Reply To: Typesetting style question

Yes, you are correct: This particular trick only works with a single column text frame.

The reason it works, by the way, is that when you use split/span columns, you’re actually creating a new “zone” on the page. Think of a text frame as a zone. And now the split/span column feature adds another “zone” inside the text frame — almost like having an anchored frame or a table in there. The space above/below is applied to the whole zone.