Inspiring

Answered

Using layered fonts for drop caps

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
October 19, 2024
4 replies
1009 views

Hi community,

I am trying to make a drop cap style that uses layered fonts. I am also very much learning inDesign as an amateur.

Right now I understand how to take text in a text box and using layers make a multilayered font. If I do it manually, I can achieve the right look with a background font of one color, a midground another, and the foreground with another. With the layers it looks great. I can even merge the three layers into one.

I want to take this finished "triple font" and make it my drop cap font. Is there a way to do this?

Important: I am using this drop cap in a data merge and it will be applied to many entries (100's), so I can't go in and do it manually one-at-a-time.

Thanks for any help!

Type

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Correct answer Peter Spier

The way to handle this in the data merge is to first make a folder with a separate graphic file for each letter you will need, then list the correct file name in the data set for each record.

You will have a graphic frame to hold the image file in your template.

B

Benjamin39010368auuuAuthor

Inspiring

Ok. Sounds like the graphics way is this best way forward. But would there be a way, after I create a graphic for each letter and have a placeholder graphic within the data merge, for some degree of automation to insert the correct graphic letter for the first letter of the word? Because it would be too much to do manually.

Peter Spier

Correct answer

Community Expert

The way to handle this in the data merge is to first make a folder with a separate graphic file for each letter you will need, then list the correct file name in the data set for each record.

You will have a graphic frame to hold the image file in your template.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Yeah, if it's that elaborate anchored objects (inline graphics) is the way to go. You can add an image field to the Data Merge and either drop the first character from the text field in your data or use a GREP find change to do it after.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Create them as graphics and place them inline. Then, at the cost of having to create and place a few elements, you have unlimited artistic range.

Some things are not worth doing with automated features. 🙂

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Rather than three layers, which almost certainly will not work for the drop cap (maybe with a script), I would play with a character style that adds a drop shadow for the outer color, a stroke for the mid, and a character color for the foreground.

Whether this can work in your data merge I can't say without seeing the data and how it is set up.

B

Benjamin39010368auuuAuthor

Inspiring

The only problem is that the layered font style is quite elaborate- it looks like an illuminated letter with flowers, etc. Ideally, the finished product would have these illuminated drop caps.

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

Sorry, to further clarify: one layer is the flower stems, one layer is the flower petals, and one layer is the letter itself. The font is very versatile because all three colors can be changed independently of each other making a very elegant finished product.

@Benjamin39010368auuu

Can you post a screenshot?

Can you make it as an object - this letter with all the extras - and place it as an InLine graphic object?

Even if you use DataMerge and have 100s of those - even different ones - use some unique tag/marker foor each, then replace them with a Clipboard contents - first copy this graphic to Clipboard.

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