This document provides an overview of various tools and features in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop CC for graphic design projects, including how to work with swatches, layers, effects, text formatting, exporting to PDF, and flattening transparency when outputting files. It discusses topics like creating and managing swatches, hiding and locking objects, applying gradients and effects, formatting text, setting up baselines grids, and options for exporting and compressing PDFs in a way that preserves image quality and transparency.
1. Adobe CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Project 8:
Festival Poster
Building graphic
interest
Importing and
formatting text
Graphics as text
and text as
graphics
Outputting a file
3. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Creating New Swatches
Name
Type
Model
Component
percentages
4. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Spot Colors
Colors out of CMYK gamut
Two-color jobs
Accurate color
match
Built-in libraries
Special icon in
Swatches panel
5. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Showing & Hiding
Object>Hide
Object>Show All
on Spread
Layers panel
sublayers
6. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Locking & Unlocking
Object>Lock
Object>Unlock
All on Spread
Layers panel
sublayers
8. Place into existing frame
Deletes any existing content
Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Replace Selected Item
9. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Clipping Paths
Isolate areas
of image
Detect edges
in image
Call stored
paths in
image files
Convert to
Frame
11. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Effects (cont’d)
Effects panel menu
Control panel menu
Non-destructive
12. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Threading Type Frames
Overset Text
icon
In port
Out port
View>Extras>
Show Text
Threads
14. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Type Formatting
Character options =
only selected
characters
Paragraph options =
entire paragraph
(between two ¶
symbols) where
characters are selected
15. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Optical Margin Alignment
Story panel
Hanging punctuation
Applies to entire story
16. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Placeholder Text
Known values
– Use longest possible variable
Unknown values
– Type>Fill with Placeholder Text
– Lorem text
17. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Anchored Graphics
Place directly
where insertion
point flashes
Cut/copy and paste
into text
Frame treated as a
single character
Use Selection tool
to modify frame or
graphic
18. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Baseline Grid
Document
preference
Text Frame option
Align To Paragraph option
19. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Type on a Path
Type on a Path tool
Options
Start bar/End bar
Center bar
20. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
Exporting PDF
File>Export
Adobe PDF (Print) option
Suite-wide presets
21. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, & Photoshop CC: The Graphic Design Portfolio
General Options
Standards
Compatibility
Pages
Options
Include
This project incorporates more complex text and graphics formatting options into an overall composition.
Many page layout projects revolve around client-supplied text files, whether sent in an unformatted email or extensively formatted in a word processing application such as Microsoft Word. This project explores the basic options related to working with longer blocks of client-supplied text, and explains text formatting options in greater detail.
Beyond simply creating frames and placing images, InDesign offers a wide range of options for adding visual interest to various elements. In addition to applying graphic effects, you can also incorporate text in a way that makes the text an integrated part of the composition.
The Swatches panel is used to apply predefined colors to any element in a layout. Six CMYK color swatches are included in the default set for print documents, as well as a Black swatch (100% black ink) that is the default color for text.
The None color option essentially removes color from that attribute. Underlying objects will be visible in areas where None is applied.
The Paper color effectively creates a solid “white” fill. (Paper is basically white, but the swatch is more accurately named because the paper for a specific job might not be white.)
Anything colored with the Registration swatch will appear on every separation in a job. This color should only be used for special marks or other information placed outside the trim area.
Of course, you are not limited to these few options. You can define new color swatches based on one of three color models (CMYK, RGB, or LAB), or you can call spot colors from built-in libraries of special inks. Each different mode and type of color has an identifying icon in the panel.
The Name With Color Value option at the top of the dialog box is checked by default. As a general rule, you should allow InDesign to create color names based on the component color percentages.
Review the information on Page 448 for details about color naming conventions.
If you are creating a file for print, most color swatches will use the Process type and the CMYK model.
When these options are selected, you can then define the ink percentages that make up the color.
Keep in mind that if you base your color choices solely on what you see on your monitor, what appears to be a perfect blue sky will probably not look quite right when it’s printed with process-color inks. As long as monitors display color in RGB, there will almost always be some discrepancies.
Instead, you should base color choices on printed samples. Process-color charts are available from commercial publishers, and some printers might provide the charts produced by the exact press on which your job will be printed.
As you gain experience defining colors, you will become better able to predict the outcome for a given process-ink build. Rely on what you know to be true rather than what you hope will be true.
Spot colors are created with premixed inks that produce a certain color with one ink layer; they are not built from the standard process inks used in CMYK printing. When you output a job with spot colors, each spot color appears on its own separation.
Spot inks are commonly used to reproduce colors you can’t get from a CMYK build; in two-color documents (as in the envelope in this project); and when an exact color match is always required (such as a corporate branding color).
The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is the most common spot colors system in the United States. Make sure you do not choose a color from a library different than the one your printer uses.
Although you use built-in swatch libraries to access spot colors in Illustrator, ideally you should choose the color you want from a printed sample book before applying it in your digital artwork.
When you apply a spot color in a file, that color is added to the basic Swatch panel. Spot colors are identified by a small black dot in the white corner of the swatch.
There are many reasons that you might hide specific objects, especially as a layout becomes more complex. Hiding objects makes it easier to find underlying shapes so you can edit them without accidentally changing other nearby objects.
The Object>Hide command is fairly self-explanatory. To show hidden objects, you can choose Object>Show All. The Show All command shows every object that is currently hidden; there is no menu command to show only certain objects.
In the Layers panel, you can click the Eye icon to hide an entire layer. If no Eye icon is visible, clicking the empty space re-shows that layer.
Each sublayer also has a separate Eye icon, which you can use to show or hide specific objects even if they aren’t selected. This makes it possible to show only specific objects, in contrast to the universal Show All command available in the Object menu.
As with showing and hiding specific objects, the Object>Lock options can be useful for accessing and editing objects in complex layouts. Rather than hiding objects, however, locking keeps objects visible while still protecting them from being changed. When frame edges are visible, locked objects show a small lock icon in the top-right corner.
The Object>Lock command is self-explanatory. To show hidden objects, you can choose Object>Unlock All on Spread. The Unlock All command unlocks every object on the active spread that is currently locked; there is no menu command to unlock only certain objects.
In the Layers panel, you can click the empty space to the left of the Eye icon to lock an entire layer. If the Lock icon is visible, clicking the icon unlocks that layer.
When the sublayers are visible in the Layers panel, you can use the sublayer Lock icons to lock and unlock specific objects even if they are not selected. This makes it possible to unlock only specific objects, in contrast to the universal Unlock All command available in the Object menu.
A gradient creates a smooth transition from one color to another. You can apply a gradient to any object using the Gradient panel, or you can use the Swatches panel to create a gradient swatch if you plan to use it more than once.
If you decide to create a gradient swatch, you can define color stops using LAB values, CMYK percentages, RGB values, or existing color swatches.
After creating a gradient swatch, make sure the correct attribute (fill or stroke) is active and then click the gradient swatch in the Swatches panel.
It is important to remember but easy to forget: make sure the correct attribute is active when you change a color.
Once the gradient is applied to an object, you can use the Gradient panel to modify its type (linear or radial) and angle, as well as the positioning of specific color stops.
If you change a shape’s dimensions, the applied gradient is adjusted so the end stops still align to the object’s edges. You can use the Gradient tool to manually define the start point, angle, and end point for the gradient.
The Gradient Feather tool has a similar function but produces different results. Rather than creating a specific-colored gradient, the Gradient Feather tool applies a transparency gradient, blending the object from solid to transparent.
The options at the bottom of the Place dialog box can be very useful for controlling exactly what is placed, and where in the layout it is placed.
The Replace Selected Item option means that the file you select will be placed into the same space as the selected object in the layout — replacing the previous content in the frame. The new placed file is automatically scaled as necessary to have the same dimensions as the replaced content.
If nothing is selected when you place a file using the Replace Selected Item option, the file is simply loaded into the Place cursor.
It is important to understand that these options remember the last-used settings. In other words, once you check the Show Import Options box (for example), it stays checked until you turn it off.
Of course, it is easy to forget to uncheck this option when you do not want it. If you place an image directly into a frame when you wanted to load it into the cursor instead, press Command/Control-Z to implement the Undo command. The previously placed image is removed from the frame and loaded back into the Place cursor.
InDesign can access Alpha channels and clipping paths that are saved in an image, or you can create a clipping path based on the image content. Areas inside the clipping path are visible; areas outside the path are hidden.
When you choose Object>Clipping Path>Options, you can determine exactly how the path is read or generated.
•Threshold specifies the darkest pixel value that will define the resulting clipping path.
•Tolerance specifies how similar a pixel must be to the Threshold value before it is hidden by the clipping path.
•Inset Frame shrinks the clipping path by a specific number of pixels.
•Invert reverses the clipping path, making hidden areas visible and vice versa.
