Adobe InDesign Intermediate: Advanced Graphic Features

Name: Adobe InDesign Intermediate: Advanced Graphic Features
Author: Mike Collins

Learn how to use advanced features to apply object styles to images and import a variety of graphics into your documents

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Mike Collins. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the AutoFit feature and content grabber to reposition text and graphics and use Adobe Bridge to import graphics using mini-bridge and Adobe InDesign. Let's open the InDesign application and create a new document that is letter-sized in portrait format. I'll reduce the size slightly and zoom out. A very useful tool in Adobe InDesign is to set up a text frame to automatically be resized to fit the text inside of it. Let's create a text box in our document and give it a color fill by selecting it, choosing what color we want to put, and then let's put some text inside of it and make it white so we can see it easier. And we'll zoom in and take a look at it. Now let's choose a font to see it a little bit easier. Let's increase the scale and center it on the page. Now zoom out again so we can see what it looks like. We'll drop it down into the middle of the page and now we have Adobe InDesign in white. On a blue background. Now we can play with the size and shape of this frame by selecting object, text frame options. Now you can see the text frame options panel with a lot of options you can choose from. Now let's take a look at auto-size on the left and you'll notice the default setting is for it to be turned off. If we click the bar we can turn it on and look at four different options in here. Height only sizes the box vertically to fit the text but the width stays the same. You can also change an anchor point to fit the text in the top, middle, bottom, sides or change the minimum height. Width only gives you similar options as height only but only gives you a minimum width and lets you change line breaks. In this case you can see it condensed our words here with a hyphen. Height and width give you similar options with more to choose from. We have constraints of minimum height, minimum width and no line breaks. Height and width keep proportions is similar to the last one but changes the proportion and scale of the original text frame. Again we have the constraints we can look at here and we'll select okay. Now let's go back and take a look at it again to see what the general tab has in the text frame options panel. Now the inset spacing option has a small chain icon to the right that keeps the top, bottom, left and right spacing proportional or you can deselect it and change the spacing on any side to whatever you want. You've got paragraph spacing limit you can align from different places. We can ignore text wrap, we have width, we have numbers and gutters, we have columns we can choose from as well. Take some time and experiment with the different options in these panels. You'll find you can do a variety of different things to your text. Now let's take a look at how we can edit images in Adobe InDesign. We can copy and paste or drag an image into our document. Let's go ahead and delete this and let's go and find a document to drag into our document and our layout and see what it does. If you click and drag it into the document it will be placed at 100% or full size and be placed in an object frame. We'll go ahead and put this one at the top of the screen, change the spacing and let's reduce and transform it smaller in size. Take it down to 75% both top and bottom. Now let's create another object frame and bring in another graphic. In this case we'll go up to File and Place, choose our image and select Open. Now when we click on the image you'll see a blue outline around the outside of it. If you try to resize the outside of the frame it will crop the image inside of it. If you try to click on the small circle in the center of the frame the outline will turn to red and if you click on the image and drag it you'll see that you can drag the image anywhere inside of the frame. If you click and drag on the red outline you can skew and change the proportions of the scale and size and orientation of the image. Now one of the best ways to change the size and position of the image inside of the frame is to use the Free Transform tool. You can find this tool in the toolbar to the left. It looks like a square with eight small squares around it and an arrow on the left. Note that it also has a small triangle on the bottom right corner, indicating there are more tools inside of it. One of the best ways to change the size and position of the image inside of the frame is to use the Free Transform tool. You can find this tool in the toolbar to your left. It looks like a small square with eight smaller squares around it and an arrow on the left. Note that it has a small triangle on the bottom indicating there are more tools you can open inside of it. Click on the Free Transform tool and now you can change the size and scale of the frame and the image inside of it. If you want to keep your portions consistent as you change press and hold the shift key while you drag the corner side and it'll keep everything together as it changes the size of the frame and image. To resize your image from the center out, press and hold the option or Alt keys. Thanks for watching.

Intermediate Provider : Mike Collins 5 Lessons · 28m in English

Course Description

Learning how to import and edit images into your InDesign document is important for creating your own unique printed or digital content. The many image editing options you will be introduced to in these lessons will give you the skills needed to create clipping paths and masks using a variety of tools. Many publishing projects around the world rely on InDesign because of its universal text and graphics settings, which help streamline the publishing process and maintain consistency across an organization’s messaging projects.

In these lessons on Adobe InDesign, you will learn how to apply advanced object styles to your images. We will explore clipping paths, frame shapes, and how to use pen styles. You’ll also learn how to import graphics into your InDesign document. By the end of this course, you will be able to add graphics from almost any source and edit their properties to fit your needs.

What You'll Learn

Import images and graphics into your InDesign document from almost any source
Create clipping paths and masks using a variety of image editing tools
Apply advanced object styles to your images
Edit graphic properties to fit your needs using advanced editing options
Use Auto-Fit and the Content Grabber to fit content within frames
Work with frame shapes and pen styles for graphics

Key Takeaways

Importing and editing images is essential for creating unique printed or digital content in InDesign.
InDesign's universal text and graphics settings help streamline publishing and maintain consistency across an organization's messaging projects.
Clipping paths and masks can be created using a variety of tools, and object styles can be applied to images.
By the end of the course, learners can add graphics from almost any source and edit their properties to fit their needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this intermediate InDesign course?

You will learn to import and edit images, create clipping paths and masks, apply advanced object styles, work with frame shapes and pen styles, and import graphics into your InDesign document so you can add and edit graphics from almost any source.

What topics and lessons does this course cover?

The course covers using Auto-Fit and the Content Grabber, advanced editing options for graphics, and using import options, taught across five lessons.

What skills does this course help me build?

It builds skills in clipping paths, object diagrams, and writing outlines.

Who is this course for?

It is an intermediate-level Adobe InDesign course for those who want to use advanced graphic features to create unique printed or digital content.