Chapter 4: Working with Objects

Lesson04.zip

Open 04_Start.indd. Resave as 04_Objects.indd

Update the Damn Links

Even though our text doesn't say anything about it, and I thought it was deliberate for about 2/3rds of the demo, it's best to update the links when you first open the 04_Start.indd file

Working With Layers

Layer behave in InDesign pretty much the same way they do in Illustrator, except that a set of layers is only relevant to the current spread

About Layers

[layers_example.indd.zip]

Think of layers as transparent sheets stacked on top of each other.

You can:

• Turn layers on and off (visible/invisible)
• Drag layers around to change stacking order (and therefore change who's in front of whom)
• Lock Layers

• Open the Layers panel
• Select and expand both the Graphics and Text layers with the little greater-than triangle thingy at the left of the layer name
• Select the Graphic layer. Note the Pen icon indicating it is the current active layer
• Click on the Eye icons to see how the layer visibility is affected

• Zoom into the blue frame on page 1. Click on the pink flowers and notice what layer it's in and the color of the selection rectangle - it's blue which matches the Text layer

• Click on the circular graphic of the hands and seedling. Notice that it's in a different layer, the Graphics layer, and that its selection rect is red corresponding to the layer color

• Also notice the little squares at the right of the layer panel. When an object is selected, the layer and object within the layer show a filled square

• Drag the <BleedingHeart.psd> graphic by the little blue square on the right up to the Graphics layer. Any layer can be dragged around by it's little square
• Just like in Illustrator, you can use Menu > Object > Arrange > Whatever to move objects around within the layer they are currently in.

Creating and Modifying Text Frames

Text is usually located within a Text Frame (though you can do type on a path too).

Best practice is to put as much of your text in as few text frames as possible. So if there's a choice of one text frame with two columns or two linked text frames, choose the single text frame.

Creating and Resizing Text Frames

• Focus on Page 4
• Click on the Text layer in the Layers panel to make sure what you do next is in that layer (since it's gonna be text)
• With the Text tool (T) click at the upper left corner (at the top and left margins) and drag till it snaps at the right edge of the second column and make it 1 inch high.

• Still with the Text tool, enter Featured (shift-return) Blossoms

• From the Paragraph Styles panel, apply Right Flush Title

• With the Selection tool (V), double click the bottom-center handle of the text frame


Very cool feature! The text frame shrinks up to the height of the text within it.

• Go to the text frame on Page 1 that starts with Botanical Gardens Worldwide:. Notice that there's a red + sign at the lower right of the text frame, indicating overset text


Drag from the bottom down to the guide at 6.5 inches. Note the change in the cursor and the guide when your near the guide.

Creating, Modifying, and Resizing Graphics Frames

First off, make sure the Graphics layer is selected in the Layers panel...

• Focus on page 1 just above the burgundy color heading we just edited
• With the Rectangle Frame tool, create a rect about like this:

• Keep it selected for the next step

Resizing and moving images within frames

The image and the frame for any placed graphic are separate elements.

To resize the image (without resizing the frame), select the content by choosing the content grabber donut thingy. You can also do it with Menu > Object > Select > Content.

• Select the content grabber in the rose image on the back page by hovering over the center and clicking when the cursor changes to a hand icon
• Poke and grunt the thing till it fits

• Do the same with the top row of photographs

For the second row we'll take advantage of InDesign's Fitting UI

• Select the Hydrangea image inside the frame in row two (works if you select the frame too)

• Choose Menu > Object > Fitting > Fill Frame Proportionally

• Do the same for the other two images in the row

Adjusting the space between frames

There's a special tool in the tool bar called the Gap tool (U). It's used to adjust the size and position of the spaces between frames.

• Focus on the photos we just layed out, then zoom into the two photos at the top left
• Choose the Gap tool (U) and hover over the vertical gap between the center and right pictures in the top row

• Hold down the shift key and drag the gap to the left by one width of the gap

The shift key makes the gap tool move only the gap between the two top images, otherwise it would change the gap all the way down the column. It's also important to hold down the shift key before clicking with the tool


• Shift select the three top graphic frames and use the Y coordinate field in the Control panel to move it up by .0625 (1/16) inch


You can do arithmetic in any numerical field. You can even use mix unit types and use fractions!

