Text Wrapping Example

(click to enlarge)

 

Prepare Image in PhotoShop

  1. In Photoshop, open the “textwrap.jpg” image from the “links” folder in the folder you downloaded for this activity.
  2. In the Layers palette, double-click the background layer and click OK to unlock it.
  3. Press “W” on the keyboard to select the Quick Select Tool (or “L” for the Lasso tool, depending on which selection tool you would like to use) to make a clean selection of the three students on the left. TIP: Follow this video tutorial. Online students, ask the tutor for assistance. On-Campus students, ask the lab assistant for assistance.
  4. Go to “Select” – “Save Selection,” then name the selection so that late, you can “Load Selection” if you need to make changes to the selection.
  5. Go to “Select” – “Refine Edge.”  Open the “View Mode” dropdown and change it to “on white.” Move the Radius, Smooth, and Contrast sliders to smooth the selection’s edge. Then add a small amout of Feathering (and reduce Shift Edge, if needed) to give it a professional finish. At the bottom of this window, change “Output To:” to “New Layer with Layer Mask.” Click OK.
  6. Go to “File” – “Save as.” Under “Format,” choose, “Photoshop.” This will add a .psd file extension. Save “textwrap.psd” to the project folder

(click to enlarge)

 

Place .psd into InDesign

  1. Open the same InDesign file that you used to set-up paragraph styles. 
  2. Go to “File” – “Place” (CMD + D) and select the textwrap.psd.
  3. The image will be loaded into the cursor.
  4. Click and drag the image to the desired size. Use the Selection Tool (V) and Free Transform Tool (E) to match the size/placement in the activity example below. Place it on Panel 4 and ensure that it overlaps the text in Panel 5. TIP: The image will look pixely until you change your view: Go to View – Display Performance – “High Quality Display.”

(click to enlarge)

Wrap Text

  1. Select the placed image in InDesign (not the text box). You will see blue box handles around it.
  2. Go to “Window” – “Text Wrap.”
  3. Select the “Wrap around object shape” button (third icon from the left).
  4. Under “Contour Options” select “Type:” “Alpha Channel.”
  5. Increase the “Top Offset” to 0.25 in. This gives a gutter (spacing) between the image and the wrapped text. IMPORTANT: The text must wrap tightly around the cutout shape and not around the image box. 

(click to enlarge)