Adobe InDesign CS2

Working with Independent Graphics

Independent graphics are graphics placed outside of a text frame. Regardless of what you do around the graphic, the placement will not change unless you move it. If you have multiple independent graphics that overlap each other, they become stacked. The order in which they are stacked can be altered.

Placing Independent Graphics
Sizing Independent Graphics
Moving Objects
Stacking Graphics and Text

Placing Independent Graphics

How you place an object is initially determined by your choice of either the Selection Tool or the Type Tool. Independent graphics are placed using the Selection Tool. If you have the Type Tool selected, you can place the object as an inline graphic.

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
From the File menu, select Place...
OR
Press [Ctrl+D]
The Place dialog box appears.
From the Look in pull-down list, navigate to and select the file you want to place
Click OPEN
The cursor changes to a Place icon.
Use the mouse to position the icon’s top left edge where the top left corner of the object should appear in the document
Click to place the object
To adjust the position of the object relative to the text, select a text wrap option
NOTE: To display the Text Wrap palette, from the Window menu, select Text Wrap

Sizing Independent Graphics

Once you have placed a graphic in your InDesign document, you may discover that it is not the right size or it contains extra information that is not relevant to your document. InDesign allows you to resize, crop and pan images until they fit your needs. If you need to do additional editing, you should use a graphics editing program such as Adobe Photoshop.

Resizing an Object: Mouse Option

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
Select the object you want to resize
To change your object proportionately, hold [Ctrl] + [Shift] and click and drag one of the corner sizing handles
To change your object in height or width, hold [Ctrl] and click and drag one of the sizing handles
Release the mouse button

Resizing an Object: Palette Option

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
Select the object you want to resize
If the Transform palette is not visible, from the Window menu, select Transform
The Transform palette appears.
From the Transform palette, in the W and H text boxes, specify the desired width and/or height of the object
NOTE: To change the ruler measurements (e.g., picas, inches, millimeters, centimeters, etc.), refer to Working with Rulers & Guides
To finalize the sizing change, press [Enter]

Cropping Independent Graphics

Placing graphics often creates unnecessary white space along the sides of the image. You may also find that you need only a portion of a graphic. Cropping allows you to hide these unneeded portions; it functions like a screen which hides part of your image. The image file remains unchanged; only its appearance is modified within the current InDesign publication.

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
Select the image you want to crop
Sizing handles appear around the image.
To crop part of the image, click a handle and drag it inward until the portion of the image you want to remain unchanged is showing
Release the mouse when the graphic is cropped correctly
HINTS:
If you decide later to change the cropping, you can select the graphic with the Selection Tooland enlarge the frame using the sizing handles to show more of the graphic.
If you later need to change which portion of the image is shown, you can pan across the image without re-cropping the image or changing the size of the visible portion of the image.

Panning Graphics

Panning a graphic allows you to adjust which portion of the image is displayed after it has been cropped. Like a camera panning across a scene, the size of the visible area remains the same, but the content changes as you move the "viewfinder" across the picture. This is a useful tool if you cropped the picture to the right size, but need to adjust slightly which portion of the image is shown.

From the Toolbox, click DIRECT SELECTION TOOL
As you move the cursor over the image, it turns into a Hand icon.
Click and drag the Hand icon until you see the portion of the graphic that you want to show
HINT: To show the hidden part of the image, click and hold until the Hand icon becomes an arrowbefore dragging the image. The hidden portion of the image will appear faintly on the screen as it moves, making it easy for you to see which part of the picture will become visible.
Release the mouse button

Moving Objects

If an object is not placed correctly on the page, it can be moved.

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
Select the object you want to move by clicking it once
Click and hold anywhere on the object
NOTE: Do not click on a sizing handle to move the object.
WARNING: If a two-sided arrow appears, you may have grabbed a handle and accidentally resized the graphic. To undo any resizing, release the mouse button and from the Edit menu, select Undo Resize.
Drag the object to its new location and release the button
NOTE: If you have selected an in-line graphic, you will not be able to move it more than a few pixels up or down within the text.

Stacking Graphics and Text

As you add more objects to your document, some may overlap. In this case, the order in which they appear on the page can make a difference in what objects are displayed. For example, if you have a shaded box and text in the same area of the page, the text has to be on top of the box in order for you to be able to see the text. InDesign allows you to change the stack order of objects to ensure that objects appear in the right order.

From the Toolbox, click SELECTION TOOL
Select the desired object
From the Object menu, select Arrange » select the desired option

Option	Description
Bring to Front	Sends the graphic or text block to the first level in the stack order.
Bring Forward	Sends the graphic or text block one level forward in the stack order.
Send Backward	Sends the graphic or text block one level back in the stack order.
Send to Back	Sends the graphic or text block to the last level in the stack order.