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parkdsng
parkdsng
Inspiring
June 30, 2023
Question

InDesign: Remove unwanted padding placed images

  • June 30, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2705 views

I am placing images into a document template and would like them to fit edge to edge within the template's column guides. When I select an image to place, then draw a marque from column guide to column guide the image appears with about 3 points of transparent padding above the image's top edge; it also creates a fixed proportional frame, which results in vertical images with white space on either side. Yes, I can fix this by cropping, but this extra step wasn't necessary before. In the past, I would select an image to place, drag to a frame to my desired width and the image would fill the width with the height remaining proportional to the original image's height. The placed image seems to be fixated on the vertical dimension. How do I need to adjust my settings so the image fits the width I've indicated (without top/left inset from the frame) while maintaining the proportion of the original? 

Mac OS 12.6.6; InDesign v.18.3

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4 replies

Barb Binder
Barb Binder
Community Expert
June 30, 2023

When InDesign begins to behave erratically, consider rebuilding your cache and preferences. Doing so will solve most of these issues, and the link below explains both the keyboard technique (which works most of the time) as well as the more thorough approach to deleting (or renaming) your cache and preferences, which tends to resolve the more stubborn issues not rectified by the keyboard approach.

See: https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
parkdsng
parkdsngAuthor
Inspiring
June 30, 2023

Thanks Barb! Will do!

    Barb Binder
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    June 30, 2023

    That image is helpful, @parkdsng. (And no, for some reason I didn't see it initially.)

     

    Will you please choose Edit > Deselect all and then immediately choose Object > Fitting > Frame Fitting Options. This is the default below. What does your look like?

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      Brainiac
      June 30, 2023

      Ah yes, that. But do any combination of these settings auto-crop as the OP seems to want?

       

      In any case, it's possible one of these settings is what they expect, and it's changed to something else, so good catch.

       

      ETA: I guess "None" does force a proportional frame/image placement, so I'd bet that's it and may have been changed as a default.

        James Gifford—NitroPress
        James Gifford—NitroPress
        Brainiac
        June 30, 2023

        Place works to a proportional placement of the image. If you don't draw the frame tall enough for the entire image height, it will place it proportionally by scaling, as your example shows.

         

        There are many tools for placing and then fitting images. You might want to review the full set and find a combination that works to the precise end you want.

         

        It is nearly impossible to place images in one operation unless you find an optimized method for identical images being placed identically. Place frame, adjust image is just part of the workflow.

        parkdsng
        parkdsngAuthor
        Inspiring
        June 30, 2023

        I've been using InDesign for over 20 years and only recently started experiencing this problem. The frame is always horizontal no matter how tall I make it. I'm thinking more than likely either I have inadvertently changed my settings or an update by Adobe has modified the way images are imported. 

        James Gifford—NitroPress
        James Gifford—NitroPress
        Brainiac
        June 30, 2023

        I don't see any "unwanted padding"; I see ID following the rule it's always used in this process, of fitting the image proportionally to the Place frame size. If you are expecting the image to snap to the L/R margins and self-crop in height... I am not sure any ID setting or operation will do that. Maybe there's a setting or option I've missed all this time.

         

        Perhaps you've never placed images of this proportion to a limited-width (or -height) frame, and thus just never encounterd the behavior?

        Barb Binder
        Barb Binder
        Community Expert
        June 30, 2023

        Can you share a screen shot with frame edges and column guides visible?

         

        ~Barb

        ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
        parkdsng
        parkdsngAuthor
        Inspiring
        June 30, 2023

        I included a screenshot, can you not see it?

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