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indesign text wrap not working

HeyBraza watches your screen and points at whichever setting is blocking the wrap - ignore-text-wrap, the contour option, or an unanchored image.

you turn on text wrap, but the text just sits behind the image - or wraps as a hard rectangle instead of hugging the shape. it's never a bug; it's one of a few settings. here's how to find which one is yours.

or do it yourself

  1. 1select the text frame, go to object > text frame options, and make sure 'ignore text wrap' is unchecked - this is the most common cause.
  2. 2select the image, open window > text wrap, and click 'wrap around bounding box' to confirm the wrap is actually applied.
  3. 3to hug the shape of a cutout png, choose 'wrap around object shape' instead, then set contour options to 'alpha channel' or 'detect edges'.
  4. 4check that the text frame sits above the image in the stacking order - a wrap only affects text frames below it (or beside it).
  5. 5if it still won't wrap, check edit > preferences > composition: 'text wrap only affects text beneath' may be changing the behaviour.

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common questions

why does my text wrap as a rectangle instead of around the image?

you have 'wrap around bounding box' selected - switch to 'wrap around object shape' and set contour to 'alpha channel' so it follows the cutout.

text wrap is on but nothing happens - why?

the text frame likely has 'ignore text wrap' turned on (object > text frame options), or the text frame is above the image instead of below it.

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