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InDesign Project 7 LetterHead Design
- 1. Adobe CC: TheGraphic Design Portfolio Project 7: Letterhead Design Setting up the workspace Creating basic page elements Placing external images Creating and formatting basic text Printing InDesign files
- 2. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Creating a New File
- 3. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Creating a New File (cont’d)
- 4. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Document Geometry Page edge Margin guides Bleed guides View>Grids & Guides>Show/Hide Guides
- 5. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Document Rulers View>Show/Hide Rulers Units & Increments preferences Origin X, Y coordinates
- 6. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Control panel Context sensitive Different options depending on active selection
- 7. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Selection tools Selection tool Selects entire objects or groups Direct Selection tool Selects pieces of objects or groups Selects contents of a frame
- 8. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Creating Frames Tools Content type Frame edges UnassignedGraphicsText (selected)
- 9. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Creating Frames (cont’d) Click and drag to create Press Shift to constrain height and width Press Option/Alt to create out from the center point Single-click to open related dialog box
- 10. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Gridified tools Divide an object into equal-sized, equal- shape objects as you draw
- 11. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Moving Objects Reference point Selection tool Cursor feedback Control panel
- 12. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Smart Guides View>Grids & Guides submenu Guides & Pasteboard preferences
- 13. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Transforming Frames A B C D
- 14. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Transformation Options Control panel Options menu Constrain Height and Width Constrain Scale
- 15. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Mathematical Transformations Transform relative to existing shape or position: + to add – to subtract * to multiply / to divide Any field in panels or dialog boxes
- 16. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Transformation tools A B C D
- 17. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Live Corner Effects Corner Shape Corner Radius
- 18. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Pathfinder panel Window>Object & Layout>Pathfinder Combine multiple shapes into one Cut shapes out of other shapes Create compound paths
- 19. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Live Distribution Drag handle to modify multiple ungrouped objects Press Spacebar to modify space between multiple objects Use Selection tool to select multiple objects
- 20. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Aligning Options Smart Guides Align panel Control panel Align to: – Selection – Margins – Page – Spread
- 21. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Grouping Multiple objects treated as one unit To select individual components: – Use Direct Selection tool – Double-click with Selection tool – Use sublayers in Layers panel
- 22. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Line tool Click and drag to create Press Shift to constrain to 45° angles Press Option/Alt to create out from the center point Control panel: – Only three reference points – No W and H fields – L field is line length
- 23. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Vector Paths Click to create a point Click and drag to create a point with handles Click again to create another point and connecting segment Smooth SymmetricalSmooth AsymmetricalCorner
- 24. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Layers panel Double-click to open Layer Options Click and drag to rearrange stacking order Show/hide entire layers Lock/unlock entire layers Expand layers to access sublayers Use Selected Item button to select objects
- 25. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Object Stacking Order Favor Active Selection Edge Highlighting Object>Select, Arrange submenus Layers panel sublayers
- 26. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Fill & Stroke Colors Active Attribute Tools panel Control panel Built-in Swatches Colors panel
- 27. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Placing Images File>Place Place multiple images at once Loaded Place cursor New frame created as necessary Place into existing frame
- 28. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Placing Illustrator Files Recognized as PDF Pages = artboards Crop To options Layers
- 29. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Frame vs. Content Selection tool = Content Grabber icon Content position is relative to frame Scale is percent of file’s physical size
- 30. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Content Fitting Options Object>Fitting Object contextual menu Control panel
- 31. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Working with Text Type frames Place cursor Insertion point
- 32. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Working with Text (cont’d) Character formatting – Font, Style, Size, Color, etc. Paragraph formatting – Alignment, Indents, Spacing, etc.
