- Getting started
- Adding graphics from other programs
- Comparing vector and bitmap graphics
- Managing links to imported files
- Updating revised graphics
- Adjusting display quality
- Importing and sizing graphics
- Editing placed pictures
- Working with dropped backgrounds
- Importing native Adobe graphic files
- Using an InDesign library to manage objects
- Exploring on your own
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Working with dropped backgrounds
There are two basic types of images with white, or “dropped,” backgrounds, both of which are widely used. The difference is whether the edge between the foreground and background is a crisp, sharp edge or a soft, blending edge. The type of edge used depends on what is appropriate for the image content.
TIP
A mask is a shape that’s used to contain and crop an image. The portion of the image within the mask shape is visible; any areas outside the mask shape are not visible.
Images with sharp edges between the foreground and background can use a vector path to separate the foreground from the background. This is called a clipping path.
If you draw a path in Photoshop and save it with the image, you can choose this path in InDesign, and you can choose different paths from within the same image.
If the image has a relatively light or white background (or a relatively dark background if the subject matter is light), InDesign can automatically detect the edge between the subject and the background and create a clipping path. However, this technique works best for simple shapes or for creating a path to use for Text Wrap, as we did in Lesson 4.
Images with a soft, blending edge between the foreground and background use transparency and soft brushes to delete the background in Photoshop.
Working with clipping paths from Photoshop in InDesign
Navigate to page 7 of the document by double-clicking page 7 in the Pages panel, and choose View > Fit Page In Window.
In the Layers panel, make sure that the Photos layer is selected so that the imported image is placed on that layer. You can lock the Background photos layer to be sure you don’t accidentally click into that frame. Choose File > Place, and double-click the file Pears.psd in the Lesson10 folder.
TIPIf you accidentally click within the existing frame, choose Edit > Undo Place and try again.
Position the loaded raster graphics icon (
) outside the blue square in the center of page 7—to the left and slightly below the top edge (make sure you are not placing the pointer in the square itself)—and click to place an image of two pears. If you need to reposition the graphics frame to match the following image, do so now.Choose Object > Clipping Path > Options. Move the Clipping Path dialog box, if necessary, so that you can see the pear image.
Choose Photoshop Path from the Type menu. Choose the path named “Two Pears.” If Preview is not selected, select it now. The background is now hidden, or clipped out, by the path.
Click OK.
Switch to the Selection tool (
) and click the lower-right corner handle. Press Shift+Ctrl (Windows) or Shift+Command (macOS) and drag up and to the left to scale both the frame and its contents. Make the pears fit inside the purple box as shown. Then choose Object > Fitting > Fit Frame To Content, and then use the Selection tool to move the pears toward the bottom of the blue square.Press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag up and to the right. This creates a copy of the image. Choose Object > Clipping Path > Options, and choose Photoshop Path from the Type menu. This time choose the path named “Right Pear” and click OK. Then choose Object > Fitting > Fit Frame To Content. Switch back to the Selection tool (
), click to select the frame, and use the same technique to scale this pear to about 80% of the original size (the Control panel shows the scale amount as you scale the object). Then move the pointer outside the bounding box until it changes to the Rotate Pointer (
). Rotate the photo to the right about –28 degrees and move it down and slightly inside the box as shown.
NOTENotice the double arrows that appear when you press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click an object, indicating that a copy of the object will be made when you drag, leaving the original object in place.
Press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag down and to the left to create a copy of the single pear. Choose Object > Clipping Path > Options and choose Photoshop Path from the Type menu. This time choose the path named “Left Pear” and click OK. Then choose Object > Fitting > Fit Frame To Content. Switch back to the Selection tool, click to select the frame, and move the pointer outside the bounding box until it changes to the Rotate Pointer (
). Rotate the photo to the left about 22 degrees and move it down and a little to the right.
Notice how a clipping path allows an image to overlap multiple other objects. You can also move images in front of or behind other objects. Take a few moments to experiment.
Choose File > Save to save the file.
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Working with transparent backgrounds from Photoshop in InDesign
Navigate to page 5 of the document by sliding page 7 to the right. Do this by holding down the spacebar. The hand icon (
) appears. Keep the spacebar pressed and drag until page 5 is centered in your window.Select the Rectangle Frame tool (
) in the Tools panel and draw a frame in the lower area as shown, crossing over the border between page 5 and page 6.Then choose Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options. Choose Fit Content Proportionally and then click the top center point in the Align From area. Click OK.
Choose File > Place and double-click the Tulips.psd file in the Lesson10 folder. InDesign fits the image proportionally to the frame as specified. Choose Edit > Deselect All.
Now we want to scale the picture without scaling the frame. Switch to the Selection tool, and notice that when you move the pointer over the right area of the picture, the red frame of the text lights up. This is because the Text layer is above the Graphics layer. Open the Layers panel and lock the Text layer so that you can easily work with the photo. Click the photo over the circle of the content grabber (
) to select the contents of the frame, in this case the photo of the tulips. The handles of the bounding box of the photo (not the frame) will be active. In the Control panel, set the Reference Point to the upper center (
) position, type 70% in the Scale box, and Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS). Use the arrow keys to nudge the photo up slightly. Use the Selection tool to make the frame wider if necessary. Most of the image will be cropped out, with just the tops of the flowers and leaves showing.Notice how different the edges of the tulip image are compared to the edges of the pears image. Here, the edges blend softly into the background. This is the purpose of using transparency in Photoshop to remove a background: to create a soft edge by painting away the background with a soft-edge brush.
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