InDesign

Fit an object to its frame

When you place or paste an object into a frame, it appears at the upper-left corner of the frame by default. If the frame and its content are different sizes, you can use the Fitting commands to achieve a perfect fit automatically.

Frame alignment options apply to frames that contain either a graphic or another text frame (text frames nested within another frame), but they do not affect paragraphs inside a text frame—you control alignment and positioning of text itself using the Text Frame Options command and the Paragraph, Paragraph Styles, and Story panels.

Note: Fitting commands are also available as buttons on the Control panel; use tool tips to view the names of the buttons.
  1. Select the frame of the object.
  2. Choose Object > Fitting and one of the following options:
    Fit Content To Frame
    Resizes content to fit a frame and allows the content proportions to be changed. The frame will not change, but the content may appear to be stretched if the content and the frame have different proportions.

    Fit Frame To Content
    Resizes a frame to fit its content. The frame’s proportions are altered to match the content proportions, if necessary. This is useful for resetting a graphics frame that you accidentally altered.
    To fit a frame to its content quickly, double-click any corner handle on the frame. The frame resizes away from the point you click. If you click a side handle, the frame resizes only in that dimension.
    Aligning an object within a graphics frame

    A.
    Original

    B.
    Frame resized to fit content

    C.
    Content resized to fit frame

    Center Content
    Centers content within a frame. The proportions of the frame and its content are preserved. The size of the content and frame are unaltered.

    Fit Content Proportionally
    Resizes content to fit a frame while preserving the content proportions. The frame’s dimensions are not changed. If the content and the frame have different proportions, some empty space will result.

    Fill Frame Proportionally
    Resizes content to fill the entire frame while preserving the content’s proportions. The frame’s dimensions are not changed. If the content and the frame have different proportions, some of the content will be cropped by the bounding box of the frame.

    Note: The Fitting commands fit the outer edges of the content to the center of the frame’s stroke. If the frame has a thick stroke weight, outer edges of the content will be obscured. You can adjust the frame’s stroke alignment to the center, inside, or outside of a frame edge. (See Set strokes.)