March 22 2007 • 8:41 PM

Turning Effects on and off in InDesign

First, I have no doubt that nobody will be reading this site this weekend; not with the big announcement from Adobe next week about Creative Suite 3.

But I was working today and realized I haven’t shared one of my neatest tricks for working with Photoshop layers in InDesign documents.

As most of you know you can go to the Object Layer Options to  turn on or off Photoshop layers for images placed into InDesign. But effects, things like drop shadows, inner glows, and color overlays, can be turned on and off in Photoshop’s Layer palette, but they can’t be turned on or off using the Object Layer Options in InDesign.

Or can they???

The trick is to create a Layer Comp in Photoshop that exists with the effect on, and another Layer Comp that exists with the effect off. Then, you choose those Layer Comps to turn the effects on or off.

4 Responses discussing this post. Add yours below.

  1. David Blatner
    March 22nd, 2007 • 9:56 pm

    Great, Sandee! I love the fact that ID can read and hide/show layer comps. My only wish is that the Photoshop team would put the Layer Comps feature into the Layers palette instead of hiding it away for only a few people to find.

  2. vectorbabe
    March 22nd, 2007 • 10:38 pm

    I agree David.

    Layer Comps are one of the most poorly promoted features in Photoshop. Not only did Adobe hide them away, but they didn’t explain them well at all.

  3. lik™
    March 26th, 2007 • 12:26 am

    Äh, help me guys, Layer Comps?
    Were do I find it?

    And by the way, from the ads I understood that I can turn the Layers of a PSD inside InDesign on and off but never figured out how to do that.

    IS it possible or not?

    Right now I only ALT-click the PSD in ID, chenge it in PShop, save it an ID updates the picture.

    Not really elegant.

  4. lik™
    March 26th, 2007 • 12:36 am

    OMFG! I FOUND IT!

    I don’t believe it, this thing is more an easter egg than a function!

    Vectorbabe is right. For all the germans:

    Menü
    Objekt > Objektebenenoptionen…

    or right-click on an object that contains PSD layers.

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