Indesign Secrets

As I mentioned (but didn’t go into great detail about) in my May 2008 column for CreativePro.com, one of my favorite InDesign techniques is to lift interesting silhouettes from photographs to use as InDesign text, image or unassigned frames that I fill with a color or something.

For example, you can convert these three images (all from the Photoshop Samples folder, inside the Photoshop application folder):

J.K. wrote:
I am in the process of printing a postcard out of InDesign CS3. The background was created in Photoshop CS3, and the information has been added with InDesign. When printing a proof from Photoshop, I get the color I expect to get. Printing out of InDesign, I do not. I even created a box […]

Karen writes: The charts generated by iWork Numbers are beautiful and I would like to use some of them in an upcoming Annual Report. I’ve copied and pasted into InDesign, copied them into Photoshop and imported into InDesign as a layered PS file. I’ve also tried converting them to PDF via Photoshop. My Phaser proofs look OK, I just don’t want an unpleasant surprise when the file goes to press. What workflow would you suggest to get high resolution transparent Apple iwork graphics into InDesign?

Well, I have to admit my ignorance about Numbers; I’ve heard great things about it, but have not used it. But whenever someone asks me, “How can I import Excel charts or Corel graphics or [insert some program] files into InDesign,” I always answer with the same list…

Jim wrote:

I played with the Feather effect on one of our documents. When I applied a feather to one graphic, the feathered graphic AND the rest of the graphics on the page got lighter. In another file, applying a dropshadow caused the graphic to become lighter. What could be going on?

This is a common cry from InDesign users… “all the images suddenly changed! What happened?” You identified the cause perfectly: You added a transparency effect. When you add any kind of transparency effect — including placing an image that has tranparency in it, or using any of the features in the Effects panel — the whole spread may change because InDesign forces the display…

Why was Adobe trying to sell stock photography via its Bridge application? I’ve scratched my head over that one for a while. Well, the question no longer needs answering, as Adobe has “decided to concentrate its efforts in other areas,” according to this Web page.
Apparently, you have until March 4 to complete any image searches […]

A friend of mine who manages a printing company’s prepress department told me that his company strongly discourages their InDesign clients from using either the Detect Edges or the Alpha Channel options in the Text Wrap panel:

That was the first time I’ve heard of the warning. The reason, he said, was that if anyone in […]

About a year ago, we discussed several options for importing multi-page PDF files into InDesign. Then, last autumn, I created a free video tutorial for MOGO Media that shows how you can import or export multi-page PDF files. In that video, I showed Scott Zanelli’s free Page Exporter Utility script for exporting PDF files as individual pages. [In that movie, I said I didn’t know where you could find the script. Fortunately, Scott updated the script and we’ve posted it here.]

In that movie, I also showed a script that let you place multi-page PDF files into InDesign, one page a time…

A mask covers your face so you can’t see it, right? And masking tape covers something so that when you paint over it, the thing under the tape (usually a wall or a window) doesn’t get painted. Digital masking tape is the same: It covers or masks something so you don’t see it.
Last year I […]

Kathleen wrote in with a problem: “I have a file that has two boxes that seriously has us stumped us here. Can you help us figure out what on earth is going on with these weird handles? As you can see, one is a graphic box and one is a text box.”

I got a hold of one of these files and opened it and the problem was, indeed a weird one…

A comment on Sandee’s recent post about using (or not using) EPS files inspired me to write up a quick comment about Bitmap images and InDesign. Note that Bitmap images are different than “bitmapped images.” The latter is just any kind of raster (pixel) image. However, a “Bitmap” image is an image that is in Bitmap mode in Photoshop — one that has nothing but black and white pixels. We also call these bi-level or 1-bit images, because each pixel is described with a single bit of information (on/off, black/white).

You can save Bitmap images as TIFF, EPS, or PSD…