Adobe InDesign Swatch Question

[hoefer]

Hey all,
I'm using Adobe InDesign CS2 and would like to use "textures" when shading in some tables -that is, fill a row/column with gray hatchmarks or stripes, checkers -whatever.  I don't think the program has this feature (I've done some extensive reading and turned up nothing).  Currently my only solution is to generate these "textures" as an image and put them behind a translucent cell -but it makes the table awefully quirky to deal with at times.

Any better ideas?  Help please!



Louis Hoefer
www.wholesumentertainment.com

[iago]

The closest I've gotten to doing what you're talking about, without going for image placement behind a text window, is gradient stuff (ala some table styles in D&D 4e), which InDesign supports just fine.  I'm usually content to sticking with what InDesign will let me do rather than a lot of frustration getting text and images to play well in concert... best of luck, and let us know if you find any particularly clever solutions!

[hoefer]

Yeah, I've done a bit with its graidients, but back when I used MS Word and MS Powerpoint as my main "layout engines" I sort of fell in love with the look of textures in charts/graphs.  -Done right they are much easier to distinguish and have a nice estetic.  While you're talking about gradients, is there a way to do a transitioning gradient in a color?  I've done this with grayscale in InDesign, but I would love to be able to do it in color for one project...


Louis Hoefer
www.whoolesumentertainment.com

[iago]

Yeah, I've done a bit with its graidients, but back when I used MS Word and MS Powerpoint as my main "layout engines" I sort of fell in love with the look of textures in charts/graphs.  -Done right they are much easier to distinguish and have a nice estetic.  While you're talking about gradients, is there a way to do a transitioning gradient in a color?  I've done this with grayscale in InDesign, but I would love to be able to do it in color for one project...

Yep. The built-in helpfiles are pretty solid at teaching you how to build gradients. I'm using a color one in the D&D 4e compatible products I'm doing, to mimic 4e's "fading sidebar" effect.