MagnetoGuides
Goal
This tool helps anyone who needs to lay out structured, repetitive documents, for example, paper forms. It allows to automatically coordinate adjustments to the positioning and size of multiple page items that are scattered over the layout. Click here to see an on-line demo.
Download
You can download a 20 day time-limited, fully functional demo version here.
You can convert this demo version into an unlimited version at any point in time by purchasing a US$59.00 license. In order to use the MagnetoGuides plug-in you also have to install our free APID ToolAssistant plug-in, which is available below as a second, separate download.
Download the MagnetoGuides plug-in (Version 1.0.5. Fully functional demo version; also contains user manual and cookbook in PDF format. For InDesign CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4 on Mac or Windows; does not include the APID ToolAssistant. Don’t worry about the icon of the .spln file: it might not be a ‘regular’ icon, and that’s OK.)
- Macintosh APID ToolAssistant:
- Windows APID ToolAssistant:
(for more extensive installation information with sample screen captures, click here)
To install, you need to add three items to your InDesign Plug-Ins folder. Quit or exit InDesign before beginning the installation.
Both downloads contain separate Windows and Macintosh versions – make sure to open the proper version for your computer.
You need to install the proper version of APID ToolAssistant – there are a number of different versions provided (Mac/Win and CS/CS2/CS3/CS4) and you need to make sure to pick the proper one. Move this plug-in into the InDesign Plug-Ins folder (or a subfolder thereof).
Second, you need to copy the MagnetoGuides.spln and com.rorohiko.magnetoguides.lilmagnet.png files into the same folder as where the APID ToolAssistant plug-in resides.
Make sure you move just the APID ToolAssistant plug-in and the MagnetoGuides.spln file to your Plug-Ins folder – don’t drag whole folders or .zip files into your Plug-Ins folder – that won’t work.
Restart InDesign, and open or create a document.
P.S. Do not double-click the various plug-in icons you see – they are not meant to be double-clicked. Instead you need to move them into the InDesign Plug-Ins folder.
Usage
MagnetoGuides allows you to ‘magnetize’ one or more guides. Magnetized guides are special: they push or pull any ‘snapped’ items along when they are moved.
To better understand how these magnetic guides help the design of structured documents, I suggest you work through the cookbook section of the user manual that is included with the downloaded files, or watch the online demo below.
If a page item is ‘snapped to’ a magnetic guide at only one side, then the page item simply moves along when the guide is moved.
If a page item is ‘snapped to’ more than one magnetic guide, then the page item will stretch or shrink as needed so it can stay ‘snapped’ to all magnetic guides.
This allows you to reposition and resize multiple page items concurrently without having to group them.
For more complex structures, groups of two or more magnetic guides can be ‘linked’ together – so when one guide of the group moves, all linked guides follow suit (and all attached items get repositioned accordingly).
The simplest linking arrangement uses ‘rigid’ links between the magnetic guides – two guides are simply linked together, and stay at the same distance from each other at all times.
Another common linking arrangement uses ‘stretchy’ links between the guides. When three or more guides are arranged in a stretchy way, and one of the guides is repositioned, the whole linked guide arrangement is stretched or shrunk while respecting the relative distances between the guides.
Let us know if this tool is useful to you, at pluginsupport@rorohiko.com. Thanks!
Purchase
If you find this tool is useful and want to keep on using it beyond the 20-day demo period, simply click the Get License… button in the beg dialog that is shown shortly after starting InDesign.
Alternatively, you can go to the API menu, select the APID ToolAssistant… menu item. Then click on the line with ‘MagnetoGuides’ in the dialog to select the product, and click ‘Get License…’.
The MagnetoGuides licensing cost is accounted per copy of InDesign, per machine. That means that if you have two copies of InDesign installed on a single machine (e.g. CS3 and CS4), which need both to be licensed, you’ll also need to purchase two licenses. Even if you have the same InDesign serial number in use on more than one machine, each will need its own separate MagnetoGuides license.
There are no provisions for upgrading or side-grading – the cost of a single license is kept purposefully low, and does not reflect the real cost nor the real value of the plug-in – instead the fee is a contribution towards further development.
To allow us to sustain the low license fee, we decided not to allow for the administrative overheads involved in tracking things like upgrades. Instead we use a very simple, automated system and we charge a fee per installed copy of InDesign.
Version history:
10-November-2008 Version 1.0.5:
- CS4 support
- Magnetic guides now carry a visible ‘marker’ just outside the page area
25-July-2008 Version 1.0.4:
- Fixed bug with ruler origins set to page instead of spread
28-June-2008 Version 1.0.3 – Final release:
- Fixed conflicts with some In-Tools (http://www.in-tools.com).
- Fixed issues with super-magnetic items: sometimes they would behave incorrectly, and seem disabled, or ‘grab’ unrelated guides.
- Can now move multiple-selected guides reliably (e.g. using shift-click to select multiple magnetic guides, then drag them).
26-June-2008 Version 1.0.2:
- Fixed issue causing guides to ‘fly off page’ in the sample docs (created in
- InDesign CS) when used in InDesign CS3.
23-June-2008 Version 1.0.1:
- New features: wrap object in guides; center-magnetic and super-magnetic items
- Force user-created items off the magnetoLayer
16-June-2008 Version 1.0:
- Initial beta release
Online demo
Click image to play
Go back to the top of this web page to get more info about how to download and purchase this time-slashing tool for only US$59.00!
It does not 'do' anything apparent, but you need it installed for most of our tools to function.
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