Volume 4 Number 5 QUARK SOFTWARE WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

Volume 4 Number 5 QUARK SOFTWARE WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

8 X-RAY MAGAZINE VOLUME 4 NUMBER 5 Getting Edgy with QuarkXPress 7.0 BY STEVEN GRAY Aided by true alpha-channel support, clipping paths are no longer the only choice for masking out image backgrounds. Let s face it sometimes the foreground of the photo is the only part that belongs on the page, but what s the best way to mask out the background, and how does each method affect the finished edge? In the old days (QuarkXPress 3.X), users either faked it with page-colored paint in Photoshop, or, if they wanted a smooth vector edge, they used Photoshop s pen tool and saved the image as a raster EPS with an embedded clipping path. Things got a little easier when QuarkXPress 4.0 introduced the ability to control clipping-path outsets directly within the layout, along with many other pathrelated niceties. Vector Versus Raster Edges In figure 1, you can see the difference between a vector and a raster edge (where edge refers to the transition between the visible and the invisible parts of a photo). The vector edge was created with a clipping path, and the raster edge with an alpha channel. Each has its merits. The vector edge is pixel free. You could enlarge it to the size of a barn, and the edge would still look smooth, but the raster edge has something to offer as well softness. Softness may not be all that important to the example I ve chosen here, but most subjects (such as hair) prefer a soft edge. Yes, pixels are the ingredient used to achieve this effect, but hey, the foreground of your photo is made of pixels too, isn t it? QuarkXPress version 7 takes things further by offering true alpha-channel support whether you re using a clipping path or not. The masking toolbox is now complete. What are Clipping Paths and Alpha Channels? Clipping paths and alpha channels are both transparency masks. That is, they both allow you to render the background of a photo invisible. A clipping path does so using vector curves, and an alpha channel does so using grayscale raster data that has been saved as an additional channel in your image-editing application. An RGB image that includes an alpha channel contains four 8-bit channels (R, G, B, and alpha). If you ve ever used the save selection feature in Photoshop, you ve created an alpha channel. Figure 1. These two figures compare the differences between a clipping path and a rasterized alpha channel. You ll see more complex examples in the figures that follow. You ll also notice that each sample page in this article has a background that wavers from 100% white. Hopefully this will reinforce the fact that we re dealing with truly transparent backgrounds that are more flexible than mere white ones.

IN THE TRENCHES GETTING EDGY 9 Example 1: A Vector Edge for The Spigot Before we touch on the new alpha channel features of QuarkXPress 7, it may help to start with the older and more familiar example of a clipping path. Figure 2 shows a photo of a spigot imported into a QuarkXPress layout. In this example, I sought a very sharp yet very smooth edge for the spigot. A clipping path is still the way to go for that kind of edge. QuarkXPress lets you create simple clipping paths directly within the layout, but they must be based on the white pixels of an image or on an existing alpha channel. Nothing like that existed for this photo. What s more, I needed precision. So, I left the confines of my layout and used Photoshop s pen tool to painstakingly draw a Béziér path around the spigot by hand. After saving this path with the Photoshop file, I imported the photo into QuarkXPress. To do this, follow these steps: 1Select Item q Preview Resolution q Full Resolution and make sure you can see the image in all its glory. 2Select Item q Clipping and make sure the embedded path is selected in the type drop-down list. 3While still in the clipping tab, specify an outset of -1 to choke the clipping path inward. This is a necessary step for most homemade clipping paths. That s because, no matter how careful you are when creating your path, background pixels seem to find their way into the visible area and make your edge look amateurish. Choking the clipping path inward shrinks the visible area, forcing these background pixels into the invisible zone. 4Select Item q Runaround and make sure the embedded path is selected in the type drop-down list. In my example, this allowed me to place a text box behind the image, with text flowing around the edge of the spigot. 1 Figure 2. The clipping path is a good solution for a sharp, defined edge such as the one found on this spigot. QuarkXPress lets you create simple clipping paths directly within the layout. 5While still in the runaround tab, specify an outset equal to about 150% of the point size of the text. This will prevent the text from crowding the spigot.

xry0610_18_gettingedgy.qxd:layout 1 10 9/22/06 2:23 PM Page 10 X-RAY MAGAZINE VOLUME 4 NUMBER 5 There are a number of ways soft-mask edges can be created in Photoshop, but none of them are quite as elegant as the newest method using QuarkXPress 7 to non-destructively soften a mask that was originally created without softness. Follow these steps to achieve 1 results as shown in figure 3. Open the image in Photoshop and select the lasso tool. Before using this tool, make sure its feather parameter is set to 0 px (pixels). (In my example, I wanted a sharp channel edge in Photoshop so that the softness could be controlled by QuarkXPress rather than 2 3 by the image file.) Make a rough selection of the woman s face using the lasso tool. Select Select q Save Selection and type Alpha Channel into the name field. 4 Go to Photoshop s channels palette and activate the new alpha channel s eyeball icon so that both the image and the alpha channel 5 6 are visible together. Double click the alpha channel and specify your preference for how masked areas should appear. I chose 100% bright yellow to make the mask extremely obvious. Set Photoshop s foreground color to 100% black 1 Figure 3. Using an alpha-channel mask produces a softer edge. Example 2: A Blurred Edge for the Face It s true that QuarkXPress has been able to make use of alpha channels since version 4, but make use of and fully support are two different things. Prior to version 7, your and its background color to 100% white. For my particular project, I prepared Photoshop s pencil and eraser tools by making sure the brush size for each was useful and that no softness was alpha-channel options in QuarkXPress consisted of (a) present in the brushes. I then used these tools basing a clipping path on one, or (b) basing a runaround to clean up the mask I had created with the path on one. lasso tool. I made sure to over-mask into the As of version 7, you can now use alpha channels as they were intended to control the opacity of pixels. This is particularly useful when you want a soft edge around the clipped area of your image. foreground slightly so that no hint of old background pixels would appear in my finished work. As I did so, the pencil tool applied 100% masking to any area I painted with it, and the eraser tool did just the opposite. That s exactly Take a look at figure 3. If I had used a clipping path the behavior step 5 above helped to ensure. on this face (even a clipping path based on an alpha The areas I painted with the black pencil didn t channel), the edge would have been much too stark. The appear black on screen. They appeared bright woman s hair and personality demanded a soft edge. yellow the masking color I specified in step 5.

IN THE TRENCHES GETTING EDGY 11 7Save the image as a TIFF. It is true that QuarkXPress 7 also allows you to work with PSD files, but such files don t allow the use of QuarkVista effects such as gaussian blur. 8Import the file into a QuarkXPress picture box and choose Item q Preview Resolution q Full Resolution to see all the image detail possible. 9Double click the picture box with the item tool to open the modify dialog box. In the picture tab, there is a new drop-down list called channel. From this list, select the alpha channel. The background of the photo is now transparent, but the edge was still hard. To soften it, follow these steps: 1Open the picture effects palette (Window q Picture Effects), and choose gaussian blur from the palette s filter menu. Gaussian blur is one of two filters in QuarkXPress 7 that allow you to affect the alpha channel without affecting the base image. (Diffuse is the other such filter.) This is accomplished using filter check boxes. For this example, I made sure that blur picture was unchecked and that blur mask was checked in the gaussian blur dialog box. I then previewed different radius values until I decided that 7 achieved the level of edge softness I wanted. 2Select Item q Runaround and make sure the alpha channel is selected in the type dropdown list. This step allowed me to place a text box behind the image, with text flowing around the edge of the face. 3While still in the runaround tab, specify an outset equal to about 150% of the point size of the text. This prevents the text from crowding the face. Example 3: A Diffused Edge for The Desert For example 3 (see figure 4), I wanted something more artistic. Like gaussian blur, the diffuse filter in QuarkXPress 7 provides a check box that allows me to affect only the alpha channel in an image, but rather than blur the edge, diffuse speckles the edge. This breaks up continuous lines without detracting from the overall sense of sharpness. To accomplish this, I performed all the same steps listed in example 2, but at the end of the process, I used QuarkXPress 7 s diffuse command instead of gaussian blur. Once again, I made sure that diffuse picture was unchecked and that diffuse mask was checked, so that only my edge would be affected. You can also combine diffuse with gaussian blur for a soft, speckled edge, but as shown in figure 4, diffuse stood on its own. No More Getting Edgy About Permanence Photoshop effects sometimes make me edgy because of the permanent nature of whatever I save. The more you can accomplish using QuarkXPress 7, the more undoable your mask effects will be. All of the QuarkVista filters and effects included with QuarkXPress 7 are non-destructive, so you can go back and un-blur or un-speckle that edge any time you like, or, just change the amount. You ll be sure to gain an edge over your competition! Figure 4. This example shows a more artistic edge.

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