Quick Silhouettes with the Pencil Tool
In a recent podcast, David and I were grousing about the Pencil tool and how it’s basically useless (well, compared to other InDesign tools, at least). But we soon received an e-mail from designer/InDesign trainer Carolyn Casey who told us about a neat way her co-worker uses the tool for initial layouts.
Carolyn explained:
We work in text book publishing and work with low res jpegs for the initial layout. We do lots of pop-silos and vignettes. I would always do a quick path in Photoshop, then drop the image in the page.My co-worker uses the pencil tool to make a quick silo with the pencil tool in InDesign. She starts with a rectangle picture frame, then clicks on the edge of the frame and drags the shape out with the pencil tool. As long as you connect with the other side of the frame, you can create a custom closed path. You can go back with the smooth tool to refine the shape, if necessary.
I had dismissed the Pencil tool’s ability to edit existing paths (in addition to creating new ones) because I figured the Pen tool was easier. But when I tried the Pencil tool method, I loved it! It’s not a substitute for a final, clean clipping path that you’d create in Photoshop, but it’s just the ticket for quick silos in InDesign while you’re experimenting with design approaches.
(Edit: We’ve been asked what a “silo” is. In graphic design, a silo, short for silhouette, is a photo or drawing in which only the main subject or object is visible. Other elements in the image, typically the background, have been hidden/masked out with a clipping path or layer mask.)
Modify Pencil Tool Settings
It helps if you start by double-clicking the Pencil tool and adjusting some of its default settings. Here are the settings I found worked best for me:
Mainly, I increased the Smoothness to around 50% so that the path created by the tool would have fewer points (making it easier to tweak) and I decreased the “Within” setting to 2 pixels for more accurate cursor feedback. That is, the Pencil cursor would lose its little “x” (indicating it detected an existing path and would edit it) only when it was within 2 pixels of a selected path.
The toughest part about this method is starting and stopping exactly on the selected path (the image path); otherwise you end up drawing out new path slivers within the image. A little practice and adjusting of settings will make it easier.
Outline the Silo
Start with a placed, selected image. Then, switch to the Pencil tool and position its cursor at the location on the image frame where you want the silo (the “cut-out”) to start. Below, I’ve placed one of the Photoshop sample images, with the intent to silo the sand dune and hide the sky. So I put my cursor at the left edge of the frame where the sand meets the sky.
Note that the tip of the Pencil is its hot spot. (Wishlist item for ID CS3: Cross-hair cursor option.) Don’t start dragging until you’re sure the tip of the pencil is exactly on the path; if you see an “x” next to the cursor, you’re too far away.
Now drag the pencil around the shape in the image you want to silo, keeping the mouse button depressed until you reach another edge of the existing frame. It makes no difference how fast you drag the path, so take your time.
Release the mouse button when the tip of the Pencil is exactly at an edge of the original image frame. You get no cursor feedback for this so it might take a couple attempts to get it right. (Edit > Undo is your friend.)
Here’s the image after I released the mouse button:
I thought that was very cool, and very fast, once I got the hang of it. Thanks, Carolyn! (And thanks to your co-worker!)
Hum, interesting. For simple paths, it might be a quicker option than the Pen tool. I like that!
Cool tip! I love finding uses for tools that seem unloved
Never having used one of those Wacom tablets, this seems to be a perfect example of how you may use one with InDesign – any comments from ID users with experience with Pen Tablets would be most welcome!
I use a tablet with InDesign quite often. Not for drawing mind you (I do that in Illustrator, but don’t let DB find out I still use that ancient application). I use it mainly because I find that switching every so often between the mouse and the tablet relieves the pressure on my wrists.
So, in that case Mordy, do you think that using a tablet with the Pen tool, would be easier than using a mouse? It’s just that I can’t find a distributor, locally, that will stock a Wacom tablet and allow me to try before I buy …
Thanks,
Brendan
There’s no question that you’ll get better results with the Pencil tool when using a tablet. And if you ever do any Photoshop work, you simply can’t live without a tablet. If you ever need any kind of fluid unidirectional movement, the tablet will be FAR better than the mouse will ever be.
Maybe a local distributor will offer a refund policy? I think that some manufacturers or resellers will offer 30-day return policies.
That’s it, then, you’ve sold me … I need to get me a tablet … any recommendations?
Thanks,
Brendan
Go to Amazon and buy the cheapest Wacom Tablet its usually around $75. Once you start using it you’ll never go back to the plain old mouse!
Get an Intuos3 (the Grapphires are lower resolution and aren’t that good for fine movements). I personally have the older 6×8 (I don’t think they make that size anymore — they have “widescreen” ones now) — but don’t get bigger — even the smaller 4×6 one is pretty good.
Thanks guys, I’ve been looking for sone +ive user feedback to convince me, and you’ve done that … cheers!
Brendan
I use my wacom tablet for everything!! PS work, ID layout, AI drawing, and in the finder. It is by far quicker and so much more comfortable than using a mouse. I am amazed that more people (and designers) do not use them. Unless you are doing lots of detailed PS work, I suggest getting the smallest size, as you can move the pen from one side of the screen to the other by just moving your hand instead of your whole arm.
Re the Wacom discussion … that’s a product I’ve been mulling over for years, and like Brendan I think now I’m going to go for it! A bit of research shows that if you’re a lefty, you might consider going with the 6×8 size or larger since its “Express buttons” appear on both sides. On the smaller ones (4×5 and 4×6 “widescreen”), the buttons are only on the left side of the device. Looks like Amazon has the smaller ones for $200 and $220 respectively.
I discovered the Wacom tablet about 13 years ago when I was working practically 24 hours a day. I thought my wrist was going to fall off. I started using the tablet and stylus, and I’ve never had a problem since. One word of caution though… although the pen is invaluable, don’t give up on the mouse. I find the pen frustrating when I have to have a precise click. For example, if I need to erase or paint a straight line with the brush tool in Photoshop, the click, shift-click doesn’t work with the pen. I end up with a paint blob instead of a straight line.
One more thing… I feel I should reveal my source… my genius co-worker’s name is Molly Scanlon. While I felt the need to bring this tool to the attention of our very receptive hosts, it’s really Molly who deserves the credit. Molly, you rock.
Forgive me for asking, but why would you want to make silhouettes in InDesign?
Chris, why climb Everest? Why go to the moon? It is not up to us to ask why. It is our generation’s responsibility to tackle the great tasks, the true tests of humankind’s abilities.
(Actually, the real reason is: Because you might be on deadline and don’t have time to do a high quality snip elsewhere.)
Chris, we do it all the time in first pass before we have final photo’s in place to give the client a feel for how we want to layout the pages witout waisting time doing the work in PhotoShop on comp images. This also gives everyone an approximate size that the image will be used on the page so that we can get the proper size image. On some projects when we don’t have images from the start we even sketch them in for the first round of proofs based off of a “storyboarding” session with Editorial. This helps everything from Art Research through client review, even though the actual photos may be different from the original sketch when they are actually chosen.
Thanks a lot for the tip. That was genius! So easy.
Hi, is there a way to create a pop-out effect of an image in InDesign? Something like this effect shown in YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8Z6YeUqA2Y, but with Quark?
Thanks
Like this? http://indesignsecrets.com/indesign-eye-candy-part-3.php
Yes, thank you, but is there a similar way like in Quark?
Again, thank you for the quick response.
Well I guess. Not exactly the same way, of course, but “similar”. Have you tried it?
You can use the Pathfinder to combine the paths of your image and the underlying frame.
Yup — no problem.
Happy 2012!
This will work. Thank you!