- 33. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator,& Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio Printing Files Printer and PPD General – Pages – Non-printing objects Setup – Paper size – Scale and Tile Marks and Bleed Output Graphics
Editor's Notes
- #2 This project introduces many of the basic concepts that will be useful in many (if not all) InDesign projects — both in this book and in the professional environment. Creating files with accurate geometry, creating and placing basic page elements, formatting text, and printing files are all vital skills for any page layout artist. In this project, students will use these foundational skills to create a basic letterhead layout — a very common type of job in the commercial design market. Later projects will build on these basic skills to create and manage more complex files.
- #3 The New Document dialog box presents a number of preset sizes and prebuilt starter templates, broken in to categories based on the intended output. The Print presets automatically default to the CMYK color mode. For Web and Mobile presets, the new document defaults to the RGB color mode. You can type specific values in the Width and Height fields to define a page size that isn’t listed in the defined presets. Portrait Orientation documents are higher than they are wide; landscape documents are wider than they are high. You can use the Pages field to create a new file with a specific number of pages. If you leave this at the default 1, you can always add more pages later. The Start # field is useful when you work with multi-page files with facing pages. Odd-numbered pages always appear on the right; you can define an even starting number to force the first page of a layout to the left. Using Facing Pages, Page 1 starts on the right, then Page 2 faces Page 3 (called a spread), and so on. If you create a file with non-facing pages, the Inside and Outside margin fields change to Left and Right respectively. If the Primary Text Frame option is checked, InDesign creates a text frame that automatically fills the area created by the defined page margins.
- #4 The Margin fields define the position of margin guides away from the page edge. If the chain icon between the fields shows two connected links, it is active; you can click the icon to break the link between the fields so that you can define different values for each side. The Bleed is the area outside the page trim edge, which is required for elements that are supposed to print right up to the edge of the trimmed piece. The Slug is an area outside of the bleed, where designers typically add job information that will not appear in the final printed piece. Keep the following in mind as you define a new document: •Regardless of the default unit of measurement, you can type values in any unit as long as you type the appropriate unit along with the value; InDesign makes the necessary conversion to the default units. •You can press Tab to move through the fields of most dialog boxes and panels in InDesign. Press Shift-Tab to move the highlight to the previous field in the tab order.
- #5 When a new document appears, it automatically fills the available space in the document window. The page edge appears as a heavy black line. Keep in mind that this is the trim size that you defined as the Page Size in the New Document dialog box. When guides are visible, margin guides appear pink and bleed guides appear red. If you have defined a slug, the slug guides appear light blue. You can change these default colors in the Guides & Pasteboard pane of the Preferences dialog box. If you do not see these guides, you can toggle them on by choosing View>Grids & Guides>Show Guides.
- #6 Document rulers show measurements based on the defined default unit. You can change these units for each ruler in the ruler’s contextual menu. Alternatively, you can use the Units & Increments pane of the Preferences dialog box to change the default horizontal and vertical units. If you change the units when a file is open, the change applies only to the open document. If more than one file is open when you change the units, the change applies only to the active document. If you change the units when no file is open, the change becomes the application default. The new default units will apply to any file you create after changing the preferences. Keep in mind, however, that this does not affect any file that has already been created. The zero point is an important concept because it is the basis for measurements and object positioning. You should get used to the idea of the X,Y grid that governs object measurement and positioning. •X is the horizontal (left-to-right) axis •Y is the vertical (top-to-bottom) axis When Page is selected in the Origin menu of the Units & Increments Preferences the zero point is the top-left corner of the each page. You can also change the Origin to Spread so that the zero point exists only once for an entire spread. You can manually drag the zero-point crosshairs (where the rulers meet) to reposition the zero point, or double-click the crosshairs to reset the default.
- #7 The Control panel appears by default at the top of the workspace. This panel is context sensitive, which means it provides access to different options depending on what is selected in the layout. In addition, more options will be available depending on the width of your monitor and/or application frame. Complete details about the Control panel are explained on Page 395.
