Creating fenders for the AI Layout Automation feature in Studio

The AI Layout Automation feature in Studio makes the process of placing articles on a layout more efficient by analyzing the available space on the pages of a layout and providing suggestions on how and where the available articles and their images can best be placed to fill the pages.

This process makes use of blueprints and Article Shapes.

Articles are automatically placed on a layout guided by an applied blueprint that divides the space into abstract boxes. The shape applied to the article exactly fits into one of the blueprint boxes. However, because there is no awareness of any ornaments on the layout such as vertical divider, the placed article may get too close to these objects.

As a result, such articles need to be readjusted to fix these issues.

To automate this adjustment and avoid doing it manually, objects referred to as 'fenders' are introduced.

Fenders are objects on the page that are given a certain width or height that matches the space that should stay freed up. Articles that are placed around a fender are automatically adjusted by squeezing them slightly.

This removes the need to manually tweak these articles or come up with workarounds.

How fenders work and how to use them are explained in this article.

Info: This feature requires the AILA Studio Server plug-in 1.1.x or higher.

How it works

The principle of fenders is straightforward: it is an object on a layout that defines an area where articles should not be placed.

A typical example is the space that a vertical divider between two articles takes up.

When the Layout Automation process places an article, the article will initially be overlapping the area defined by the fender.

The process detects this and, as a next step, will horizontally squeeze the article to make it fit a space that does not overlap the area defined by the fender.

This process is visualized in the following figure:

Figure: Left: Initially, a placed article overlaps the area defined by the fender. Right: After processing, the article is slightly horizontally squeezed so that it does not overlap the fender anymore.

The rules

The process for adjusting the article is based on a specific set of rules. These are explained in the following sections.

1. Frame geometry that is never changed

The following aspects of a frame are never changed:

• The height of any frame.
• The vertical position (top and bottom edges) of any frame.
• The Z-order of any frame.

2. Affected frames

Every frame in the article is affected.

3. Movement of all frames

The entire content of the article is scaled proportionally, with the far boundary of the shape as the fixed anchor point.

Note: The far boundary is the edge at the opposite side of the article from where the fender is located.

Example: If the fender is to the left of the article, the edge to the far right of the article is treated as the far boundary.

Every frame edge shifts away from the fender side by an amount that depends on how far that edge is from the far boundary:

• An edge at the far boundary of the shape does not move (it is the anchor).
• An edge at the near boundary of the shape moves by the full resize amount.
• An edge at the midpoint of the shape moves by half the resize amount.

This means that every frame shifts position and becomes slightly narrower. This includes those on the side that is opposite the freed strip. The compression is uniform and proportional across the entire shape.

4. Movement of columns inside a multi-column frame

Because all edges scale by the same proportional rule, all internal columns of a multi-column frame shrink by the same absolute amount. The internal symmetry of the frame is preserved. Internal gutter positions shift accordingly.

5. Visual result

The freed strip appears at the near edge of the article. The entire article compresses uniformly towards the far side.

Text in all text frames reflows and all images are re-fitted with content awareness. The proportions of all frames relative to each other are preserved.

Note: Designers should be aware that a left-side resize in multi-column mode also narrows frames on the right side of the shape, albeit by a smaller amount the further right they sit. This is the expected consequence of proportional scaling and mirrors what a designer would do when manually compressing a multi-column layout to make room on one side.

6. Maximum resize amount

The maximum resize amount is determined by the column closest to the fender: the leftmost (or rightmost) column of the frame. The maximum resize amount is half the width of that column.

Going beyond half a column’s width would deform the shape to the point where a redesign is required rather than an automated adjustment.

If the requested amount exceeds this maximum, the resize is silently dampened to the permitted maximum. The operation does not fail; it applies the maximum achievable adjustment.

7. Vertical separator lines within the article

Designers sometimes place vertical separator lines on the gutters between columns within an article shape.

When the article is resized, all frame edges shift proportionally. Therefore, the internal gutter positions also shift.

A vertical separator line placed on the internal gutter of a multi-column frame will move in proportion to its position in the shape, exactly as if the designer had scaled the layout by hand.

The Z-order of all frames (including separator lines) is preserved during the resizing.

8. Left and right resizing

When fenders are placed to the left and to the right of an article, two separate resizing processes take place.

Each operation:

• Re-evaluates the mode from scratch based on the current state of the shape.
• Applies its own maximum cap based on the current column width at the time it runs.
• Does not coordinate with the other operation.

The mode detected for the left-side operation may differ from the mode detected for the right-side operation, depending on the frame structure at each side.

Creating a fender

Note: Fenders can best be created on a base layout for the Layout Automation.

Step 1. In InDesign, check that an Element Label exists with the name fender. If it does not exist, create it.

Step 2. On the layout, create a new object that should act as a fender:

• This can be any object, including those that are part of the design. It can also be an invisible object that purely acts as the fender and is not part of the design.
• Set its width to match the area that should be kept clear. The width should not be too big to avoid malformed placements or overset.
• Make the object pillar-shaped: it should be roughly as tall as the full article, but not taller. This will prevent it from sticking out at the top or bottom which would affect neighboring objects.

Step 3. Assign the fender Element Label to it.

Step 4. Place the fender to the left or right edge of the article and over or under the page ornament that you want to protect.