Can all column rules' height be re-adjusted at once after changing the copy text font size?

[Chris P. Bacon]

I decreased my copy text font size and now my column rules are exceeding their previous upper boundary.

So now do i have to delete them and re-apply all my column rules, is there any adjustment shortcut or function?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

You can try turning column rules off and back on (try it for just that frame, use Ctrl-B to open the menu). But I think what you're seeing is default behavior, running the rules continuously along the text flow, even though it's interrupted by the inset box. (ETA: remember, it's a column setting, not a paragraph/text setting.)

Also, try adding text wrap padding to the left side of that inset box, to force the text flow to fully bypass it.

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[Chris P. Bacon]

What do you mean by inset box? Can you point it out?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Well, it's the black (text) box inset into the layout below the text you're trying to adjust.

Add text wrap spacing to the left and that column rule will probably jump up to the actual paragraph end.

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[Chris P. Bacon]

It doesn't:

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Doesn't what? the rule is gone from the lower portion; isn't that what you wanted to achieve? It works perfectly for me:

That's just a text box, with text wrap set to "Wrap around bounding box" and some top and left wrap spacing dialed in.

If that's not what you're after, explain further.

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[Chris P. Bacon]

No the goal is to cut off the extra column rule lenght from the top after decreasing font size, without deleting and re-applying the column rules.

By the way, reapplying the column rules won't cut them off either. They are too long at the top due to the font size decrease.

[Chris P. Bacon]

As it is pointed out by the red arrow in the first original screenshot I posted in this post.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Okay, somehow I picked up on the wrong point. Sorry about that.

But, looking at that top issue, I see the fault. In experimenting, the rules stop at the frame top, no matter how I adjust the frame or the text size/spacing. Neither text-wrap spacing above nor spacing in the top of the frame create the effect you're showing.

But... in the text frame setup, there is a "rule length" setting, start and end. It looks as if you've set your text frames to have a negative start setting, making the rules extend above the frame. This setting exactly replicated your screenshot:

So, nothing to do with changing frame or text sizes; just correct that setting and the layout should be perfectly fluid for adjustments.

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[Chris P. Bacon]

My start / end settings are on zero, yet the rules hang out at the top:

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Do you have any offset spacing specified for that text frame? It's not showing any effect for me, but I'm running out of ideas here.

Long shot: do you have any baseline offset set for that paragraph style?

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[Chris P. Bacon]

I don't have any kind of offset:

And this is my Parent (Master) page, almost identic with my other pages, so it cannot be an override issue between the two.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Okay, the last thing I can think of is that you have two text frames there, one from the parent page and another overlaid on it. With guidelines showing, drag the text frame an inch or so over, and see if you can click on a second one.

(Save first, and use Ctrl-Z to undo any changes.)

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[Chris P. Bacon]

If I drag the frame away, there is nothing under it:

[Chris P. Bacon]

there are some discussions about this issue out there:

column rules length option to set frame-based – Adobe InDesign (uservoice.com)

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Different issues.

I have never seen an effect like you have without it being one of the things mentioned above, most specifically the offset adjustments. I'm out of further suggestions... 🙂

Lay a white rectangle over them and move on with the project?

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[James Gifford—NitroPress]

One last thought on this: delete that text frame, then click on the previous-frame button of the facing one and draw a completely new one. That is, completely replace that problematic frame and see if the problem goes away.

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[Chris P. Bacon]

I couldn't find the previous-frame button, I found a shortcut for it for my Windows: 

Select first/last frame

Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Page Up/ Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Page Down

Shift+Option+ Command+Page Up/ Shift+Option+ Command+Page Down

but it didn't do anything, not before or after deleting the frame.

I tried to draw a new frame, but I couldn't get any text into it (something might be wrong with my setup).

"Fill with paceholder text" was grayed out, and later only pasted one row in the box, and never more.

Something might be wrong with my setup.

So I packaged my Parent page for you (before I started tweaking, with the rule overlap still on):

https://bit.ly/3pnCOOw

in case you want to take a look.

Thanks.

Finally I solved the issue by:

cutting the frame

paste it back in place

delete all text

fill it again with "Fill with placeholder text"

Now my column rules end nicely at the top of the box.

[Chris P. Bacon]

It still worries me what could I do if my text would be real and not placeholder text, and I would change my font size and all my column rules would hang out...in a real document, before printing.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Oh, this could eventually be a syncing issue with my assignments.

My copy text was assigned in an InCopy assignment, and maybe some syncing issue between InDesign and InCopy is causing the rules overlap issue, once the font size is changed...

[Laubender]

Hi @Chris P. Bacon ,

the start position of the column rules is a side-effect of the first character in your text frame.

The bigger the character the more does the zero start position of the rule move out of the frame.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )

[Laubender]

Currently I see this workaround:

Have an extra text frame for the first character threaded to the other one with the column rules. With text wrap applied. From my German InDesign 2022 on Windows 10:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )

[Chris P. Bacon]

Thanks.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Hi,

I re-opened this thread because the issue is not with the Drop Caps.

The excess rulers that go beyond the text boundary can only be removed (or masked, not sure which is actually happening) with paragraph shading.

here is the .INDD file of the spread 

As a rule, rulers should not go beyond the text boundary, and they should adapt to the text boundary (if font size have been changed, or if other changes have been made that affect the layout).

But the green arrows show that in some cases the boundary is correct.

It shouldn't be necessary to add both offsets and paragraph shading to get the rulers right.

The paragraph shading trick is not a real solution, that I guess is just overlapping the rulers but it does not trim them.

[Chris P. Bacon]

@Laubender