Using Floats for Positioning Elements

Using floats, you can adjust the positioning of elements such as images, QR codes, text boxes, and paragraphs. This lets you wrap text to the left or right of an element, or to float an element outside the frame holding the regular flow of text. As an alternative to floats, you can position content absolutely. See Using Absolute Positioning on Elements.

Positioning elements with floats can be done with styles or local formatting. If you want to position all elements in the same place on the pages where they appear, use a style. If you want to position each element so that it is in a unique location on the page where it has been inserted, use local formatting.

How to Position Elements Using a Style

1. Open the stylesheet you want to modify or create a new one.

2. From the Medium drop-down in the Stylesheet Editor, make sure the proper medium is selected before you begin. In the Advanced view, you can open multiple mediums at once; you just need to look at the title at the top of the medium pane and make sure you are working in the correct one. If you are not using stylesheet mediums for your different outputs or if you want all mediums to have the same settings, just leave the medium set to default and continue.

   Mediums can be used if you want to use one group of settings for online output types and another group of settings for print-based output types. For example, you might use the default medium for your online outputs and the print medium for your print outputs. See Mediums and Media Queries.

   Please note that Contributor remembers the last medium that you used when working in the stylesheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around.

   

3. Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor.

   • Simplified The Simplified view displays styles in a grid view and is often best for brand new users.

     This view provides an easy way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar and dialogs (similar to the way one would use an interface such as Microsoft Word). In some cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, autonumbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.

   • Advanced The Advanced view displays styles in a tree structure, and despite the name, is user friendly for authors of all levels.

     For the properties, you can toggle between a grouped display and an alphabetical display. The Advanced view of the Stylesheet Editor lets you edit more settings than are available in the Simplified view. In addition, the Advanced view lets you see and apply settings to multiple mediums and media queries at the same time.

   If Using Simplified View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. (Optional) In the upper-left corner of the editor, you can click in the Show Styles field and select a kind of style to decrease the number of them that are shown below (e.g., Show Image Styles, Show Paragraph Styles).

   3. From the area below, select the appropriate style. If you want to use a class of the style, select it instead.

      For images, select the img style or a class below it.

      For paragraphs, select the p style or a class below it.

      For text boxes, select the div style or a class below it.

   4. In the local toolbar of the editor, click . The Properties dialog opens.
   5. Select the Position tab.
   6. In the Position section, you can select a Float and a Clear setting. You can also set the Vertical Alignment of the element.

      Float

      Use this field to specify where to place the element on the page.

      • None Does not place the element in a specific location.
      • Left Positions the element on the left side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the right of the element.
      • Right Positions the element on the right side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the left of the element.
      • Center of Column Positions the element in the center of the column on the page.
      • Outside Left Margin Positions the element beyond the left margin of the topic text.
      • Outside Right Margin Positions the element beyond the right margin of the topic text.
      • Outside Frame Positions the element outside of the page frame.
      • Outside Frame, Top Align Positions the element outside of the page frame, as well as aligning it with the top of the frame.
      • Left of Frame Positions the element to the left of the page frame.
      • Right of Frame Positions the element to the right of the page frame.
      • Center of Frame Positions the element both vertically and horizontally in the middle of the page frame.

      Clear

      Use this field to position an element so that it is "clear" of an adjacent element. For example, let's say you have already inserted an element and applied the float left property to it. If you then insert another element immediately after the first element, you want to make sure that the second element doesn't rest next to the first one. Instead, you want the second element to be placed completely below the first one. Therefore, you can apply a clear property to the second element.

      • None Does not apply the clear property to the element.
      • Left Side The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating left.
      • Right Side The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating right.
      • Both Sides The element will be placed below the previous one, whether floating left or right.

      Vertical Alignment

      Use this field to adjust where the item is positioned vertically.

      • Baseline The baseline of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box.
      • Text Top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the parent element's font.
      • Text Bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
      • Top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the line box.
      • Middle The vertical midpoint of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box, plus half the x-height of the parent.
      • Bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
   7. In the Properties dialog, click OK.
   8. Click to save your work.

   If Using Advanced View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays . If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. In the upper-left of the editor, make sure the drop-down field is set to .

   3. From the left side of the editor, select the appropriate style. If you want to use a class of the style, select it instead.

      For images, select the img style or a class below it.

      For paragraphs, select the p style or a class below it.

      For text boxes, select the div style or a class below it.

