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Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

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Stefan Petri
By Stefan Petri Last updated on
Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

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I have a calendar here with a table where all my dates are entered, i.e. the days.

Sometimes I need just such a table, for example in a web page or in another image or, or, or.

How do I export this table?

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images


Step 1

I click on the table, which is in a text frame, and then I go to File>Export.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 2

I give the object a name, here "calendar" and then I can select File type: PNG. With PNG I have the option of including transparencies.

Then I click on Save...

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 3

... and get all kinds of setting options:

It is important that I click on the selection under Export, because then only what is selected will be exported. Otherwise I would export the entire layout including the image etc.

And then you can specify what the quality should be under Image. I select Maximum, for printing.

Then I can specify the resolution (ppi). Since I want to print the thing, I enter 300. Otherwise 72 is also sufficient for screen.

Then I can also say whether RGB or gray.

And if the transparencies are to be taken into account, I have to check the Transparent background box.

I always find smoothing the edges a good idea and then I click on Export.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 4

Then I go to File>Open in Photoshop and take a look at the table. I get it in a good resolution.

At 100% it looks like this. All nice and smooth, that's what I wanted.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 5

If I need other elements, such as the days of the week here, I select them by holding down the Shift keyand go to File>Export again.

I name the file "Calendar2" and set everything accordingly in the options. Transparent background is particularly good here.

Then I go to Export...

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 6

... and open the file in Photoshop.

Here the transparencies are represented by a checkered pattern. That's exactly what I wanted.

There were no transparencies (*) in the calendar earlier because I defined the background of the individual table cells as white. If I had made the cells transparent, this would also be taken into account.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

So it's a good thing to export individual elements.

It is really important that you export as a PNG filewhen exporting and then click on Select. And then you have the whole thing available in Photoshop.

Nice with the outline and in a very good resolution. You could even set a higher resolution if 300 ppi is not enough.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images

Step 7

Of course, you can also copy the desired object in InDesign with Ctrl+C and then paste it into a new image in Photoshop with Ctrl+V and confirm with Enter.

Then I even have the whole thing as a smart object and can make it bigger and smaller myself. That works too, of course.

Adobe InDesign tips & tricks: Exporting tables and other objects as images



But unfortunately, the smart object only works in Photoshop. If you have a different graphics editing program, it's probably better to use Export and not the clipboard.

I hope you can now use this little trick to easily export tables or other objects for another program.

Stefan Petri
Trainer About Stefan Petri Together with his brother Matthias, Stefan Petri runs the popular specialist forum PSD-Tutorials.de and the e-learning platform TutKit.com, which focuses on the training and further education of digital professional skills. All courses by Stefan Petri