- #8 The Selection tool is the solid arrow. It is used to affect an entire object (or group). •Drag a marquee to select all objects that are partially enclosed •Click to select a single object or an entire group •Press Shift then click to add objects to the selection •Press Shift then click a selected object to remove it from the selection The Direct Selection tool is the hollow arrow. It is used to select individual anchor points or line segments that make up a shape, to select individual components of a group, or to select placed contents inside a graphics frame. •Drag a marquee to select all anchor points within the marquee area •Click to select a specific anchor point or line segment •Click a placed image to select the actual placed content •Press Shift then click to add to the selection •Press Shift then click a selected element to remove it from the selection Tip: When you are using a different tool, you can press Command/Control to access the last-used selection tool. Note: Some of the issues mentioned here will make more sense when you begin creating different types of shapes. For now, simply think of the Selection tool for entire objects and the Direct Selection tool for parts of objects.
- #9 You can use a number of tools to create frames. •The Type tool automatically creates a text frame. •The Pen and Pencil tools create unassigned frames. •The Frame tool variations create graphics frames. •The Shape tool variations create unassigned frames. You can change the content type of a specific frame by choosing from the Object>Content submenu. Keep in mind that if you change the type of a frame that already has content, the existing content will be deleted. By default, frame edges are visible even when a frame is not selected. You can choose View>Extras>Hide Frame Edges to show the edges only when a frame is selected. When frame edges are visible, an empty graphics frame shows crossed diagonal lines. An unselected text frame shows no visible difference from an unassigned frame; when selected, however, the text frame shows in and out ports on the left and right edges (respectively).
- #10 Using the Type, Frame, or Shape tools, you can simply click and drag to manually draw a shape; the blue outline indicates the shape that will be created when you release the mouse button. Dynamic cursor feedback shows the width and height of the object as you drag. •Pressing Shift while drawing constrains the new shape to have equal height and width. •Pressing Option/Alt while dragging places the center point of the shape at the location where you first click. •Single-clicking with a basic shape tool opens a dialog box, where you can define the specific size of the shape. As you will see throughout this project, there is almost always more than one way to accomplish a specific goal. In some cases, the differences between methods are simply tactile — for example, using the keyboard rather than the mouse. At other times, similar techniques have subtle differences — such as the origin point using various transformation techniques (explained later in this project). Think carefully about your ultimate goals before deciding which method might be better in a specific situation. Personal work habits also affect your choices; in the case of drawing a precise-sized shape, cursor feedback makes it possible to achieve the same accuracy as the dialog box.
- #11 Using the Type, Frame, or Shape tools, you can automatically create a grid of equally spaced, equal-sized shapes within the area where you drag. This method of creating multiple frames is called gridified tools. The marquee you draw defines the outermost dimensions of the grid. Before releasing the mouse button you can use the Arrow keys to modify the grid you are creating: •Press the Right Arrow key to add columns. •Press the Left Arrow key to remove columns. •Press the Up Arrow key to add rows. •Press the Down Arrow key to remove rows.
- #12 The icon in the left end of the Control panel shows the active reference point. The dark point identifies the point around which transformations are made, as well as the point that is identified in the X, Y coordinates. Clicking a different point in the icon changes the reference point. When the Selection tool is active: •Click and drag to move •Shift-click and drag to move at 45° angles •Press Option/Alt and click-drag to clone the selection (make a copy) As you drag an object, cursor feedback shows the new X, Y position of the object based on the defined reference point. You can also simply type in the X and Y fields of the Control panel to change the position of an object.
- #13 When you create, move, or transform objects, Smart Guides can make it much easier to control the process when you use the Selection tool to apply a change. This option can be toggled on or off in the View>Grids & Guides submenu. Smart guides show: •The dimensions of an object when you create it; •The position of an object when you drag it; •The edge and center positions of nearby objects; and •The distance between nearby similar objects. You can turn off specific Smart Guide functions in the Guides & Pasteboard pane of the Preferences dialog box.
