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• • April 7, 2011 at 12:42 pm #59202
    Stephane Potvin

    Member

    Hello all,

    I am trying to create a document measuring 7″ 3/8

    I have tried entering 7 3/8 7.3/8 7+3/8, etc in the page size fields

    But none of the expressions I have tried work.

    Is there a way to set page and object sizes using fractional values?

    Thanks.

  • April 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm #59205
    Theunis De Jong

    Member

    Yes, but you need to enter them as digital fractions. 7 3/8 is 7.375 in the fancy novelty digital system.

    (Personally, I've never ever seen software in which your notation could be entered.)

    (Edit: fech! 3/8 is 0.375! Well, that's what you get for typing without consulting a computer.)

  • April 7, 2011 at 7:52 pm #59210
    Stephane Potvin

    Member

    Good day,

    Thanks for your reply.

    I normally do use the 7.375, but a friend was asking and it got me curious.

    Interestingly, I can type 3/8 and it will convert it correctly to 0.375. If I type 7 3/8 it converts to 9.125 (73 divided by 8).

    I can do 7+3 and get 10, 7-3 and get 4.

    I can do 3/8, then after the conversion to 0.375 add +7 and will get the value I want.

    So why can't it figure out & 3/8?

    Interesting isn't it?

  • April 8, 2011 at 5:35 am #59212
    Rhiannon Miller

    Member

    3/8 on its own works because you are asking the size field to perform an arithmetical operation: three divided by eight. And three divided by eight is equivalent to three-eighths of one. But what you're asking for is seven plus (three divided by eight), and InDesign can't cope with more than one arithmetical operation at once. (Notice you can't do 7+3+8 either.)

  • April 8, 2011 at 11:45 am #59214
    Stephane Potvin

    Member

    Thanks for this.

    I learned something again today.

    Regards.

  • April 13, 2011 at 2:53 pm #59252
    Gavin Anderson

    Participant

    I am completely converted over to InDesign, but this is one of the few remaining irksome things.

    In Quark, I can type 7+3/8 into the field and it will convert it automatically to 7.375, but in InDesign, if I type in 7+3/8, it says “invalid expression.”

    That is one of the few things I still like better about Quark.

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