Both Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress allow you to place (import) graphics created in graphics programs such as PhotoShop, Illustrator and Freehand. You can place PSD, AI, PDF, EPS, TIF, DCS, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PhotoCD, PICT and other graphic formats. Although many file formats are supported, consider sticking with TIF and EPS images for prepress print workflow and cross-platform issues. Talk to your prepress service provider before choosing to work with PSD, PDF and AI files to ensure they can work with these types of images.
Here’s a description of some of the graphic formats that can be imported:
- DCS 2.0 (Desktop Color Separations): an EPS saved as a single file. This kind of file is pre- separated and therefore prints faster than a standard EPS.
- EPS (Encapsulated PostScript): can contain bitmap and object-oriented information. This format allows you to include low-resolution previews for screen display and non-PostScript printing. Since some EPS files do not have a preview when you go to import them into a picture box, a gray box appears in the picture box instead of the image. Even so, the picture still prints.
- GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): a popular graphic file format for Web pages. These kind of images can support up to only 256 colors.
- JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): a popular format for Web pages that compresses very well. These kinds of images support 24-bit color. PhotoCD: developed by Kodak and meant for storage on CD-ROMs.
- PICT: developed for the Macintosh. PICTs contain bitmap and object-oriented information.
- PNG (Portable Network Graphics): a bitmap format that is touted as the replacement for the GIF format thanks to its better compression and color capabilities. PNG images are supported only by newer Web browsers.
- TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): can contain bitmap and object-oriented information and support bitmap, grayscale, RGB, CMYK and indexed color models. Like the JPEG format, compresses very well.
- WMF (Windows Metafile): developed for Windows. WMFs can contain both bitmap and object- oriented information.
When you import pictures, both InDesign and QuarkXPress remember the path to the original image file—called a link. When someone change the location of the image, modify or delete it, both programs prompts you to relink or update the graphic via the Links palette (InDesign) or Usage dialog (QuarkXPress).
All content, graphic or otherwise, is placed in a frame. You can place a picture into any selected graphics frame. Once placed in a frame, you can crop the graphic, resize it, reposition it and, if the picture is a one-bit or grayscale TIF, you can even recolor it. If you have not made or selected a frame before placing a graphic, InDesign creates the frame automatically. With QuarkXPress, you must create a Picture box before attempting to import a picture. Although both programs allow you to change size, skew, color, rotation and transparency effects, doing so can increase the size of the PostScript file— resulting in longer print times—and increase the possibility of PostScript errors. It’s better to make such changes in a graphics program before importing them into either InDesign or QuarkXPress.