Inset spacing inside text boxes with rounded corners randomly fluctuates

[Knelson_HBI]

I'm currently building a new InDesign template for our monthly journals, and I'm encountering an infuriating bug with text boxes that feature rounded corners. Now I'm well aware that the corners can start to mess with your inset spacing when using a large radius for your rounded corners, but in this case the radius is very small (just 0p4 radius with inset spacing of 0p6). The problem I keep encountering is that the top margin/inset space fluctuates by at least a full point depending on the size of the text box, which just shouldn't happen. Even changing the radius to just 1 point does not resolve the issue. Just changing the size of the text box with the handle bars in real time, you can see the text in the box jump up and down as the top margin keeps changing. And of course removing the rounded corners effect immediately fixes the problem, so it's obviously tied to that.

Now of course there are plenty of work arounds for this, like just creating the box with the rounded corners separately, and placing the text box on top of it, but we've used this approach for years, and the production team has a habit of accidentally messing up the placement, which ruins the consistent margins in the boxes anyway.

The frustration is that if this bug didn't exist, the approach of simply using a single text box with rounded corners would not only be more efficient, but it would also dramatically cut down the occurrence of production errors.

Is there any solution to this, or is it just a matter of hoping that Adobe fixes it at some point in the future?

[barbara_a]

I've run into this issue before, and there is a workaround.

1. Draw a rectangular frame with the Type tool. I've filled it with placeholder text.
2. 
3. Give it a fill color.
4. 
5. Give the frame a thick stroke. Change the Join to the rounded join, and change the Align Stroke to Outside. You'll want the stroke color to match the fill color of the frame, but I used a contrasting color so that you could see it better.
6. 
7. 

[edwinallan]

Still a thing in 2025! Driving me nuts

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It's not quite a bug or ID's fault; by making the corners round, you are giving the layout confusing directions. (Yes, I suppose one fix would be to make the text margins remain square, but that would raise other complex spacing and proportion issues.)

Use the outer-stroke method if you have to have a text box.

Use Willi's paragraph shading/border method if you want a fully self-adjusting layout.

[edwinallan]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry but I have trouble understanding how this isn't a bug or their fault? So many apps do this, I could name a dozen. I myself code and know fully well how to take rounded corners in account. I don't understand how rounded corners are "confusing directions"?

Note: It's actually quite simple to do: when calculating the size, you calculate the width of the text (most environments have a function for this) then add the padding and then draw the shape beneath (with the corners) from that result.

There is no rational explanation where rounded corners should be taken in account by the developper, so yes, it's a bug.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Well, a bit apples and oranges. The two techniques suggested retain a rectangular text frame and add decorative (i.e. irrelevant) rounded edges to them. You get exactly what you expect, which is linear text layout on all lines.

In the method that frustrated you, you are actually rounding the corners of the text frame, changing the text layout space, and the decorative effect follows. Not quite the same thing. Just as you can skew a text box at an angle and ID will give you staggered text edges left and right... but if you distort the top and bottom lines, ID will do its best to fit text to lines that do not collide with the angled top and bottom margins, which may not result in the effect you want.

I haven't used any other full-spectrum layout tools in a while but recall those that could only handle rectangular, orthagonal text frames. ID's ability to (literally!) bend those rules can be useful... but it's still a different feature than just applying decorative outer strokes and edges. Having both is an advantage.

As to "maybe a bug" — maybe ID could handle text flow around such corners better. But it's a designer choice that has to be optimized, well, by the designer, or so I see it. 🙂

[Willi Adelberger]

Instead of making the frame with round corners, create a paragraph style with shadows and borders. This makes it easy possible to 

[edwinallan]

Smashing, thanks a lot this works and is a cleaner workaround then using border styles to simulate rounded corner.