Page 22 - CS6_ID_Look_Inside

create ruler guides
In addition to the margin and bleed guides that you defined when you created the
document, you can also place ruler guides to mark whatever other positions you need
to identify in your layout.
The live area is the “safe” area inside the page edge, where important design
elements should reside. Because printing and trimming are mechanical processes, Note:
there will always be some variation — however slight. Elements placed too close to
the page edge run the risk of being accidentally trimmed off. The printer for this job You should become
recommended a 1/8″ live-area margin. You defined the margins for this file to describe familiar with the
the area that would typically occupy the content of a letter; in this exercise you will common fraction-to-
create ruler guides to mark the live area. decimal equivalents:
1/8 = 0.125
1. With identity.indd open, choose View>Show Rulers if you don’t see rulers 1/4 = 0.25
at the top and left edges of the document window.
3/8 = 0.375
1/2 = 0.5
Rulers show the
document dimensions 5/8 = 0.625
using the default unit 3/4 = 0.75
of measurement.
7/8 = 0.875

2. Open the Units & Increments pane of the Preferences dialog box (from the
InDesign menu on Macintosh or the Edit menu on Windows).
Since most people (in the United States, at least) think in terms of inches, we use inches
throughout the projects in this book.

3. In the Ruler Units area, choose Inches in both the Horizontal and Vertical
menus, and then click OK.

When you return to the document window, the rulers now display in inches.

Rulers now display in
inches because you
changed the default unit
of measurement.

32 Project 1: Letterhead Design