Set Up Guides for Columns and Rows?

When setting up a new document, more often than not we use grids and guides to assist us with laying out objects on the page. It makes for a more structured and tidier layout. I prefer to set up my grid before placing any content. Let’s take a look at how to do that with an example document. Create a new document (File > New > Document) with the following settings: Landscape orientation, A4 page size (297×210 mm), 6 columns, 5 mm gutters, 10 mm margins, and a 3 mm bleed all the way around. Click OK. Next, go to Layout > Create Guides. In the dialog that appears, tick the Preview checkbox so you can see what you’re creating. Depending on your project, choose how many rows and columns you think you’ll need. Because we created 6 columns when we created the document, we’ll set the number of Columns to 6 and the number of Rows to 5 in this example. Before you click OK, look at the two choices for Fit Guides To: Margins or Page. Choosing Margins ensures that the guides line up with the margins; they don’t line up if you choose Page. Because this is a document for print, we want to work within the margins and this is how the columns are set up. You can still place content up to the edges of the page, but make sure you allow for the page bleed with images.