InDesign CS6 - How to Set Text Wrap to Ignore Other Layers

[Elisabetta_S]

I have a layer with text wrap underneath another layer. I don't want the text wrap to affect the layer above but I want it to affect the current layer. The order of the layers and objects is as follows:

Layer 2

     text 2

     circle 2 (text wrap so text 2 stays inside)

Layer 1

     text 1

     circle 1 (text wrap so text 1 stays inside)

However the wrap from circle 1 affects text 2 as well and I don't want that to happen, while I still want it to wrap inside circle 2.

Anyone got any ideas please?

[Steve Werner]

You can't select a layer and have it not affected by text wrap.

But you can select the object above the wrap, and in Text Wrap Options, check Ignore Text Wrap.

[Peter Spier]

You can set text wrap to only affect objects below in the prefs (but that's a bad idea if you use transparency, because text should always be above transparent objects if the design allows it). That said, you say the circles have text wrap applied to keep the text INSIDE them? Why not just use the circles as the text frames?

[Elisabetta_S]

Steve,

If I pick the option for an object to not be affected by text wrap, it won't be affected by the wrap of its own layer as well. So I can't use that.

Peter,

Because the text isn't going around the edge on all sides. It's left aligned and the only part that wraps is the right hand side so I need a different text frame for that.

Looks like there is no way of doing it 😕

[Peter Spier]

Maybe if you show us a screen capture of the page we can see what you want to do and find a way.

[Elisabetta_S]

Unfortunately I am restricted by a confidentiality agreement on this project. But there were some other changes that needed to be done so I didn't need to do that anymore. I will investigate this should I have the same problem again.

Thanks for the help so far though.

[Willi Adelberger]

I think you changed from Quark Xpress to InDesign. In Quark text wrapping does not work with text above images. You could change InDesign preferences to the same behavior as Quark has. But I strongly recommend not to do that. Due to problems with Alpha transparency above text I recommend to put images in layers below text to avoid rasterizing text.

It is better to do it with text frame options and items, which have no text wrap, assign to ignore text wrap.

Best practice is to create Object Styles for the different behaviors and for any kind of image and text wrapping. You can save an example object with its style in a (CC) Library for the use in later documents.

[Jan Mikš]

Right click on Layer Options in Layers Pallette - "Surpress text wrap when layer is hidden" might help.

[Willi Adelberger]

Jan Mikš schrieb:

Right click on Layer Options in Layers Pallette - "Surpress text wrap when layer is hidden" might help.

No, that is only used for documents converted from Quark, otherwise it is not a good idea to use this setting.

[actionralph]

Thank you, Jan Miks. This has solved my problem of setting up layers for Variable data printing.
Works wonderfully in my situation where each layer is a separate version, and is merely boxed in one InDesign file.

[ICJ Design · Accepted solution]

I'm wondering if is this still an issue for people?

I don't want to assume that everyone has made the jump to CC but, if you have and this is still an issue, I've just gotten the upper-layer text object to flow over an object with a wrap applied to it.

• Object
• Text Frame Options
• In the menu box, lower left ...Select, "Ignore Text Wrap"

[Hot Lava]

This is apparently still a problem in CC. I use templates to build instruction manuals and I regularly turn off certain layers because they  do not apply to that specific manual I am building. I can't ignore text wrap because I need to wrap around objects that are on the layer I need to use.

As I type this, I thought of an idea. I am going to try creating linked text boxes and selectively applying "ignore text wrap" to those boxes. This might work because the images with the text wrap are in different locations on the page.

An Adobe forums MVP and certified instructor such as Willi Adelberger​ should have a contact at Adobe to get something like this fixed. It's an obvious flaw in the program. I can't think of a reason that a designer would want a hidden layer's text wrap to impact visible layers.

[Laubender]

FastAmphibian  wrote

… I can't think of a reason that a designer would want a hidden layer's text wrap to impact visible layers.

FastAmphibian​ ,

oh, I can.

Absolutely.

( I hope, I did not misunderstand anything you wrote. )

Example:

During the design phase of complex stuff one could get distracted from items stacked on top of other items organized in different layers. So I would constantly hide some layers to get rid temporarily of stuff I am currently not working at.

And if one of the layers I will hide has an object with text wrap on it I would not like to see the wrap go away from text that is flowing in a different one stacked below or on top.

There may be other reasons as well…

Regards,
Uwe

[Hot Lava]

I still view it as a flaw. I shouldn't have to delete objects off another layer for my document to flow properly.

[SMC designs]

You're amazing... thank YOU!

[scottl20949821]

Thank you.  The did the trick!

[ghorifaraz]

You're the man

[sarahc26399794]

You could always outline the text and turn it into an image... then it will no longer be recognized as text and lay over top nicely.

[John Mensinger]

sarahc26399794 wrote:

You could always outline the text...

This is not good advice.

While it may produce the desired positioning, perceptually, it would also do irreparable damage to the text and its rendering, in addition to loss of edit-ability. While there are a few—very few—valid reasons for outlining text, making the page layout work a certain way is never one of them.

[Willi Adelberger]

sarahc26399794 schrieb:

You could always outline the text and turn it into an image... then it will no longer be recognized as text and lay over top nicely.

Oh no, what you recommend is rubbish. Don't do that. Do never outline any text in InDesign. Only for using a letter a frame for editing its path, to fill with an image or something like this. But don't outline text.

Text wrap is not a layer property as it is in Quark Xpress. Text wrap will be set up via Object Style, where you can define ignoree text wrap. This is the only correct way.

[LauraLeeV]

While I doubt anyone who has visited this thread will come back to see my revelation here, I have good news for anyone who comes here looking for an answer in the future.  Ironically, the very first person who answered this question at the top was correct.  But because he used the wrong terminology in his explanation, his answer was dismissed early on.  Too bad!

If you look more closely at his screen capture, you will get all the info you need to make sure a text wrap affects one text box, but not another AND even while on the same layer.

All you need to do is select any text box you don't want wrapping, go to its Text Frame Options dialogue box, and down at the bottom of the General tab select "Ignore Text Wrap."

I hope that helps.  🙂

[Gast]

But I wont get the desired output with the above explanation which you have given