Set up Columns in Illustrator

Adobe Systems' graphics software, Illustrator, is a popular program for creating advertisements, 3D logos and published documents. While it is similar to Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator is especially prized amongst graphic designers for its typographic abilities in customizing text. You can add color, texture, shading, bullets and columns, among other things. Columns help organize the text similarly to how it is divided in a newspaper. This article will instruct you on how to set up columns in Illustrator.

Steps

  1. Open the Adobe Illustrator application.
  2. Choose to either open an existing document or create a new print document in the dialogue box that appears after opening the program.
  3. Create a new layer for your text using the Layers Palette, if you have not created a text layer already. To access the Layers Palette, click on "Windows" in the top horizontal toolbar, then select "Layers" from the drop down menu. Click the "Add New Layer" button on the bottom of the Layers Palette box.
  4. Type or paste the text that you would like to divide into column form.
  5. Highlight the text with your cursor.
  6. Select "Type" from the top horizontal tool bar. Select "Area Type Options." A dialogue box will appear.
  7. Find the "Columns" section of the box. The columns section is toward the right hand side. Select the number of columns you would like.
  8. Choose the width of the columns. This is called the "Span." You can specify a column width or allow Adobe Illustrator to automatically divide your columns into even widths.
    • Check the "Fixed" box if you want the column widths to stay the same, even if you add text and increase or decrease the size of the text box. The number of columns can change, but each column with remain the same width.
    • Do not check this box if you want the number of columns to stay the same, but do not care if the column widths change as you increase or decrease the size of the text box.
  9. Select your "Gutter." The gutter is the space between columns. Adobe Illustrator will automatically choose a gutter, and you can adjust it as needed.
  10. Choose how you want your text to flow in the "Options" section. Click the right hand button to make the text flow into columns from left to right.
  11. Press the "OK" button or click the "Preview" box to see how your selections appear in your text box.
  12. Save your Illustrator file to complete the Adobe column changes. Return to the "Area Type Options" dialogue box to further change your Illustrator columns options.



Tips

  • You can also use the above process to divide your text into rows. Follow the instructions, but change the values in the left hand "Rows" section of the "Area Type Options" dialogue box.

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Sources and Citations

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