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Layout Guides and Snap Grids
Last week I discussed some of the positioning and alignment
features available in IMS Web Engine and IMS Web Spinner. These
include using the four arrow keys for nudging an Object into
position, using the Object Editor to set position and scaling values
digitally and the Alignment operations in the Arrange Menu to
organize Objects along a common edge or centerline.
Both programs also include additional guides and grids. These can
be found under the Options Menu and include the 'Guide Border',
'Display Grid Guide' and 'Enable Snap Grid'.
The 'Guide Border' will display or hide a dashed blue line at a pre-
selected resolution. This can be used as a guide for the visible area
of the browser. The selected resolution can be changed in the 'Set
HTML Options' dialog in the Options menu. Possible resolutions
are 640x480, 800x600, 1024x767 and 1280x1024. The selected
resolution is currently only used as a guide and will not affect the
output. Future releases of IMS Web Engine and IMS Web Spinner
may use this guide for some dynamic capabilities.
The 'Display Grid Guide' will enable or hide a dashed grid guide in
the work window. This guide will default to a grid resolution of
100x100 pixels. The Grid Guide can be adjusted with the 'Snap
Grid Resolution' slider in the 'Set Tools' dialog under the Options
menu.
The 'Enable Snap Grid' operation will enable or disable the Snap
Grid. The Snap Grid initially defaults to 10x10 pixels with the Grid
Guide set to 100x100 pixels. When enabled, the Snap Grid will
force the top left corner of the selected Object to position and scale
in pixel increments of 10. The Snap Grid resolution can be adjusted
in the 'Set Tools' dialog under the Options menu.
These guides when used in conjunction with the page layout aides
discussed last week, provide fine positioning and layout control of
your HTML project to the pixel level.
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"IMS Web Tips" ISSN 1488-7088
© Copyright 1999 Virtual Mechanics
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"IMS Web Tips" is a weekly news letter for all web site managers regardless of experience who are looking for detailed information on
creating, maintaining and promoting their web sites.
