I just realized a boring alignment: alignment to the page does not include bleed 3mm?

Report · Mar 15, 2025

Sudden realization:

Align to page, align across pages are only aligned to the position that does not contain the bleed (you call it margin?).

I'm speechless. What kind of special hobby is this?
Alignment to this position shouldn't be the primary need.

What's the point of aligning to this?

Who makes books without bleed?

What was Adobe thinking?

How do you align to the bleed (far left or far right)?

Could it be that you have to enter -3mm coordinates to do this?

Report · Mar 15, 2025

You're shocked that Align to Page aligns to the page?

Granted, align to bleed could be useful - but you can adjust for bleed anyway.

And so could align to slug.

I don't really know how to help you here - it's not a wonderment about how a feature, it's just a reaction to something that's expected behaviour.

If you want to make a difference and suggest improvement the correct channel is here

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests

You'll already find others there
https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/31242319-ne...

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/42751931-ad...

It's already in request - add your vote and your voice.

It could probably be scripted.

Something like this

function alignToBleed() {
    var doc = app.activeDocument;
    if (!doc) {
        alert("No document is open.");
        return;
    }
    
    var sel = app.selection;
    if (!sel.length) {
        alert("No objects selected.");
        return;
    }
    
    var dp = doc.documentPreferences;
    var bleedBounds = {
        left: -dp.documentBleedInsideOrLeftOffset,
        top: -dp.documentBleedTopOffset,
        right: dp.pageWidth + dp.documentBleedOutsideOrRightOffset,
        bottom: dp.pageHeight + dp.documentBleedBottomOffset
    };
    
    var dialog = app.dialogs.add({name: "Align to Bleed"});
    with (dialog.dialogColumns.add()) {
        var alignLeft = checkboxControls.add({staticLabel: "Align Left", checkedState: false});
        var alignTop = checkboxControls.add({staticLabel: "Align Top", checkedState: false});
        var alignRight = checkboxControls.add({staticLabel: "Align Right", checkedState: false});
        var alignBottom = checkboxControls.add({staticLabel: "Align Bottom", checkedState: false});
    }
    
    if (dialog.show() == true) {
        for (var i = 0; i < sel.length; i++) {
            var obj = sel[i];
            var gb = obj.geometricBounds; // [top, left, bottom, right]
            
            if (alignLeft.checkedState) {
                obj.move(undefined, [bleedBounds.left - gb[1], 0]);
            }
            if (alignTop.checkedState) {
                obj.move(undefined, [0, bleedBounds.top - gb[0]]);
            }
            if (alignRight.checkedState) {
                obj.move(undefined, [bleedBounds.right - gb[3], 0]);
            }
            if (alignBottom.checkedState) {
                obj.move(undefined, [0, bleedBounds.bottom - gb[2]]);
            }
        }
        dialog.destroy();
    } else {
        dialog.destroy();
    }
}

alignToBleed();

Report · Mar 15, 2025

Just to add - not all things done in InDesign go to bleed - interactive or online or digital publications don't need bleed, so aligning to page is essential.

Same for book printing, aligning to the page towards the spine is essential.

What were they thinking? Probably people need to be able to align to the page.

Trifold brochures or multipage folded leaflets etc.

Report · Mar 15, 2025

Voted　This should be an omission caused by a major mistake

There's something wrong with this script. It's not ideal.
It doesn't recognize left or right.
Some judgments are still misrecognized.

Report · Mar 16, 2025

I don't think you just realised this either to be honest -

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/it-would-be-nice-to-have-a-tool-like-this-on-the...

The script isn't ideal because it was just a quick example to show that it can be done. It worked for me, but it might need refinements to handle all scenarios correctly. I just dabble in scripting rather than being a full-time scripter, so I wasn’t aiming for a perfect solution more of a proof of concept.

InDesign features tend to get added but rarely refined after implementation. Align to Page might be developer decision, because it's programed by developers not designers, so Align to page gets the item to the page edge, so it can be extended to the bleed area by the user, as bleed areas can vary and have multiple bleed bounds it might not be possible or easy to align to bleed in all scenarios - or could be just a decision not to add it - I wouldn't know the thought process behind it but can only assume.

Illustrator didn't even have Bleed Guides until CS4, which was wild. Photoshop still doesn't have them. So, while an 'Align to Bleed' function would be useful, it’s not surprising that it hasn't been implemented yet.

Keep voting and adding ideas.

Report · Mar 16, 2025

It was a different feeling then than it is now.
Back then it was a bit of laziness and thinking how nice it would be if a model could be implemented.
Now it's a pain in the ass and it doesn't matter, only to realize that the feature isn't there at all.

Also aligning the object to the reference line is something I'm looking forward to.
Adobe is probably too busy working on Ai Big Data to bother with these basic ones.

Report · Mar 16, 2025

Anchored objects does what you need.

Putting your ideas to the feature request is your best chance.

You have to realize every software has limitations, and learning to work within these limitations is normal.

Post your ideas to the right channels, feature requests.

You have to accept, like the rest of us, that's how to do it.

Scripting is cool, but better to work within the software limitations and features that exists.

Report · Mar 16, 2025

Simply use an Object Style fot position, works perfectly. For an example look here:

https://creativepro.com/how-to-align-objects-in-indesign-using-object-styles/

Report · Mar 16, 2025

I didn't get how this resolved the issue

Report · Mar 17, 2025

You set the alignment, you set it to page margins, you include bleed. If the bleed changes, so does the alignment. Aplly that Object style to all the objects that need the same alignment. I understood it as what to OP needs to do.

Report · Mar 17, 2025

Too bad, youtube videos are blocked.

Maybe I'll come up with a way to put a small piece at the 3mm cutout and just align the piece

Report · Mar 17, 2025

Blocked how? At your end? Just visit creativepro dot com.

Report · Mar 17, 2025

Blocked how? At your end? Just visit creativepro dot com.
By Frans v.d. Geest

Yep YouTube is blocked in China when OP is from.

However, interestingly, the video in the CreativePro link you posted doesn't seem to appear in certain browsers.

I can see it in Brave and Opera but not in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, for example.

Chrome:

Brave: