Tip of the Week: Scotch Tape FX

Mike Rankin

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This InDesign tip how to create scotch tape FX was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on June 22, 2017.

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I was reminded of this FX trick when I saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2, in which finding a piece of scotch tape may be a life or death matter. It also is a follow-up on last week’s tip about Quick and Easy Photo FX.

To create the look of scotch tape, start by creating a rectangle. If you’re trying to gauge the size relative to other objects in your layout, real scotch tape is about .75″ in/2 cm in width.

Fill the rectangle with a tint of 20% black. And in the Effects panel, reduce the opacity to 50%.

Add a tiny drop shadow.

Bonus tip: Save an object style with these settings if you’re going to be “taping” a bunch of stuff.

Then position the rectangle over other objects in the layout. Play with the length and rotation to get the look you want.