•Include Inside Edges creates a compound clipping path, removing inner areas of the object if they are within the Threshold and Tolerance ranges.
•Restrict to Frame creates a clipping path that stops at the visible edge of the graphic.
•Use High Resolution Image generates the clipping path based on the actual file data instead of the preview image.
When a clipping path is applied in the layout, you can convert that path to an actual frame by choosing Object>Clipping Path>Convert Clipping Path to Frame.
The Effects panel lists the selected object, as well as the different attributes of that object (fill, stroke, etc.). You can use this panel to change the blending mode and opacity of the entire object, or of a specific attribute.
If the content of a frame is selected, you can also use the panel to apply effects to only the frame’s contents — in the example shown here, a graphic.
Blending modes control how colors in an object interact with colors in underlying objects. Objects are set to Normal by default, which simply overlays the top object’s color onto underlying objects. (The various blending modes are the same as those available in Photoshop.)
Opacity refers to the degree you can see through an object. You can use the Effects panel to change the opacity of an entire object or to specific object attributes
You can apply effects to a selected object using the fx menu in the Control panel, or using the Effects panel. (The various effects are explained in detail on Page 469.)
The Drop Shadow effect is common enough to merit its own checkbox in the Control panel. After checking the box, you can then open the Effects dialog box to edit the shadow’s settings.
Effects in InDesign are non-destructive, which means they have no effect on the physical file data.
You can edit the settings of an applied effect by double-clicking the fx icon in the Effects panel (or by choosing the applied effect in the fx menu of the Control panel).
You can also use the Effects panel to apply effects to specific attributes of an object, such as to the graphic inside a frame or to only the frame’s stroke.
If you see the overset text icon (the red plus sign) in the bottom-right corner of a frame, the story does not fit in the current frame (or series of frames).
When a text frame is selected with either selection tool, you can see the In and Out ports that allow you to link one text frame to another.
Clicking the Out port loads the cursor with the rest of the text in the story. When the loaded cursor is over an existing frame, you can click to place the next part of the story in that frame. If the loaded cursor is not over a frame, you can click and drag to create a frame that will contain the next part of the story.
Tip: If the insertion point is flashing in a text frame, you can press Command/Control to temporarily access the Selection tool. While holding the modifier key, click the text frame to access its in port, out port, and bounding box handles.
You can define the thread of text frames even when there is no text to fill those frames. Simply use the Selection or Direct Selection tool to click the Out port of one frame, and then click anywhere within the next frame you want to add to the thread.
If you do not see the text threads when a frame is selected, choose View>Extras>Show Text Threads. When this option is toggled on (and you are in Normal viewing mode), you can see all of the threading arrows whenever any of the frames in the thread is selected.
Hidden characters are the ones that you do not see in print (hence the name “hidden”), but that are required to maintain the structure of words and sentences — spaces, tabs, paragraph returns, and so on. Without hidden characters, all text would be a long, mashed up string of unreadable letters.
When you set type in a digital application, it can be very helpful to see the hidden characters so you can determine exactly what corrections might be required. For example, double paragraph returns are a common problem in client-supplied text; these should be removed so you can more accurately control paragraph spacing with the appropriate paragraph formatting options.
Depending on the width of your monitor/application frame, most type formatting options will be available in the Control panel when the Type tool is active. If you do not see all the paragraph and character options at once, you can use the A and ¶ buttons on the left side of the panel to toggle between Character formatting and Paragraph formatting options.
You can also access type formatting options in the Character and Paragraph panels, which are both accessed in the Window>Type submenu.
It is important to understand the difference between character and paragraph formatting.
Characters are individual glyphs — letters, punctuation marks, etc. The various character formatting options are clearly explained on Page 477. Changes to character formatting apply to only the selected glyphs.
Paragraphs are all characters that exist between two ¶ symbols, even if the paragraph exists on a single line. Paragraph formatting applies to the entire paragraph where the insertion point is flashing, or where at least one character is selected.
At times, specific arrangements of text can cause a paragraph to appear out of alignment, even though it is technically aligned properly. Punctuation at the beginning or end of a line — such as a quotation mark at the beginning of a line or a comma at the end of a line — can throw off the visual effect of the proper alignment.
When Optical Margin Alignment is turned on in the Story panel, punctuation marks move outside the text margins (either to the left for left-aligned text or right for right-aligned text).
The available field in the Story panel tells InDesign what size type needs to be adjusted. The best effect is usually created by entering the size of the type that needs adjustment.
