Column guides vs text frame columns

[sunbeam60]

There seems to be two dominant ways of thinking about columns: Column guides (in View --> Guides Manager) and text frame columns (View-->Studio-->Text Frame-->Columns).

As someone relatively new to DTP, what are the upsides & downsides of both approaches? I've inherited a doc that lives with Column guides and I'm inclined to switch things over to Text frame columns as it removes a lot of text frame linking ... but before I do so, it would be good to hear from seasoned hands on the pros and cons of doing so.

[Old Bruce]

The key is that the name contains the word Guides, mean suggestion or assistance. Column guides are useful for Newspaper and Magazine layout. Putting the text frames onto the page I would use Text Frame columns to contain the text but the text frame would be placed according to the Guides.

A newspaper may have 6 columns on its page but I want this article to be across only three or four of them, so I put my Text frame on the Page and set it to have the three or four columns.

Far less useful for books. May be useful for some brochures.

 

[sunbeam60]

That’s a BRILLIANT answer that perfectly explains why there are two systems and what purpose they serve. 

I will change to text frame columns then as it’s definitely more of a book format.

Thank you!