Text columns

One passage of writing, flowed into columns the way a newspaper sets an article. You write it as a single body of text, and the section breaks it across the columns itself.

What it does: Makes a long passage readable. Prose set at full page width runs to lines nobody wants to read. The same words in two columns look like something worth reading.

Key settings (the whole section, as there are no blocks):

Setting	What it does	Default
Color scheme	Section colors.	scheme-paper
Heading width	Narrow, Normal, Wide, or Full width.	Wide
Heading alignment	Left, center, or right.	Center
Subheading	An optional small label above the heading.	Empty
Heading	The headline. Italicize a word to set it in the emphasis font.	”On going slowly.”
Intro text	An optional line under it.	Empty
Body	The passage itself. Rich text, so paragraphs, bold, italic and links all work.	An essay about runs of two hundred
Columns on desktop	2 to 4. Phones always show one.	2
Show a drop cap on the first paragraph	Sets the first letter large, as a magazine would.	On

The section also carries a Section spacing group. Pick a Device of Desktop or Mobile, then set Top and Bottom.

Caution

The text flows, so you cannot control where a column breaks. A heading inside the body can end up at the foot of one column with its paragraph in the next. For copy that must stay in fixed groups, use Multicolumn, where each column is a separate block.

Tip

Three or four columns need a long passage to work. With a short one, each column is two lines deep and the section reads as broken. Two is the right answer for almost everything.

When to use it: Use it for an essay, such as a house story, a note on provenance, or the long half of an About page. For a shorter statement, use Rich text. For copy that has to sit in fixed groups, use Multicolumn.

Related: Rich text · Multicolumn · Text tabs · Lapels support replies within 12 hours.