Floating Elements in Typefi Designer

What is a Floating Element?

Floating Elements are a type of Typefi Element. Specifically, Floating Elements are Adobe InDesign objects that are placed outside the main story.

For example, you would use a Floating Element for a figure where the text flows, or "floats", around it.

Compared to Inline and Fixed Elements, Floating Elements provide the most versatility in placement options.

Why are Floating Elements more versatile?

A single Floating Element can be applied to multiple design alternatives, called Element variants.

For example, a figure Floating Element may have three variants: a 1-column, 2-column, and 3-column version. Each variant has its own set of layout rules, which decide how it will be aligned on a page and which position is prioritised.

During the automated page composition process, the variant you specify in the input file is placed into the generated layout. If you do not specify a variant, or your Floating Element uses unnamed variants, Typefi will automatically choose a variant for you.

How does Typefi choose a variant?

When Typefi chooses a variant, it tests each variant and picks the one that best fulfils the layout rules. For example, if you have two variants—one set to align with the top, the other with the bottom—Typefi picks the variant that can be placed as close as possible to the specified position. If both variants can be placed in the exact desired position, Typefi picks the one closer to the Anchor.

The layout rules are applied during the page composition process. They are not considered when you are manually editing an Adobe InDesign Document.