View menu, select or deselect Snap To Guides in the Screen tool section.
- To change the color and/or line style of all guides, right-click over the ruler, point to Guides and select Settings. In the Preferences dialog box, click the Guides/Grid tab, and
- to change the color, click the Color box and select a color.
- to change the line style, click Solid or Dashed.
Using a layout grid
A layout grid is composed of thin, horizontal and vertical lines that run across a document window at regular intervals. A layout grid can help you align and distribute page elements more easily and precisely. The grid is not a part of the document and does not appear in a browser or in Preview mode. You can adjust the spacing between grid lines—the default spacing is 50 pixels. When the Snap option is enabled, the edges of layers “snap” to grid lines, making it easier to position or align the layers. In a table, cell borders also snap to grid lines when you resize cells by dragging their borders. Between grid lines there are invisible subdividers, to which layers and cell borders also snap.
- To show or hide the layout grid for the current document, on the View menu, click Grid in the Screen tool section.
- To enable or disable snapping to grid lines and subdividers, on the View menu, select or deselect Snap To Grid in the Screen tool section.
- To change the spacing between grid lines and/or invisible subdividers, right-click over the ruler, point to Grid and select Settings. In the Preferences dialog box, click the Guides/Grid tab, and
- In the Grid spacing box, enter the desired space between grid lines, in pixels.
- In the Subdivisions box, enter the desired space between subdividers, in pixels.
- To change the color and/or line style of the layout grid, right-click over the ruler, point to Grid and select Settings. In the Preferences dialog box, click the Guides/Grid tab, and
- Under Grid, click the Color box and select any color, or click the Standard colors box and select one of the standard colors.
- To change the line style, click Solid or Dashed.
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