Splitting an image vertically in InDesign?

[jeffm12846623]

I am building books with text and music (created in Finale). Is there a way to import music into InDesign as graphics files, and split an image verfically so that the music flows from page to page?  As I adjust text, the split point may change in the future, so I would rather not constantly rebuild the music images themselves if I can avoid it.

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Hi,

Beethoven is going to wape up inside his grave! …

More explanations and screenshots, please!

(^/)

[MW Design]

If I am understanding the issue properly, you are going to need to just layout the publication with the images, then do a final run-through or two or three to adjust image frames to display only what is needed, duplicate and adjust that version to pick up the remainder of the image in its own frame.

Mike

[jeffm12846623]

MW - that makes sense.  Is there a relatively simple way to tell InDesign to duplicate an existing graphic or do I need to find it and place it again?

[MW Design · Accepted solution]

Assuming they are flowing with the text, you can just copy/paste back into the text flow in the new spot. If they do not flow with the text, alt-drag to make a copy.

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Mike,

It seems to me too simplistic! 

Easy to import an image [too big to be placed on a single page] and divide it in several pieces! (1 click to get 5 parts!)

The real deal is to make a layout!

To do that, the op will need a script that will calculate for him!! 

(^/)

[MW Design]

Yes, a script might work. Might not, either.

I have had to do what the OP is doing and I don't think a script would be of benefit. One doesn't know until walking through the layout where the frame will need broken for making sense with the surrounding text or the layout needs.

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

The deal is simple:

The op imports an image too big (height)!

Selecting the image, he launches the script: the script reduces the height of its frame-container until its height enters in the current frame! If the bottom of the image is at the bottom of the container, the script has finished this work! If not, the op launches the script again and the script duplicates the container after having extracted the 2 y-offset of the image in its container and plays again … until …

So, the op imports only one time the image! The scripts does the layout!

I know what you think: the op will need to adjust the bottom of the container so that the music line isn't cut!

Yeap! … But after this step, the op launches the script again to continue the layout!

(^/)

[MW Design]

Sounds great, Obi.

I don't have such a script. I haven't had this need for years, either. But the OP might be interested and so do point the OP to where this script can be bought/downloaded. Else it is just meaningless to show it off.

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Aha!  This script doesn't exist! … Yet! 

(^/)

[Laubender]

Hi Obi-wan,

oh it does.

Gerald Singelmann

split images by number.jsx

Bilder nummerisch zerschneiden | InDesign FAQ

A bit different than your idea, but it is working.
Slices in one direction only.

Regards,
Uwe

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Hi Uwe,

Not so simple! We don't play with clouds but music! 

We'll suppose we play with inline graphic frames.

As you see at the bottom of the right page, no luck! The op willl need to adjust the frame height!

What we need is a script that allows him to quickly play rock'n roll … without cutting his music sheet! 

(^/)

[Migintosh]

Jeff, I used to work in music publishing, and I think I know what you are talking about. If you have a page of music that you want to break across two pages, you don't want to have to go back to Finale to change the break point and re-export as images. Is that correct? If so, using the image frame in InDesign to crop out portions of your page, and using a duplicate of the image with different cropping on the next page will probably be faster. Placing the images in-line with the text will help, but you will probably have to make manual adjustments if (for example) if you have a page of three staves on one page and four on the next, and you need staff 3 to move after the page break.

Also, make sure that the page width you use in Finale is slightly smaller than the width of the text frame in InDesign. If you don't, it won't fit properly without being reduced in size, which you can also do if that's not objectionable to you. What might be a problem is if you have elements that don't make for a clean break point (like an articulation above a high note that's hard to crop in, because it also crops in elements from the upper staff). For those, you may need to adjust the staff spacing in Finale.

[jeffm12846623]

Migintosh - thanks!  Yes, you're describing pretty exactly what I need to do.  I have a mix of music crossing the full width of the page, and some "cues" that need to be indented next to the name of the person singing the cue.  Here is an example:

http://mci.archpitt.org//sheetmusic/2017/04-03-17_GF5_Sunday_evening_Vespers.pdf

For anyone who runs across this topic, here is what I have found to work to far:

I prepare the music in Finale, then export selection as PDF.  I can place the full-width ones in InDesign, then adjust the width to exactly fit between the margins;  when I do this, Indesign helpfully removes white space on either side, something I wouldn't find any good way to do manually.

For short bits of music next to the name of the singer, I export to PDF in Finale, then place in Indesign and reduce to 90%. Unfortunately, alignment  is a pain, so I may go to exporting a selection containing both name and music, and importing the entire thing into Indesign.

Indesign certainly makes a prettier book than Finale, once I get things set up.

[Laubender]

Hi Jeff,

thank you for posting a link to your PDF sample of the document.

Just opened that with Acrobat DC and inspected it.

Some questions about the PDF creation process:

1. Is there a particular reason why you did not use InDesign's export to PDF feature, but used Acrobat Distiller to create the PDF?

2. Do you know, that there is a mix of different color models used in your PDF?
I can see DeviceGray and ICCbased RGB. It seems that Finale is exporting two different color models with one PDF:

DeviceGray for this:

ICCbased RGB for that:

If one is doing a separation to K without color conversion parts of the music will be in 94% Black, parts of the music will be in 100% Black. Since several objects in the music are stacked in different ways I created the following view where all portions of the music sheet showing effectively ICCbased RGB are marked in red. DeviceGray will not overprint ICCbased RGB:

Regards,

Uwe

[jeffm12846623]

That entire document was produced in Finale;  InDesign is what I am trying to move to now : )

[Migintosh]

I have a mix of music crossing the full width of the page, and some "cues" that need to be indented next to the name of the person singing the cue.

Do you mean the lines that begin with Cantor: ? If so, are you changing the width of the staff system in InDesign? I would change the indent in Finale for those staves.

[jeffm12846623]

@migintosh: I can change the indent in Finale and clip a graphics including both text and music, but what I would really like to do is reduce those cantor "cues" to 85 or 90% of original size, to make it clear that these are different from the congregational music. Unfortunately, when I do this in Finale with the staff tool, it ends up right flush and immoveable.  So I will just have to see what works best!

[Migintosh]

Do what works for you, but in my experience, if something can be done in the Finale stage, it's better to do it there. The reason is that if you need to do something that can only be done in Finale, you would have to redo anything you had done after you exported an image. For example, I used to work with an engraver who would set the notes in Finale, export as an EPS, open the EPS in Illustrator and add the lyrics, articulations, chord symbols, etc. He would send it to me (at the publisher), and if I had to change the number of measures-per-system, all of the work that he hadn't done in Finale would need to be redone. That was fine with him, because he had been paid, and it was up to me to fix the problem in hours, that would have taken minutes to do if he had done all that work in the Finale stage.

It's been several years sine I've done any work in Finale, but I think that making small cue parts is something that is built into Finale. I have an older copy (2008) at home, so if I can remember to have a look, I can tell you how it can be done.

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Rock'n Roll! 

(^/)