In this week’s InDesign FX movie, I show how to make a composition that looks like rough paper cutouts that have been taped to a surface.

This technique is a fun approach to take when you want to convey a brainstorming or scrapbooking theme. In the video I used a photo of wood for a background, but the effect would work just as well (or maybe even better) with a background photo of corkboard.

One of the things that makes this effect a lot of fun to create is the spontaneity it allows. In contrast to the careful precision shown in the last InDesign FX video, Simulating Notebook Paper, you can work fast and sloppy with the rough, chopped-edge effect, since that’s exactly the kind of look you’re trying to simulate.

The basic technique involves starting with a silhouetted photo placed in InDesign.

Then you click with the Pen tool to create the rough, cutout shape.

Next, apply a light gray fill and a subtle drop shadow to give the appearance of paper.

Finally, create the illusion of tape and dog-eared folds to attach your cutout images to your background.

If you like the rough-hewn effect, you might also enjoy the peeling stickers  and sticker and tape effects I’ve written about in the past.

I also have another member-exclusive movie in the lynda.com library this week called Creating Speech Bubbles where I show you how to create cartoon speech bubbles to place over photos in InDesign layouts. They’re fun, easy to create, and infinitely adjustable thanks to the way they’re constructed.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

This week’s InDesign FX movie is another example of how you can combine simple and precise drawing techniques, transparency effects, and an eye for detail to simulate real-world objects in a convincing manner. In this case, I made sheets of notebook paper from scratch.

You may be wondering, why would you want to go to the trouble of making something like notebook paper, when you can find it in a piece of stock art, or simply put a sheet of it on a scanner? There are two main reasons, I think. The first is flexibility. When you create artwork from scratch, you get to make every choice about how it looks. That’s not the case when you use a piece of stock art and sometimes you have to settle for whatever you can find in a timely manner. That time you spend searching in vain could be spent drawing exactly what you want—and later on, if you’re asked to change the art, you know exactly what can be done and how to do it, because you built it in InDesign. That brings me to the second advantage: efficiency. Every high-resolution photo you place into InDesign adds complexity and size to the file, and another piece to track in your workflow. You also have to maintain image files on disks and sometimes move them between machines. While storage is cheap and plentiful nowadays, that’s not always the case with bandwidth. If I’m stuck somewhere with a slow Internet connection, I’d much rather have to retrieve a 75k InDesign snippet than a 25 MB Photoshop file.

But of course these advantages don’t really matter if you can’t get a look that’s really convincing. In the movie, I accomplish this by using dialog boxes and panels to create, size, and move objects in a precise and consistent manner, rather than dragging them around the page and approximating. For example, the lines on the paper are easily achieved with paragraph rules.

This makes it very easy to quickly add as many equally spaced lines as I want just by pressing the return key on my keyboard. I can move them all at once by selecting the text frame (no grouping necessary). And if I want to adjust them at all, I can simply select the text and change the width, color, or offset in the Paragraph Rules dialog box.

Holes can be punched in the page using blending modes with the Knockout Group feature.

Another nice thing about drawing the pages from scratch is that you can copy and paste one of them to easily add as many more pages as you like. And you can add even more realism by reducing the opacity of the pages, so you can see through them just a little, as is the case with real notebook paper.

I also have another member-exclusive movie in the lynda.com library this week called Using multiple effects to create plastic type.

In this new movie, I show how to create a plastic-molded type look by layering copies of text with various effects applied to each one. If you’ve never tried the Pillow Emboss option, this effect shows you one of its uses.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

In this week’s InDesign FX video, I show how to create the look of an embossed leather book cover. It’s a great example of how you can customize generic pieces of art with InDesign effects, and it illustrates the usefulness of the Hard Light blending mode.

The Hard Light blending mode is ideally suited for this effect because it allows you to easily hide the fill of an object (or text), while keeping the shadows and highlights of the Bevel and Emboss effect visible. The key point to remember is that a 50% black fill becomes transparent when Hard Light is applied to it. Anything darker or lighter than 50% black will remain visible. This is what allows us to apply embossing over photographic backgrounds and textures.

By setting the direction of the bevel to Up or Down, you can create a raised design, or one that appears to be pressed into a surface.

You can make effects like this look even more natural by imitating details in the underlying photograph. In this case, I was careful to copy the angle of the lighting, and I used an Inverse Rounded corner option with a double stroke to match the real embossing in the photograph of the book cover.

The combination of Bevel and Emboss with Hard Light is really versatile. It’s useful for a lot more than just leather embossing. For example, try it over a photograph of wood grain for a quick carving effect.

One more important thing to remember is that Hard Light is one of the InDesign blending modes that yields different results with RGB and CMYK colors. To get the results shown in the video, it is essential to use RGB Transparency blend space. Choose Edit > Transparency Blend Space to check or change the blend space used by a document. For more information on outputting documents with RGB blend space to print, see my blog post ”Getting effects into print.”

I also have another member-exclusive video in the lynda.com library this week called Creating a magnifying glass effect. In this new video, I show how to combine two photos in InDesign (along with some more blending mode magic) to make it look as if you’re viewing something through a magnifying glass.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

In the context of design, “pop” is a sought-after quality that makes page elements come alive, infuses them with energy and freshness, and grabs attention

So how do you make a design pop?

One way is to take a simple element used to direct the viewer’s gaze and give it a three-dimensional look. We’re using the example of an arrow because we often use an arrow to direct someone toward something in graphics such as an advertisement or signage.

In this case, instead of having a flat arrow sitting on top of other objects, we’re making the arrow look like it is wrapping around those objects, and in doing so, giving the whole design a feeling of depth.

To make 3D arrows in Adobe InDesign, you don’t need any special drawing skills. All you need are the Pathfinder commands to combine simple shapes like ellipses, rectangles, and triangles to make 3D arrows in just about any size, shape, and direction.

As I show in the video, the basic idea is to start with an ellipse centered on the edge of an object where you want the arrow to wrap around. Then use the Pathfinder tools to combine the curve from the ellipse with a rectangle to form the line of the arrow. The arrow’s tip is made from a triangle, and you can tweak the position of points to make the tip as barbed as you like.

One of the best things about this InDesign technique is that most people find they can do it quickly once they get the hang of it. So you can easily experiment with different looks by rotating the arrow, shearing it, or adding gradient fills, drop shadows, or bevels—you name it.

I also have another member-exclusive video in the lynda.com library this week called Creating Personal Buttons. In this new video, I show how to use blending modes and effects to create the look of a metal button you can “pin” anywhere on your design to give it more personality.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

Little things mean a lot. It’s true in many aspects of life and it’s also true when it comes to creating great graphic effects. This week’s InDesign FX tutorial, Making Peeling Stickers, is another great example of how several small details can add up to a big impact.

The effect starts out with a simple circle, which is transformed into the peeling sticker by the addition of several key details.

The first of these details is literally small: a tiny drop shadow, placed directly behind the circle to simulate a paper-thin material.

The second key detail is creating an object that makes it look like part of the circle has been peeled up and curled over. In the video, I show how to use the somewhat obscure Scissors tool to create this object. Many users may not be aware that InDesign even has a Scissors tool, but this often overlooked tool can be very handy for creating the kinds of shapes needed for cool effects.

A subtle gradient fill applied at the correct angle makes the backside piece seem curled.

Then for the ultimate finishing touch, I make the appearance of some sticky glue residue left behind where the sticker peeled off. For this, all you need is a white-filled copy of the original circle, reduced in opacity.

The point here isn’t so much the technique. It’s the idea that taking the time to think things through, and come up with that one extra key detail from real life, is what makes for a great effect. Viewers may not notice it consciously, but that’s the point. Details like the glue residue aren’t there to draw attention to themselves—they’re there to contribute to the overall effect and make it something remarkable.

For lynda.com members, I also have another new member-exclusive video this week in the lynda.com library called Tips for Text Stroke Effects. In InDesign you can stroke live text, but the only type of stroke you can apply is a single solid stroke—you can’t apply anything fancier like dashed, dotted, hashed, wavy, or striped strokes to live text. In the Tips for Text Stroke Effects video, I show how to get around this limitation and open up all kinds of possibilities for fun text stroke effects.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

Water, water everywhere…better not spill any on your keyboard. While liquids and computers are not a very good combination in real life, there’s nothing preventing you from using InDesign to make a liquid effect in your documents. As I show in this week’s InDesign FX tutorial, the trick is to use Bevel and Emboss in combination with a blending mode trick or two.

