Definition: All objects placed on the page or the pasteboard in a desktop publishing software application have a sometimes invisible bounding box or frame around the object - the name used by the software application may vary. With some applications the frame becomes visible when the object is selected and then becomes lighter or invisible when the object is de-selected. Text frames hold text.
Depending on the software, text frames may have handles for resizing or dragging the text frames. Some software allows the attributes of text frames to be adjusted to increase or decrease the space between the text and text frame, change the background color, or add visible rules or enclosed borders (also called frames) around the text object.
While text frames are typically rectangular, some applications allow you to create text frames in other shapes such as circles and stars.
Text frames can be linked together so that longer articles can flow from one text frame to the next, such as columns of text in a newsletter or so long articles can appear across multiple pages.
Also Known As: text box
