How to Fix Line Movement and Alignment Issues in InDesign

[Lucy28695073yi3k]

I'm having an issue with moving and adjusting line elements in InDesign. 

The issue I'm having is that when I adjust a line's length, it also moves itself up or down slightly, making it unaligned in my layout. See picture example below with a before and after. (Sorry if the ruler lines are hard to see) Hopefully you can see that the black line was center aligned with the ruler, but is moved slightly upward after I shortened it. 
My solution to this for a while was to use the direct selection tool to move the end point where I wanted, but this is a little more tedious. Or I just realign the line after it moves, but this is also tedious. 

In addition to this, I noticed when I have a line with an endcap, another issue arises. If I use the arrows on my keyboard to move the line in any direction, it moves DIAGONALLY. See below examples when I use the up arrow to nudge the line, it moves diagonally up and to the left. And it moves in a different diagonal direction depending on the arrow I use. 

Are there any settings/preferences in InDesign that are known to affect this type of thing? Or could this be a driver issue?

I have coworkers with the same computer model as me, but they do not have this issue. I am on the latest version of InDesign 2024 as of 9/16/2024, and on Windows 11. 

TLDR: Moving or adjusting line elements makes them unaligned, or moves them diagonally. 

Thank you in advance for any help and suggestions! 🙂

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[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Lucy28695073yi3k,

Thank you for sharing such detailed information about the issue- I understand how frustrating it can be when precise adjustments aren’t behaving as expected, especially in a layout!

From what you’ve described, this seems to be a snapping or alignment issue. Please try the below things: 

1. Disable "Snap to Grid" or "Smart Guides": InDesign may be snapping your lines to a grid or guides, which could cause the line to shift slightly when adjusting. You can toggle these settings by going to View > Grids & Guides and unchecking Snap to Grid or Smart Guides.

2. Check Keyboard Increment Preferences: InDesign’s keyboard increment (how much an object moves when using the arrow keys) might be causing the diagonal movement. Go to Preferences > Units & Increments, and check the value under Keyboard Increments to ensure it’s set correctly. A lower value will give you finer control.

3. Update or Reinstall Drivers: Since you mentioned your coworkers don’t have the same issue, it could potentially be a driver-related problem. I’d suggest updating or reinstalling your mouse or trackpad drivers to see if that resolves the issue.

Also, could you confirm the exact version of InDesign and the specific build of Windows 11 you're using? 

Let me know if this helps or if you need further assistance!

Thank you, 
Abhishek Rao

[rob day]

Hi @Lucy28695073yi3k , How are you changing the length of the line? Does it happen if you use the Transform panel to change the length with the Reference Point set to Left Center?

An X position move:

[Lucy28695073yi3k]

Hi Rob, 

I usually select and drag the endpoint to change the length, but I just tried using the transform panel, and the issue still persists. You can see that the Y-value changed when the length changed.

 

And here's what happens when I try to do an X-position move on the line with the endcap. 

It didn't change the Y value this time, but it was oddly off by .0625... 

And if I have the reference point set to bottom middle and change the Y-value, it correctly changed the Y value, but you can see that it somehow changed the X-value as well. 

Lots of odd things happening...

I'm going to try Abhisek's suggestions and see if that changes anything.

Thank you for your response!