Setting Tab Stops on Fields

When trying to add tab stops to a field there is no inherent way to visually see if you have it actually lined up correctly.

Yes you have the value position in the appearance tab on the inspector. But that is from the position of the left edge of the field not the layout. And you just have to guess where to place the tab stops.

When in layout mode you don't have any tab stop formatting bar on a field but you do on a text object.

So here is a quick recipe to set your tab stops. 

Step 1.

Format your field - style it the the way you like. 

Step 2.

Create a text object on the layout add some sample text and use option tab (Mac) to add the tabs between the sample data.

Step 3.

Use format painter to copy the style of your field on to this text object. and place that object above your

field making the same width as the field.

Step 4.

Turn on the show sample data for fields. And layout rulers.

Step 5.

Adjust tab stops and leader characters on the text object. You can drag out rule guide lines from the left ruler if as needed

to have a visual alignment. Then when clicked into the text object you can slide the tab stops to the guide.

Step 6.

Use the format painter to copy the format of the text object on to the field.

Hope this helps.

Stephen