How to Adjust Visual Alignment for Right-Aligned Multi-Line Headings in InDesign

[Jansseune]

I very rarely use right aligned text (maybe ten times in a career of 40 years) but I have a use for it now in a book. How do I align right aligned headings but still have the ability to adjust them so that they align visually? The heading is over 3 lines - the first ends in a colon, the second ends in N and the third line a T and they all need spacing so that the right line ends looks visually aligned.

<Title renamed by MOD>

[Jansseune]

Agreed, which is the solution I went for in the end. I've just posted a screenshot of the title with invisible characters showing. I've only used range right text a dozen times in my whole career, but once every few years it does has a reason to exist.


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[James Gifford—NitroPress]

The only consistent way to get the level of control you're seeking, especially with being able to tweak characters beyond the nominal frame line, is —

• Use an artificial right margin; e.g. set the body text in a few mm or points.
• Use a paragraph style for the heading that allows either one line, perfectly aligned right, or allows multiple lines for multi-line heads so that each line can be right-space tweaked, including "outward," to get the exact alignment desired.

Things like inserting invisible characters is a hack (that I occasionally use, but only in "art" layouts, not running text) and the need to do "negative" kerning etc. means some phantom space has to be built in to allow it. I can't think of a second approach, overall, for a running document.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Like this (crude, but). Single style used for both headings.

Adjustments made in right margin spacing (default 6 points) on the three-line head.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

[Jansseune]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. This wasn't a long doc so there were no TOC issues to consider and I didn't want to spend the time setting up individiual paras and invisible characters. The solution I used was a hack but was by far the quickest and simplest - just make the text range left and add spaces to the left until they aligned on the right, with a little bit of tweaking to the left hand spaces before the text. Crude but effective.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Your circus, your monkeys and all that, but of all the options, that seems like the crudest approach, the least "controllable" and quite fragile in any later editing.

[Jansseune]

It worked, the book was printed, client was happy. Crude but effective.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. This wasn't a long doc so there were no TOC issues to consider and I didn't want to spend the time setting up individiual paras and invisible characters. The solution I used was a hack but was by far the quickest and simplest - just make the text range left and add spaces to the left until they aligned on the right, with a little bit of tweaking to the left hand spaces before the text. Crude but effective.

By @Jansseune

Wouldn't adding those little rects with TextWrap be much quicker?