Finding Out All about Paths

Every object you create with InDesign's object-creation tools is a path . That includes

• Straight lines created with the Line tool

• Lines and shapes created with the Pen tool or the Pencil tool

• Basic shapes created with the Ellipse, Rectangle, and Polygon tools

• Basic frames created with the Ellipse Frame, Rectangle Frame, and Polygon Frame tools

All of InDesign's object-manipulation features are available for all paths. This includes the transformation tools, the Control palette and the Transform pane, the Stroke and Color panes, and the option to place a text file or graphics file either on or within the path. (You can't place text within a straight line, since there is not even a partial enclosure in which to create the bounds of a text frame.)

The properties of a path

Regardless of the tool you use to create a path, you can change its appearance by modifying any of four properties that all paths share: closure, stroke, fill, and contents.

Closure

A path is either open or closed . Straight lines created with the Line tool and curved and zigzag lines created with the Pen tool are examples of open paths. Basic shapes created with the Ellipse, Rectangle, and Polygon tools and free-form shapes created with the Pen and Pencil tools are examples of closed shapes. A closed free-form shape is an uninterrupted path with no endpoints. Figure 26-1 shows the difference between open and closed paths.

Figure 26-1: The five paths on the left are open; the five on the right are closed. A stroke and fill have been added to show how they affect open and closed paths.

Tip ‚  

You can use the Scissors tool to convert a closed path into two (or more) open paths, and you can use the Pen tool to create a closed path from an open path.

Cross-Reference ‚  

See Chapter 27 for more information about creating a closed path from an open path and vice versa.

Stroke

If you want to make a path visible, you can apply a stroke to it. (An unselected , unstroked path is not visible.) When you stroke a path, you can specify the stroke's width, color, tint, and style. Figure 26-2 shows a path before and after a stroke was added.

Figure 26-2: The original path (left) is selected. At right, a 2-point stroke was added to a clone of the original path.

Fill

A color, color tint, or gradient applied to the background of an open path or a closed path is called a fill. Figure 26-3 shows some examples of fills.

Figure 26-3: From left to right: a color fill (black), a color tint fill (50 percent black), and a gradient fill. The paths are selected and displayed in their bounding boxes.

Drawing tools

InDesign uses the same drawing tools as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, so if you're familiar with those, you'll have no trouble using InDesign's tools. If not, it might help to get a refresher on the tools:

• Pen tool: This draws both segments and B ƒ zier curves. It has several associated tools to add, delete, and convert corner points, which are the handles that you use to change direction and curvature of a curve or line segment.

• Pencil tool: This is a free-form drawing tool that simply draws out your mouse motions . The result is a B ƒ zier curve. A Pencil tool is great if you have a steady, accurate drawing hand; the Pen tool is better if you want to control each segment and curve as you create it.

• Shape tools: The shape tools create closed objects that aren't intended to hold text or graphics ‚ they're basically shapes you can color and/or stroke. There is a Rectangle, Polygon, and Oval version, as described in Chapter 10.

• Frame tools: The frame tools are the same as the shape tools, except they're meant to create shapes that will contain text or graphics, though they can be empty.

• Text and Text Path tools: The Text and Text Path tools let you add text in an object and on an object's stroke, respectively. You cannot add text into a straight line, but you can add text to an open shape, as well as closed shapes and frames.

 

Contents

You can place a text file or a graphics file in any path (with the exception of a straight line). When a path is used to hold text or a picture, the path functions as a frame. Although InDesign can place text in an open path, placing text and pictures in closed paths is far more common than placing them in open paths. Figure 26-4 shows several examples of pictures imported into paths.

Figure 26-4: Top row: The same picture was imported into three different paths. (A stroke has been added to the paths to make them more visible.) Bottom row: Text has been placed in clones of the paths on the top row.

QuarkXPress User ‚  

For QuarkXPress users, the idea of placing text and pictures in lines (that is, in open paths) may seem strange at first. (In QuarkXPress, lines cannot contain text or pictures, although line-like text paths can contain text.)

The anatomy of a path

No matter how simple (a short, straight line) or complicated (a free-form shape with several straight and curved edges) a path is, all paths are made up of the same components . Figures 26-5 through 26-7 show the parts that make up a path:

• A path contains one or more straight or curved segments, as shown in Figure 26-5.

  
  Figure 26-5: From left to right, each path contains one more segment than the previous path. The two rightmost paths each contain three segments.

• An anchor point is located at each end of every segment. The anchor points at the ends of a closed path are called endpoints. When you create a path of any kind, anchor points are automatically placed at the end of each segment. After you create a path, you can move, add, delete, and change the direction of corner points.

  Cross-Reference ‚  

  See Chapter 27 for more information about modifying paths.

• There are two kinds of anchor points: smooth points and corner points. A smooth point connects two adjoining curved segments in a continuous, flowing curve. At a corner point, adjoining segments ‚ straight or curved ‚ meet at an angle. The corners of a rectangular path are the most common corner points. Figure 26-6 shows some examples of smooth and corner points.

  
  Figure 26-6: The path on the left has only corner anchor points; the path in the center has only smooth anchor points; and the path on the right has both kinds of anchor points.

• A direction line runs through each anchor point and has a handle at both ends. You can control the curve that passes through an anchor point by dragging a direction line's handles. Figure 26-7 shows how you can change the shape of a path by dragging a direction line handle.

  
  Figure 26-7: Cloning the original path on the left and then dragging the direction handle of the right endpoint created the path on the right.

  Note ‚  

  Anchor points and direction lines do not print.

Reading about riding a bike is one thing; riding a bike is another. If you've read Chapter 10, you already know how to ride with training wheels ‚ you can create basic shapes with the basic object-creation tools. Now that you know more about what paths are made of, you're ready to tackle more-complex shapes. You're ready to wield the Pen tool.