: Are there any shortcomings to making layouts in InDesign to place in Photoshop? Is it a crazy idea to make artwork in InDesign and then export to JPG then place linked files inside Photoshop,

@Sherry646

There is a potential downside: JPEG compression is lossy and is not great when there are large areas of solid colors touching other areas of solid colors (like large type on white etc.). In addition, you are baking in the quality when you export in raster format. The second point is probably fine for most things you are working on, and if you open the JPGs and do not resize them then you are probably OK but it should be considered.

Exporting as PNG as suggested in another answer is one way to avoid using lossy compression.

Exporting a page as PDF will preserve all vector art. It will be converted when you place it in Photoshop, but it is better to defer rasterizing vectors as long as you can so the conversion quality is as high as possible. If you place the PDF as a smart object instead of opening and moving the layer, then it might actually resample if you resize, which is good

Vote Up Vote Down

@Tiffany317

This sounds like a good way to do it. You can even copy/paste directly from InDesign into Photoshop as a smart object. Later, if you want to update the smart object, double-click it and it will open in Illustrator. Make your edits and save, and the smart object will update in Photoshop!

Vote Up Vote Down

@Phylliss782

I personally see no problems whatsoever using that workflow if you feel more comfortable using INDD.
But... why GIF ? You can export in PNG directly from INDD.
Gif is "great" for animation, but you're not talking about animation.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Goswami567

If it works for you and you are seeing good results, then I don't see anything wrong with it. Sometimes I like to create banner ads in Illustrator because, as you said, the type tool in photoshop leaves something to be desired.

However, I have noticed when creating the same artwork in Photoshop as in Illustrator or InDesign, for some projects Photoshop does a better job of exporting the text and other elements so they render well on screen-based media.

I would do a few tests with some projects that you typically work on. I'm sure it varies depending on the content of the artwork.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Turnbaugh909

If it works for you. it works.

There's no "wrong" process to create artwork really. As long as the final deliverable is in the state it should be in... go for it.

The only time there's ever an issue with actual workflow is if you need to pass off files to someone else. Then an intuitive workflow is best, but you can always provide instructions as well.

Vote Up Vote Down