Dear friends,newbie here struggling, but LOVING Illustrator 🙂I have a project that needs placing a dozen of images on a page and have them look like printed photos staggered on that page, so I THINK I need to:Generate a white rectangle slightly larger (say 3 pixels) than the image (all of which are of different sizes).Generate a drop shadow of this rectangle Place the image over the rectangleTransform it in one single object to move it and rotate it slightlyI think I should be able to do the later steps but not sure on how to quickly achieve the first one. Is there a way to draw a rectangle centered on the underlying image and make it say 3 pixels wider automatically ?Thank you very much in advance.Illustrator 2017 on a Mac with Sierra.

Participant

Answered

How to quickly simulate a printed photo

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
January 24, 2017
4 replies
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Dear friends,

newbie here struggling, but LOVING Illustrator 🙂

I have a project that needs placing a dozen of images on a page and have them look like printed photos staggered on that page, so I THINK I need to:

Generate a white rectangle slightly larger (say 3 pixels) than the image (all of which are of different sizes).
Generate a drop shadow of this rectangle
Place the image over the rectangle
Transform it in one single object to move it and rotate it slightly

I think I should be able to do the later steps but not sure on how to quickly achieve the first one. Is there a way to draw a rectangle centered on the underlying image and make it say 3 pixels wider automatically ?

Thank you very much in advance.

Illustrator 2017 on a Mac with Sierra.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Kurt Gold

In Illustrator you could create a graphic style. There are a couple of ways to make that. Here is one way:

- Place a photo and select it

- In the Appearance palette add a new white fill and drag that fill below the raster image item

- Apply Effect > Path > Outline Object to the white fill

- Apply Effect > Path > Offset Path to the white fill. Choose your desired offset value.

- Apply Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow to the white fill

Save that appearance set as a graphic style (see Graphic Styles palette). Then place and select all your photos and apply the graphic style in one whack. Rotate the photos as desired.

R

roberta6969Author

Participant

Thank VERY MUCH for your very helpful suggestions !

Mike_Gondek10189183

Community Expert

For my part you are welcome. Did you try big pictures?

Last time I ran this was really nice, as you could select a few pictures in bridge and run. Later you could move the layers around if you wanted to edit in layered .psd file.

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roberta6969Author

Participant

Thank you Mike but I do not own/use Photoshop

Kurt Gold

Correct answer

Community Expert

In Illustrator you could create a graphic style. There are a couple of ways to make that. Here is one way:

- Place a photo and select it

- In the Appearance palette add a new white fill and drag that fill below the raster image item

- Apply Effect > Path > Outline Object to the white fill

- Apply Effect > Path > Offset Path to the white fill. Choose your desired offset value.

- Apply Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow to the white fill

Save that appearance set as a graphic style (see Graphic Styles palette). Then place and select all your photos and apply the graphic style in one whack. Rotate the photos as desired.

D

DougKatz9966516

Inspiring

But may I ask Kurt why this step:

- Apply Effect > Path > Outline Object to the white fill

What is its purpose in this sequence? Would Roberta not produce the same outcome without it?

Monika Gause

Community Expert

JamArtz schrieb:
But may I ask Kurt why this step:
- Apply Effect > Path > Outline Object to the white fill
What is its purpose in this sequence? Would Roberta not produce the same outcome without it?

You wouldn't even see the white rectangle without it. You can just try it out.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Yould use the Appearance panel to add a new fill below the image.

Convert the fill into a rectangle using Effects > Convert to Shape > Rectangle..

Apply a drop shadow below the Rectangle effect: Effects > Stylize > Drop Shadow...

Create a Graphic style and apply it to placed images.

Before rotating use Object > Expand Appearance

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roberta6969Author

Participant

Hi there Ton,

I don't know how to revert the "Correct answer" action since after I used it for the other AI based reply I tried your "recipe" and found it even better for my task.

Thank you very much.

I guess I have to study more and understand about the workings in the appearance panel since at the beginning I struggled a bit.

Take care.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Thank you Roberta, but I think you marked Kurt's solution correctly as the correct answer.

It is more flexible; you don't need to expand the appearance and the dropshadow rotates correctly with the rotation of the image.

Mike_Gondek10189183

Community Expert

This task is better suited for Photoshop.

Panos used to have an actions for this.

"Big Pictures" Photoshop actions from PanosFX.com - YouTube

Big Pictures

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