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PeterD-NJ
Inspiring
February 27, 2024
Answered

Graphics in multiple layers

  • February 27, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 436 views

This is an oddball request. I use InDesign to create a custom book, using text overlays on top of a base map layer. The map file is physically small (under 2 Mb, all vector), but the image itself is 96" W x 195" High. I position a section of the map on each page and annotate on a different layer. It works fine....BUT....

 

The map graphics for print are slightly different than they are for electronic format or for editing. Yellow lines are too faint to show up on the printed page, so I created a second nearly-identical map in Illustrator, and it will appear on a different InDesign layer. When I'm creating a print file I turn that layer on and the PDF/master layer off—and vice-versa. What I need to do is to link to the second "Print-only" file and have the position of the map become identical to the main non-print layer. Since the annotations from InDesign don't move, the underlying graphics have to be exactly super-imposed, with only one version active at a time.

 

Matching up the second "Print-only" map pixel for pixel on a per-page basis isn't a job I relish. Is there a better way of handling this situation? Please and thanks.

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Correct answer Brad @ Roaring Mouse

As long as your bounding boxes on each version of the map are the same, there should be no issue in making both line up.

e.g. If make a duplicate of the master map on a new layer, then Replace tha file with the alternate map, the position/scale attributes of each file should be the same in InDesign. 

2 replies

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 27, 2024

As long as your bounding boxes on each version of the map are the same, there should be no issue in making both line up.

e.g. If make a duplicate of the master map on a new layer, then Replace tha file with the alternate map, the position/scale attributes of each file should be the same in InDesign. 

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PeterD-NJAuthor
Inspiring
February 27, 2024

That sounds like it could work. I'm still creating the print file (it's not ready to use yet), but that's the process I'd like to use. What I didn't know was whether the bounding boxes would line up, the magnification/scale/etc would match up and so on.

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
February 27, 2024

It would seem that positioning each layer, if they are not precisely aligned by their boundaries, would be a 'one and done' task of zooming in, using reduced opacity etc. to get the layers as precisely aligned as possible.

 

Even if you frequently switch layers on and off, what further adjustment/alignment would need to be done?

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PeterD-NJAuthor
Inspiring
February 27, 2024

It's not a common occurrence. I went through this process with my old maps three years ago and it was a painstaking process given the number of pages involved. I have just combined six maps files into two; previously I had three with outlines, three without. Now it's one master, and one with outlines. I spent the last few days positioning the master file on each page, as well as move the thousands of text elements to correspond to the new, more-accurate maps. Now I need to reposition the print-only maps and I'd sure like to find a better solution than going page-by-page, pixel-by-pixel. If I have to, fine, but there's got to be an easier way. The map files themselves are virtually identical, but when I either use "Re-Link" in InDesign or delete the old one and paste the new, I have to mess with the scale and position. The position itself isn't a big problem, but the scale differs on a page-by-page basis.

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