Set an alternate baseline grid in an InDesign document, different to the rest of the document



Set an alternate baseline grid in an InDesign document, different to the rest of the document


Question

Baseline grids in InDesign are set on a per-document basis, in preferences. What if I need a different baseline grid somewhere in a document?

Can I override the document baseline grid in one section, frame, page or master page?

For example, you might want a different baseline grid to the rest of a document on a contents page, a references block, or on a master page that is used for a very different type of content e.g. photo spreads with side captions.

2015/02/16
1
5
2/16/2015 11:06:00 AM

As far as I can tell, the only place you can override the document's baseline grid and set a different baseline grid is at the text frame level.

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There are a few ways to do this:

  • As a one-off: select a text frame, then Text Frame Options > Baseline options
  • For a class of text frames: in the Object Styles window, create an Object Style, then set the new baseline grid for everything with this style in Text Frame Baseline Options
  • For everything on a page: the only way I can find that prevents multiple frames becoming misaligned to each other is to give everything on one page a common object style with a custom baseline grid set to Relative to: Top of page
  • For a master page: I can't find anything specific to master pages. The most reliable way seems to be the same as pages: have all frames on your master page use a shared object style with a custom baseline grid, set to be relative to the page

For very complex documents, with long sections needing different grids, you could also consider setting it up as a book with different InDesign documents for different sections.

2015/02/16
6
2/16/2015 11:06:00 AM