Adding Metadata captions to graphics frames

Metadata is information about an image that's part of the image's file data. It can hold things like the GPS location of where a photo was taken, keywords, creator name and address and tons more. The graphic on the left shows the metadata as displayed in Adobe Bridge for the rose image in the upper left

Next we'll retrieve metadata out of the six graphics files to give them a caption

• Select the six images on the back page
• Open the Links panel and choose Flyout Menu > Captions > Caption Setup...

Text Before: (blank) 
Metadata: Description  (about in the middle of the list)
Text After: Flower 
Alignment: Below Image 
Offset: 0.02 
Paragraph Style: Photo Credit 
Layer: [Same as Image] 

• Links panel Flyout Menu > Captions > Generate Static Captions

Placing and Linking Graphic Frames

Place and Link uses a single graphic multiple times within a document. Updating the graphic's appearance changes its appearance anywhere the graphic appears in the doc. Classic Parent/Child relationship. We'll use the Content Collector tool as a sort of repository for holding the graphics that when dragged onto the page will become a child of the parent graphic in the Content Collector.

• Focus on the pink flower photo on page 1
• Choose the Content Collector tool (B)
• Load the Content Collector by clicking on the pink flower photo and the circular seedling image

• Switch to the Content Placer tool

• Check the Create Link box in the Content Collector

• Plop down the two images on the pasteboard for later use

• Close the Content Collector

Wrapping text around a graphic

• Get the pink flower picture from the pasteboard
• Focus on the center of page 3
• Move the pink flower so it's centered on the left edge of the first column and so the bottom of the graphic extends a couple of lines below the paragraph starting with CARNATION

• Scale the graphic about 175% (check the control panel for the %) by shift-command/control dragging from the lower right corner


Be sure to hold down the command/control key, or only the frame will change size, and not the graphic.

• Choose Menu > Window > Text Wrap
• Choose the Wrap Around Bounding Box button

• Yuch! Too much space. Let's try Wrap Around Object Shape button


Distance from edge set to 0.25in 
Wrap Options: Wrap To:
Both Right & Left Sides
Contour Options: Type:
Detect Edges 
Then nudge with the arrow keys to get a good text wrap.

Transforming the Shape of Frames

How to get non-rectangular shapes...

Working with Compound Shapes

We'll change the shape of an existing rect by subtracting shapes from it

• Focus on the bottom half of page 3
• Select the Background layer (unlock it if it's locked)
• With the Rectangle Frame tool (F) draw from hither to yon


The cyan color is for vis­ual­i­za­tion only. Make sure to go out all the way to the bleed line, or more accurately to the right and bottom edges of the purple rect in the background.


• With the Selection tool (V), shift-select the rect we just drew and the purple background rect

• Menu > Window > Object & Layout > Pathfinder
• Choose Subtract


Result

• Lock the Background layer again to avoid messing it up

Transforming and Aligning Objects

Very similar to every other design app, but a bit more access thru the Control panel

Rotating an Object

• Focus on the upside down leaf logo on page 4

• Use the Control Panel to rotate the graphic 180 degrees


Make sure the registration point is in the center and type in 180 in the roatation field

You could also just drag one of the corners with the shift key held down

Selecting and Modifying Grouped Objects

This is pointless and completely impossible to remember how it works. It's easier just to use the direct selection tool, or ungroup the objects and edit them that way. Or (new feature) you can just double-click on the object within the group you want to select and InDesign does it. Essentially, it Isolation Mode (adapted from Flash) that's existed in Illustrator for about 20 years.

Just skip this...

Drawing Lines and Modifying Arrowheads

Yes, InDesign can draw lines with arrowheads (and tails)!

• Pretty much everything you need to know right there in the dialog...

Creating a QR Code

Nice little feature if you ever need it. I don't see them being used as much as they used to be.