- #14 When an object is selected on the page, the bounding box shows the outermost dimensions of the shape. If the frame is rectangular, the bounding box and frame edge are the same. Eight handles appear on the edge of the bounding box. You can use the Selection tool to drag those handles, which transforms the object’s shape. Note: If you do not see the bounding box, choose View>Show Bounding Box. Any object can be transformed in a number of ways: A.Click a corner handle and drag to resize height and width, or Click a side handle and drag to resize width or height. B.Shift-click and drag any handle to resize proportionally. C.Option-click and drag a handle to resize around the center point. D.Move the cursor slightly away from a corner point, then click and drag to rotate. Press Shift while rotating to constrain the rotation to 45° angles. You can also Command/Control-click and drag to scale a selected object. (This option is not shown.) Finally, you can transform an object by changing the values in the left side of the Control panel, or in the Transform panel (Window>Object & Layout>Transform).
- #15 The Control panel Options menu includes options for controlling the position of the panel (top, bottom, or floating), as well as how transformations affect selected objects: •Stroke Styles. This opens a dialog box where you can edit or define custom styles for lines and object strokes. •Clear Transformations. Choosing this option resets an object to its original position (including rotation). •Dimensions Include Stroke Weight. When checked, width and height values include the object width as well as the defined stroke width. For example, if this option is checked, a square that is 72 points wide with a 1-pt stroke would be 73 points wide (using the default stroke position that aligns the stroke on the center of the object edge). •Transformations are Totals. When checked, transformations to an object’s contents reflect the object’s transformations plus transformations applied to the content within the frame. For example, if an object is rotated 10°, and the graphic within the object is rotated 5°, the object’s rotation displays as 15° when this option is checked. •Show Content Offset. When checked, the Control panel shows X+ and Y+ values for a graphic placed within a frame when the actual graphic (not the frame) is selected. •Adjust Stroke Weight when Scaling. When checked, resizing an object changes the stroke weight proportionally. For example, resizing an object with a 1-pt stroke to 50% results in a 0.5-pt stroke.
- #16 In addition to manually transforming an object, you can use mathematical operators to transform an object relative to its current size or position. Simply place the insertion point after an existing value, then type the mathematical calculation you want to apply, and then press Return/Enter. You do not need to type the unit of measurement unless you are typing a value in a unit that is not the active default.
- #17 A.In addition to using the Selection tool, you can choose any of the specific transformation tools in the Tools panel. Clicking and dragging applies the selected transformation. The transformation tools work based on the defined reference point, which is visible on the selected object as a small crosshair icon. This point is effectively the “anchor” around which the transformation takes effect. B.Double-clicking one of the transformation tools opens the related dialog box where you can enter a specific numeric value for the transformation. These dialog-box based transformations also apply around the defined reference point. C.Opening a dialog box from the Object>Transform submenu presents the same options you would see by double-clicking a transformation tool. In this case, the transformation always applies around the object’s center point. D.You can also use the Step and Repeat dialog box (in the Edit menu) to create a specific number of copies with a defined offset, or the distance of movement for each copy.
- #18 When a rectangular frame is selected in the layout, a small yellow square appears on the right edge of the shape’s bounding box. You can click this button to enter Live Corner Effects edit mode, where you can dynamically adjust the appearance of corner effects for all corners (by simply clicking a corner diamond) or for one corner at a time (by pressing the Shift key when you click). Simply clicking away from the object exits the edit mode. You can also use the options in the Control panel to change the corner shape and radius of the selected object. If the options are not available in the Control panel, you can choose Object>Corner Options to change the shape of one or more corners for the selected frame.
- #19 You can apply a number of transformations to objects using the Pathfinder panel, which is accessed in the Window>Object & Layout submenu. Details about the specific pathfinder functions are explained on Page 413. Path options break closed paths, connect the endpoints of open paths, or reverse a path direction (start becomes end and vice versa). Pathfinder options create complex objects by combining multiple existing objects. When you use the Pathfinder options (other than Subtract), the attributes of the front object are applied to the resulting shape; the Subtract function maintains the attributes of the back object. Convert Shape options change the overall appearance of an object using one of the six defined basic shapes, or using the default polygon settings; you can also convert any existing shape to a basic line or an orthogonal (horizontal or vertical) line. Convert Point options affect the position of direction handles when a specific anchor point is selected.
