Understanding the Design Area

Key Areas of the Page Design Area

• Gutter: the center line where left and right pages meet. Objects can cross the gutter if both pages are open for editing.
  • Avoid placing faces or key image content in the gutter — it may be hidden in the bound book.
  • Never place text across the gutter — letters may become unreadable when printed and bound.
• Margin guides: help you maintain consistent external margins. You are not prevented from placing items outside them.
• Dashed warning line: outside the margin guides — avoid placing text or graphics here unless intentionally bleeding off the edge.
• Bleed line: the thick red line surrounding the spread. Extend objects to the outside of this line when you want them to bleed off the finished page edge.
• Cut line: the inside of the bleed line — where the page will be trimmed in production.
• Pasteboard: the area beyond the bleed line. Nothing placed here is printed. Useful for temporarily storing elements you may add later.
• Folio: defaults to the bottom of each page. Contains the automatic page number and other elements set by advisers/editors. Cannot be edited in the regular page area.

Workspace Controls and Preview Mode

• Use the workspace controls to show/hide the grid, margins, sticky notes, and other non-printed elements.
• Preview mode: click the eyeball icon, or press W, to hide all non-printing elements for an unobstructed view. Press W again (or click the eyeball icon) to exit preview mode.