• Focus on Page 4
• Menu > Object > Generate QR Code


Type: Web Hyperlink 
URL: http://www.adobe.com 

• Place the result where you want it

Flowing Text Into An Existing Frame

The idea of flowing text is that you can take a large block of text, and using InDesign's automation features, have it flow into a container (a Text Frame) and automatically create more pages and frames as needed, or have tight control over taking the overflow of a text frame and flowing or linking it to another frame.

Simplest case first, take an existing block of text from a Word file and flowing it into a single Text Frame

Flowing Text Manually

The process of taking an imported text file and flowing across several connected text frames is called threading text.

• Focus on the two text frames under the head How to grow peas, please!



Place the text 06_Peas.docx

Note the little + sign indicating
overset text



Note the cursor change when over the + sign


• Click on the + sign and note the cursor change indicating it's full of text

• Click on the adjacent text frame when you see the cursor change to a chain link, indicating that it will link to the previous text frame


Result

Loading the Type tool with Multiple text files

Advanced power user move. Let's skip it.

Creating Text Frames While Flowing Text

Two new ideas here. One is that if you click with a loaded cursor into a column the text will fill that column. No need to click and drag to create a text frame. It's what makes it worthwhile to set up columns and margins when you set up your doc. The second idea is that if you hold down a modifier key while you drop the text, the cursor will stay loaded with text, ready to be placed in another column.

• Load the cursor with the overset text we just created on page one


The gesture to load the cursor can be tricky. The text frame must be selected first, then you've got to hit the red + sign when the cursor changes to a solid arrowhead with no extra doodads.

• Go to the next spread with Menu > Layout > Next Spread. Do what's necessary to focus in on page 2.

• Before your click, make sure to hold down the Option/Alt key. The cursor adds a snaking line indicating it will stay loaded with text to keep threading...

The gesture here is subtle as well. When the tiny arrow is solid that means it will drop the text into the column from the cursor tip down. When the arrow is filled with white, then it will drop the text down from the top of the column.

• Click without holding the option key at the top of the next column to thread it with the next block of text...

• Completed page 2. Note the red + sign is still there...

Creating Threaded Frames Automatically

There's a shortcut for adding multiple threaded/linked frames, or more accruately for creating text frames with multiple columns.

• Focus on page 3
• With the Text tool (T), click and drag from the upper left of the first column and drag down and right

• While dragging, click the right-arrow key once

A new column will be added for each right-arrow press, and reduced by on for each left-arrow press



There are now two text frames, but most important, they are already threaded/linked with each other.


• With the Selection tool, select the 2nd column on page 2, and click on the output port to load the cursor

• Click anywhere in the first column of the 3rd page


Result

Flowing Text Automatically

The preferred way for creating long documents, like books...

• On page 3, load the Selection tool (V) cursor with the overflow text

• On page 4, hold the shift key and click at the top of the left column

Look for the cursor to change and show the snakey arrow along with curved parantheses around it. Also check that the arrow is white-filled indicating the drop will happen from the top of the column.

The result is terrible. The auto flow overflowed on top of the photos on pages 5 and 7


• With the Selection tool, select the text frames on pages 5 and 7 and delete them


Still terrible, but we'll fix it soon.

Adding Pages While Flowing Text

A demo of InDesign adding pages as needed for a large document

• New doc
• Print tab, View All Presets +, Letter - Half, Landscape
• Preferences > Type
• Confirm Smart Text Reflow is on
• Place 05_Peas.docx

Appying Paragraph Styles to Text

We'll apply the Body Paragraphs style to all the text we just threaded out

• With the Text tool (T), click into any text frame set with the long threaded text we just layed out

• Select all

• Open the Paragraph Styles panel, expand the Body Text folder and choose Body Paragraphs

• Menu > Layout > Go to Page... and go to page 1

• Put the text cursor in the first paragraph and choose the Drop Cap paragraph style

• Put the text cursor in the word Fertilizing and choose the Body Head paragraph style
• Do the same for:
  
  On pages 2/3:
  Sowing
  Thinning Out
  Protection from Birds
  Caring for the Vines (which will jump to page 4^*)
  
  On page 4:
  Picking Peas
  Follow Crops

^*The reason the subhead jumps to another page is because the style contains a setting called Keep With Next, found under the Keep Options dialog box in the flyout menu of the Paragraph panel

Text Style Categories

The world of type and layout has categories for how a style might be used. Generally, they are considered as:

• Heading

Or Head, or Headline. Large and bold and meant to be read first on a given page. Usually a line or two long. Usually not a sentence.

