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mary lous45281250
Participant
August 2, 2017
Question

Repeating Glyphs as Stroke--InDesign

  • August 2, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 1624 views

Using InDesign, is there a way to create a repeating glyph on a line?  In other words, I need to create a heart border on an oval label.  Can the dot stroke be replaced by a glyph?  I'd rather not place them all by hand.  Thanks for your help.

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    3 replies

    barbara_a7746676
    Community Expert
    barbara_a7746676Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 2, 2017

    For more even spacing choose alignment Justify All Lines.

    Depending on how much the oval deviates from a circle, you may need to add some Kerning to some of the glyphs.

    Jongware
    Community Expert
    JongwareCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 2, 2017

    (Barbara, that's Tracking, not Kerning. There is a functional difference.)

    barbara_a7746676
    Community Expert
    barbara_a7746676Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 2, 2017

    Yes, meant to say Tracking. I'm totally aware of the difference.

    winterm
    winterm
    Legend
    August 2, 2017

    In addition to Michael's good advice, if you badly need to stay in InDesign only, you could just use Type on a Path:

    also you can take a look here, but it's just for fun, usually not-so-useful...

    EDIT: ah, Steve types faster

    Mike Witherell
    Community Expert
    Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 2, 2017

    Easier to do in illustrator and place the graphic into InDesign. In Illustrator, draw a heart. Keep it selected. In the Brush panel, make a new pattern brush. Choose the selected heart for the sides and ends and corners. Apply the brush to a rectangle. Name and save the Illy file and place into InDesign.

    Mike Witherell
    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 2, 2017

    Michael is right, it's easier in Illustrator. If you have to do it in InDesign:

    1. Create path

    2. Choose Type on a Path tool to create type on the ellipse.

    3. Type a tab character. Use the Tabs panel to set a right indent tab at the end of the type on a path.

    4. Open the Glyphs panel and choose a font with a "heart" glyph. Copy and paste into the Leader field in the Tabs panel.

    It's a bit futzy to get it right, mine isn't perfect:

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