Skip to main content
Known Participant
October 18, 2011
Answered

Remove purple grid without removing my grid?

  • October 18, 2011
  • 7 replies
  • 48860 views

Hi

I'm new in InDesign. How do I remove the purple grid that was already there when I made my document, WITHOUT removing ALL my grids?

Regards

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer kenzarecki

If you mean you don't want to see all of those vertical purple column grid lines, but you want to retain your margins and cyan guide lines, then simply change your column value to 1. This will essentially leave you with a box with a purple outline to represent your margins.

in the top menu, go to Layout > Margins and Columns ...  then replace whatever number is in the columns field with 1.

7 replies

kenzarecki
kenzareckiCorrect answer
Participant
May 2, 2019

If you mean you don't want to see all of those vertical purple column grid lines, but you want to retain your margins and cyan guide lines, then simply change your column value to 1. This will essentially leave you with a box with a purple outline to represent your margins.

in the top menu, go to Layout > Margins and Columns ...  then replace whatever number is in the columns field with 1.

morganc85662175
Participating Frequently
June 16, 2021

THIS is the answer that I needed. I wanted my cyan guides + margins but the template had existing columns, and I did not realize. Thank you!

Participant
November 16, 2018

Change their color to white. Preferences-Guides & Pasteboard - Margins and Columns make them white

Participant
January 11, 2016

You can get the page and column guides out of sight by changing the screen mode. View > Screen Mode > Preview (instead of Normal)

Participant
March 14, 2014

I had exactly the same problem and even found this thread in my Google search.

I solved it myself by clicking on nearly every function.

To solve the purple lines from appearing all over your document, quite simply:-

1. Look top left hand corner where you can see the emblem of Indesign - id

2. On the right of the emblem you will see 5 icons, the first one is Br which is Bridge - then 4 icons with drop downs

3. Got to the second icon and click the drop down, untick Guides and then they will disappear.

Simple! Job done!

October 18, 2011

I'm assuming you are talking about the column guides (not margin guides, eh Bob).

Adobe insists on having both margin and column guides in the document, it's been like that since PageMaker. I've never been able to find a practical use for the movable column guides that didn't seem a bit contrived, but if you add a couple of columns to your layout, you will likely see the logic. The magenta margins are page margins and as such constrain page elements, the purple column guides contrain the text.

As Bob mentions you can change the colour of the column margins to be  magenta the same as the page margins, then you wouldn't notice them, but that would likely lead to more confusion. The best solution is to accept them for what they are, and ignore them if you don't find them useful.

And by the way, it's not just the columns and margins that are linked in the display: all document guides, including bleed and slug, are similarly linked.

BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 18, 2011

Purple, magenta? What’s a bit a red between friends? J

Bob

BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 18, 2011

Are you referring to the margin guides? Either hide them change them.

Here’s my standard newbie advice:

1. Sandee Cohen’s Visual Quick Start Guide. Best newbie book on the market: http://amzn.to/k2bkxg

2. Check out Lynda.com. This link will get you a free one week trial http://bit.ly/fcGpiI

Bob

Community Expert
October 18, 2011

View>Grids and Guides> Hide Guides

Unfortunately the Purple one is linked to the blue ones (ruler guides) as well as other ones, you can't turn just one off, as far as I know.

These are just Guides and don't output unless you tick the "Print Visible Guides and Baseline Grids" in the File>Print dialog box.