Creating Effects with Paste Into in InDesign

Like most basic layout ingredients, the Paste command is an essential workhorse, but it’s not particularly appetizing on its own. After all, Paste usually just places the contents of the clipboard in the center of your document window. However, InDesign offers some variations on the Paste command-Paste in Place and Paste Into—that yield a veritable feast of exciting visual possibilities. The Paste in Place command adds spice to Paste’s functionality in that it remembers the location of an object that’s copied (or cut) into the Clipboard, and pastes it in the exact same position, relative to the object’s location on the spread. The nice thing about Paste in Place is that it lets you paste the Clipboard contents on a different layer, on a different page in the same document, or on a page in a different document, while maintaining the position of the copied item. But it’s the Paste Into command that can be the most enticing for the visual gourmand.

Paste Into, as its name implies, lets you paste the Clipboard’s contents inside, or into, any frame or path, thus allowing the frame to act as a kind of mask for the pasted object. The command works with any item created in InDesign, including text, graphics, or grouped objects. In fact, using the Paste Into command is the only way to get multiple items into a frame, which can be done by simply grouping the items before copying them into the Clipboard (Figure 1).

And while frames can act as a mask for placed graphics (using File > Place), the Paste Into command allows frames to act as a mask for text,

too, an effect that cannot be achieved by simply placing text in a frame (Figure 2). To use Paste Into in your kitchen requires two other pieces of information. If you Copy an object to the Clipboard after first selecting it with the Selection tool, both the content and the frame will be pasted into the target frame. If you select the object with the Direct Selection tool before copying, only the selection (the content or the frame) will be pasted. Also, if the copied or cut object is not touching the target frame, the object’s upper lefthand corner is positioned at the upper left-hand corner of the target frame, similar to the Place command. But if the copied object overlaps the target frame even a little, it behaves like the Paste in Place command, by pasting the copied object inside the target frame in the exact same position. There are endless possibilities for special effects you can cook up with Paste Into. Here are a couple of our favorites for using Paste Into with text.

Headline Noir et Blanc

Ingredients:

• 1 letterform in your favorite font (e.g., Berthold City)
• The Create Outlines command
• The Paste in Place command
• The Edit Paste Into command
• The Direct Selection tool, for stirring

Directions: Type a capital letter in a text frame. Increase size as desired. Click on the frame with the Selection tool and convert to outlines (Type > Create Outlines). Create the headline text in a separate text frame, and position over the capital letter. Select the headline text with the Selection tool, and copy it (Edit > Copy). Use Edit > Paste in Place to create a duplicate of the text that is positioned over the original. Apply white (or color of your choice) to the duplicated text, and Cut the duplicated text frame. With the Direct Selection tool, click on the large capital letter, then use Edit > Paste Into to paste the white text inside the letterform. Select the original headline text and use Object > Arrange > Send Backward to position it behind the duplicate text. If you need to re-position the text, use the Direct Selection tool to move the large capital letter, then group all elements. Impressive in formal and casual settings alike!

Text in Puzzle Blocks

Ingredients:

• Several letterforms
• The Create Outlines command
• The Paste Into command

Directions: This simple recipe is a real crowd-pleaser. Type several letters, each in its own text frame. Increase size and apply color as desired. Draw several frames (e.g., in the shapes of squares) and apply various fill colors. Select one of the individual letters, and Edit > Cut (or Copy). Select one of the empty frames and use Edit > Paste Into to put the letter inside the frame. Select the letter inside the frame with the Direct Selection tool, and position it freely within the frame. Serve warm, or will keep several days on your hard drive, until required by client.