Better Than Ginzu Knives: InDesign's Pathfinder Commands

This article is excerpted from the April/May 2007 issue of “InDesign Magazine,” #17.


Every avid chef has little gizmos and gadgets, designed for specific tasks, that find their way to the back of a drawer and are then forgotten. Like those special tools, the Pathfinder commands in InDesign are often forgotten or considered too sophisticated for non-artistic types. Yet they can slice and dice and combine paths in unique ways that add vastly to the repertoire of the InDesign chef. Added to InDesign’s other ways to mix up text and graphics, Pathfinder can help you further push the creative edge.

Figure 1. The above effects and many more are the work of InDesign’s Pathfinder commands.
This fun and accessible how-to gives you a grounding in Pathfinder basics, then walks you through two recipe-like formulas for using these tools. Be sure to go to the last page of the PDF for a special discount on an InDesign Magazine subscription.
To read the article as a PDF file in your Web browser, click “Pathfinder Commands.” You can also download the PDF to your machine for later viewing.
The interactive features of this PDF are available only when you open it in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. We highly recommend Adobe Reader 7.0 and above to view this PDF. To download Acrobat Reader, click below:
.
To learn how to configure your browser for viewing PDF files, see the Adobe Reader tech support page.
Buy this issue or subscribe to InDesign Magazine.
 

>