Manipulating And Transforming Vector Shapes In InDesign CS4
Given that Adobe own both InDesign and Illustrator, it should come as no surprise that the vector drawing tools found in InDesign function in pretty much the same way as those found in Illustrator. InDesign contains tools and menu commands for creating, manipulating and transforming vector shapes. These are used when working with text and graphic frames as well as with decorative page elements such as backgrounds, lines and flourishes.
InDesign has two variations of the three shape tools (rectangle, ellipse and polygon). The first series of tools are used for creating frames, containers into which the user can place images. The second series of tools is used to create simple shapes in exactly the same way as in Adobe Illustrator.
When you create an object using one of these two sets of tools, the objects created will be distinguished by their default contents: frames, by default, are containers for images while shapes contain nothing. You can change the contents of any item created with the two sets of tools by right-clicking on the object and choosing one of the options in the Content sub-menu: Graphic, Text or Unassigned.
InDesign allows you to transform vector shapes in all of the usual ways: move, resize, rotate, flip horizontal, flip vertical and shear. As with Illustrator, InDesign allows you to transform an object either by using one of the transformation tools or by using the options in the Transform sub-menu found under the Object menu. The advantage of using the tools is that you can specify the pivot point used during the transformation. This appears as a registration positioned, by default, in the centre of the object which may be moved to any position inside or outside the object being transformed.
One very powerful transformation feature in Illustrator is the ability to repeat a transformation using the Transform Again command and InDesign also incorporates this feature. Say for example, you are creating a layout where you want some text copied and rotated several times with each copy having a different tint of the same colour, giving a kind of fade-out effect. Having copied and rotated the original text once, you can repeat the rotate and copy step by choosing Object – Transform Again – Transform Again or by using the keyboard shortcut Control-Alt-3. It is rather a nuisance that this shortcut differs from the one used in Illustrator, Control-d, but kind of inevitable since Control-d is used in InDesign as the shortcut for File – Place.