Posts Tagged ‘ Stroke ’

Adobe InDesign: Creating New Stroke Styles

By Barb Binder

Note: If you are new to the Stroke Panel, take a moment to review the basic concepts covered in Adobe InDesign: Stroke Primer before moving on to this tutorial.

A very useful, yet little known, option in the Stroke panel is the ability to add your own custom styles to the Stroke Type list. It’s a pretty easy process and we are going to start by adding one style that is conspicuously missing from the default list: a stroke with rounded end caps. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke)
  2. Click the Stroke panel menu and choose Stroke Styles.
    Adobe InDesign: Add new stroke styles
  3. Click the New button to add a new style.
    Adobe InDesign: Stroke Options
  4. Let’s call it “Rounded End Cap” and then set the stroke length to match the pattern length (in my example, it’s 2p0) and chose the rounded end Cap, before clicking both Add and Done, OK.
    Adobe InDesign: New Stroke Style dialog box
  5. Pull down the Stroke Type menu in the Stroke panel or the Control panel, and there’s your new stroke. It may not seem very exciting yet, but this new stoke is going to play pivotal role in both our custom underline and custom paragraph rules tutorial.
    Adobe InDesign: New styles show up at the bottom of the menu

Before we wrap up, let’s add a few more stroke styles, just for fun. These last six styles are InDesign “Easter Eggs”. (Easter Eggs are undocumented features added to software programs by mischievous programmers.) While these may not be particularly practical, they are certain to put a smile on your face.

  1. Open the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke)
  2. Click the Stroke panel menu and choose Stroke Styles.
  3. Click the New button to add a new style.
  4. These first four require that you set the Type to Dash, and then type in the following four Stroke names, clicking the Add button after each one: Feet, Happy, Lights and Woof.
    Adobe InDesign: Easter Egg Strokes
  5. Click Done to see the new Stroke styles:
    Adobe InDesign: Four new strokes
  6. Add two new additional styles by clicking on the New button again. These last two must be based on the Stripe style. Call one Rasta, and the other one Rainbow, clicking the Add button after each one.
    Adobe InDesign: Base the last two on stripes
  7. Click the Done button to see the new styles:
    Adobe InDesign: Rasta and Rainbow
  8. Now, go play!
    Adobe InDesign: Easter Egg strokes, in action

Unless you want to learn more… in that case you may want to move on to customizing underlines.

Post to Twitter

2010
02/04
CATEGORY
Adobe InDesign
TAGS


Write comment

Adobe InDesign: Stroke Primer

By Barb Binder

NOTE: This post is meant to provide a brief overview of the Stroke panel. The information that follows provides the foundation for our posts on creating new stroke styles, customizing underlines, highlighting text, reverse heads and combining paragraph rules and underlines.

You can apply strokes, or line settings, to paths, shapes, text frames, and text outlines. You have control over the weight and appearance of the stroke, including the start and end shapes, and options for corners.

The simplest controls live in the Control Panel. You can use the Stroke weight menu to make a stroke weight thicker or thinner.

Adobe InDesign: Stroke Options in the Control Panel

In addition, you can make selections from the Stroke Type menu to apply Oxford Rules (various combinations of thick and thin rules), along with some of the more fun options, like the Dotted, Wavy and White Diamond patterns.

Adobe InDesign: Stroke Type menu in the Control Panel

You can change the Stroke color by clicking the Stroke button in the Swatches panel, and then choosing a favorite color.

Adobe InDesign: Assigning Stroke Color

If you need something beyond these basics, you’ll need to open the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke).  You’ll find additional stoke options here, including end cap controls and the Gap Color. Here’s a quick look at both of those:

  • We have three end Cap options: Butt Cap, Rounded Cap & Projecting Cap. The Butt Cap (the pink line below) creates squared ends that abut (stop at) the endpoints; the Round Cap (the green line below) creates semicircular ends that extend half the stroke width beyond the endpoints; and the Projecting Cap (the blue line below) creates squared ends that extend half the stroke width beyond the endpoints. (This last option makes the stroke weight extend evenly in all directions around the path.)
    Adobe InDesign: End Cap options
  • The Gap Color controls the alternate color on the patterned strokes.
    Adobe InDesign: Setting the Gap Color

One more thing on Stroke basics. If you take one more look at the Stroke panel, you’ll notice that the last option listed is the Gap Tint. If you choose the very last dashed line in the Stroke Type list, this changes! The panel expands and provides six text boxes that you can use to create up to three pairs of dash/gap pairs.

Adobe InDesign: Custom Dash pattern

Ready for more? Move on to creating new stroke styles.

Post to Twitter

2010
02/03
CATEGORY
Adobe InDesign
TAGS

Write comment