- #20 When multiple objects are selected, you can use the Selection tool to modify all objects in the selection even if those objects are not grouped. If the active selection is a row, for example, dragging the side handle of the selection normally resizes the width of all objects in the selection; the spacing and position of various selected objects relative to one another is not affected. If you press the Spacebar after you start dragging the side handle, you change the space between the selected objects rather than the actual size of those objects. This method is called live distribution; to work properly, remember to click the handle before pressing the Spacebar.
- #21 You have already seen that you can use Smart Guides for aligning objects relative to one another. The Align panel adds more choices for both aligning and distributing multiple objects. The Align Objects options are fairly self explanatory; when multiple objects are selected, the objects align based on the edge(s) or center(s) you click. The Distribute Objects options enable you to position multiple objects relative to each other. By default, objects are equally distributed within the dimensions of the overall selection; you can check the Use Spacing option to space edges or centers by a specific amount. The Distribute Spacing options place equal space between the overall selected objects. (You can also use the field to add a specific amount of space between selected objects.) The Align To menu determines how objects will align: relative to the active Selection, to a user-defined Key Object, or to the Artboard. The Align and Distribute buttons might also be available in the Control panel, depending on the width of your application frame/monitor. If only one object is selected, the Distribute options are not available — you can’t distribute a single object. Align panel functions are explained in depth on Page 410.
- #22 Grouping objects allows you to treat multiple shapes as a single unit when you move or transform them with the Selection tool. The process of grouping and ungrouping is so common that it is one of the few key commands we recommend even novice users memorize: Group: Command/Control-G Ungroup: Command/Control-Shift-G If you need to access only a single object within a group, you can use the Direct Selection tool to select the one object; double-click a specific group item with the Selection tool; or use the sublayers in the Layers panel. All of these methods allow you to work with individual group components, without first breaking apart the group.
- #23 The Line tool follows most of the same principles as the basic shape tools: •Click and drag to draw a straight line. •Press Shift and drag to draw a line constrained to 45° angles. •Press Option/Alt and drag to create a line that extends in equal lengths on both sides of the point where you first clicked. When a line is selected with the Selection tool, the Reference Point icons in the Control panel show the approximate direction of the line; only three dots are available. You can select either endpoint or the midpoint icon to define the line’s position based on the selected point. Technically, a line has no real height or width, so the Control panel does not present W and H fields. You can, however, change the line length in the L field.
- #24 Almost every shape you create in InDesign is made up of anchor points — including ones you create with the Type, Frame, Shape, and Line tools. You can also use the Pen tool and its variations to manually place anchors, which are connected by line segments to create a shape. Bézier curves — and thus, the InDesign Pen tools — function in the same way as the same tools in Illustrator and Photoshop. Refer back to Project 2 if you need to refresh your memory about working with the Pen tool.
- #25 InDesign layers help you to find and work with exactly the objects you need in a complex file. Every file begins with a default Layer 1. If you don’t create any additional layers, all objects are placed on that layer. The term stacking order refers to the top-to-bottom order in which objects are created; the first object you draw is at the bottom, the second object is immediately on top of that, and so on. Layers follow the same general principle; new layers are added on top of the previously selected layer. The Layers panel is used to manage layers in a file. •Add or delete layers using the buttons at the bottom of the panel. •Double-click a layer in the panel to change the layer’s options. •Drag layers in the panel to rearrange the layer stacking order. •Click the arrow to the left of a layer name to expand that layer and show the sublayers (items on that layer). •Click the eye icon column to show or hide layers or sublayers. •Click the lock icon column to lock and unlock layers or sublayers. •Click the Selected Item button for a layer to select all objects on that layer, or click the button for a specific sublayer to select a specific object.
