Help with rules please

[Australopithicus]

Cannot get a grip the concept of rule creation via Decorations. Traditional typographic approach and InDesign have created a bit of a mental block to the Styles approach used by Affinity.

I have created a rule with Pen tool but cannot add colour fill to it. I figure my approach is wrong. Affinity Manual says go to Paragraph Styles>Decorations But from that point uses pre-created files to demonstrate adjusting a specific rule spacing. Does not explain rule creation.

How does one create a rule?

My screen shot shows where I seek to create a rule on left page beneath photo, (highlighted in blue).

Idea’s please?

 

[GarryP]

Attached is an image showing a purple ‘rule’, applied using a Decoration to the bottom of the paragraph which ends with “ac lorem”.
Note the Left, Right and Bottom settings – “Indent” and “Relative to“ – which define how the ‘rule’ will be placed relative to the paragraph.
Does this help?

[Australopithicus]

Yes, in part. I used the caption for positioning as you did but my caption line is shorter so rule followed text.

So I placed insertion point into text after the longest line finishing with the word ‘rugby’

Rule jumped to bottom of paragraph and set too short.

1. How do I delete rules?
2. I can experiment but you may be better able to explain Indent behaviour. EG Does Relative to cap height place rule at top of paragraph?

Your rule set to column width, why did mine not do so?

Baffled!

[GarryP]

The first paragraph after the image in my example is not a caption for the image, it’s just a normal paragraph which happens to look a bit like a caption.
What do you want the ‘rule’ to be part of? In other words, when the layers are moved around, what should the ‘rule’ stay with?

[Australopithicus]

OK Garry. Figured rule length result of Relative to text when I needed Relative to column. That is fixed so thank you for your guidance.
I want rule to stay with caption. I found using Move tool to click rule activated Decoration specs and I deleted Decoration name to eliminate rule. I will tinker with the Decoration settings now and work it out thanks to your guidance.

Turning to a related detail: what other decorations are available? Does Decorations only mean rules?

[GarryP]

If you want the rule to stay with the caption, if the caption is a separate layer from the body text, then I might suggest using a single-cell table for the caption layer and then add a stroke to only the bottom of that cell via the Table Formatting – see attached image.

Decorations are currently only lines or rectangles.

[Australopithicus]

That is an interesting observation. I shall experiment with tables at a later date. Meanwhile, thanks for getting me back on track Garry

[GarryP]

You're welcome.

[walt.farrell]

4 hours ago, Australopithicus said:

I have created a rule with Pen tool but cannot add colour fill to it.

You would change the Stroke color using the Context Toolbar while you have that line selected, or using the Stroke panel.

It is not text, and is not part of your paragraph, so neither Text Styles nor the Paragraph panel would be relevant.

[Australopithicus]

Thanks Will. All other programs I have experienced use drawn (vector graphics), for rules hence pen tool the logical starting point until it led nowhere.

Thanks for your explanation. I shall need it.

Cheers,