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InDesign: Graphics, Colours & Transparency

Placing Graphics mporting Adobe Illustrator graphics How you save and import Illustrator graphics depends on how you want to edit the art once you place it in InDesign.

If you plan to edit a graphic only in Illustrator...

Save the graphic in native Illustrator format (.ai). Some graphics require the extensive drawing tools available in Illustrator or are in their final form and shouldn’t be edited. In InDesign, you can place a native Illustrator graphic and transform it as a single object (you can resize or rotate it, for example). Use the Edit >Edit Original command to open the graphic in Illustrator and edit it there.

If you want to adjust layer visibility in InDesign...

Save the Illustrator CS file in layered PDF format. For some documents, you want to control the visibility of the layers of a graphic depending on the context. For example, for a multilanguage publication, you can create a single illustration that includes one text layer for each language. Using the layered PDF format, you can transform the illustration as a single object in InDesign but you cannot edit the paths, objects, or text within the illustration.

If you want to edit objects and paths in InDesign...

Copy the art from Illustrator and paste it into an InDesign document. For some graphics you might want to edit them after they’re placed in the InDesign document. For example, in a magazine, you might use the same design element in each issue, but want to change its colour every month. If you paste a graphic into InDesign and edit it there, you cannot set layer transparency or edit the text.

To create a layered PDF in Adobe Illustrator

You can save an Illustrator CS graphic as a layered PDF file, and control the visibility of the top-level layers in Indesign. Adjusting layer visibility in InDesign lets you vary an illustration depending on context. Rather than create multiple versions of the same illustration, say for a multilanguage publication, you can place the same illustration where needed, and adjust the visibility of the layers as appropriate. You can transform a PDF file as a single object (you can rotate or resize it, for example), but you cannot edit the paths, objects, or text within the illustration. Note: Keep the layers that you want to adjust in InDesign in the top level or within a layer set at the top level. Do not place them in nested layer sets.

  1. In Illustrator CS, choose File >Save As.
  2. In the Save As dialog box, type a file name and choose a location for the file.
  3. For Format, choose Adobe PDF (.pdf), and click Save.
  4. In the Adobe PDF Options dialog box, choose Acrobat 7 (1.6) or Acrobat 6 (1.5) for Compatibility.
  5. Select Create Acrobat Layers from Top-Level Layers, and click Save PDF.

Importing Adobe Photoshop (.PSD) files

You can place graphics created in Adobe Photoshop 4.0 and later directly into an InDesign layout.

Layers and layer compsYou can choose to adjust the visibility of the top-level layers in InDesign, as well as view different layer comps. Changing layer visibility or layer comps in InDesign does not alter the original Photoshop file.

Paths, masks, or alpha channelsIf you save paths, masks, or alpha channels in a Photoshop file, InDesign can use them to remove backgrounds, or to wrap text around graphics. Graphics that contain paths, masks, or alpha channels act as transparent objects when imported.

Spot-colour channelsSpot-colour channels in Adobe Photoshop PSD or TIFF files appear in InDesign as spot colours in the Swatches palette. If the image uses a spot colour that InDesign does not recognize, the spot colour may appear gray in the InDesign document and print incorrectly as a composite. (The image will print correctly on colour separations, however.) To simulate the graphic as a composite, you can create a spot colour with the correct colour values, and then alias the PSD colour to this new spot colour. The graphic will then print correctly as composite and display correctly on-screen when Overprint Preview is turned on (choose View >Overprint Preview). Be sure to remove the alias before printing separations, so that the image prints on the plate you expect.

Comparing screen and device resolution in placed PDF pages

A placed PDF page displays at the best resolution possible for the given scale and screen resolution. When printed on a PostScript output device, a placed PDF page always prints at the resolution of the device. When printed on a non-PostScript printer, a placed PDF page prints at the same resolution as the other InDesign objects in the document. For example, vector (drawn) objects will print at the same resolution as other vector objects in the document. Bitmap images will print at the best resolution supplied in the placed PDF file.

To crop using a graphic’s path or alpha channel

InDesign can crop an imported EPS, TIFF, or Photoshop graphic using the clipping path or alpha channel saved with the file. When an imported graphic includes more than one path or alpha channel, you can choose which path or alpha channel to use for the clipping path.

An alpha channel is an invisible channel that defines transparent areas of a graphic. It’s stored inside a graphic with the RGB or CMYK channels. InDesign automatically recognizes Photoshop’s default transparency (the checkerboard background) as an alpha channel. If the graphic has an opaque background, you must use Photoshop to remove the background, or create and save one or more alpha channels with the graphic.

