Layouts: Info Pane

The Info pane works with layouts to enable rapid specification of frame format, sample style, text content, and frame position and size. When working with layouts it is a good idea to keep the Info pane in sight, for example, undocked and moved to a position on our Windows desktop where it will always be easily at hand. The Info pane is especially important when customizing frames that are used in static Legends.

Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the Info pane works for all tabs in the Info pane display for layouts.

	Move to Previous / Move to Next - Enabled if a frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Click to choose as the picked frame the previous frame or the next frame. When a layout has very many frames, these buttons will be used mainly to step through relatively small selections, with the Selected button pressed to move only within selected records.
	Selected - Move only within selected frames. When enabled (only enabled if there is a selection), constrains Previous and Next motion to pick the previous selected frame or to the next selected frame .
	Go - Enabled if a frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Go to the current frame in the opened layout. Useful when zoomed into a busy layout and the picked frame is not in view. Will pan and zoom the view to bring the picked frame into view.
	Ping - Enabled if a frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Shows an animated sequence of circles with decreasing radius centered on the frame. Pinging helps locate the frame on a big and / or busy screen. Has no effect in tables or other settings.

Style Tab

The Style tab sets formatting for the frame and style for text used in the frame. When a frame type includes a sample, the Style tab also includes style controls for the sample. The illustration below shows a Style tab for an area sample frame. In the example, the text uses an icon option.

Style controls for area samples are the same style controls used in drawings. See the Style: Drawings topic. Style controls for text are the same style controls used with labels. See the Style: Labels topic.

To create the area sample frame shown above the settings shown below in the Info pane are used.

	Frame Format
Background	Background color for the frame. Transparent by default, so anything below the frame can be seen through the frame.
Border	Border color for the frame. Transparent by default, so no border shows.
(border size)	Thickness of the border line in points.
Padding	Gap in points between any frame contents, such as text and samples, and the frame's edge.
Grid	The Grid checkbox appears when a frame containing drawings, images, or maps has been picked with an Alt-click. Check the box to turn on the grid, and press the [...] more button to set parameters for the grid. After checking or unchecking the Grid box or changing grid parameters, press Update Frame to apply the change.
Legend	The Legend caption appears when a legend frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Press the [...] more button to set parameters for the legend. After changing legend parameters, press Update Frame to apply the change.
North Arrow	The North Arrow caption appears when a North Arrow frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Press the [...] more button to set parameters for the North arrow. After changing legend parameters, press Update Frame to apply the change.
Scale Bar	The Scale Bar caption appears when a Scale Bar frame has been picked with an Alt-click. Press the [...] more button to set parameters for the scale bar. After changing scale bar parameters, press Update Frame to apply the change.
Sample width	The width of the sample, in percent of the height if a % sign is used (the default) or in points if no % percent sign is used. Must be 100% or greater.
Sample position	Position of the sample, aligned to the left edge of the frame (the default) or to the right edge. Any text in the frame is also automatically switched left / right.
Sample shape	The outline shape of the sample for areas, and the orientation for lines and orientation and arrangement (one or two samples) for points.
	Sample Style
Total Style	A button showing the combined effect of the other properties to create the overall Style for areas, for lines or for points. Often simply called Style.
Stroke Color	The primary color applied in point and line styles that use a single color. Also applied to the borders of areas, to the borders of point styles that use two colors, as the hatch line color in area styles, and as the primary color in line styles that use two colors. Important: Setting Stroke color to transparent makes objects disappear completely. To render a style without using Stroke color, use the Symbol button to drill into the Symbol menu and set the Stroke width parameter to a very small width, such as 0.1.
Fill Color	The fill or secondary color. Applied to the interior of area styles. Also applied as the secondary color in area, line and point styles that use two colors.
Size	The size of points, the thickness of lines, and the sizing of hatch patterns for areas, by default expressed in printer's points. May be fractions such as a size of 0.1 or 2.8. Enables specification of the density of hatch patterns and other area style symbology. The drop down menu provides a range of default choices. Enter a specific value into the box to specify a Size other than one of the default choices. By default, area sample frames use a Symbol style that sets the thickness of the area border as a percentage that uses the Size parameter.
Rotation	The rotation in degrees. Rotates the hatch pattern of areas and rotates the entire symbol of points. Lines do not use Rotation. The drop down menu provides a range of default choices. Enter a specific value into the box to specify a Rotation other than one of the default choices.
Symbol	Choose symbology for areas, lines or points. The drop down menu provides a range of default symbols, with a toolbar that allows configuration of the drop down menu. Press the More... button at the bottom of the drop down menu for the full Symbol dialog that provides more options. By default, area sample frames use a Symbol style that sets the thickness of the area border as a percentage that uses the Size parameter.
	Text Style
Total Style	A button showing the combined effect of the other properties to create the overall Style for text in the frame. Often simply called Style.
Stroke Color	The primary color applied in fonts, as well as in label options and point styles that use a single color. Important: Setting Stroke color to transparent makes text disappear completely. To render text symbology without using Stroke color, use the Symbol button to drill into the Symbol menu and set the Stroke width parameter to a very small width, such as 0.1.
Fill Color	The fill or secondary color. Applied to the interior of text options, such as icons next to the text. Also applied as the secondary color in point styles used in text symbology.
Size	The size of text. May be fractions such as a size of 0.1 or 2.8. The drop down menu provides a range of default choices. Enter a specific value into the box to specify a Size other than one of the default choices.
Font	Choose the font. The initial list provides fonts immediately available and used as standard fonts in most Windows editions. Choose Custom to pick a font from any font installed in the system using the standard Windows dialog. The font size setting from the Windows dialog is ignored in favor of using the Style pane's Size property button.
Symbol	Choose symbology for text in the frame. The drop down menu provides a range of default symbols, with a toolbar that allows configuration of the drop down menu. Press the More... button at the bottom of the drop down menu for the full Symbol dialog that provides more options.
Update Frame	Apply to the frame any changes made in the Info pane. Enabled when changes have been made.

