Images & graphics
In IDML a picture is always placed inside a frame; the frame crops it, the graphic element places it, and a link names the file that holds the pixels.
A picture in an IDML layout is always placed inside a frame.
In short A graphic in InDesign lives in a frame, the same Rectangle, Oval or
Polygon that could hold a colour. The frame owns the geometry: where the picture appears
and what outline crops it. Inside the frame, a graphic element (<Image>, <PDF> or
<EPS>) adds three things: a transform that places the picture in the frame, the picture's
own bounds, and a <Link> to the file. Most pictures are linked rather than embedded, so the
pixels are usually not in the package at all.
Frame and picture are separate
Moving a frame moves the picture with it; moving the picture inside the frame changes the
crop. In IDML the two are separate elements with separate transforms: the frame's
ItemTransform places the frame on the spread, and the graphic's ItemTransform places the
picture inside the frame. Read frames & paths and
geometry & coordinates first, and a graphic frame holds no
surprises: it is a frame with one more child.
The frame also remembers how the picture was fitted, in <FrameFittingOption>: fill the frame
proportionally, fit the content, crop amounts. The picture's actual position is always the
graphic's transform.
The pixels live elsewhere
The graphic's <Link> names the picture's file with an absolute file: URI. Unless the
picture is embedded, the IDML package does not contain it, and anyone rendering the document
needs the linked files as well. InDesign packages a document with a Links folder for that
reason. A document whose links are missing still opens: every frame keeps its geometry, and
only the pictures are absent.
The graphic element also carries facts about the placed picture, written by InDesign for its
Links panel: its colour space (Space), its own resolution (ActualPpi) and its resolution
at the placed size (EffectivePpi).
Pages in this chapter
- Placed images: the
<Image>,<PDF>and<EPS>elements,GraphicBounds,<Link>and its URI, embedded<Contents>, frame fitting. - Formats & clipping: which formats real documents place, how the frame outline crops the picture, and clipping paths.
In Paged: the document reader records every graphic frame, its link and transform, and any embedded bytes; the host supplies linked files when the page is rendered, and the renderer decodes them. Supported · verified
Frequently asked questions
What is a placed image in IDML?
A frame (Rectangle, Oval or Polygon) with a graphic child, usually <Image>. The frame
crops; the graphic's transform places the picture; its <Link> names the file.
Are images stored inside the IDML package?
Only embedded ones, as base64 in the graphic's <Contents>. Linked images are files outside
the package, named by URI.
What happens when a linked image is missing? The document still opens and every frame keeps its geometry; only the picture is missing.
Colour management
The CMYKProfile, RGBProfile and rendering-intent attributes on the IDML Document element, what the profile names mean, and why rendering needs the profile.
Placed images
How an IDML graphic frame holds an Image, PDF or EPS element with its own ItemTransform, GraphicBounds and a Link that names the file or marks it embedded.