The Optical Margin Alignment option applies to an entire story, including all text frames in the same thread. If necessary, you can use the Paragraph panel Options menu to toggle this option on for individual paragraphs so a specific paragraph is not affected by the optical margin alignment that is applied to the overall story.
It is always a good idea to begin a project as soon as possible after getting the assignment. When working with clients, however, the idea for a project often comes before the actual content — sometimes long before the client has finalized the text or provided the promised images.
Rather than waiting until the client’s content is ready — which is sometimes the day before a project is due — you can design a layout using placeholders to mark the location of pictures and text frames, and even experiment with the appearance of different elements of the text.
Certain text elements will be made clear in the initial project description. In that case, you can use actual text to plan the appearance of a particular element. It is a good idea to design around the longest possible content. For example, consider a project that requires individual info sheets for each national park; you should identify the longest possible national park name and design around that content.
It isn’t always possible to determine the longest possible content for a particular editorial element. In that case, choosing Type>Fill with Placeholder Text fills the selected text frame with lorem text using the default text-format settings. These random words give you a better idea of what text will look like when real content is placed in the layout.
You can use the Placeholder Text Options dialog box to change the language used in the placeholder text.
If you place images as inline graphics, they will be anchored to the text in the position where they are placed. If text reflows, inline objects reflow with the text and maintain their correct positioning. This feature can be very useful for a variety of other purposes, such as creating custom bullets or adding a sidebar frame that needs to remain in proximity to the main body copy.
There are two methods for creating inline objects.
•If the insertion point is flashing in a story when you place a graphic using the Replace Selected Item option, the graphic is automatically placed as an inline object.
•You can also select an existing object, cut or copy it, place the insertion point in a story, and then paste the object inline where the insertion point flashes.
An inline graphic is treated as a single text character in the story; it is affected by many of the paragraph-formatting commands, such as space before and after, tab settings, leading, and baseline position. You can select an inline graphics frame just as you would any other text character.
Although inline graphics are anchored to the text, they are still graphics contained in graphics frames. You can select the inline frames with the Selection tool, and then apply the same transformations to inline graphics that you could apply to any other placed graphics.
A number of options are available for controlling anchored objects. These are explained on Page 486.
The baseline grid, a series of light blue non-printing guides that extend down the page at specific regular intervals, is used for controlling and aligning type. You can show the baseline grid by choosing View>Grids & Guides>Show Baseline Grid.
You can force paragraphs to align to the baseline grid, which overrides the defined leading.
You can change the overall baseline grid in the Grids pane of the Preferences dialog box. The Start position can be relative to the top of the page (default) or to the top margin. You can also change the increment between lines. The View Threshold value determines the smallest view percentage at which the baseline grid will be visible.
You can also change the baseline grid for a specific frame in the Baseline Options tab of the Text Frame Options dialog box (Object>Text Frame Options).
A type path can be any shape you can create in InDesign, whether it is a straight line drawn with the Line tool, or a Bézier curve drawn with the Pen tool. After drawing an open path, clicking the path with the Type on a Path tool converts the path to a type path.
Note: This is the only way text can exist in an InDesign layout without a containing text frame.
By default, the left margin of the type path always defaults to the left end of the converted path.
Selecting a type path with either selection tool reveals the Start, Center, and End bars. You can drag the Start and End bars to change the left and right margins (respectively). If you drag the Center bar, the Start and End bars move in relative position to the new center point.
A text path can have a fill and stroke value just like any other path. When a text path has no stroke color, you can still view the path by choosing View>Extras>Show Frame Edges.
Options related to type paths are explained on Page 491. You can access these settings by choosing Type>Type on a Path>Type on a Path Options
When created properly, the PDF format solves many of the prepress and output problems that are commonly associated with designer-provided layout files.
InDesign offers two separate options for exporting PDF files. After choosing File>Export, you can choose the Interactive or Print option in the Format menu. The two format choices open different dialog boxes, with options relevant to the type of file you want to create.
When you choose the Print option, you can then define a number of additional options to determine exactly what is stored in the resulting PDF file.
Adobe applications include a number of built-in PDF presets, which store a variety of output settings in one click. The presets are adequate for many applications, and they at least provide a good basis to create a PDF file with all of the necessary information.
You can also create your own presets if you will be using the same settings repeatedly. After you define the various output settings, click Save Preset and name the preset.
Note: PDF Presets apply to all applications in the Adobe Creative Suite. If you create a preset in InDesign, that same present can also be called in Illustrator (for example). The reverse is also true; presets created in Illustrator can be called in the InDesign Export Adobe PDF dialog box.
