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Use rulers and guides

Last updated on Jun 29, 2023 | Also applies to Captivate

Use rulers

Rulers help you accurately place and measure objects in the Captivate Classic design window. The point where 0 appears on each ruler is the ruler origin, which is the upper-left corner of the design window.

To show or hide rulers, choose View > Show Rulers or View> Hide Rulers.

Change the unit of measurement

The unit of measurement available in a non-responsive project is pixels. In responsive projects, the default unit of measurement is percent.

To change the unit of measurement in a responsive project, right-click the ruler in a responsive project and select your preferred unit.

You cannot change your unit of measurement in a non-responsive project.

Use guides

Guides help you align text and graphic objects. In Captivate Classic, you can create ruler guides (straight horizontal or vertical lines).

You can change the default color of guides. For more information, see Change the appearance of guides.

By default, guides are unlocked so that you can move, modify, delete, or revert them, but you can choose to lock them into place.

For more information on:

Deleting or moving guides, see Move or delete guides.
Locking or unlocking guides, see Lock or unlock guides.
Snapping objects to guides, see Snap objects to guides.

Note:

Hover over a guide to find out its exact co-ordinates.

Create guides

You can create guides both on stage and off stage (using the menu) in different ways.

Creating guides on stage

Create guides easily on stage using the following methods:

Drag and create guides

If the rulers aren’t showing, choose View > Show Rulers.
Position the pointer on the left ruler for a vertical guide or on the top ruler for a horizontal guide.
Drag the guide into position.

Double click and create guides

If the rulers aren’t showing, choose View > Show Rulers.
Double-click on the exact point on the ruler where you want to position your guide.

From existing guides

If the rulers aren’t showing, choose View > Show Rulers.
Right-click on an existing guide and choose Add New Guide.

A guide is created 20 pixels to the right (vertical guide), or 20 pixels to the bottom (horizontal guide).

Create guides off stage

You can create a grid at one go, or add guides individually to your Captivate Classic design area.

Create guides individually

Choose View > New Guide.

Adding new guides
Specify whether it is a horizontal or vertical guide, and specify its position in pixels accordingly from the left of the stage or the top. Click OK.

A new guide is created.

Creating multiple guides

You can create a set of evenly spaced guides at one go.

Choose View > Create Multiple Guides.

Creating multiple guides
Specify the number of columns and rows and the required width between each guide. For the gutter, type a value to specify the padding around each guide. Later when you specify an object to snap to guide, if the object is within the gutter space of a guide, it snaps to that guide.
Select:
- Center Column: if you want to create the guides from the center of the stage.
- Clear Existing Guides: if you want to delete all earlier guides.
Note:

All the values specified while creating multiple guides are in pixels.
Click OK.

Note:

You can create a maximum number of 50 guides at a time using this menu.

A set of guides is created on the stage.

Move or delete guides

To move a guide, drag it.

To delete a single guide:

Right-click the guide and select Delete Guide.

To delete or clear all guides:

Choose View > Clear Guides.

Note:

If you cannot delete a guide, check to see if it is locked. Unlock the guide, and then delete it. For information on locking and unlocking guides, see Lock and unlock guides.

Lock or unlock guides

To lock or unlock all guides, choose View > Lock Guides to select or deselect the menu command.

Change the appearance of guides

To change the appearance of guides, do the following:

Click Edit > Preferences.
Open the Defaults section of the Preferences dialog box.
Choose a different color from the Default Guides color and click OK.

Use smart guides

Smart Guides are temporary snap‑to guides that appear when you create or manipulate objects. They help you align, edit, and transform objects relative to other objects, or by snap-aligning them to guides on the screen.

To turn Smart Guides on or off, check or uncheck View > Show Drawing/Smart Guides .

Guides: Property flow in responsive projects

The behavior of guides is the same as the behavior of any other object in responsive projects.

You can add or delete guides in lower breakpoints, and it is reflected in all the views (both high and low). However, if you edit a guide in a lower breakpoint, its link with higher views is broken.

From an expert:

Here's a video demonstrating this feature.

Pooja Jaisingh

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