See examples of use in the Layouts: Create Commands topic and the Layouts: Alignment Commands topic.

Position Tab

The position tab specifies the position of the frame on the layout page and the size of the frame. We can specify the position using the lower left corner or the upper right corner of the frame.

Units	Choose from inches, millimeters or points. The unit selected will be remembered for the next use.
Left / bottom	The location of the lower left corner of the frame, in the given units, measuring from the lower left corner of the layout sheet.
Size	The size of the frame, in the given units with X being the width and Y being the height.
Right / top	The location of the upper right corner of the frame, in the given units, measuring from the lower left corner of the layout sheet.
Auto	Click an Auto button for that setting to be automatically calculated based on the other two settings. For example, if the Auto button for Right / top is chosen, then the values for the location of the upper right corner will be automatically calculated based on what we enter for the position of the Left / bottom corner and the Size of the frame.
Update Frame	Apply to the frame any changes made in the Info pane. Enabled when changes have been made.

Component Tab

The component tab specifies the position of the frame on the layout page and the size of the frame. We can specify the position using the lower left corner or the upper right corner of the frame.

Units	Choose from inches, millimeters or points. The unit selected will be remembered for the next use.
Left / bottom	The location of the lower left corner of the frame, in the given units, measuring from the lower left corner of the layout sheet.
Size	The size of the frame, in the given units with X being the width and Y being the height.
Right / top	The location of the upper right corner of the frame, in the given units, measuring from the lower left corner of the layout sheet.
Auto	Click an Auto button for that setting to be automatically calculated based on the other two settings. For example, if the Auto button for Right / top is chosen, then the values for the location of the upper right corner will be automatically calculated based on what we enter for the position of the Left / bottom corner and the Size of the frame.
Update Frame	Not enabled within the Component tab, since the only changes available in the Component tab, the Description, apply to the entire component and not the frame.

Position Tab Tutorial Example

We will use an area sample frame that is part of a static legend as a tutorial example for position and size. The same techniques work for any frame.

Our layout uses an A4 sheet of paper (approximately the same size as US Letter size) in landscape orientation. Units are millimeters (mm). Margins are 10 mm from the edge of the paper.

We position an area sample frame of default size near the lower left corner of the paper. That is the origin for all position measurements. For the illustration above, we chose View - Zoom to Native, so that the zoom setting for the layout shows the actual size of the layout and frame on the monitor.

In the Info pane we click on the Position tab. By default, the Position tab allows us to choose the position of the lower left corner of the frame and the size of the frame. The upper right corner of the frame is automatically calculated. For subsequent illustrations, we will show only that part of the Info pane with controls.

