Text Frame
Create a Text Frame
Click the Text tool in the sidebar. Drag a frame on the document.
Add Text to a Text Frame
Double-click inside the text frame and start typing.
Add Variable Text to a Text Frame
See Work with variables.
Frame Properties
See Frame properties.
User Constraints for Text Frames
Text frames support user constraints that control how end users can interact with the frame and its content in Studio UI. These constraints are defined by the template designer.
All constraint options are disabled by default. You explicitly enable only the interactions you want to allow.
Frame Constraints
The following constraints control how the frame itself can be manipulated:
- Allow horizontal move — Enables movement along the X-axis.
- Allow vertical move — Enables movement along the Y-axis.
- Allow rotation — Allows the frame to be rotated. Not available on layouts where Auto-grow is active for the selected frame.
- Allow resize — Allows the frame to be resized.
Allow Inline Text Editing
When Allow inline text editing is enabled, end users can edit the text content of the frame directly — selecting text and applying styles within the frame.
Note
Inline text editing is only available on text frames that do not use variables. Frames with variables continue to use the standard variable editing experience.
When inline text editing is enabled, a set of sub-options becomes available to define exactly which styling actions the end user can take.
Paragraph style
Enable Allow paragraph style selection to let end users apply paragraph styles within the frame.
Click Manage to choose which paragraph styles from your Brand Kit are available. The display shows how many styles are currently permitted out of the total (e.g. "1 of 2 paragraph styles allowed").
Character style
Enable Allow character style selection to let end users apply character styles within the frame.
Click Manage to choose which character styles are available.
Color
Enable Allow color selection to let end users change the text color.
Click Manage to choose which Brand Kit colors are available.
Font size
Enable Allow font size editing to let end users change the font size. When enabled, set a Min font size and Max font size to constrain the permitted range.
What End Users Experience
When inline text editing is allowed, the end user can double-click the text frame to enter edit mode. A toolbar appears at the top of the canvas with controls for the options the template designer has permitted.
The toolbar only shows the controls that have been enabled:
- Paragraph style dropdown — only the permitted paragraph styles appear in the list.
- Character style dropdown — only the permitted character styles appear in the list.
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Font size stepper — the + and − buttons adjust the font size, constrained to the Min and Max range set by the template designer.
-
Color picker — only the permitted Brand Kit colors are shown.
Controls for options that are not enabled are not shown — the end user only sees what they are allowed to use.
Constraint Dependencies
The same movement dependencies that apply to image frames apply here:
- Resize requires movement — When Allow resize is enabled, horizontal and vertical movement are enabled automatically.
- Rotate requires movement — When Allow rotation is enabled, horizontal and vertical movement are enabled automatically.
- Movement can be enabled independently — Horizontal and vertical movement can be enabled without allowing resize.
See Constraints for a conceptual overview.
Text Properties
Text Style
Choose a predefined paragraph style or character style for the selected text.
Typographic Properties
If you prefer not to use predefined styles (recommended for consistency), you can manually set typographic properties for the selected text.
- Select a font family, weight, and size.
- Adjust vertical spacing between characters.
- Adjust horizontal spacing between characters.
- Align text: left, center, right, or justified.
- Align text vertically to the top (default), center, or bottom of the frame.
- Shift the baseline of the selected text.
- Override capitalization by choosing "lowercase" or "uppercase."
- Apply superscript or subscript formatting.
- Add underline or strikethrough to text.
Text direction
GraFx Studio automatically applies the correct text direction based on the script (left-to-right or right-to-left).
See Text direction for details.
Text Columns
Text frames can be divided into multiple columns. This allows you to flow text across columns within a single frame—useful for editorial layouts, descriptions, or dense content blocks.
When a text frame is selected, configure columns in the Text columns section:
- Number of columns
Defines how many columns the text is split into. You can set 1 up to 10 columns per text frame.
- Column gap
Sets the spacing between columns, using document units (for example, mm).
Text flows automatically from one column to the next, respecting the frame size, alignment, and auto-resize behavior.
Interaction with auto-resize
Column settings apply to the text layout inside the frame. Copyfitting, Auto-grow, and overflow rules still determine how the frame reacts when content exceeds available space.
Auto Resize
For creative automation, text frames often need to handle datasets with varying text lengths. Set how the frame should respond to different content lengths:
- Text Overflow
- Copyfitting
- Auto-grow
Text Overflow
With no resizing option selected, text that exceeds the frame will trigger a yellow Text overflow indicator below the frame.
See also Output Settings to define how Batch output should handle text overflow.
Copyfitting
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Select the text frame and enable "Copyfitting" to adjust font size to fit the frame by allowing slight reduction or growth.
Set the minimum and maximum percentages for font size adjustments.
Note: When Copyfitting is enabled, Auto-grow is disabled.
Auto-grow
Enable "Auto-grow" to allow the frame to expand as needed to fit content of varying lengths. For instance, records in a dataset might contain differing character counts.
Note: When Auto-grow is enabled, Copyfitting is disabled.
Choose one or two growth directions (e.g., left, right, up, down).
When selecting "Left" or "Right," you can also add the opposite direction for bidirectional growth.
When "Up" is selected, you can also add "Down."
To enable Auto-grow, select at least one growth direction, or uncheck "Auto-grow" to disable it.
Define the minimum and maximum frame size if needed.
Note: When the maximum height is reached, the text will overflow.
Rotation
Auto-grow does not work for rotated frames. If auto-grow is enabled, anchoring for that direction is automatically set to a compatible mode.
Appearance
Adjust how the frame blends with its background.
See Blend Modes.
Text Color and Stroke
You can style text with fill color and stroke:
- Fill color: pick any color for the inside of the glyphs.
- Stroke: add an outline around the text and choose its color and thickness.
This allows text to stand out against complex backgrounds or follow brand guidelines precisely.