Inspiring

Answered

text wrapping stops when anchoring image

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
January 10, 2023
7 replies
5468 views

When I apply an anchor to an image that was previously set to wrap text on all 4 sides, the surrounding text stops wrapping on 1 or 2 sides. If I drag the image to the other facing page, the wrapping works perfectly, but when I drag it back to the original page, the wrapping stops on 1 or 2 pages. I also tried removing the wrap specs, and re-applying them. I also tried adjusting the layers of the image and text. I am using the latest version of InDesign on a Mac.

Bug

Correct answer Peter Spier

As I recall, with anchored objects text wrap only afects text AFTER the anchor point.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Yes, that's what I learned when I poked around a bit more. Luckily, it's a quick drag and drop as per my final gif to fix after a reflow. But please take a moment and vote for the bug to be fixed for good.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

Peter Spier

Community Expert

This is really more of a feature request than a bug, and I suspect it may be impossible to do due to recursion.

R

rschlegelAuthor

Inspiring

This is not a feature request, but a large bug. I am forced to position all images at the bottom of the page, to enable anchoring to unrelated text above the image. This moves the image far away from the related tet, and will force me to place the anchor far from the related text that it should follow. Authors and designers need to anchor images in close proximity to their related text, not a half-page away, or at the bottom of the page. Some images that span 2 columns have no workaround. There is no place on the facing page that will not release the wrapping. This book is targeted both print and ebpub. Epub requres all images to be anchored or they will all move to the bottm of the document. Most of my 40 images in the book are experiencing this issue. This bug and workaround is unacceptable.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

It look a while but I found an earlier report for 2019. It states that the anchor needs to be in column 1 and above the position of the frame, and sure enough that fixes it.

This isn't how it should work, and you can vote on the bug report here: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/34501540-anchored-objects-need-be-able-to-apply-a-text-wrap.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

R

rschlegelAuthor

Inspiring

I see. As a workaround, I can anchor anywhere in the left column, ABOVE the image anchor. If text is inserted before the anchor point, pushing the anchor point down, the wrapping will break.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Hi @rschlegel:

This question was marked as answered when I got online this morning, so I thought you were good to go. I can see the continuing conversation and so I finally took a look at your screenshot.

I can re-create the same issue with text when the frame is anchored in the right column. The same frame (with the same text wrap works fine when in the left column.) I don't have an answer to this dilemma, but perhaps somebody else on the thread does. I'm attaching my own screenshots to clarify the issue at hand.

Background for the others: I tried every combo of anchoring options (inline, above line, custom), locations and alignment. Nothing I could think of took care of the text not wrapping correctly when the frame in the right column overlaps the left column. I'm hoping one of you sees or knows something I don't.

~Barb

Before anchoring

After anchoring

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

R

rschlegelAuthor

Inspiring

My image behaves this same way. When I move it to the left side of the page, it wraps properly. Only when positioned to the right margin does it wrap improperly. I would think someone else has previously documented this issue?

Any ideas or solutions available?

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

For what it's worth, I can't duplicate this problem with any combination of columns, pages, anchor points and wrap/anchor settings *except* with the noted wrap-to settings being other than "left and right."

Very odd.

Peter Spier

Correct answer

Community Expert

As I recall, with anchored objects text wrap only afects text AFTER the anchor point.

R

rschlegelAuthor

Inspiring

I've tried anchoring my image to a paragraph break above, below, and in the column to the left of the image, but upon setting the anchor, the text no longer wraps to the left side of the image per screenshot.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Do you you have the wrap settings to "Both Right & Left Sides"?

This setting has a lot to do with the wrap behavior, with most others causing exactly the behavior you're seeing.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Check your InDesign preferences - there's an option for Text Wrap to only affect objects beneath.

BobLevine

Community Expert

That's only there for legacy quark documents opened in InDesign and wouldn't even come close to explaining it. Peter's answer is correct. If you anchor an image in text, you must anchor it to text BEFORE the line you want it to wrap around.

It's been this way forever.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Hi @rschlegel:

Can you share a screen shot with:

Hidden characters visible
Text theads visible
The frame selected
The text wrap panel visible

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

R

rschlegelAuthor

Inspiring

See screenshot.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

In testing, I see no significant difference in the behavior of the graphic and text whether it is anchored or not. But the devil is in the details.

I plopped an image into the middle of a large text page, set Text Wrap to a 1pc margin all around and to "Wrap around bounding box." The text wrapped around the graphics frame with a 1-pica margin on all sides. Moving it around did not change the behavior.

I then anchored the graphic to a point about 1/3 down the page. No difference; behavior is the same no matter where I move it EXCEPT that if moved above its anchor point, I get text wrap only on lines below the anchor point.

Try this: make sure your anchor point is completely above the image's position, near the top of the page if possible. And in Text Wrap, make sure Wrap To is set to "Both Right & Left Sides".

I do see something like the behavior you note if the image goes above the anchor point, or if those wrap settings are set to anything but "left and right sides."

BobLevine

Community Expert

I'm going to nit pick here because I think it's really important in this case. The words "below" and "above" should describe layering with "before" and "after" for the location in the text for the anchor.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Yep that's how that preference option works.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded