Chapter 12: Applying Effects to Objects
305
Applying feathering
A similar option to drop shadows is feathering, which essentially softens the edges of objects.
Figures 12.12 through 12.14 show all three types of feathering.
Applying basic feathering
To apply basic feathering, where the edges are blurred around all sides of an object, select the Basic
Feather option. The controls are simple:
l
In the Feather Width field, enter a value for the degree of feathering — smaller numbers
have the least effect; larger numbers have the most effect. The feathering area starts at the
outside edge of the object, so a larger number eats into the object, making it a wispier ver-
sion of itself.
l
The Choke field and pop-up menu let you set where the frame edge begins to get fuzzy
(a value of 0 starts immediately at the object edge, whereas a larger value pushes the fuzzy
part into the object).
l
The Noise field and pop-up menu let you add visual noise to the shadow, making it less
smooth as the value increases.
l
The Corners pop-up menu gives you three options:
l
Sharp
l
Rounded
l
Diffused
The Sharp option retains the original corner shape as much as possible. The Rounded
option rounds the corners of the object; it can distort the shape dramatically at larger
Feather Width settings. The Diffused option creates a soft, almost smoky effect by making

for each, and set the location for both gradient stops and transition points just as you do
for any gradient (see Chapter 8). You can reverse the gradient’s direction by clicking the
iconic button to the right of the gradient ramp.
l
In the Options area, you set the gradient type — Linear or Radial — and the lighting angle.
20_607169-ch12.indd 30620_607169-ch12.indd 306 4/22/10 7:54 PM4/22/10 7:54 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Chapter 12: Applying Effects to Objects
307
FIGURE 12.14
The Gradient Feather pane of the Effects dialog box
Cross-Reference
You can also apply gradient feathering using the Gradient Feather tool, as described in Chapter 8.
n
Applying outer and inner glows
Glows are what they sound like: A lighting effect that makes it seem as if there is light behind an
object that causes it to glow (an outer glow) or a light source within the object’s frame that causes
a glow inside (an inner glow). Figure 12.15 and Figure 12.16 show the panes.
Applying an outer glow
Here’s how the controls for outer glow work (note that the first three options are the same as for
transparency effects):
l
Choose the blending mode in the Mode pop-up menu, the glow color in the Color pop-up
menu (the square swatch to the right of the Mode pop-up menu), and the transparency
level in the Opacity field or pop-up menu.
l
Choose the glow’s intensity by choosing Software or Precise in the Technique pop-up
menu. The Precise option creates a more saturated, harsher glow.
l
Choose how far away from the frame the glow begins to dissipate by entering a value in

FIGURE 12.17
The Bevel and Emboss pane of the Effects dialog box
The controls for beveling and embossing combine controls from several other lighting effects:
l
In the Structure area, choose the bevel or emboss style from the Style pop-up menu:
Outer Bevel (the bevel extends outside the frame), Inner Bevel (the bevel extends inside
the frame), Emboss, and Pillow Emboss (a shallower embossing).
l
In the Technique pop-up menu, choose the type of shadow effects: Smooth, Chisel Hard,
and Chisel Soft.
l
Choose the apparent height of the effect by entering a value in the Depth field or using the
Depth slider. Similarly, choose the shadow’s thickness by entering a value in the Size field.
l
Choose the direction of the effect by selecting either Up (raised) or Down (etched out) in
the Direction pop-up menu.
l
Adjust the shadow’s intensity by entering a value in the Soften field.
l
In the Shading area, choose the light source’s direction by entering a value in the Angle
field, clicking a point in the circle, or checking the Use Global Light option. Similarly,
adjust the light source’s height in the Altitude field.
l
Adjust the blending mode applied to areas of the bevel or emboss that the light hits by
using the Highlight Mode pop-up menu, and the blending mode applied to the shadowed
areas using the Shadow Mode pop-up menu. In both cases, there is also a combination
field and pop-up menu labeled Opacity where you can adjust the effect’s transparency.
20_607169-ch12.indd 30920_607169-ch12.indd 309 4/22/10 7:54 PM4/22/10 7:54 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Part III: Object Fundamentals