Adding notations in green color to the illustration, we can see how the position and size of the frame on the layout sheet correlates to the numbers used in the Position tab. Because we chose View - Zoom to Native, we can measure distances on the computer monitor to verify the frame really is positioned as directed.

The lower left corner of the frame is located 20 millimeters above the lower edge of the layout sheet, and 30 millimeters to the right of the left edge of the layout sheet. The frame is 50 millimeters wide and 10 millimeters high. The margins are 10 millimeters from the edges of the layout sheet.

The numbers reported in the Right / top boxes are calculated from the "live" numbers. For example, the upper right corner of the frame is located 30 millimeters (20 + 10) above the lower edge of the layout sheet and 80 millimeters (30 + 50) to the right of the left edge of the layout sheet.

We change the Left / bottom numbers to 40 and 30 and then we press the Update button. The frame immediately moves upward and to the right. The lower left corner of the frame is now 30 millimeters above the lower edge of the layout sheet and 40 millimeters to the right of the left edge of the layout sheet. The numbers in the Right / top boxes automatically update to report the position of the upper right corner of the frame.

If we prefer to specify the position of the frame by giving the position of the upper right corner of the frame, that is easy to do.

We click the Auto button for the Left / bottom boxes, which sets those boxes to be automatically computed based on the numbers we enter in the Size and Right / top boxes. If we want the upper right corner of the frame placed at 35 millimeters above the bottom edge of the layout sheet and 75 millimeters to the right of the left edge of the layout sheet, we can enter those numbers and press the Update button. The frame immediately moves to the left and slightly down. The new Left / bottom numbers are calculated from the Size and Right / top numbers.

We might want to specify the positions of the lower left corner and the upper right corner of the frame, and let the system automatically set the size of the frame. To do that, we click the Auto button for the Size boxes.

We specify a location for the lower left corner of 20 millimeters from the lower edge and also from the left edge of the layout sheet. We specify a location for the upper right corner of 40 millimeters above the lower edge of the layout sheet and 80 millimeters to the right of the left edge of the layout sheet. We press the Update button and the frame resizes and repositions to those new values, with the Size automatically set to 60 millimeters wide and 20 millimeters high.

Clicking the Auto button for the Right / top boxes, we change the Size values to 50 millimeters wide and 15 millimeters high. We press the Update button and the frame resizes, with the Right / top position automatically calculated and reported.

Example

We will use the Position tab to quickly adjust the bottom edge of a frame to match another frame, while composing a customized static Legend.

The example shown is not the fastest or easiest way, but it teaches how to use the Position tab. A much quicker way is shown at the end of this example.

We have a layout with a tall ensemble of frames that form a static legend at left and a frame at right that shows the map for which the legend was created. We would like to extend the lower edge of the map frame to be exactly even with the lower edge of the legend. The map shows a region in North Africa where meteorites of various types were found.

We Alt-click the lowest frame in the legend to pick it as the active frame.

In the Position tab of the Info pane we click into the Y value in the Left / bottom boxes, and then we press Ctrl-A to highlight the entire value. We press Ctrl-C to copy that value.

In the layout we Alt-click on the map frame to pick it as the active frame.

In the Position tab of the Info pane we click the Auto button under the Size boxes. We want Size to be automatically computed from the values we enter for the left, bottom, right, and top edge locations. We click into the Y value for the Left / bottom boxes and press Ctrl-A to highlight the entire value, and then we press Ctrl-V to paste the value we copied from the other frame, to get the illustration at right above. The lower edge of the frame now has the same position value as the lower edge of the frame in the legend.

Press the Update button.

The map frame immediately expands vertically so the bottom edge is exactly the at the same height (Y) position as the bottom edge of the lowest frame in the legend.\\

Even Quicker

The above technique shows how the controls in the Position tab work, but more experienced users will just use interactive mouse moves and alignment commands as follows:

A fast way to resize the map frame to the legend stack:

Ctrl-click the map frame to select it.
In the Layers pane, right-click the base frame (the lowest layer in the Legend folder hierarchy) for the legend and choose Active to pick it.
In the Alignment toolbar button in the main toolbar, choose Same Height. That resizes the map frame to match the legend's base frame.
In the Alignment toolbar button in the main toolbar, choose Align Bottom. That aligns the map frame to the lower edge of the legend. Done.

Alignment commands are real time savers!