Understanding the Terminology of Advanced Grouping in Infigo Invent

1. Introduction

• Purpose: Clarify the key terms and concepts used throughout the “Advanced Grouping” feature.
• Audience: Template designers who want precise control over text/image frames in MegaEdit.

See other tutorials on Advanced Grouping here!

2. Key Terms

1. Group / Group Master

   • Group: A collection of frames in InDesign and/or MegaEdit (text, image, or even sub-groups) that share positioning/resizing rules.
   • Group Master: An optional “master” frame in a group. If the master is hidden or empty, you can set the entire group to hide.

2. Axis Adjustment (Advanced Options dropdown in the Invent window)

   • Adjust Vertically: Frames in this group are stacked top to bottom. You control top margins, bottom margins, and frame heights.
   • Adjust Horizontally: Frames in this group are laid out left to right. You control left margins, right margins, and frame widths.

3. Boundary Frame

   • A rectangle (empty frame) in InDesign that defines the maximum area in which the group can expand or contract.
   • If omitted, the group’s “boundary” is derived from the outermost edges of its contained frames.

4. Margins

   • Self: Inherits the margin/position from the InDesign file. If you rely on “self” for both sides of a gap, that gap remains equal to the original InDesign layout (not doubled).
   • Value: A fixed measure in points, millimeters, etc.
   • Auto: Dynamically distributes leftover space in proportion to each margin’s “weight.”
     • Minimum/Maximum: Optional constraints within the Auto margin option, so the margin can’t shrink below or grow beyond certain values.

5. Frame Size

   • Self: Uses the size assigned in InDesign and does not expand or shrink.
   • Value: A fixed measure in points, millimeters, etc.
   • Auto: The frame automatically grows/shrinks to fill leftover space after other frames have taken theirs.
   • Content: The frame adjusts to fit the text or image content’s size (e.g., multi-line text box can grow vertically).
   • 

6. Weight

   • Numeric factor that controls how leftover “Auto” space is allocated. If two frames have weights of 1 vs. 2, the second gets double the extra space.

7. Hide if Placeholder is Empty

   • If the user leaves a text or image variable empty, that frame is removed entirely, letting other frames shift or expand to fill the gap.

3. When to Use Each Setting

• Self + Self: Great if you need a fixed gap that exactly matches InDesign.
• Value + Value: For guaranteed, fixed measurement margins or spacing.
• Auto: Whenever you want leftover space to be redistributed dynamically, e.g., centering columns or pushing an image to fill all unoccupied space.
• Content: Perfect for text frames that must grow/shrink as the user types.

4. Conclusion

The more familiar you are with these terms—Group Master, Boundary, Axis (Vertical/Horizontal), Margins (Self/Value/Auto), and Frame Size (Self/Auto/Content)—the easier it is to build sophisticated, flexible templates in MegaEdit.