311
The Eyedropper tool lets you sample much of the formatting of an object and then apply it to other
objects using the Marker tool.
You can further enhance these attributes with the corner-options capabilities, which let you apply
fancy shapes to one or more corners of an object. A new capability in InDesign CS5 lets you edit
the corners’ shape with the mouse.
InDesign has a broad palette of lighting effects capabilities, including inner shadow, glow, feather,
bevel, emboss, and satin effects, as well as more traditional transparency and drop shadow effects.
You can apply these effects to entire objects, to just their frames, just their fills, or just their text.
20_607169-ch12.indd 31120_607169-ch12.indd 311 4/22/10 7:54 PM4/22/10 7:54 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
20_607169-ch12.indd 31220_607169-ch12.indd 312 4/22/10 7:54 PM4/22/10 7:54 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
313
CHAPTER
Orchestrating Objects
IN THIS CHAPTER
Changing the stacking order of
objects
Working with groups
Locking objects
Nesting objects
Inserting objects within a text
thread
Anchoring objects to text
Setting text wrap
Working with object styles
Managing source links
Adding metadata captions
F

Part III: Object Fundamentals
314
mirrored text frame with a purple dashed stroke, a gradient background, and magenta text out-
lined in cyan is still just a text frame.
As a publication evolves, plans invariably change: An advertiser pulls out and a magazine article
needs to be stretched an extra half-page by enlarging an InDesign-created illustration. A client
loves his company’s newsletter but wants the front-page graphic cropped differently. A new prod-
uct is added to a catalog and half the pages reflow. If you build your documents soundly from the
ground up and use the features covered in this chapter, you should be prepared to handle even the
most challenging page building — and rebuilding — tasks.
Stacking Objects
Each time you begin work on a new page, you start with a clean slate (unless the page is based on
a master page, in which case the master objects act as the page’s background; see Chapter 7 for
more on master pages). Every time you add an object to a page — either by using any of InDesign’s
object-creation tools or with the Place command (choose File ➪ Place or press Ô+D or Ctrl+D) —
the new object occupies a unique place in the page’s object hierarchy, or stacking order.
The first object you place on a page is automatically positioned at the bottom of the stacking order;
the next object is positioned one level higher than the first object (that is, on top of and in front of
the backmost object); the next object is stacked one level higher; and so on for every object you
add to the page. It’s not uncommon for a page to have several dozen or even several hundred
objects.
Tip
When building pages, always try to keep the number of objects to a minimum. For example, instead of putting
a headline in one text frame and a subhead in a separate text frame directly below the one that contains the
headline, use a single text frame. Lean documents save and print more quickly and are less problematic to
modify than bloated documents.
n
Although each object occupies its own level, if the objects on a page don’t overlap, then the stack-
ing order is not an issue. However, some of the most interesting graphic effects you can achieve
with InDesign involve arranging several overlapping objects, so it’s important to be aware of the

ment-wide layers. Each layer contains a separate collection of stacked objects. You can both reorder individual
objects within a layer and reorder whole layers using the Layers panel. For more information about using lay-
ers, see Chapter 6.
n
To change the stacking order of objects:
1.
Use any of the object-creation tools to create four overlapping shapes, as shown in
Figure 13.1. The numbers in parentheses indicate the order in which you should create
the shapes.
FIGURE 13.1
Left: The first shape you create is the backmost, the second is one level above, and so on.
In this example, the three smaller boxes partially overlap each other and they are all in
front of the largest box. Right: Applying tints to the shapes lets you see the stacking order
of the four rectangles. Every InDesign object occupies one level in the stacking order.
21_607169-ch13.indd 31521_607169-ch13.indd 315 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Part III: Object Fundamentals
316
2.
If it’s not already displayed, open the Swatches panel by choosing
Window ➪ Color ➪ Swatches or pressing F6. You use this panel to change the shade of
each object so you can easily tell it apart from the others.
3.
Click the Selection tool, click the last object you created and then use the color
tools in the Tools panel or the Swatches panel to fill the object with a color.
Cross-Reference
See Chapters 8 and 12 for more information about applying fills and strokes to objects.
n
4.
Use the Swatches panel to fill each of the remaining boxes with a successively

Cross-Reference
See Chapter 10 for more details on selecting objects.
n
21_607169-ch13.indd 31621_607169-ch13.indd 316 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Chapter 13: Orchestrating Objects
317
Combining Objects into a Group
InDesign lets you combine several objects into a group. A group of objects behaves like a single
object, which means that you can cut, copy, move, or modify all the objects in a group in a single
operation. Groups have many uses. For example, you might create a group to:
l
Combine several objects that make up an illustration so that you can move, modify, copy,
or scale all objects in a single operation.
l
Keep a graphics frame and its accompanying caption (text) frame together so that if you
change your mind about their placement, you can reposition both objects at one time.
l
Combine several vertical lines used to separate the columns of a table so that you can
quickly change the stroke, color, length, and position of all lines.
Tip
If you want to manipulate a group, select any object in the group with the Selection tool. The group’s bounding
box appears. Any transformation you perform is applied to all objects in the group. If you want to manipulate a
specific object in a group, choose the Direct Selection tool.
n
To create a group:
1.
Select all the objects you want to include in your group.
2.
Choose Object ➪ Group or press Ô+G or Ctrl+G.

n
FIGURE 13.2
The bounding box indicates that all the objects within it have been grouped (at left). What you can’t tell
from this illustration is that the five stars are a group within the larger group, which lets you move or mod-
ify all of them in a single operation, as shown at right.
Selecting objects within groups
The main reason you create groups in the first place is so that you can delete, copy, move, or mod-
ify all the objects at one time. However, sometimes you may want to modify an object within a
group. No problem. You don’t have to ungroup objects to modify an individual object. InDesign
offers several options for selecting objects — and nested groups — within groups. You can:
l
Select an individual object by clicking it with the Direct Selection tool. Note that — if the
group has not been selected — InDesign automatically selects an object as you hover the
Direct Selection tool over it.
l
Double-click an object in a group with the Selection tool to select just that object. You can
then single-click any other object in that group. (Double-clicking again selects the entire
group.) Note that if you want to select an empty frame or shape (one with neither a fill
nor contents), you must click the frame itself; clicking inside the frame won’t work when
the frame or shape is empty.
l
Select the bounding box of an individual object by clicking it with the Direct Selection
tool and then switching to the Selection tool.
21_607169-ch13.indd 31821_607169-ch13.indd 318 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Chapter 13: Orchestrating Objects
319
l
If you have selected an object in a group of objects, choose Object ➪ Select ➪ Previous
Object in Group to navigate to the previous object in the group, or choose Object ➪

page; you can lock objects on master pages, too.)
21_607169-ch13.indd 31921_607169-ch13.indd 319 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Part III: Object Fundamentals
320
So what does locking do, exactly? A locked object can’t be moved whether you click and drag it
with the mouse or change the values in the X and Y fields in the Control panel or Transform panel.
Not only can you not move a locked object, but you can’t delete one, either.
However, you can change other attributes of a locked object, including its stroke and fill — unless
you disable selection of locked objects. To do so, select Prevent Selection of Locked Objects in the
General pane of the Preferences dialog box (which you open by choosing InDesign ➪ Preferences
or pressing Ô+K on the Mac or by choosing Edit ➪ Preferences or pressing Ctrl+K in Windows).
To unlock an object, choose Object ➪ Unlock All on Spread or press Option+Ô+L or Ctrl+Alt+L.
Note that this action unlocks all the objects on the current spread, not just whatever objects might
be selected.
New Feature
InDesign CS5 changes how unlocking works: You no longer unlock individual objects; instead, you now unlock
all objects on the current spread. InDesign CS5 has also changed the name of the menu option for locking from
Lock Position to simply Lock, and InDesign CS5 adds the Prevent Selection of Locked Objects option in the
Preferences dialog box’s General pane.
n
Cross-Reference
You can also lock entire layers, as described in Chapter 6.
n
InDesign lets you not only combine several objects into a group but also place an object within the
boundaries of a frame. Just as a group embedded within a larger group is said to be a nested group,
an object that’s been placed within another frame is said to be a nested object. When you place an
object within a frame, the containing frame acts as the cropping shape for the object within.
One of the more common uses of nested frames is for cropping imported graphics. When you
place a graphic onto a page, the graphic is automatically placed within a frame. (You can also place

