Comments on: Episode 24: You Can’t Do That In InDesign…or Can You? (VIDEO)

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:59:14 +0000

Thanks, Michael. I’m using CS2 with no plans to upgrade soon.

By: Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:04:26 +0000

Glad it helped you, Jessica. Bear in mind that everything in that episode is based around limitations in InDesign CS2. In CS3, the Gradient Feather effect accomplishes the exact same thing with a fraction of the effort.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:43:37 +0000

Thanks, Michael! I needed this video today and found it easily using InDesignsecrets search feature. I was pretty peeved with myself because I couldn’t find out how to set one of the gradient color stops to transparent. My Quickstart guide didn’t cover it, so I turned to you next! Now I have the effect I had envisioned, so thanks.

By: ChrisM70

ChrisM70 — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:36:51 +0000

I understand. I just
thought that others might want to know that this option is available
for them.

By: The InDesigner

The InDesigner — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 23:07:10 +0000

Yes, Chris. You’re absolutely
right. But the missing piece of the puzzle (at least as far as this
episode was concerned) is the “solid” part. A yellow-to-white
gradient using Multiply would have (a) not been opaque at any point,
and (b) not have been the yellow I wanted, because the Multiply mode
would have mixed it with the colors in the photograph behind it.

By: ChrisM70

ChrisM70 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 22:00:41 +0000

3. I have another way
to create a color-to-transparency gradient in
InDesign:?r?n?r?n1.Create your gradient going from color to
white.?r?n2. Change the blend mode in the transparency palette to
Multiply. ?r?n?r?nThis will turn the white part of the gradient
transparent. Granted, you won’t get a solid color in the rest of
your gradient (unless you use black) but it’s an effect that might
come in handy.

By: The InDesigner

The InDesigner — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 02:04:49 +0000

Like so many things, your results
may vary based on the specifics. It could be a combination of display
performance settings on-screen, your output device, etc. A feather
SHOULD be a smooth transition, and adding some noise to it (about two
to three percent) should make it a more naturalistic effect. A soft
feather shouldn’t give you a hard edge, but it does give you a
harder edge than you may want. Test it out on your printer first
before sending sending out a job as final. The on-screen display may
be much more jarring than the printed result. The plain fact is that
a feather isn’t a gradient. You have no real control over a feather
other than its size, whereas a gradient can be controlled precisely
at multiple points.

By: bjs1965

bjs1965 — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 23:47:26 +0000

Hi Mike, that’s a great
workaround for a feature lacking in InDesign … but is it just me,
or does feathering leave a sharp edge rather than a smooth transition
to it’s zero point as a gradient would?