First Baseline Offset and Baseline Grid Alignment Issue in InDesign

[CiaranHorrex]

Here's a weird quirk.

1. If I set the font size to 10pt
2. Define the First Baseline, Offset to Cap Height
3. I can then Fit Frame to Content through the fitting options
4. The properties window would tell me the height of the text frame and thus cap height is 6.5pt (for this font, Minion 3). Could also be thought of as 65% of the em square.

Now:

1. If I set my text to be aligned to the baseline grid
2. Then set a custom baseline grid with a start of 6.5pt
3. The text doesn't align within the start value (referenced by the red square) and instead skips down to the next baseline.

Workarounds:

1. Set the First Baseline, Offset to x Height or Fixed
2. Increase the start value by a nominal amount. For example 6.501pt would work.

This appears to be a bug to me, does anyone have any insight into this?

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[CiaranHorrex]

Oh! I forgot to add:

1. Setting the First Baseline, Offset to fixed. And setting the Min value to 6.5pt also works as a workaround.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @CiaranHorrex, 

Thank you for sharing the detailed breakdown of the issue. It seems you've encountered an odd behavior with the First Baseline Offset and the baseline grid alignment.

The issue could indeed be linked to the precision of the Cap Height value versus the baseline grid, which might cause the misalignment you're seeing. Your workarounds (setting First Baseline to Fixed and adjusting the Min value or slightly increasing the grid start value) are valid and often help when dealing with such quirks.

In addition, I would recommend:
1. Ensuring that the Baseline Grid Increment is divisible by the cap height, or slightly adjusting the increment to match the font's measurements more closely.
2. You can also try adjusting the leading slightly or experimenting with different text frame settings to see if this minimizes the issue.

In the meantime, I will check this with the product team and provide you with an update. Feel free to let me know if you need further assistance.

Best,  
Abhishek Rao

[CiaranHorrex]

Hello Abhishek — thank you for getting back to me. Do look below, seems the issue might be in the Start value. The increment every field seems to be working correctly.

Either there's a 0.001pt variable being added somewhere.

Or!

As InDesign goes to 3 decimal places. The value could be even smaller, and it's being rounded up.

[rob day]

Hi @CiaranHorrex , Looks like your text’s Leading is set to 0, try setting it to match the Baseline Grid:

[CiaranHorrex]

Hey Rob! Thanks for responding. In the original test, the baseline does match the leading—though I can see you'd have to cross reference the two images.

In the screenshot below, this showcases the oddity. Here's a side by side comparison. Both are identical expect the 'Start' value is 0.001 larger. As a result, it no longer drops down a baseline.

1. If we set the start value to 6.501 and the increment every to 6.5. It does work correctly.
2. If we set the start value to 6.5 and the increment every to 6.5. It drops down one baseline, but otherwise functions as expected.

When I say correctly, this is because the leading is set to 13pt.

I'd guess from this, the problem is in the start value and somehow there's a 0.001pt addition somewhere.

[rob day]

Also, the Start amount has to be some amount larger than the actual cap height

[CiaranHorrex]

Aye! And this I believe is the bug.

[rob day]

Aye! And this I believe is the bug.

You could report it, but I’m guessing it wont change—a square peg wouldn’t fit into a square hole if the peg and hole dimensions were identical.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @CiaranHorrex,

Thanks for the detailed follow-up, and I really appreciate your patience while working through this!

I’ve come across two UserVoice reports that seem closely related to the issue you're describing:

- [First Baseline Offset not being applied](https://adobe.ly/3BuQccC)
- [Text Frame Options Baseline - First Baseline Issues](https://adobe.ly/3N46qMG)

Could you please confirm if either of these captures the exact problem you’re facing? If so, I encourage you to upvote and add a comment to the relevant UserVoice. This helps us prioritize the issue and get it addressed more quickly.

Thanks again for your collaboration on this!

Best,  
Abhishek Rao

[CiaranHorrex]

I've had a look, sadly they don't appear to be the same thing.