• Subhead

Or Subheading. Smaller than the head, bigger then Body Copy. Often bold.

• Body Copy

Or Body Text, or Body. The meat of the article. Smaller, not bold. Multi-lined, usually in paragraphs.

• Callout

Text used to identify parts of an illustration. Usually around the same size as body copy.

• Caption

Text under images/photos/illustrations describing the image or identifying the creator of the image. Usually around the same size as body copy, but distiguished from body copy by font family or style (like italic).

• Footnote

Or Endnote when at the end of the chapter. Text at the bottom of the page or end of the chapter. Usually a little smaller than body copy, but distiguished from body copy by font family or style (like italic).

• Pull Quote

Or Sidebar. A block of text, larger and usually bolder, that takes a section of text from the body copy and sets it out in a box near the source text.

• Mouse Type

That tiny type you see at the bottom of an add with legal gibberish

Heading

Subhead

Body Copy, paragraph one, lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur malesuada tellus id arcu molestie, vitae porttitor turpis faucibus. Mauris tincidunt ut sem congue aliquam. Nam at dignissim risus. Mauris convallis est vitae dolor sagittis, non vehicula eros molestie.

Pull Quote

Body Copy, paragraph two, suspendisse fringilla suscipit dapibus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Duis vitae sem consectetur, dignissim elit sit amet, consequat risus.^*

Callout

Caption

^* Footnote at bottom of page.

Mouse type, squeek squeek! The use of this product will probably kill you. Do not take if you are allergic to this product. May cause sudden blindness. Product not refundable or returnable. Not legal in states where it is not legal, which is most of them.

Adjusting Columns

Finally, we get to edit those pesky columns on page 4!

• Focus on page 4
• With the Selection tool, choose the text frame on the left
• Drag the bottom of the text frame up to clear the bottom graphic
• Do the same for the rest of the document

Using the Baseline Grid to Align Text

This is the setting that can make your head explode if you don't remember where it is. It is in the Paragraph panel, a tiny little button on the lower right

This can be a nice, if somewhat limiting, feature. It makes the baseline of everything line up across the page. To make it work, you first have to set up the grid and a paragraph format that aligns to the grid.

• Focus on page 1
• Switch to the Text tool (T)
• Click into the first paragraph
• Observe the leading in the control panel (11pt)

 

• Open the Preferences dialog to the Grids tab (Menu > InDesign/Edit > Preferences > Grids)


Relative to:
Top Margin  
Increment
Every:
11 pt 

Viewing the Baseline Grid

• Menu > View > Grids & Guides > Show Baseline Grid
• Menu > View > Actual Size
• Insert the cursor in the first paragraph
• Select all
• Click on the Align to Baseline button in the Paragraph panel

Adding a Jump Line Page Number

You can add a hint for the reader on where the story is continued, or where the story came from with jump line numbers. The magic gesture is that the Next Page Number marker has to be in a text frame that touches the text frame of the story to be continued.

• Focus near the bottom right of page 1
• With the Type tool (T) draw a rect about
  1.5in wide by .25in high


Result


• Move it up to touch the bottom of the story text frame and aligned with the right edge of the column and bottom margin

• Type Peas continued on, then insert the Jump Line number with Right-Click-Context-Menu > Insert Special Characters > Markers > Next Page Number at the end of the line

• With the Paragraph Styles panel, apply the Continued From/To Line style in the Folios folder

Note that the paragraph style includes an Align Away From Spine setting