   4. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select .
   5. (Optional) You can use the toggle button in the local toolbar to show properties below in a group view or an alphabetical view .
   6. Locate the property you want to change.

   7. The area to the right of the property is used for selecting and entering values. If you know how to enter the information correctly, you can click in the value field and type it directly. Otherwise, click the ellipsis button to the right of the property. Depending on the type of property, the appropriate controls and options display, allowing you to choose or enter values (e.g., select from a drop-down list, click a button, complete fields in a dialog or popup). If you completed values in a popup, click OK at the bottom of the box. Here are some of the more common properties that you might change.

      Vertical Alignment

      1. If you are using the grouped view, expand the Block or Cell group.
      2. Locate the vertical-align property.

      3. Click in the value column on the right side of the property, and select the alignment type from the drop-down at the top of the popup.

         • baseline The baseline of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box.
         • text-top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the parent element's font.
         • text-bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
         • top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the line box.
         • middle The vertical midpoint of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box, plus half the x-height of the parent.
         • bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
         • sub Aligns the element as if it were subscript
         • super Aligns the element as if it were superscript
      4. Click OK.

      Clear

      1. If you are using the grouped view, expand the Box group.
      2. Locate the clear property.

      3. Select a clear type for the element from the drop-down.

         • none Does not apply the clear property to the element.
         • left The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating left.
         • right The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating right.
         • both The element will be placed below the a previous element, whether it is floating left or right.

      Float

      1. If you are using the grouped view, expand the Unclassified group.
      2. Locate the mc-float property.

      3. Select a vertcal positioning type for the element from the drop-down.

         • none Does not place the element in a specific location.
         • left Positions the element on the left side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the right of the element.
         • right Positions the element on the right side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the left of the element.
         • center Positions the element in the center of the column on the page.
         • outside-left Positions the element beyond the left margin of the topic text.
         • outside-right Positions the element beyond the right margin of the topic text.
         • outside-frame Positions the element outside of the page frame.
         • outside-frame-top Positions the element outside of the page frame, as well as aligning it with the top of the frame.
         • frame-left Positions the element to the left of the page frame.
         • frame-right Positions the element to the right of the page frame.
         • frame-center Positions the element both vertically and horizontally in the middle of the page frame.
   8. Click to save your work.

How to Position Elements Using Local Formatting

1. Open the document or topic.

2. Right-click on the element, and from the menu, select the option to edit its properties.

   For images, select Image Properties.

   For QR codes select Edit QR Code.

   For text boxes, select Text Box.

3. In the Properties dialog, select the Size & Position or Position tab.
4. In the Position section, you can select a Float and a Clear setting. You can also set the Vertical Alignment of the object.

   Float

   Use this field to specify where to place the element on the page.

   • None Does not place the element in a specific location.
   • Left Positions the element on the left side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the right of the element.
   • Right Positions the element on the right side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the left of the element.
   • Center of Column Positions the element in the center of the column on the page.
   • Outside Left Margin Positions the element beyond the left margin of the topic text.
   • Outside Right Margin Positions the element beyond the right margin of the topic text.
   • Outside Frame Positions the element outside of the page frame.
   • Outside Frame, Top Align Positions the element outside of the page frame, as well as aligning it with the top of the frame.
   • Left of Frame Positions the element to the left of the page frame.
   • Right of Frame Positions the element to the right of the page frame.
   • Center of Frame Positions the element both vertically and horizontally in the middle of the page frame.

   Clear

   Use this field to position an element so that it is "clear" of an adjacent element. For example, let's say you have already inserted an element and applied the float left property to it. If you then insert another element immediately after the first element, you want to make sure that the second element doesn't rest next to the first one. Instead, you want the second element to be placed completely below the first one. Therefore, you can apply a clear property to the second element.

   • None Does not apply the clear property to the element.
   • Left Side The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating left.
   • Right Side The element will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous element that is floating right.
   • Both Sides The element will be placed below the previous one, whether floating left or right.

   Vertical Alignment

   Use this field to adjust where the item is positioned vertically.

   • Baseline The baseline of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box.
   • Text Top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the parent element's font.
   • Text Bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
   • Top The top of the element will be aligned with the top of the line box.
   • Middle The vertical midpoint of the element will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box, plus half the x-height of the parent.
   • Bottom The bottom of the element will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
5. Click OK.
6. Click to save your work.

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