- #26 The top-to-bottom order of objects is called stacking order; each object you create is stacked on top of existing objects. When you have multiple stacked objects — especially ones that are closely spaced — it can be difficult to select exactly what you want. Fortunately, the application provides a number of options to make it easier. When you move the Selection tool cursor over an object, the edges of the object are highlighted. This lets you know what will be selected if you click. When an object is already selected, InDesign CC favors the already selected object. This prevents you from accidentally selecting an object higher in the stacking order (for example, if you want to drag only the middle object); but this also means you have to be careful if you do want to select a different object. You can use the Object>Select submenu commands to access objects relative to their order in the stack. You can use the Object>Arrange submenu commands to change the stacking-order position of objects. Finally, you can use the individual item listings in the Layers panel to select exactly the object you want, or to rearrange objects in the layer stack.
- #27 When you click a color in the Swatches panel, or change the color values in the Color panel, the change applies to the active attribute. You can change the active attribute using the Fill and Stroke icons at the bottom of the Tools panel (or in the Color panel); whichever is the top icon is the active attribute. You can also use the Fill Color and Stroke Color options in the Control panel to change these color attributes. In this case, each attribute has a separate panel so you do not need to worry about which attribute is active to change its color. The Color panel shows the active attribute’s color as one or more sliders depending on the color’s model. You can change the color by typing specific values in the fields, or by dragging the sliders below the color gradients. (You can change the active color model using the panel’s Options menu.)
- #28 If the Replace Selected Item option is not checked in the Place dialog box, clicking Open loads the selected image or images into the Place cursor. By default, the loaded Place cursor shows a small thumbnail of the file you are placing. (You can turn off the thumbnail preview by unchecking the Show Thumbnails on Place option in the Interface pane of the Preferences dialog box.) When you select multiple files in the Place dialog box, the cursor is loaded with all of the selected pictures; a number in the cursor shows the number of files that are loaded. You can use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to navigate through the loaded images, watching the cursor thumbnails to find the one you want to place. Every image in a layout exists in a frame. When you click an empty area to place an image, the containing frame is automatically created for you. If you click inside an existing frame, the loaded image is placed into the frame where you click. Unless the Auto-Fit option in the Control panel is checked, it is simply placed at 100% of the actual file’s size. If the Auto-Fit option is checked for a specific frame, the image you place into the frame will automatically be scaled proportionally to fit the available space in the frame.
- #29 When you place a native Illustrator file, the dialog box shows the Place PDF options because the PDF format is the basis of Illustrator files that can be placed into InDesign. (For an Illustrator file to be placed into InDesign, it must be saved from Illustrator with the Create PDF Compatible File option checked in the Illustrator Options dialog box.) In the General options, the Crop To menu determines what part of the file will import. The different options are explained on Page 55. You can also define the specific PDF “page” — in the case of an Illustrator file, which artboard you want to place. When the Transparent Background option is checked, background objects in the layout show through empty areas of the placed file. If this option is not checked, empty areas of the placed file knock out underlying objects. In the Layers options, you can determine which layers to display in the placed file by toggling the eye icons on or off in the Show Layers list. The Update Link Options menu determines what happens when/if you update the link to the placed file. •Keep Layer Visibility Overrides maintains your choices regarding which layers are visible in the InDesign layout. •Use PDF’s Layer Visibility restores the layer status as saved in the placed file.
- #30 Moving the Selection tool cursor over a placed graphic reveals the Content Grabber icon, which you can click to access and manipulate the frame’s content without the need to switch tools. When the actual frame is selected, the Control panel defines the frame’s parameters. Blue handles show the edge of the frame that contains the placed image. When the frame’s content is selected, a red frame indicates the edges of the frame content. Options in the Control panel relate to the placed object and not the containing frame. The X+ and Y+ fields define the position of the image within the frame; the Scale X and Scale Y fields show the file’s current size as a percentage of the original. By default, the image contained within the frame remains unaffected if you edit the dimensions of a graphics frame. When the Auto-Fit option in the Control panel is checked, however, resizing the frame automatically resizes the contained image to fit the new frame size.
