ImageLibraryLoader is a free plug-in for InDesign which allows you to quickly set up a floating palette filled with images from one or more designated folders. In many cases, it is much faster than Adobe Bridge, as it uses standard InDesign library palette – so there is no external app to launch.
We’ve just released an update that is compatible with InDesign CS5!
Read all about it here:
Soxy 1.4.1 has been released for Mac OS X and Windows.
There’s a stumbling block when there are multiple versions of applications like Adobe® InDesign®, QuarkXPress®, Adobe Illustrator®… installed on the same computer.
Double-clicking a file’s icon will often cause the wrong application version to launch. As a result, you might unwittingly re-save a document into a more recent file format, which could be a bad thing. Maybe it’s a customer file, and the customer might not be able to open the updated file when you e-mail it back to her.
This version has the following changes:
Version 1.4.1:
For more info and to download a 20-day fully functional demo click here:
Our MagnetoGuides tool has been updated to version 1.0.6 and now supports Adobe® InDesign® CS5 (in addition to CS, CS2, CS3, CS4).
This tool helps anyone who needs to lay out structured, repetitive documents, for example, paper forms. It allows to automatically coordinate adjustments to the positioning and size of multiple page items that are scattered over the layout
StoryParker helps you to efficiently deal with page clutter. You can select one or more items and ‘park’ them on the pasteboard; StoryParker keeps track of their original position.
When you ‘unpark’ them they remember where they came from and return there instantly.
We’ve just released version 2.0 which provides support for InDesign CS5. Click here for more info.
A short article how to achieve an ‘aged’ look-and-feel using recent pictures in just a few clicks. To read more, click here.
This article is a little how-to about making pictures look ‘aged’ without needing to use Photoshop. First the end-result: here is an example image, part of an InDesign page. Below, I’ll explain how I did this without needing Photoshop, and without duplicating or altering the original color picture.
First of all, you need to install some plugins, more precisely: Color2Gray and APID ToolAssistant – which are available for download from this web site. We have versions for InDesign CS5, CS4… all the way down to InDesign CS. Click here for more info and download links.
Color2Gray allows you to display and print color pictures in pure black-and-white through a standard color-to-grayscale color conversion. The resulting image is a proper conversion, and renders on the black (K) plate only. APID ToolAssistant is free, and Color2Gray is almost free (we charge a small amount of money for it – US$19). You can try it out for free for about a month, so you don’t need to pay anything if you simply want to follow along and try this out.
Once you have the plug-ins installed, you can create a document and place a JPEG image in it – here’s a screen capture of my picture of a building dating from 1913, located in Wanganui, New Zealand. This is the original picture, right after I placed it onto my InDesign page.
Select the picture frame, and while it is selected, use the API – Color2Gray – Force Render as Gray menu item.
The result becomes grayscale. Keep in mind – the original image file has not been altered! Color2Gray only influences how InDesign outputs the image pixels on the screen and onto the printed result, while keeping the original image file untouched. If you’d do a CMYK output preview you would find that now only the black plate carries the image.
Next, we neatly cover the image with a frame that’s filled with a light sepia color. The colored frame should be made to fit exactly over the image.
(Disclosure: I think that color looks like a light sepia, but it might not be – I am slightly color-blind, so please forgive me if it’s more of a reddish green or a greenish red: I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Good thing I decided to be a software developer instead of a graphics designer, eh?)
Now the magic: with the colored rectangle selected, bring up the InDesign Effects palette and multiply the colored rectangle with whatever lies underneath.
Tadaa: instant ‘old’ picture:
Is that cool or what?
Our LayerLifter freebie is a simple plug-in for Adobe InDesign CS5, CS4, CS3, CS2 or CS which offers an alternate method for moving page items between layers, instead of using the InDesign Layers palette.
With LayerLifter, the names of the document layers appear in the context menu of any selected page item. You can move a page item between layers by right-clicking and selecting a layer name from the context menu.
It also has an optional feature to nudge all items on a layer throughout the whole document, or across the current spread – only users that have a license for APID ToolAssistant installed have access to this optional feature.
Download links and more info about LayerLifter can be found here:
http://www.rorohiko.com/layerlifter
To see a little bit more about this nudge feature, check this out – it’s a little article that explains how to nudge a whole collection of frames in one swoop:
http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/2009/10/29/how-to-nudge-and-shift-a-whole-layer/
Color2Gray allows you to convert placed color photos (TIFF, JPEG) to grayscale without modifying the original color image. The converted pictures only render on the black (K) plate.
Color2Gray has been updated to version 2.0 and now supports Adobe InDesign CS5. Click here for more info.
Unlike previous versions, this version is not free any more. In order to enable us to continue the development of great tools, we need to generate some funds as the costs run up too high for a small company to bear.
From CS5 onwards, some of our former freebies will require a modest license fee. We know our tools will repay you their license fees in a very short time!
TextStitch is a popular tool which helps you with threading or separating text frames in InDesign CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5 – all this without disturbing the look and feel of the page.
There are three main functions: auto-stitch, quick stitch and auto-unstitch.
TextStitch is distributed as a freebie, and we’ve just released a version with support for CS5:
TextExporter is a US$ 19.00 plug-in for InDesign and InCopy CS, CS2, CS3, CS4 or CS5. It allows you to export all the text from an InDesign document concatenated into a single RTF file, grouped into a natural reading order. Even if text frames are not threaded together, the exported RTF file will have all the text in the proper order, which largely removes the need to manually clean it up before handing it over to a Microsoft Word user.
Read all about it at
http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/indesign-downloads/text-exporter/
It does not 'do' anything apparent, but you need it installed for most of our tools to function.
Output selected color pictures as pure black (K) without having to modify the original JPEG or TIFF.
Track time of last document modification, and keep a log of who has worked on a document.
Shows information about page items without having to hunt for the 'Info' palette; helps navigation in complex documents.
Automatically resize/refit frame content when resizing an image frame.
Floating palette filled with images from designated folders. Much faster than Adobe Bridge, uses standard InDesign library palette.
Efficient method to move page items between layers via context menu with layers.
Automatically expand your selection to encompass items that are similar to a single selected 'sample' page item. Much faster than shift-click-click-click...
Attach objects to guides and use the guides to concurrently pull or stretch all attached objects. Great for structured layouts like forms, photo-grids...
Auto-scale pixel images as they are placed so that all effective resolutions conform to a preset value.
Helps you handle overly cluttered layouts with ease. Temporarily move obscuring elements out of the way and later put them back exactly where they came from.
Generate brand new, copyright-free Sudoku puzzles straight into placeholder frames. Great for newsletters, puzzle books,... - do the layout once, and 'inject' fresh new puzzles
as many times as you want.
Export all text from an InDesign document into a single combined RTF or text file.
Automatically thread unattached text frames into a single, logical thread. Cut a long, multi-frame story into separated text frames without visually affecting the layout.
Transparently manage multiple installed versions of applications. Automatically open documents in the most appropriate version (e.g. InDesign CS3 documents open in InDesign CS3
even if CS4 is installed).
Move text out and back into InDesign documents, to allow translation or editing of text without need for additional licenses of InDesign or InCopy.
