Thread text through frames

In PlexiiDesign, long text does not have to fit in one box. Link several text frames and they become one story: the text fills the first frame, then carries on in the next, across columns and pages, like an article in a magazine. Change the words, or resize a frame, and the text flows again on its own.

Use threaded text for brochures, reports and newsletters. For a short headline or caption, an ordinary text box is all you need.

Before you start

• Threaded text is on every plan.
• Open a design in PlexiiDesign, or click inside a Design widget on a desk. See PlexiiDesign overview.
• To lay out a whole document from your text in one step, with frames already linked on every page, use Redesign instead. See Lay out a document with Redesign.

Edit an ordinary text box

1. Double-click the text box. An editing box opens over it.
2. Type your text.
3. Click elsewhere to keep it, or press Esc to leave without your changes.

The inspector sets the box's Font, Text color, Alignment, Style and Font size.

Link frames into one story

1. Add the text frames where you want the text to go, with Text in the toolbar, such as one for each column of a page.
2. Click the frame the story should start in, then hold Shift and click the others in the order the text should flow.
3. Click Link … frames into one story in the inspector (the button shows how many), or choose Layout > Link text frames into one story.

Any text already in the frames joins the story, in order, so nothing is lost. A frame that already belongs to another story is left out.

The frames you link must be on the same page. To carry a story on to another page, see When the text does not fit.

Write the story

There are two ways to write threaded text. Both change the same story, and the text flows through every linked frame as you type.

Type on the page

1. Double-click any frame of the story. A caret appears where you clicked.
2. Type. Press Return or Enter for a new paragraph.
3. Click outside the story's frames, or press Esc, when you are done.

While you type:

Drag across words to select them, and use the arrow keys to move through the text. Text you paste from a formatted document keeps its headings and lists.

Use the story editor

For a long story, the story editor is easier than typing in narrow columns:

1. Click a frame of the story.
2. Click Edit the story in the inspector. The Story editor panel opens beside the page.
3. Type or paste the text. Start a line with ### for a heading, - for a bullet, 1. for a numbered item or > for a quote, and leave a blank line between paragraphs.

The panel shows how many words are flowing through how many frames. Close it with ×.

Story settings

When you select a frame that is part of a story, the Story section of the inspector shows which frame it is, such as "Frame 2 of a threaded story", and:

• Edit the story: opens the story editor.
• Cols: how many columns the document's pages are divided into, from 1 to 6.
• Look: the type style the story is set in: Editorial, Report, Magazine, Booklet or Newsletter.
• Unlink this frame: takes the frame out of the story. See below.

When the text does not fit

When there is more text than the frames can hold, the last frame is full:

• On the page, a marker on the frame says it is full and text is still waiting.
• The inspector's Story section adds "this frame is full".
• The story editor says The last frame is full — there is more text than the pages can hold.

To make room:

• Click Add a page and continue the story in the story editor. PlexiiDesign adds a page at the end with a frame for each column inside the margins, linked on to the story, and the text flows on to it.
• Make the frames bigger, or link another frame.
• Shorten the text.

Unlink a frame

Select the frame and click Unlink this frame in the inspector, or choose Layout > Unlink frame from its story.

The frame becomes an empty, ordinary frame. Its share of the text is not lost: it flows on into the story's other frames.

Wrap text around pictures and shapes

Story text can flow around other elements, such as a picture in the middle of an article:

1. Select the picture or shape.
2. Under Text wrap in the inspector, click Around the bounding box.
3. Set Standoff: the space to keep between the element and the text.

Click None — story text runs behind this to let the text run under the element again. When guides are showing, the area the text keeps clear of is outlined on the page.

Common questions

Double-clicking a frame does not show a caret. The frame is an ordinary text box, not part of a story, so it opens the editing box instead. Link it with another frame to make a story.

My text flows in the wrong order. Frames are linked in the order you clicked them. Unlink the frames and link them again, starting with the first.

Can a story start on one page and carry on to another? Yes. Use Add a page and continue the story in the story editor, or lay the document out with Redesign, which links frames across all the pages it makes.

Related tasks

• Lay out a document with Redesign
• Pages, master pages, guides and layers
• PlexiiDesign overview
• Generate designs and copy with AI
• Export and print a design