Edit ➪ Paste Into or press Option+Ô+V or Ctrl+Alt+V. Figure 13.4 shows a before/
after example of a squiggly line that’s been pasted into a circular frame that serves as the
masking shape for the line.
Tip
Selecting nested objects can be tricky. In general, the same selection techniques that work with groups also
work with nested frames. If you need to modify text within a nested or grouped text frame, simply click within
the frame with the Type tool.
n
Creating Inline Frames
In most cases, you want the objects you place on your pages to remain precisely where you put
them. However, sometimes you want to place objects relative to related text in such a way that the
objects move when the text is edited. For example, if you’re creating a product catalog that’s essen-
tially a continuous list of product descriptions and you want to include a graphic with each
description, you can paste graphics within the text to create inline graphics frames.
21_607169-ch13.indd 32121_607169-ch13.indd 321 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Part III: Object Fundamentals
322
An inline frame is treated like a single character. If you insert or delete text that precedes an inline
frame, the frame moves forward or backward along with the rest of the text that follows the
inserted or deleted text. Although inline frames usually contain graphics, they can just as easily
contain text or nothing at all.
Caution
Inline frames may interfere with line spacing in paragraphs with automatic leading. If the inline frame is larger
than the point size in use, the automatic leading value for that line is calculated from the inline frame. This
leads to inconsistent line spacing in the paragraph. To work around this, you can either apply a fixed amount of
leading to all characters in the paragraph, adjust the size of inline frames, place inline frames at the beginning
of a paragraph, or place inline frames in their own paragraphs.
n
There are three ways to create inline frames. The first two are the simplest, but the third, using the

inline frame.
21_607169-ch13.indd 32221_607169-ch13.indd 322 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Chapter 13: Orchestrating Objects
323
FIGURE 13.5
The icon identifying a tip (next to Go Further) is placed in the text as an inline frame so
that it moves up and down with the surrounding text.
Tip
Inline frames often work best when placed at the beginning of a paragraph. If you place an inline frame within
text to which automatic leading has been applied, the resulting line spacing can be inconsistent. To fix this
problem, you can resize the inline frame.
n
To change the position of an inline frame, choose Object ➪ Anchored Object ➪ Options. The
Anchored Object Options dialog box that appears is the same as the Insert Anchored Object dialog
box covered later in this section and shown in Figure 13.6.
Creating an inline frame with the Place command
In addition to using the Paste command to create an inline frame from an existing object, you can
use the Place command to create an inline graphics frame from an external graphics file. (You can’t
use this technique for inline text frames.) Here’s how:
1.
Select the Type tool (or press T) and then click within a text frame to establish the
insertion point.
2.
Choose File ➪ Place or press Ô+D or Ctrl+D.
3.
Locate and select the graphics file (including InDesign files and snippets) you want
to place within the text and then click Choose or Open.
Tip
You can use the transformation tools (Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Free Transform) and the Control panel or

using the Paragraph Style pop-up menu, and set the inline frame’s dimensions using the
Height and Width fields.
21_607169-ch13.indd 32421_607169-ch13.indd 324 4/22/10 7:55 PM4/22/10 7:55 PM
Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.