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Adobe FrameMaker: Aligning Punctuation in Numbered Lists
By Barb Binder
Updated: April 4, 2026
When I teach Numbering Properties to new FrameMaker users, about half of them ask me how to line up the punctuation on a numbered list. The picture on the left shows what I am supposed to teach them, the picture on the right show what they actually want.
How do you do it? The trick is setting two tab stops per list item: one decimal tab for the punctuation, and one left tab for the text. Here are the steps to align the numbers on the right-hand side:
- Create a Paragraph style for your list. (I used List2 in my example.)
- In the Paragraph Designer > Numbering, add the following to the Autonumber Format text box:
\t<n+>.\t
- Click Update Style.
- In the Paragraph Designer > Basic, specify a First indent value (I used 10.0 pt) and a Left indent value if you would like the paragraph to have a hanging indent. (I used 30.0 pts.)
- Still in Basic Properties, add two tab stops:
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- The first tab stop should be a Decimal tab. (I used 20.0 pts.)
- The second tab stop should be a Left tab. Be sure that the number matches your left Indent value (because I used 30.0 pt for my left indent, so I’m using 30.0 pt here).
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- Click Update Style.
These exact numbers may not work for you, so plan on adjusting them to fit your layout.