The PDF/X specification was created to help solve some of the problems associated with bad PDF files entering the prepress workflow. PDF/X is a subset of PDF that is specifically designed to ensure that files have the necessary information for digital prepress output. Ask your output provider whether you should apply a PDF/X standard to your files, and if so, which version to use.
The Compatibility menu determines which version of the PDF format you will create. This is particularly important if your layout uses transparency. PDF 1.3 does not support transparency, so the file will require flattening. If you save the file to be compatible with PDF 1.4 or later, transparency information will be maintained in the PDF file.
Options in the General pane of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box determine which pages of a layout are included in the file, and what non-printing elements are included in the output. (These options are explained on Page 494.)
When you create a PDF file for printing, you need to make sure the PDF file includes enough resolution for the commercial print process. If you do not understand the compression options, you could create a file with low-resolution images that would look fine on screen but look terrible in a commercially printed document.
The concept of effective resolution is explained in detail on Page 495. In brief: If you reduce the physical size of a 300-ppi image, you increase the effective resolution. The output process does not typically require more than 300 ppi, however, and the excessive resolution increases file size.
The first menu in each section can be used to downsample image resolution for any image with more than a defined effective resolution. For most print applications, you can safely downsample to 300 ppi. For digital applications, you can usually downsample to 72 ppi to reduce the file size.
The Compression menu defines the type of compression that is applied. JPEG is a lossy method, which means data is thrown away; this method can cause visible artifacts in the print, especially if you apply a high amount of compression. ZIP compression is lossless; no data is thrown away, quality is typically better than with JPEG, but file size is larger.
The Image Quality menu determines how much compression is applied. This can be confusing because choosing a higher setting in this menu results in lower compression. Just remember: Higher quality = lower compression = larger file size (and vice versa).
Printer’s marks on a PDF file tell the output provider where the job should be cut. InDesign automatically creates trim marks based on the defined page size.
The application can also include a bleed area based on the file’s defined settings (when you created the file). If you uncheck the Use Document Bleed Settings option, you can define specific bleed values for each edge of the page.
Keep in mind that most printers prefer that you offset printer’s marks to be outside the bleed area. You can use the Offset field in the top half of the dialog box to accomplish this goal.
If you apply transparency in your file, you have to define how the flattening should be applied when the file is output.
The Advanced pane of the Print dialog box includes a Preset menu, which calls the same presets we have already explained. You can also click the Custom button to define settings other than those that are saved in a preset.
When you save an InDesign file as a PDF, you can choose to save the file to be compatible with earlier versions of Acrobat. Acrobat 5 or higher supports transparency, which means transparent objects are not flattened when saved.
However, Acrobat 4 and earlier do not support transparency. If you need save the PDF to the PDF 1.3 standard to work with Acrobat 4, you have to define the specific flattener preset (or custom settings) in the Advanced pane of the Save Adobe PDF dialog box.
Placed files, blending modes, object opacity, and certain effects relate to transparency. This means you need to understand how transparency affects your output.
Applying transparency in print design is a bit of a contradiction. Commercial printing is usually accomplished by overlapping a mixture of semi-transparent inks in different percentages to reproduce a range of colors (the printable gamut). In that sense, all print graphic design requires transparency.
But design transparency refers to the objects on the page. The trouble is, when a halftone dot is printed, it is either there or it’s not. There is no “50% opaque” setting on a printing press. This means that a transformation needs to take place behind the scenes, translating what we create on screen into what a printing press produces.
When transparent objects are output, overlapping areas of transparent elements are actually divided into individual elements (where necessary) to produce the best possible results. Ink values in the overlap areas are calculated by the application, based on the capabilities of the mechanical printing process; the software converts our digital designs into the elements that are necessary to print.
The process of converting transparent objects to their printable equivalents is called flattening. You can flatten transparency on an object-by-object basis, or let the process occur when the file is printed or saved as a PDF.
Adobe applications — including InDesign — include three default flattener presets, which are appropriate for most typical jobs:
•Low Resolution works for desktop proofs that will be printed on low-end black-and-white printers, and for documents that will be published on the Web.
•Medium Resolution works for desktop proofs and print-on-demand documents that will be printed on PostScript-compatible color printers.
•High Resolution works for commercial output on a printing press and for high-quality color proofs.
These presets can be applied in a number of locations, whether you are flattening individual objects or allowing overall flattening during the output process.
You can also create your own presets by choosing Edit>Transparency Flattener Presets. The specific available options are explained on Page 492.
