When you select an object on an InDesign page, various color-coded lines and small squares appear around the object. These items represent the bounding box, handles, path, anchor points, and center point. The colors defined in the Layer palette determine how these attributes appear on screen.
- The frame is a container for text, graphics, or colored fills, or it can be empty. The frame is independent of its contents, so the edges of the frame may hide part of its graphic contents, or the contents may not entirely fill the frame. A frame with no content can serve as a placeholder for text, images, or fills that you add later.
- A bounding box is always rectangular, enclosing the maximum horizontal and vertical extensions of the selected item. The bounding boxes for a frame and for the graphic inside it can be different sizes.
- The path and the shape of a frame are identical and do not have to be rectangular. A path is a vector graphic. You can use InDesign drawing tools to create paths and then do all the things you can do to any closed paths, such as add fills, specify stroke attributes, and edit the paths with the Pen tool.
- There are eight handles and a center point for a bounding box, appearing as small squares in the corners, at the midpoints of top, bottom, and sides, and in the center. Dragging a handle modifies the bounding box.
- The path is defined by anchor points, which look like smaller handles. You drag anchor points to alter the shape of the path. When the anchor points are visible, you can also see the center point for the frame. When the path is visible, you can click the center point to select all anchor points in the path.
- Use the Type tool to type text and to select and edit text within a text frame.
- Use the Selection tool to move or resize a frame.
- Use the Direct Selection tool to reshape the path by selecting and working with anchor points. Also use this tool to set path characteristics and to resize, reshape, and move the graphic within a graphics frame without altering the frame itself.