FAQ
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How can I change the text wrap so that it isn’t just a simple circle or box? I want to make it follow the outline of an image.
- With InDesign you can actually do a lot of very sophisticated text wrapping by customizing the wrap shape (rather than just a square or rectangle, you can make it any shape you want).
- You do this by first importing an object and applying a standard text wrap as described above.
- The next step is a bit tricky. What InDesign does is create one thin boundary line to mark out the object and then it also has a thin boundary line that the text wraps around. So you can modify that text wrap line in any way, indicating which places you would like to be textless. The tricky part is separating the text wrap line from the image line! The easiest way to do this is to manipulate the wrap box by enlarging it with the up and down arrows near the chain link icon. This will expand the light blue box without deselecting the image. To see the corners of the wrap box, select the pointer tool that is not solid black, but is the white centered one underneath the standard pointer.
- The only way to do this that I currently know is as follows: right after you click on the text wrap option in the text wrap palette go down to your image but don’t deselect. In the little blue box that appears at every corner of the image you’ll see a lighter blue box. Click carefully inside the darker outer box and drag out. If you’re lucky you’ll see a lighter blue set of lines stretching out to where you dragged them. From there just play with the light blue box until it is in the right shape.
- [NEW - Apr 18, 2006] If you need to make a complicated shape that follows an object, you'll need to add new points to the line. With the text wrap box selected, click on the Pen tool in the tools menu at the left (just under the pointer tool at the top right-hand corner of the menu.) Now move your new pen pointer over the blue outline and you should see a little + appear on your pointer. You can now click on the blue line and a new drag point should appear on the line, which you can pull around and arrange just like the 4 points that are automatically created at each corner of the rectangle. You can do this as many times as you would like. (Basically the text wrap is simply following a Path, which is what you create when you normally work with the pen tool).
- [NEW - Apr 18, 2006] If you make a control point then want to drag it around immediately, remember to hold down Control (Ctrl), so your pointer changes to a little arrow. If you don't do this and just start dragging instead, you will create strange and beautiful bezier curves that can be useful if you want to create a very smooth outline around your object, but you should play with the pen tool for some time before trying this out on a text wrap.
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