Selecting text in columns

[Joachim_L]

Selecting the beginning of a paragraph in in 3(2) columns text frame can be quite difficult. From last character to first character = no problem. But selecting first character to last character = problem, because the pointer changes from text-cursor to changing-column-width-cursor.

And again ... the behaviour of Publisher is not consistent over different zoom levels. At 150% zoom no chance to select from the start. At 200% zoom you can select from the second character onwards. At 250% zoom you can finally select from the first character onwards.

I am not the type always zooming around to get the right tools. In this specific case for me the text frame panel would be enough for changing the width of the columns. Hmm, brilliant software so far, but there are some points not to switch from Indesign. But this is Beta, so Publisher is evolving sooner or later.

[ToOldForThis]

I tried this out in Beta 206 with some interesting results.

First, I selected a page of a long test project (page 117), and changed the text frame to have two columns. Since I use mostly indented first line, I changed a selection of paragraphs in the columns to remove the indent. Next, I selected from the beginning of a paragraph, and after from the beginning of a line within the paragraph. In both cases, I had no problems in selecting all the text from the beginning to the end, including the first character. I was able to do this using both a pen tablet and a mouse. I could also select from end to beginning. The only problem is to make sure the cursor is inside the text box, otherwise you can easily grab the text frame.

Now, the interesting thing I found was that after splitting the text frame into two columns, the text would not highlight as I selected it. Once I let go, the selection is highlighted. I tried this in a text frame that had no column divisions to see if it was column-related, but click-and-drag did not highlight the text there either. I closed APub and re-opened it. After I did, click-and-drag worked fine again.

BTW, the document I was using is 6" x 9" format with facing pages on a 1920 x 1080 monitor with the default zoom to view the full spread at 102.5%. I did not set the zoom to any other level.

[Joachim_L]

This is creepy. Made a new document and had no problems selecting the text. Unfortunately I dumped the file where I had problems with.

[Chris_K]

Hi Joachim_L 

I'm not getting any issues here, I can quite easily select the text in columns here. It seems it's not too much of an issue for you now either but I shall keep my eye out for any issues with this

Cheers