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Using guides, grid and rulers

Last updated: 8 September 2026 · 4 minute read

Learn how to set margins and columns with guides, turn on the grid and snapping, and keep guides on one page or across the whole catalog.

Guides and the grid are visible while you work and never appear in the publication or in exports. Guides have two scopes: the page you are on, or the parent, meaning every page. The grid and snapping are separate settings, so you can snap without showing the grid.

Steps

  1. 1

    Show the rulers

    ViewShow rulers

    Choose Show rulers from the View menu. The rulers appear along the top and left edges of the canvas and measure from the top left corner of the page.

  2. 2

    Pull a guide

    EditorRuler

    Drag down from the top ruler for a horizontal guide, or right from the left ruler for a vertical one. The line stays where you release it.

    Drag a guide to move it; double-click it to delete it.

  3. 3

    Choose the guide scope

    ViewGuides: this page

    Choose This Page for local guides or Master (All Pages) for shared guides. Switching scope does not automatically transfer an existing guide. Create common columns and margins in the intended scope.

    The Rulers and guides area of the Canvas panel lists the same scopes and offers an action that applies this page's guides to all pages.

  4. 4

    Remove a guide

    CanvasRulerGuide

    Double-click an unlocked guide to remove it. For all guides, choose the intended scope and use Clear Guides; avoid clearing all guides when you only need to remove one.

  5. 5

    Lock or clear guides

    ViewLock guides

    Once the layout is settled choose Lock guides and the lines freeze in place. Clear guides removes the lines in the current scope.

  6. 6

    Turn on the grid and snapping

    CanvasGrid and snapping

    Show grid draws an evenly spaced mesh on the canvas; Snap to grid settles blocks on the nearest step as you move and resize them. The two are independent, so you can hide the grid and keep snapping on.

    When you need a position off the step, turning snapping off for a moment is faster than nudging the block pixel by pixel.

  7. 7

    Set the canvas background

    CanvasCanvas background

    Choose the colour of the working surface in the Canvas panel. A light surface makes it easier to see where the page ends in dark designs. Reset to default brings the original colour back.

    This preference is stored in your browser; it affects neither the catalog nor the publication.

Options

Guide and grid settings; each one lives both in the View menu and in the Canvas panel.

OptionWhereWhat it does
Show rulersViewOpens the top and left rulers; required before pulling a guide.
Guides: this pageViewKeeps the lines on the page you are on.
Guides: parent (all pages)ViewCarries the lines across the whole catalog.
Lock guidesViewCloses the lines to moving and deleting.
Clear guidesViewRemoves the lines in the current scope.
Apply this page to all pagesCanvasCopies the page's guide layout to the whole catalog.
Show gridViewDraws a measuring mesh on the canvas.
Snap to gridViewSettles moving and resizing on the grid step.
Canvas backgroundCanvasChanges the colour of the working surface; the publication is unaffected.

Result

Guides and the grid stay inside the editor. Build the page structure in the parent scope and every page you add later opens with the same margins.

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