Comments on: Non-Rectangular Text Wrap Around Drop Caps

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:23:37 +0000

dave,
I can see how soft returns can cause grief in a story, and yes, your method would also work. Our work flow is such that this isn’t an issue for us. This method also is only used in the first graph, and allows for text boxes to easily be moved about the page as needed. Outlining the first letter would also require extra steps if the first word were to be changed. I just don’t see an advantage to it.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:01:40 +0000

Dave, I agree with you: spaces and tabs and soft returns are painful at best. No, there’s nothing wrong with converting it to outline, but I also try to avoid that when possible.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:44:44 +0000

@ mike – if I’m reading you correctly, that only works if no one edits the type. Soft returns in running type make me grit my teeth – people who use a series of tabs and spaces to fake a hanging indent make my left eye twitch.

That said, is there any issue/benefit to simply changing the drop cap into outlines, and setting the text wrap to the shape of the [new] object? Could you anchor that into the text?

By: Christopher S.

Christopher S. — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:59:21 +0000

Oh dear.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:20:24 +0000

There is no need for a separate box. Just put your cursor between the first and second letter and use negative kerning until the type on the line that needs to be the most to the left is set as you like. Then add an n space or spaces for the other lines to get them back away from the drop cap. You may need to put in a shift-return at the end of the top line and second line, too.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:59:03 +0000

Boys, boys, boys…let’s not get all worked up! Just kidding…thanks, David… I love these “little” tips that are so easy and so helpful!

By: Eugene

Eugene — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:24:01 +0000

You’d have to anchor that blank box so that it moves with the text.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:23:13 +0000

That may be true Christopher, but it also means your drop cap won’t move with the rest of your text.

If you wanted it look normal in the text editor, then you can make a large V and baseline shift it down.

Then using Davids method above, insert a blank box (with no fill or stroke) and move the text wrap so the text looks as if it is wrapping around the V.

This can be sped up using Nested Styles and doing Grep Searches to place the Object that you’ve made.

By: Christopher S.

Christopher S. — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:58:40 +0000

Rather than put the drop cap in an anchored frame, I made a small text frame, just large enough to hold the drop cap, then threaded the two frames together… then situated that smaller frame on top of the larger frame. Now the text flows and looks normal in story editor.