Special case? GeometricBounds positioning cannot be used when text boxes extend beyond bleed?

Hi @dublove all this talk of "jumping"... you must read what my example is trying to do. That first example always moves the item to the bottom left margins. It was just an example—you can code it to move where you want it.

For example, the following code ensures that the selected item is within the page margins, and it will move the item only the minimum distance required to achieve that. Again, remember these are just examples. You must adjust them the way you want.

By the way, I would avoid setting the geometricBounds as it can be messy. Better to use the .move and .resize methods, I think.

- Mark

/**
 * @file Position Item Within Nearest Page Margins.js
 *
 * @author m1b
 * @version 2025-08-02
 * @discussion https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/special-case-geometricbounds-positioning-cannot-be-used-when-text-boxes-extend-beyond-bleed/m-p/15440515
 */
function main() {

    var sel = app.activeDocument.selection[0];
    var pp = getNearestPage(sel);

    var pb = pp.bounds;
    var sb = sel.visibleBounds;
    var sw = sb[3] - sb[1];
    var sh = sb[2] - sb[0];

    // example: move `sel` so it is within the page margins
    var x = sb[1];
    var y = sb[0];

    if (sb[3] > pb[3] - pp.marginPreferences.right) {
        // the item is past the right side of the page
        x = pb[3] - pp.marginPreferences.right - sw;
    }
    if (sb[1] < pb[1] + pp.marginPreferences.left) {
        // the item is past the left side of the page
        x = pb[1] + pp.marginPreferences.left;
    }
    if (sb[2] > pb[2] - pp.marginPreferences.bottom) {
        // the item is past the bottom of the page
        y = pb[2] - pp.marginPreferences.bottom - sh;
    }
    if (sb[0] < pb[0] + pp.marginPreferences.top) {
        // the item is past the top of the page
        y = pb[0] + pp.marginPreferences.top;
    }

    sel.move([x, y]);

};
app.doScript(main, ScriptLanguage.JAVASCRIPT, undefined, UndoModes.ENTIRE_SCRIPT, 'Move Item Inside Page Margins');

/**
 * Returns the nearest page to `item`.
 * @author m1b
 * @version 2025-08-02
 * @param {PageItem} item - the target item.
 * @returns {Page} - the nearest page to `item`.
 */
function getNearestPage(item) {

    var page = item.parentPage;
    var spread;

    while (!page) {

        spread = item.parent;

        if ('Page' === spread.constructor.name)
            page = spread;


        if ('Spread' === spread.constructor.name) {

            var index = findClosestBounds(
                item.visibleBounds,
                spread.pages.everyItem().bounds
            );

            page = spread.pages.item(index);

        }

    }

    return page;

};

/**
 * Returns the index of the bounds in `boundsArray` that is
 * closest to the target bounds. All bounds are in [T, L, B, R] format.
 * @param {Array} targetBounds - The target bounds [T, L, B, R].
 * @param {Array<bounds>} boundsArray - An array of bounds arrays.
 * @returns {Number} Index of the closest bounds in the array.
 */
function findClosestBounds(targetBounds, boundsArray) {

    var targetCenter = centerOfBounds(targetBounds);
    var minDist = Infinity;
    var closestIndex = -1;

    for (var i = 0, center, dx, dy, distSq; i < boundsArray.length; i++) {

        center = centerOfBounds(boundsArray[i]);
        dx = targetCenter[0] - center[0];
        dy = targetCenter[1] - center[1];
        distSq = dx * dx + dy * dy;

        if (distSq < minDist) {
            minDist = distSq;
            closestIndex = i;
        }

    }

    return closestIndex;

};

/**
 * Returns the center of `bounds`;
 * @param {Array} bounds - The bounds [T, L, B, R].
 * @returns {Array<Number>} - [cx, cy].
 */
function centerOfBounds(bounds) {
    return [(bounds[1] + bounds[3]) / 2, (bounds[0] + bounds[2]) / 2];
};