Baseline grids

Page 1

Creating a baseline grid

2

Baseline grids exist to allow the easy alignment of type horizontally across a page or spread. The measurement of a baseline grid is dictated by the point size of your chosen font, usually the main text font, plus the space between each line of type. Every designer has their own preference regarding the divisions for a baseline grid, and the nature of the material you are working with can influence your decisions.

1 For this tutorial, start by creating a new file in either InDesign or QuarkXPress, with a portrait page dimension of 228 × 257mm (9 × 101⁄8in). Check that you have Facing Pages checked, and add a second page to make a spread. In Preferences >

Units and Increments [InDesign] or Measurements [QuarkXPress], set the horizontal to millimeters (or inches) and the vertical to points. Set the top margin to 65pt, the inner margin to 12.5mm (1⁄2in), and the outer margin to 23mm (29⁄32in). Leave the bottom margin set to zero for the time being. Finally, set the number of columns to five, with a gutter of 3.75mm (5⁄32in).

At this point, you’ll probably be wondering why we’ve not yet entered a value for the bottom margin. The reason is simply that, until we’ve created the baseline grid, the value of this margin can’t be established. For the next stage, you’ll first need to decide what font you’ll be using for your principal text font.

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