How To Save Transparent Background In Indesign

27 December

In this tutorial y'all will acquire how to take a transparent epitome from Photoshop, save it as a .PNG file and place it into an InDesign certificate ready for impress.

Please refer to my preferred PDF preset tutorial for steps on how I save my print projects to a PDF.

Programs: Photoshop & InDesign
Difficulty: Intermediate

Step 1

Open the epitome you want to cut the background out of in Photoshop. Then double-click the layer and hitting OK to unlock it. Make certain information technology is a high resolution (300DPI) for print projects.

Stride 2

Remove the background from your layer. There are several ways you can do this. If the background is a solid color you tin can use the Magic Wand or Quick Selection tools. This tutorial will non go in depth on how to cut out an image from the background since the focus is on saving and placing a transparent image into InDesign.

Pace 3

Side by side go to File>Salvage Equally and make sure yous select PNG from the drop down. Note this only works for RGB files. Since you can catechumen all elements of your print project into CMYK when you save your PDF in InDesign, you lot can use this RGB file for whatsoever impress or spider web project. Requite you PNG file a proper noun, choose the location to save it and click Save. Select None in the PNG options pop upwards window and click OK. You have now successfully created a transparent file to use in your impress projects.

Pace 4

Now allow's open up InDesign. Create a new document to your desired size. Mine is a sample anthology cover so information technology is 4.724 inches square with a 1/8 inch drain.

Step five

Drop in your background image by clicking and dragging it from your binder into InDesign or CTRL+D (Option + D on a Mac) to Identify. And then move the background image until you are happy with the placement. You tin can also resize the image by holding down CTRL+Shift (Option + Shift on a Mac) and clicking and dragging a corner of your image. This constrains the proportions every bit y'all resize the image. Make sure your image goes all the fashion to the red bleed lines.

Step half-dozen

Drop in your transparent prototype by clicking and dragging information technology from your folder into InDesign or CTRL+D (Option + D on a Mac) to Place. Follow the steps above to resize and place your transparent epitome. Y'all shouldn't see whatsoever background colour on your image. If you do, make certain you saved the file as a PNG. Note I would clean up this image with some color correction to better match the background image. This is just to show you how a transparent image from Photoshop can be dropped into your print project in InDesign speedily.

Conclusion/Final Epitome

Now that you dropped in your transparent PNG image, you tin can continue designing your certificate. Add text, more than images, etc. I cleaned up the PNG file in Photoshop by adding some colour corrections. I likewise used the Blur tool around the outside border of the entire image to soften the harsh lines. This makes the last PNG blend better with my background image when I drop it back into InDesign.

Pro Tip: Keep your designs consistent and use colors from your groundwork and transparent images for the text.

About the Writer: DesignProNicki

Hi! I'm Nicki and I'm the Owner/Creative Director of Multi-Designs, a design studio focusing on print, web and marketing services. I work with clients on a variety of design projects and also specialize in complete marketing campaigns for small businesses. I likewise share pattern tips and tutorials through Design Procademy'due south Pattern Like a Pro on Youtube and Envato's Tuts+.