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Known Participant
August 26, 2026
Question

Objects do not snap to objects within a group

  • August 26, 2026
  • 8 replies
  • 53 views

When scaling or repositioning objects contained within a group, the object should snap to other objects within that group (when smart guides are enabled).

 

This includes images within frames. EG, if you want to resize an image within a frame to the edge of the frame, this won’t work if the frame is part of a group.

 

This was originally posted on UserVoice in July 2019 and commented on by Ravi Kiran from the Adobe InDesign team in July 2019.

 

This issue remains in 2026.

8 replies

Known Participant
August 27, 2026

@Abhishek Rao ​@Mike Witherell 
I’ve done some further testing and have captured a video as well as some screenshots.

I noticed that snapping works for frame edges that are on the outer edge of the group, but that might be because the image is then snapping to the group edge not the frame edge.

I’m not using object fitting, but as far as I’m aware this works fine. However, snapping is necessary when you want to align only one edge of an image with the frame.

I’ve attached images of my preferences as requested.
Snapping to Document Grid is turned Off.

 

Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
August 27, 2026

Hello ​@Robert32194799hqfj 

 

Thanks for sharing the details. Kindly allow me some time to check this with the team. We will update this thread as we have more information.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.
Anubhav

Known Participant
September 1, 2026

No worries. Please let me know how you go. This has been a long standing issue.

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Community Manager
August 26, 2026

Hi ​@Robert32194799hqfj, thanks for reaching out, and I’m sorry you’re experiencing this issue.

I tested the workflow on InDesign 21.5.1, but I wasn’t able to reproduce the snapping behavior on my end. Could you please try the suggestions shared by Mike, particularly checking the Smart Guides options, ensuring Snap to Document Grid is turned off, and testing the relevant Object > Fitting options?

If the issue still occurs after checking those settings, please share a short screen recording showing the complete workflow, including your Smart Guides settings, how the objects are grouped, and the snapping behavior you’re seeing. That will give us a better reference and help us test the exact scenario on our end.

 

Thanks,
Abhishek

Mike Witherell
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 26, 2026

Hi Robert,

Under Preferences > Guides & Pasteboard > Smart Guides Options… what is checkmarked ON?

Is Snap to Document Grid turned OFF (since it fights with Smart Guides ON)?

Are you using Object > Fitting > Fit Content Proportionally (or the Fitting buttons on the Control panel) when adjusting images to fit to the edge of a frame? 

Mike Witherell