Tip of the Week: Quick and Easy Photo FX
This InDesign tip how to create quick and easy photo FX was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on June 15, 2017.

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Here’s a simple way to add fun photo effects to a layout.
Start with a placed photo.

Add a stroke and fill of 10% black. Make the width of the stroke so it looks like the paper border around a printed photo.

Using the Direct Selection tool, select the photo and set it to the Multiply blend mode in the Effects panel. This blends it with the 10% black fill to make it look more like a printed piece.

Add a small drop shadow and you’re done.

Well, almost. If you like the look and want to reuse it, save it as an object style that you can apply to other photos. Just be aware that you’ll have to apply the Multiply blend mode to the graphic manually. Object styles don’t allow you to apply blend modes to graphics (Though bizarrely, they do allow you to apply blend modes to text. Go figure.)
This article was last modified on July 25, 2019
This article was first published on June 20, 2017
