InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Strokes

QuarkXPress and InDesign have similar ways of setting a frame's stroke (or frame thickness): in XPress, you set the frame to anything more than zero, in InDesign you set the stroke to anything more than zero thickness. However, InDesign not only lets you apply a width and color, you can even apply a gradient. And while QuarkXPress doesn't allow strokes around type, InDesign not only permits you to outline type and keep it editable, but the stroke can be either a solid color or a gradient.

Note that the weight of a stroke in InDesign is centered on its path, just like in Illustrator: Half of the stroke extends outward, and half inward (see Figure 14-3). However, when you stroke type, InDesign is very smart: Rather than cutting into the shape of the letterform when the stroke weight is increased, it applies the entire stroke weight to the outside of the character, preserving the character's integrity (see Figure 14-4). Behind the scenes, InDesign is actually stroking the text shape and then filling a non-stroked version (as though there were two characters on top of each other, one stroked and one filled).

The default behavior is for the bounding box of a stroked frame to be preserved, as the stroke gets thicker or thinneras though the stroke were being applied to the inside of the frame. This matches the way QuarkXPress handles changes to frame width. However, if you turn on the Weight Changes Bounding Box option in the Stroke palette menu, InDesign maintains the shape of paths and changes the bounding box instead (as though the stroke were actually centered on the frame path). We tend to avoid this option, though it can be helpful when you need the shape of an path to remain exactly the same after applying a stroke.

The Stroke Palette

The control center for working with strokes in InDesign is the Stroke palette (see Figure 14-5). To see all the choices for the Stroke palette, choose Show Options from the palette menu.

The Weight control lets you either choose from a popup menu of preset stroke weights or type in an arbitrary weight from 0 to 800 points. As in XPress, stroke weight is always measured in points. (You can type in other units, like .25 in, but they will be converted to points.)

InDesign borrows some stroke controlsnotably

Cap styles and

Miter stylesfrom Adobe Illustrator. The Cap style affects the appearance of both ends of an open path (see Figure 14-6). The cap style choices are:

• A

  butt cap , which creates square ends (the default).




• A

  round cap , which creates rounded ends.




• A

  projecting cap , which extends the ends of the path beyond the end points by half the thickness of the stroke.

The Join styles control the appearance of a path at a corner point (not smooth curves; see Figure 14-7). There are also three choices:

• A

  miter join (the default) creates a crisp, pointed corner. However, InDesign may crop the corner, depending on the Miter Limit value described below.




• A

  round join creates a rounded corner.




• A

  bevel join creates cuts off the end of the point on the corner.

Finally, the Miter Limit controls when a sharp miter join is cropped to become a bevel join. In the star example (Figure 14-7), the Miter Join was set to 100 to ensure that the first star had sharp points.

Dashes, Stripes, and Path End Shapes

The bottom section of the Stroke palette gives you the controls for working with dashes, preset stripes, and path end shapes (like arrowheads).

The Type popup menu lets you choose between different path styles. You can choose between a solid path, preset stripes (like Thick-Thin), and dashed paths. There are two preset dashed styles and one dotted style, but you'll get the most control if you select the Dashed choice. Then the appearance of the palette changes to allow you to enter dash and gap values (see Figure 14-8). You might use this to create the dashed path for a special coupon border, for example. Unfortunately, InDesign has no Dashes and Stripes editor like you'll find in QuarkXPress 4 and 5. There is no way to expand beyond the built in stripe choices.

The Start and End popup menus have choices for path endings for the beginning point and end point of a path. You can choose between arrowheads, bars, circles, and so on, but the choices aren't editable. The endings are sized in proportion to the stroke weight, and their angle depends on the angle of the path's endpoint control handles. While the other choices on the Stroke palette apply to both frames and open paths, the Start and End styles only appear on open paths.