See "Object >Clipping Path" in InDesign.

To create snippets

A snippet is an XML file that is a full representation of InDesign content, including page items and any XML structure applied to those page items. A snippet lets you reuse the content, formatting, tags, and structure of a document. You can store snippets in an Object library, and place them in other documents.

Snippets are based on the InDesign Interchange file format, which is the same format that lets you open a document in a previous version of InDesign. Snippets include an .inds extension.

Do one of the following: Using a selection tool, select one or more frames, and then choose File >Export. From the Format menu, choose InDesign Snippet. Type a name for the file, and then click Save. Using a selection tool, select one or more frames, and then drag the selection to your desktop. A file is created. Rename the file, but save it with an .inds extension.

Transparency & Printing

About transparency

When you create an object in InDesign, by default it appears solid. You use the Transparency palette to specify the opacity of objects and how they blend with objects beneath them. You can choose to isolate blending to specific objects or have objects knockout rather than blend with objects in a group.

It’s possible to add transparency to your artwork without realizing it—for example, by adding drop shadows and feathering to objects or by placing files with transparency that originated in other applications, such as Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. Be aware of when you’re using transparency, because you need to set some extra options when printing and saving transparent artwork.

Whenever you print from InDesign, it performs a process called flattening. Flattening cuts apart transparent art to represent overlapping areas as discrete pieces that are either vector objects or rasterized areas. As artwork becomes more complex, so does the flattening and its results. More complex art includes: mixing images, vectors, type, spot colors, overprinting, and so on.

You can specify flattening settings through the Transparency Flattener Presets dialog box, the Advanced panel of the Print or Export Adobe PDF dialog box, and the Flattener Preview palette. Once these settings are specified, you can save and apply them as transparency flattener presets.

InDesign flattens transparent objects according to the settings in the selected flattener preset.

Graphics & Text

Anchored Objects

Anchored objects are images or text boxes, that are attached—or anchored—to specific text. The anchored object travels with the text as the text reflows. Use anchored objects for all objects that you want associated with a particular line or block of text, for example, sidebars and callouts, figures, or icons associated with a specific word.

You can create an anchored object by pasting or placing an object into text using the Type tool or by using the Insert Anchored Object command.

You can create anchored objects that use any of the following positions:
InlineAligns the anchored object with the baseline of the insertion point. You can adjust the Y Offset to position the object above or below the baseline. This is the default type of anchored object. In earlier versions of InDesign, these objects were called inline graphics.

Above LinePlaces the anchored object above the line with the following choices of alignment: Left, Center, Right, Towards Spine, Away From Spine, and (Text Alignment). Text Alignment is the alignment applied to the paragraph that holds the anchor marker.

CustomPlaces the anchored object in the position that you define in the Anchored Object Options dialog box. You can position the object anywhere inside or outside the text frame.

Text Wraps

You can wrap text around any object, including text frames, imported graphics, and objects you draw in InDesign. When you apply a text wrap to an object, InDesign automatically creates a boundary around the object that repels text. The object that text wraps around is called the wrap object. Regardless of the type of object or the text wrap method you use, you can always manually adjust the resulting text wrap boundary.

Keep these tips in mind as you work with text wrap:

  • If you want to wrap text around the shape of an imported graphic, save the clipping path in the application where you created it, if possible. When you place the graphic in InDesign, select the Apply Photoshop Clipping Path option in the Image Import Options dialog box.
  • Text frames inside a group ignore any text wrap you’ve applied to the group.
  • To prevent the text in a frame from wrapping around text wrap boundaries, use the Selection tool to select the text frame, and choose Object >Text Frame Options. Select Ignore Text Wrap, and then click OK.
  • If you can’t get the text to wrap around an image, make sure that the Ignore Text Wrap option is not selected for the text frame that doesn’t wrap. Also, if the Text Wrap Only Affects Text Beneath option is selected in the Composition section of the Preferences dialog box, make sure that the text frame is beneath the wrap object.
  • You can apply text wrap to inline anchored objects. However, the wrap does not apply to the text line preceding the object. (Inline anchored objects in table cells do not support text wrap.)
  • When you cut and paste or copy and paste an object as an inline object, its text wrap boundaries are preserved.
  • When you apply text wrap to an anchored object, the paragraph containing the object is automatically set to Single-line Composer.