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wilf1970
Participating Frequently
February 9, 2015
Answered

Maintain transparency and 'multiply' in InDesign when saving to PSD from Corel RIF

  • February 9, 2015
  • 2 replies
  • 19639 views

Hi,

I'm new to InDesign but not Adobe and would like to ask about best practices for layering images that contain transparency.

My current project is a children's book that contains a master background with the appearance of an old Victorian journal. (brown, stained etc)

My copy overlays this beautifully but I'm struggling to place the artwork.

What I would like to do is create some artwork in Corel Painter (for its beautiful watercoloring), export to Photoshop and then place the PSD in to the page in InDesign.

Exporting from Painter translates the 'gel' layer to 'darken' in PS. I can change this to Multiply no problem.

When I remove the base layer in PSD (a temporary brown page graphic) the previously water-colored layers have an awful white fringe.

When I place this file in InDesign there appears to be no way of 'multiplying' the layer over the nice brown artwork I have for the page and the awful white fringe remains.

Did I assume too much? I figured that applying layer attributes would be common throughout Adobe's software.

I appreciate that this may be more of a poor workflow issue than an InDesign 'fault', but I'm curious as to whether anyone has any similar experience / advice.

Many thanks,

Mark

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer BobLevine

InDesign uses a different graphic engine and does not honor PSD blend modes. You can place the layers separately and set the blend modes in InDesign or add the copy in Photoshop and save as PDF.

2 replies

W
wilf1970Author
Participating Frequently
February 9, 2015

I just wanted to share what I've discovered about working between Corel Painter X3 and InDesign.

Firstly there's no need for the Photoshop middle step.

In Painter I create the artwork using layers and export to TIFF.

I ensure that 'Save Alpha' is checked.

In InDesign I place the .tif file in to the document.

On the layers tab I ensure that the heirarchy is correct. For me this is moving the artwork to the bottom of the stack as the base layer is provided by A-Master.

I then go to Object > Effects > Transparency and set Basic Blending to Multiply.

I get the effect I am after and there is no horrible white fringe.

I don't know if this works with files exported to TIFF from Photoshop.

Thanks,

Mark

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 9, 2015

That’ll work on a white background but will cause the entire graphic to overprint on anything else.

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 9, 2015

InDesign uses a different graphic engine and does not honor PSD blend modes. You can place the layers separately and set the blend modes in InDesign or add the copy in Photoshop and save as PDF.

Danny Whitehead.
Danny Whitehead.
Legend
February 9, 2015

BobLevine wrote:

InDesign uses a different graphic engine and does not honor PSD blend modes. You can place the layers separately and set the blend modes in InDesign or add the copy in Photoshop and save as PDF.

I guess you're as good a person to ask as anyone, so, do you think this is ever likely to change? It would be particularly useful for shadows on product shots and the like.

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 9, 2015

    There is a workaround by using Adobe Illustrator!


    A. You have to place the PSD in Ilustrator and save it as an AI (with PDF options).

    B. Then place the AI file in InDesign.

    Now the blend modes should work in InDesign as well.

    At least multiply does what it has to do, if you are using the blend mode of a layer in PhotoShop.

    Tested with:

    PhotoShop CS5.1

    Illustrator CS5.1
    InDesign CS5.5 v7.5.3

    on Mac OSX 10.7.5

    Here some details:

    Placing the PSD in Illustrator:
    1. Do not link to the PSD, place the full PSD

    2. Do not merge the layers when placing.

    Instead: split the layers to separate objects.

    Check, if all is working well by using the Separation Preview in InDesign.

    Uwe

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