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In Adobe InDesign, a paragraph rule is a horizontal line attached to a paragraph. It moves with the text as the layout changes, making it useful for heading accents and separators. To add one, select the paragraph, open the Paragraph Rules dialog from the Paragraph panel menu, enable Rule Above or Rule Below, and adjust its width, position, and stroke.
How to add a paragraph rule
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With the Type tool, select the paragraph or place the insertion point in it.
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Choose Type > Paragraph to show the Paragraph panel if it is not already open.
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Open the Paragraph panel menu and choose Paragraph Rules.
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In the dialog, select Rule Above or Rule Below, then enable Rule On. Enable both rules separately if you want a line on each side of the paragraph.
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Adjust the rule’s appearance and placement using the controls described below. Use Preview to check changes in the layout, then choose OK.
Adobe describes paragraph rules as horizontal lines attached to a paragraph that move and resize as text flows. The steps here follow Adobe’s help guidance, last updated June 2, 2026; the page does not specify a particular InDesign version or operating system.
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In the Paragraph Rules dialog, the width, offset, and indent settings control different aspects of the line. Adjust them independently to align the rule with the text or column without changing the paragraph’s own text indents.
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Weight: Sets the line’s thickness.
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Type: Selects a solid, dashed, dotted, or other available stroke style.
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Color: Choose a swatch. Text Color matches the first character’s color for a rule above, or the last character’s color for a rule below. Tint and, where available, gap color and tint offer further adjustments.
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Width: Choose Text to span the text width or Column to span the column.
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Offset: Controls the line’s vertical position relative to the paragraph’s baseline.
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Left Indent and Right Indent: Move the rule’s ends inward or outward without changing the paragraph’s text indents.
Rule Above and Rule Below use different baselines
For a rule above a paragraph, Offset is measured from the first line’s baseline to the bottom of the rule. For a rule below, it is measured from the last line’s baseline to the top of the rule. This is why the same offset value can look different depending on which rule you selected.
Text width versus column width
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Width setting |
Rule spans |
Use it when |
|---|---|---|
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Text |
The text width |
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|
|
Column |
The column |
The line should extend across the column rather than stop at the text width. Rank #4 |
How to keep a rule inside a text frame
For a rule above a paragraph near the top of a text frame, enable Keep In Frame in the Rule Above options. This keeps the rule inside the frame.
Do not rely on Space Before to create room above a rule at the top of a column or frame: Adobe notes that Space Before is ignored there. If the top spacing needs adjustment, increase the first line’s leading or the text frame’s top inset. These settings affect the text layout, not the rule’s own offset.
How to reuse rules with paragraph styles
If the same rule treatment appears on several headings or callouts, save the paragraph-rule settings in a paragraph style and apply that style to matching paragraphs. Adobe’s overprint guidance also confirms that paragraph-rule overprint options can be included in a paragraph style.
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With the Type tool, select the paragraph that has the rule.
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Open Paragraph Rules from the Paragraph panel or Control panel menu.
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In the options for Rule Above or Rule Below, deselect Rule On for the rule you want to remove.
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Choose OK.
What to check before printing
Overprinting is a print-output choice, not a setting to enable automatically. Adobe explains that overprinting can let rules sit over underlying colors without knocking them out. If that is the intended result, enable Overprint Stroke in the applicable Rule Above or Rule Below options. For dashed, dotted, or patterned rules, enable Overprint Gap as well if the spaces should also overprint.
Before sending the artwork to press, inspect the result using Window > Output > Separations Preview. Adobe’s overprint guidance, last updated June 2, 2026, provides the relevant print workflow; confirm that overprinting matches the intended production result.
When a paragraph rule is not the right feature
A paragraph rule is intended for a line above or below a paragraph. If the design needs an enclosing border or a paragraph fill, use InDesign’s separate paragraph borders and backgrounds controls, which provide their own stroke, fill, offset, and width settings.
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