InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Controlling Gradients

InDesign also gives you two other tools for working with gradients: the Gradient palette and the Gradient tool.

Gradient Palette

You can also create and edit gradients with the Gradient palette, which you can open from the Window menu (choose Show Options from the palette's flyout menu to make it look like Figure 81-2).

This palette is the equivalent of the Color palettethat is, it lets you create local, unnamed gradients on objects. Because we'd rather have named gradient swatches, we rarely use this palette to create blends. However, if you like working interactively like this, you can use this palette in a similar way to the New Gradient Swatch dialog boxclicking on color stops, editing colors using the Color palette, and so on.

We do use two features in the palette frequently because there are two features here not found in the dialog box: You can reverse the colors in the gradient by clicking the reverse button, and you can change the angle of the gradient.

Gradient Tool

The Gradient tool lets you apply or edit a blend, controlling the direction and length of the gradient. First, select the object you wish to modify, then drag the Gradient tool across the object in the direction you wish the gradient to go. The distance you click and drag also controls the start and stop points of the gradient: Drag a short distance to create a gradient with an abrupt transition between colors or drag a greater distance to create a longer gradient. This, too, creates unnamed gradients that are hard to control later. It's a great tool, but we prefer to control gradients using swatches.

Applying Gradients to Multiple Objects

While QuarkXPress allows you to apply the same blend to multiple objects or a group, InDesign lets you apply a gradient which spans the bounding box of more than one selected objects or of a group. To do this, select the objects and drag the Gradient tool across them.

Applying Gradients to Text

Also unlike XPress, you can apply a gradient to text. When you do this, the gradient applies to the bounding box of the text frame. Individual characters are colored by the gradient depending on where they fall in the bounding box. Be careful using the feature because applying a color transition to small text characters may be hard to print accurately on a printing press.