Formatting fields and text for vertical writing

If your operating system is configured to support Japanese text entry, you can format field objects and text objects that display Japanese text in vertical writing format. In vertical writing, characters are displayed and read from top-to-bottom, with successive columns displayed vertically from right-to-left.

There are two ways to format vertical text on a layout. The format you choose usually depends on the page orientation of the layout. For each text object or field, you can:

•Rotate the characters only, but not the field or text object. In this case, each character is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise, but the characters still display left-to-right and columns remain horizontal.

•Rotate both the characters and the field or text object. In this case, each character is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise and the text object or field object is also rotated 90 degrees clockwise so that characters display on screen in vertical format, with characters displaying top-to-bottom in vertical columns.

Note Alphabetic and numeric half-width (hankaku) characters do not rotate when you specify Sideways, but alphabetic and numeric full-width (zenkaku) characters do rotate. For example, when an address field containing half-width numbers for a street number is specified as Sideways, the half-width numbers remain in their original orientation. You can use functions to convert alphabetic or numeric half-width characters to full-width characters or Chinese numbers. For more information, see the Notes section below.

Original Japanese text

Rotating characters only

Rotating both
characters and
the object

Half-width:

Original Japanese text (hankaku example)

Full-width:

Original Japanese text (zenkaku example)

Half-width:

Rotating characters only (hankaku example)

Full-width:

Rotating characters only (zenkaku example)

Half-width:

Rotating both character and the object (hankaku example)

Full-width:

Rotating both character and the object (zenkaku example)

To format fields and text objects for vertical writing:

1. In Layout mode, select the fields and text objects that you would like to set to vertical.

Tip You can select all text objects on a layout by clicking the Text tool in the status toolbar and choosing Edit menu > Select All.

2. To rotate the characters 90 degrees counter-clockwise, choose Format menu > Orientation > Sideways.

All text (except alphabetic and numeric full-width characters) displays as rotated.

3. To rotate the selected field objects and text objects so that text columns display vertically, choose Arrange menu > Rotate.

Notes

•Depending on how you want the layout to print, you may want to change the page orientation of the layout. To do so, choose File menu > Print Setup (Windows) or Page Setup (macOS), and change the page orientation to Portrait or Landscape.

In Preview mode, you can also click Print Setup (Windows) or Page Setup (macOS) in the status toolbar.

•When you select text in a rotated field in Browse mode or in a rotated text object in Layout mode, the text temporarily displays unrotated while you’re editing the text.

•If necessary, you can also rotate graphics to match vertical text. For more information, see Arranging objects.

•Instead of re-entering data, you can use functions to convert alphabetic and numeric half-width characters to full-width characters or Chinese numbers. To convert the characters using a function, define a new calculation field that contains the appropriate function and place it on the layout. The following functions are available. For more information, see Text functions.

Field Type	Function	Conversion type
Text	RomanZenkaku	half-width numbers or alphabetic characters to full-width
Text	KanaZenkaku	half-width katakana to full-width
Text	KanjiNumeral	half-width numbers to Chinese numbers
Numeric	NumToJText	half-width numbers to full-width

You can also display full-width characters for number, date and time fields by changing their field format. For more information, see: