Importing and Modifying Graphics

By Kelly Kordes Anton and Tina DeJarld
Mar 6, 2021

📄 Contents

␡

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 subject-aware text wrap
Filling type with a graphic
Using an InDesign library to manage objects
Exploring on your own
Review questions
Review answers

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Using an InDesign library to manage objects

InDesign libraries let you store and organize graphics, text, and design elements that you use frequently. InDesign libraries are stored as files on your hard drive or a shared device. You can also add ruler guides, grids, drawn shapes, and grouped images to a library. Each library appears as a separate panel that you can group with other panels any way you like. You can create as many libraries as you need—for example, different libraries for each of your projects or clients. In this section, you’ll import a graphic currently stored in a library, and then you’ll create your own library.

Move to the left of the letter graphic you created in the previous exercise until you see a light blue square that’s partially transparent.
Choose View > Fit Page In Window to see the entire page.

NOTE

When you open it, the Lesson_11_Elements Library may be grouped with the default Sample Buttons And Forms library. You can drag the default library off the docked panel and close it.
Choose File > Open, select the file Lesson_11_Elements.indl in the Lesson11 folder, and then click Open to open the library file.
In the Lesson_11_Elements Library panel menu, select Show Subset. In the Show Subset dialog box, in the last entry box for Parameters, type flower, and click OK. InDesign searches the library for all objects that have the word “flower” in their name and finds three objects.

Click to view larger image

NOTE

After you drag the flower image onto the page, the Links panel may display a missing link icon () or a modified link icon () because you moved the Blue-Flower.ai file from its original location to your hard drive. To remove the warning, click the Update Link button in the Links panel, or click the Relink button in the Links panel and navigate to the Lesson11 folder to find Blue-Flower.ai.
In the Layers panel, make sure the Graphics layer is selected.
Of the three objects visible in the Lesson_11_Elements Library panel, drag Blue-Flower.ai anywhere on the page. The file is added to the page. Open the Links panel and notice that the filename appears in the Links panel.
Using the Selection tool (), position the Blue-Flower.ai image so that it’s on top of the light blue background frame on the far left of the page.
Choose File > Save to save your work.

Creating an InDesign library

Now you’ll create your own library and add text and a graphic to it. When you add a graphic to an InDesign library, the original graphic file is not copied into the library; instead, InDesign maintains a link to the original source file. Graphics stored in a library still require the original, high-resolution file for high-resolution display and printing.

Choose File > New > Library. (If the CC Libraries alert appears asking whether you want to try out CC libraries now, click No.) Type CD Projects as the library filename, navigate to the Lesson11 folder, and click Save.
Navigate to page 6 (the back cover of the CD insert). Using the Selection tool (), drag the Ricky Records logo to the library you just created. The logo is now saved in the library for use in other InDesign documents.

TIP

If you Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (macOS) an object into a library, the Item Information dialog box appears as soon as you drag the item into the library. You can assign a name to the object as you add each item.
In the CD Projects library, double-click the Ricky Records logo. In the Item Information dialog box, type Ricky Records Logo in the Item Name field, and click OK.
Using the Selection tool, drag the address text frame to the CD Projects library.
In the CD Projects library, double-click the address text block. For Item Name, type Ricky Records Address, and click OK. Click the panel menu and choose Large Thumbnail View so that it’s easier to see the items.

Now your library contains both text and graphics. As soon as you make changes to the library, InDesign saves the changes.
Close both libraries by clicking the close button at the top of the library panel group.

Congratulations! You have completed this lesson.

CREATING AND USING CC LIBRARIES

Creative Cloud Libraries make your favorite assets available to you anywhere. You can use CC Libraries to create and share colors, character and paragraph styles, graphics, Adobe Stock assets, and more using your favorite Creative Cloud desktop and mobile apps. You can then access them across other Creative Cloud apps whenever you need them. You can also share libraries with anyone who has a Creative Cloud account, so it’s easy to collaborate, keep designs consistent, and create shared style guides to use across projects.

CC Libraries work much like the InDesign libraries you used in this lesson. To create a new CC Library, follow these steps:

Choose Window > CC Libraries to display the CC Libraries panel, or click the CC Libraries panel button (). Click OK to close the introductory window.
Click the Library panel menu, and choose Create New Library.
Enter CD Elements in the Create New Library field, and then click Create.

TIP

The CC Libraries menu includes several commands that let you create and manage CC Libraries and control how library elements are displayed in the panel, including the ability to group items.
Use the Selection tool () to select the text frame with the address at the bottom of page 6, and drag it into the Library panel. The formatted text will be added to the library. If you click the plus sign at the bottom of the CC Library panel, you can choose to add individual elements such as a paragraph style.
Scroll to the right and select the “Songs of the Garden” graphic on the cover, and then drag it into the library window. Double-click the name “Artwork 1” and change the name to Songs of the Garden logo. Be sure to click the name and not the icon of the graphic itself. Rename Text 1 to Company Address. Drag another graphic to the library and name it, such as the red maple leaf at the top of the cover. Examine the organization of the library.

After you’ve saved assets to a CC Library, you can use them in other InDesign documents, as well as in other Adobe CC applications, such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
Choose File > New > Document to open a new InDesign document. Click Create to use the default settings.
Drag the “Company Address” asset in the CC Library to the page and click. The Centered White paragraph style uses Paper as the fill color, so you’ll need to add a fill color to the text frame to see the white text. This paragraph style is also added to the list of styles in the Paragraph Styles panel in the new document.
Drag the “Songs of the Garden logo” asset from the CC Library to the page, and then click with the loaded graphics icon to place the graphic.
Close the document without saving changes and return to the document you were working on.

You can also share CC Libraries with team members and other colleagues. For more information, see the “Exploring on your own” section at the end of this lesson.

USING SNIPPETS

A snippet is a file that holds objects and describes their location relative to one another on a page or page spread. Snippets are a way to conveniently reuse and place objects in position, and they can be shared with others. You create a snippet by exporting objects to a snippet file, which has the .idms extension. When you place a snippet file in InDesign, you can determine whether the objects are placed in their original positions or where you click. You can store snippets in an InDesign library as well as on your hard drive. Artwork added to CC Libraries from InDesign is also stored as a snippet.

To create a snippet, do one of the following:

Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then choose File > Export. From the Save As Type (Windows) or Format (macOS) menu, choose InDesign Snippet. Type a name for the file, and click Save.
Using a selection tool, select one or more objects, and then drag the selection to your desktop. A snippet file is created. Rename the file.

To add a snippet to a document, follow these steps:

Choose File > Place.
Select one or more snippet files, and then click Open.
Click the loaded snippet cursor where you want the upper-left corner of the snippet file to be.

If you placed the insertion point in a text frame, the snippet is placed in the text as an anchored object.

All objects remain selected after you place the snippet. By dragging, you can adjust the position of all objects.
If you loaded more than one snippet, press the arrow keys to change the snippet loaded in the cursor, and click the loaded snippet cursor to place the currently selected snippet.

Rather than place snippet objects according to where you click on a page, you can place them in their original locations. For example, a text frame that appeared in the middle of a page when it was saved as a snippet can appear in the same location when you place it as a snippet. To place snippets in their original location:

Open the File Handling section of the Preferences dialog box. In the Snippet Import area, choose Original Location from the menu.

The default is Position At: Cursor Location, which places the object based on where you click on a page.
Or press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) when you click with the loaded snippet cursor to override the current Snippet Import settings. If your preferences are set to Current Location, the snippet will be placed in its original location instead.

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