The key to liquid effects is getting the highlight part of the bevel correct so that an object or text looks wet. To get that highlight just right, you’ll usually have to experiment a bit and adjust the Angle, Altitude, and Size of the bevel until you get it looking the way you want it. Once you get the highlight right, then you only need to change the fill color to switch from a wet paint effect…

to a gooey, melted chocolate effect…

to a blood effect that might tempt a vampire to sink his fangs into the page.

To simulate plain water, you have to apply the Hard Light blending mode and it’s important to always use a background object or texture.

From there, you can vary the fill color to simulate other translucent liquids, like the maple syrup letters you see below.

For lynda.com members, I also have another new member-exclusive video this week in the lynda.com library called Creating Editable Knock-out Text. In the video, I show how to use InDesign’s Knockout Group feature to make live text that you can see through. Then, by varying the opacity of the text frame’s fill, I show you how to use this technique to create different effects, including blending the fill of the frame with the image that is beneath.

I also show you how to achieve a more dramatic effect by making the frame’s fill opaque and using the text as a mask for underlying objects.

See you here again in two weeks with another InDesign effect!

Unlike Photoshop and Illustrator, InDesign doesn’t allow you to create pattern swatches and use them to fill an area with a seamless pattern. But don’t despair, you can create patterns (even seamless ones) without much hassle in InDesign. The key is to use the Step and Repeat command, as I show in this week’s InDesign FX tutorial.

The first method I show in the video uses Step and Repeat along with Corner Options to transform a single square into a fence to keep some cows from moo-ving where they’re not supposed to.

A second example also begins with a humble square, but ends up as a nifty tiled pattern like this one:

I also show how to make the equivalent of a pattern swatch from just about any InDesign object. You start by creating a rectangle and aligining your desired pattern elements along the edges of the rectangle.

Then group the objects and paste them into the rectangle to create what I call a swatch object which you can then Step and Repeat to your heart’s content for a totally seamless, infinitely repeatable pattern.

For lynda.com members, I also have another new member-exclusive video this week in the lynda.com library called Using Scripts to Create New Shapes. In the video, I show how to use the PathEffects script that comes with InDesign to instantly alter the shapes of objects, and create things that could be incredibly difficult, tedious, or downright impossible to do manually. For example, you can use the script to covert a plain old polygon into a spiky starburst to make a cool effect even cooler.

In this week’s InDesign FX tutorial, stickers and tape both rely on one key ingredient: a teeny tiny drop shadow.

Why is that the key ingredient? Let’s think it through.

For both stickers and tape, we’re simulating a very thin sheet of material stuck directly on a surface. Since stickers and tape have almost no thickness, the shadow has to be very small, dark, and cast evenly in all directions. In the Effects dialog box, this means you should apply a high opacity value, an offset of zero, and in some cases, a size of one pixel. Yup, one lousy pixel. That can be the difference between “yeah!” and “meh.” In the video, I use a slightly larger value (5 pixels), but I doubt you’d want to go higher than that for any sticker or tape effect.

You can make a sticker out of almost anything including a photo or illustration, a piece of text, or even a single glyph. Take for example this little silly superhero.

He’s just a glyph from the dingbat font DF Keebats, but he seems rather confident that he’d make a fun sticker.

The first step in the process is to place him on top of a background image and apply a thick stroke in a very light tint of black. So light, in fact, that it’s nearly white. Why not just use white? Because we’re trying to simulate paper with some degree of realism, and even the whitest paper isn’t pure white. So avoid using InDesign’s Paper color swatch if you want to simulate real paper. Shocking, I know. Just remember, you heard it here first.

This example also illustrates your options for dealing with stroke joins (the points where two segments of a stroke meet). Being a naturally pointy character, our hero has some extreme spikes jutting out from his ears, elbow, cape, and feet. To chop off those sharp points, you can decrease the miter limit in the Stroke panel, or, even better, simply use a bevel join or a rounded join as shown here.

And finally, add the teeny tiny drop shadow.

See what a difference a pixel can make?

In this week’s free InDesign FX video (seen above and for free on lynda.com) I also show a variation on this technique where I use a plain rectangle with a teeny tiny drop shadow and reduced opacity so you can see through it. Volia, instant clear tape!

For lynda.com members, I also have another new member-exclusive video this week in the lynda.com library called Creating Burnt Edges. In that video, I show you how to make objects that look like they’ve been singed by flames. It’s hot stuff. (Yes, I went there.)