Anchored & inline objects

An anchored object is a frame that lives inside a run of text, not parked on the spread.

In short: Most objects on a page sit on a spread at a fixed position — a rectangle, a text frame, an image — and text flows around or ignores them. An anchored object is the exception: it is a frame nested inside a run of text, as a child of a CharacterStyleRange, so it moves with the words around it the way an emoji moves when you type ahead of it. IDML writes the frame exactly where it belongs in the text and tags it with one extra child that records where it should land. This chapter explains what anchored objects are, how IDML expresses them, and exactly how far our parser and renderer carry them today.

Most objects on a page sit on a spread: a rectangle, a text frame, an image. They have a fixed position in spread coordinates and the text flows around — or ignores — them. An anchored object is different. It does not live on the spread; it lives inside a run of text, as a child of a CharacterStyleRange. Edit the words before it and it moves with them, the way an emoji moves when you type ahead of it.

That single placement decision — frame nested in a run, not parked on the spread — is the whole idea of this chapter. Everything else (where exactly it lands, whether it sits on the baseline or floats above the line) is a refinement layered on top.

Why an author reaches for one

A free spread frame is the right tool when a graphic belongs to a place on the page. An anchored object is the right tool when a graphic belongs to a point in the text: an icon mid-sentence, a small figure that must stay beside the paragraph that describes it, a pull-quote that should ride along as copy is edited above it. Because the object is part of the text stream, it survives reflow that would leave a free frame stranded.

How IDML expresses it

The frame is written exactly where it belongs — between the Content of a run and the close of that run's CharacterStyleRange. The element is an ordinary <Rectangle>, <TextFrame>, or <Group> (the same elements you would find on a spread), but its position in the document tree is what makes it anchored. Beside its geometry it carries one extra child, <AnchoredObjectSetting>, that records the placement intent: inline on the baseline, above the line, or at a custom point.

ParagraphStyleRange
└── CharacterStyleRange
    ├── Content                     the text the object is anchored into
    └── Rectangle / TextFrame / Group   the anchored object (nested in the run)
        └── AnchoredObjectSetting   where it should land relative to the anchor

What this chapter covers

• 🔴 Anchored objects — reference: the nested <Rectangle> / <TextFrame> / <Group> and every attribute of <AnchoredObjectSetting>, with our parser's honest support status.
• 🔴 Inline vs anchored positioning — explanation: what inline, above the line, and custom placement each mean, and exactly how far our renderer carries them today.

Where this sits

An anchored object is a frame and a piece of text at once, so it draws on two other chapters. The frame itself — its bounds, fill, stroke, and path — is the same machinery covered in frames & paths. The run it nests inside is the CharacterStyleRange from stories & text; if the Story → ParagraphStyleRange → CharacterStyleRange shape is not yet familiar, read story structure first — this chapter assumes it.

Frequently asked questions

What is an anchored object in IDML? An anchored object is a frame — a <Rectangle>, <TextFrame>, or <Group> — written as a child of a CharacterStyleRange rather than placed on a spread. Because it lives inside the text stream, it moves with the surrounding words when copy is edited, instead of staying pinned to a fixed spot on the page.

How is an anchored object different from a normal frame on a spread? A normal frame sits on the spread at a fixed position in spread coordinates, and text flows around or ignores it. An anchored object has no spread position of its own — it is nested in a run, so its place in the document tree is what determines where it belongs, and it survives reflow that would leave a free frame stranded.

Does Paged render anchored objects at their anchor today? No. Our parser reads the anchored frame's geometry, styling, and full <AnchoredObjectSetting> onto its host paragraph, but the renderer does not yet place it at the anchor or flow text around it. See inline vs anchored positioning for the exact support status.