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iamdaveb
iamdaveb
Participating Frequently
November 30, 2017
Question

Vector images

  • November 30, 2017
  • 6 replies
  • 1184 views

So I have a small business and make ads, flyers, banners etc.

I am an old photoshop user trying to leap over the ID curve. You would think they would be more similar...

So I need to create vector images as the businesses I use to create an ad with often request them. So I moved from PS to ID

When I use an image from photoshop etc., how do I use it in ID and it be vectored? I've tried placing them from my folders or a PS file but they don't seem vectored.

What am I missing?

While I'm at it, why doesn't adobe include the PS tools into indesign and let you do all your work in one program? Seems I'm still going to need to use PS to edit images (magic wand to pull out things, crop etc) before placing them into ID. Sure would be nice not to have to hop back and forth between programs.

Thanks for your time and help,

Dave

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    6 replies

    iamdaveb
    iamdavebAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    November 30, 2017

    OK thanks for the help folks. 1 more thing I'd like to understand. If I have an image or am making an image in PS, should I place the image into ID using the jpg saved version or the main .PSD version? Is there much of a difference? Thinking out loud, I guess a good bit would depend on the quality of jpg I choose to save it as.

    Jongware
    Community Expert
    JongwareCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 30, 2017

    You are correct about the JPEG quality. But InDesign accepts native PSDs as well! Even better, this preserves any transparency, and you can enable and disable any clipping paths and layers right from within InDesign. You can't do neither of these 3 if you save as JPEG and use that.

    iamdaveb
    iamdavebAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    November 30, 2017

    What should my basic workflow be?

    I assume I would design the ad in ID, but to tweak images, that should be done in Illustrator or PS?

    John Mensinger
    Community Expert
    John MensingerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 30, 2017

    iamdaveb  wrote

    What should my basic workflow be?

    The 3 applications are designed to work together.

    1. Illustrator: Vector graphics creation and editing. (Has raster-based effects and image import/export capabilities, but limited image editing scope. Artboards are resolution-independent; support vector graphics, raster images, and text.)
    2. Photoshop: Raster image creation and editing. (Single-canvas subject to one resolution; best used for photos, as the name implies.)
    3. InDesign: Page layout app for producing documents and screen-destined layouts in which text, vector graphics, and raster images are commingled. Placed elements retain their native color space and resolution, as applicable.)

    Personally, I prefer to keep strict divisions between these functions; Illustrator and Photoshop are rarely, if ever, used for final product; only for production/treatment of graphics and images destined for InDesign layouts.

      iamdaveb
      iamdavebAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      November 30, 2017

      Thanks for the input.

      Am I understanding correctly then that placing an image into ID either from a PSD from PS or a basic JPG I may have will look better than in PS when sent to a printer, but not be vectored?

      How do I make an image vectored other than the image trace in Illustrator?

      I don't do a lot of image editing, just basic tweaks in size, pulling out parts of an image kind of thing. I own a local business and do ads for it on social media, flyers for direct mail, newspaper inserts sort, and keeping our website up to date sort of thing.

      rob day
      Community Expert
      rob dayCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 30, 2017

      Am I understanding correctly then that placing an image into ID either from a PSD from PS or a basic JPG I may have will look better than in PS when sent to a printer, but not be vectored?

      It sounds like you might not understand the difference between a bitmap image and a vector drawing. Can you show us a screen capture of a typical image you are trying to convert into a drawing?

      iamdaveb
      iamdavebAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      November 30, 2017

      Right, I have a bunch of images I use from time to time and they are mainly jpg. I pop an image into PS and now AI or ID and arrange things as an ad. Attached is an image I'm trying to use on a banner currently and having trouble with the printer. I attempted an AI file and that wasn't working well.

      Bill Silbert
      Community Expert
      Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 30, 2017

      InDesign is a vector based program. Resolution is never an issue. Photoshop is a raster program. Images from Photoshop can contain vector elements such as live text and imported "smart" objects. But images from Photoshop will still always be recognized as raster even when imported into InDesign. The only possible way to make a Photoshop Image become a vector object is to use the Image Trace feature in Illustrator. Using one of a supplied set of presets the quality of the tracing can vary from very good to awful put will never be exactly what the raster image was originally. If you're trying to make a Photoshop raster image translate exactly into vector then that just is not possible.

        rob day
        Community Expert
        rob dayCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 30, 2017

        How to edit artwork in Illustrator using Image Trace

          Jongware
          Community Expert
          JongwareCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          November 30, 2017

          What you are missing is that InDesign is not a vector drawing tool. It is meant for text and page layout (which, incidentally, also answers your question re: editing photos inside InDesign).

          You probably should take a look at Illustrator instead. Note that you seem to be under oops overestimating the current state of software: even with that, you cannot drop in any bitmap image and expect it to be imported as a perfect vector image.

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