Box Formatting dialog

The Box Formatting dialog is accessible by clicking inside a box in the template and then selecting Format > Box in the menu.

All settings in this dialog are in fact CSS properties. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) were originally designed for use with web pages: HTML files. Since Designer templates are HTML files, they are styled with CSS. To learn how to use CSS in the Designer, see Styling and formatting and Styling templates with CSS files. For information about specific properties and their options, see W3Schools CSS Reference.

When no unit is added to a geometry value, such as the width, height, top or margin, the default unit will be added to the value; see Print preferences.
Using viewport based units (vw, vh, vmin, vmax) in Print sections is not recommended. This may cause differences between the preview in the Designer and the printed output.

For information about the different types of Boxes, see Boxes.

Box tab

  • General group:
    • Width: Set the width of the box in measure or percentage. When no unit is entered, the default unit will be added to the value (see Print preferences). Equivalent to the CSS width property.
    • Height: Set the height of the box in measure or percentage. When no unit is entered, the default unit will be added to the value (see Print preferences). Equivalent to the CSS height property.
    • Angle: Set the rotation angle of the box in clockwise degrees. Equivalent to the CSS transform:rotate property.
    • Corner radius: Set the radius of rounded border corners in measure or percentage. Equivalent to the CSS border-radius property.
    • Display: Use the drop-down or type in the value for how to display the box. Equivalent to the CSS display property.
    • Overflow: Use the drop-down or type in the value for how to handle overflow (text that does not fit in the current size of the box). Equivalent to the overflow property.
  • Text wrap group:
    • Float: Use the drop-down or type in the value for how to float the box, if the box is not in an absolute position (see Position, below). Equivalent to the CSS float property.
    • Clear: Use the drop-down or type in the value for clearing pre-existing alignments. Equivalent to the CSS clear property.
  • Positioning: Note that it depends on both the Context and the type of Box, which settings are available. For information about the different types of Boxes, see Boxes.
    • Position: Use the drop-down or type in the value for the type of positioning for the box. Equivalent to the CSS position property (see Using the CSS position property).
    • Top (Web Context): Set the vertical offset between this box and its parent's top position. Equivalent to the CSS top property.
    • Left (Web Context): Set the horizontal offset between this box and its parent's left position. Equivalent to the CSS left property.
    • Y-offset (Print Context): Sets the vertical offset between this box and the current page's top. This only works for Positioned boxes.
    • X-offset (Print Context): Sets the vertical offset between this box and the current page's left edge. This only works for Positioned boxes.
    • Bottom: Set the vertical offset between this box and its parent's bottom position. Note that you can't set the Height and Top (or Y-offset) and Bottom of a Box. Remove the Height before setting the Bottom property. Equivalent to the CSS bottom property.
    • Right: Set the horizontal offset between this box and its parent's left position. Note that you can't set the Width and Left (or X-offset) and Right of a Box. Remove the Width before setting the Right property. Equivalent to the CSS right property.
    • Z-index: Set the z-index of the box. The z-index defines in which order elements appear.  Equivalent to the CSS z-index property.

Background tab

For information about backgrounds see Background color and/or image.

  • General group:
    • Color: Specify the color of the box background: select a named color (defined in the Colors Editor) from the drop-down, or click the colored square to open the Color Picker dialog (Color Picker). Alternatively you could type a name or value in the Color field directly. It must be a predefined CSS color name (CSS color names), a hexadecimal color code (HTML Hex Color), an RGB color value, for example rgb(216,255,170) or a CMYK color value, for example cmyk(15%, 0%, 33%, 0%).
      Equivalent to the CSS background-color property.
  • Background image group:
    • Source: click the Select Image button to select an image via the Select Image dialog. Equivalent to the CSS background property.
    • Size: select auto, cover or contain (for an explanation see https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_background-size.asp), or type the width and height of the image in a measure (e.g. 80px 60px) or as a percentage of the box size (e.g. 50% 50%). Equivalent to the CSS background-size property.
    • Position: select the position for the background-image. Equivalent to the CSS background-position property.

Spacing tab

For information about spacing see Spacing.

  • Padding group: Defines padding (spacing inside the element) in measure or percentage:
    • All sides: Check to set all padding to use the Top value. Equivalent to the CSS padding property.
    • Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Set padding for each side. Equivalent to the CSS padding-left, padding-top, padding-right and padding-bottom properties.
  • Margin group: Defines margins (spacing outside the element) in measure or percentage:
    • All sides: Check to set all margins to use the Top value. Equivalent to the CSS margin property.
    • Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Set the margin for each side. Equivalent to the CSS margin-left, margin-top, margin-right and margin-bottom properties.

Border tab

For information about borders see Border.

  • Same for all sides: Defines the border properties for all sides using the Top properties. Equivalent to the CSS border property.
  • Top, Left, Bottom, Right: Each group defines the following properties:
    • Width: Specify the thickness of the border. Equivalent to the CSS border-widthproperty.
    • Style: Specify the style of the border such as solid, dashed or dotted. Equivalent to the CSS border-style property.
    • Color: Specify the color of the border: select a named color (defined in the Colors Editor) from the drop-down, or click the colored square to open the Color Picker dialog (Color Picker). Alternatively you could type a name or value in the Color field directly. It must be a predefined CSS color name (CSS color names), a hexadecimal color code (HTML Hex Color), an RGB color value, for example rgb(216,255,170) or a CMYK color value, for example cmyk(15%, 0%, 33%, 0%).Equivalent to the CSS border-color property.

Content tab

  • Copy Fit: Check this option to automatically scale text inside the Box to the available space; see Copy Fit .
    • Minimum font size: Specify the minimum font size using a valid font measurement unit (pt, px, in, cm or mm). Do not put a space between the number and the unit. The smallest possible size is 1pt. The default is 4pt.
      When left blank, the font size in Design view becomes the minimum font size. Text can only be made bigger than its initial size.
    • Maximum font size: Specify the maximum font size using a valid font measurement unit (pt, px, in, cm or mm). Do not put a space between the number and the unit. The biggest possible size is 1048pt. The default is 48pt.
      When left blank, the font size in Design view becomes the maximum font size. Text can only be made smaller than its initial size.
    • Fit to width only: When this option is checked, no line breaks will be added to the text.
    • Child (optional): When specified, the Copy Fit feature will only be applied to the given child element (an element inside the Box or Div). Specify the element by giving its ID, for example: #product, or class, for example: .product - note the dot.