Margins & Rule of Thirds

Use Rectangles/Guides

Use a Rectangle to Make 1/2 Inch Margins

Use a Rectangle to Make a Rule of Thirds Grid

Use Rulers/Guides

Use Guides to Make Margins

Create a Rule of Thirds Grid

Use Rectangles/Guides

Use a Rectangle to Make 1/2 Inch Margins

Select the Rectangle Tool
Click on the artboard to bring up the "Rectangle" pop-up
Adjust:
- Width: 7.5 in
- Height: 10 in
Click OK
In the "Properties" tab, under Align, click the third and sixth icon to "Horizontal Align Center" and "Vertical Align Center"
Right-click on the rectangle and lcikc "Make Guides"

Use a Rectangle to Make a Rule of Thirds Grid

Use the Rectangle Tool to create a rectangle to fill your whole artboard.
With the rectangle selected, click "Object" > "Path" > "Split Into Grid..."
Change:
- Rows
  - Number: 3
- Columns:
  - Number: 3
Click "OK"
Right-click on the grid and click "Make Guides"

Lock Guides

In the "Properties" tab, next to "Guides" click the middle icon with the lock on it to lock your guides.

Use Rulers/Guides

Turn on Rulers

In the "Properties" tab on the right:

Make sure the "Units" is set to "Inches"
Next to "Rulers & Grids" section, click the first icon (looks like a right angle corner) to turn on rulers.

You should now see darker gray rulers at the top and left of the window.

Create Guides

Click, hold, and drag from the rulers on the left and top to create guides (bright blue lines).
- These guides are only in Illustrator - meaning they won't save on a PDF or when you export.
- You can click on guides in order to edit them.
- Guides span across all artboards.

Use Guides to Make Margins

To use guides to make margins:

Drag from the left ruler twice to create the left and right margins
Drag from the top ruler twice to create the top and bottom margins.

Create a Rule of Thirds Grid

Click and drag from the rulers on the left and top to create guides (bright blue lines).
Create guides so that you have a 3x3 grid
- Horizontal: drag down from the top and create guides around 3.75" and 7.5"
- Vertical: drag across from the left and create guides around 2.75" and 5.75"
In the right toolbar, next to "Guides" click the middle icon with the lock on it to lock your guides.

Lock Guides

In the "Properties" tab, next to "Guides" click the middle icon with the lock on it to lock your guides.

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