- #31 Fitting options are available when either the frame or the frame content is selected. When the content is selected, however, you can see the red bounding box that marks the edge of the placed image (rather than only the frame bounding box). Fitting options resize content relative to the containing frame, or resize the frame to match the placed content. •Fill Frame Proportionally resizes content to fill the entire frame while preserving the content’s proportions. •Fit Content Proportionally resizes content to fit entirely within its containing frame, maintaining the current aspect ratio of the image. Some empty space might result along one dimension of the frame. •Fit Frame to Content resizes the frame to the dimensions of the placed content. •Fit Content to Frame resizes content to fit the dimensions of the containing frame, even if that means scaling the content out of proportion (stretched in one direction or another). •Center Content centers content within its containing frame, but neither the frame nor the content is resized. If you choose Frame Fitting Options for an empty frame, you can define the settings that will automatically apply when you place an image into that frame. If the Auto-Fit option is active, the image inside the frame will automatically scale when you change the containing frame dimensions.
- #32 The exercises in this project were designed to show how to add simple text to a layout. You will learn much more about formatting text as you complete the remaining projects in this book. To type text directly into a layout, you must first create a frame with the Type tool. If you import an external text file, you can click the loaded place cursor inside an existing frame to add the text into that frame. You can also click the loaded place cursor in an empty area of the page; a containing type frame is automatically created for you. You must use the Selection tool to change the position and size of a text frame. You can either drag the handles to manually change the frame, or use the Control panel options to define specific parameters. Some attributes of a type frame are no different than a graphics frame. You can change the position and size (based on the selected reference point) using the fields on the left end of the Control panel.
- #33 To place the insertion point in a type frame, you can either choose the Type tool and click inside the frame, or double-click with the Selection tool inside the frame. When the insertion point is flashing inside a type frame, you can use the Control panel to change a number of type formatting options. •Character formatting such as the font, style, size, and color apply only to selected characters. New text in InDesign is automatically set in black 12-pt Minion Pro. This font is installed along with the application, so it should be available on your computer unless someone has modified your system fonts. Type defaults to a 100% black fill with no stroke. You can use the Control panel options to change the fill and stroke color of selected type. (If you apply a stroke to type, be very careful to avoid destroying the letter shapes.) •Paragraph formatting applies to the entire paragraph where the insertion point is placed. You don’t have to first select the entire paragraph. You should carefully review the information on Page 426 to understand the available options for selecting text.
- #34 When you print a desktop proof, keep in mind that proofs should be created using a PostScript-compatible printer if possible. Also remember that inkjet and laser printers typically do not accurately represent color the way it will look when created on a commercial printing press. The most important options in the Print dialog box are the Printer and PPD (PostScript printer description) settings. InDesign reads the information in the PPD to determine which specific print options are available for the output. •General options. You can determine exactly what will appear in the output — which pages, whether non-printing objects appear in the print, and so on. •Setup options. You can define the size of paper you are using for the print. For a rough proof, you can also use the Scale options to fit the print on a single sheet of paper. For final proofing, you should create the print at 100%; use the Tile options if necessary and then assemble the multiple sheets after the proof is printed. •Marks and Bleed options. You can choose to include printer’s marks in the output, as well as how much bleed area to include in the print. If your document uses a bleed, such as the letterhead layout in this project, the final proof should include that area. •Output options. You can choose to print a composite proof (all colors at once) or separations (each ink color on a separate sheet). You can also convert spot colors to process, or turn off specific ink separations for the current print. •Graphics options. You can determine how data is transferred to the output device.