Background tab

The Background tab in the Properties dialog box allows you to set a background for your page/object. You can choose from a list of background styles including a simple solid fill colour to gradient fills. You can even add your own styles to the list.

To edit the Background tab settings:

  1. Click on the Use Background option to set a background. This will activate the options on the tab.

If a tick appears in this option you can add a background. If you untick this option you will disable the options in this panel and if the page/object had a background on it, it will be removed.

If you do not use a background for your page it will be transparent and the objects on it will float above the existing desktop. So it is probably better to have a background on your page. By default pages always have a background colour even if it is only white.

  1. Click on the Preset box to drop down the background styles palette. This contains a variety of styles that can use a combination of colours to make up the background fill colour.

  2. If you want a one-colour solid background, click on the Solid pane in the Preset box or select Solid from the Styles list. This will activate the background colour well only, and then select the colour you want to use.

Note:
The Preset box shows all of the panes created by Opus or by you and the Styles list present the type of gradient you want to create. The Preset box always shows the thumbnail of the background, so as you make changes you can see the effect they have.

  1. Selecting any other pane from the Preset box or the Styles list will open the options described below – see points 5 to 15 below. 

  2. Use the Gradient wheel to select the angle of the gradient. Use the spin buttons beside the wheel if you want to set the number of degrees to an exact angle or type it directly into the box.

Note:
For some Styles, the wheel may be disabled.

  1. Tick the Transparency option if you want the background to be transparent or partially transparent. Use the spin buttons beside the box if you want to set the percentage of transparency or type the percentage directly into the box. You can set the range of transparency from 0% i.e. a fully opaque background to 100% i.e. a fully transparent background.

Note:
This option is disabled in the Page Properties dialog.

  1. Use the Gradient Bar to select the colours you want to include in the gradient. By default two colours are selected and displayed on the bar like so image\Gradient_Handle_Empty.jpg. The triangle is filled with the colour to be used.

  2. Click on the image\Gradient_Add.jpg button to add a new colour to the Gradient Bar, then double-click the image\Gradient_Handle_Empty.jpg to open the colour well and choose the new colour – the new colour will then be displayed in the triangle, for example, image\Gradient_Handle_Colour.jpg. You can add as many colours as you like to the bar and you can re-arrange them by dragging them across the Gradient Bar.

  3. To remove a new colour from the Gradient Bar, select the image\Gradient_Handle_Empty.jpg then click on the image\Gradient_Delete.jpg button.

  4. To edit the colour of a image\Gradient_Handle_Empty.jpg, use the image\Gradient_Edit.jpg to open a colour well and then select your new colour – see Drop Down Colour Wells for more information on selecting colours.

  5. Use the Twist and Bands options to set the number of spirals and the amount of twist for the circular gradients from the Styles list. Use the spin buttons to increase the number of twists and bands.

Note:
To see what effect each of these options does, set them both to one first and increase the number by one and see the effect it has on the thumbnail displayed in the Preset box.

  1. Use the Start Size option to set the width of one colour against the other in the circular gradients. Use the spin buttons to increase or decrease the start size.

  2. Use the Offset options to set where the centre point of a circular gradient is. By default it is set to 50% across and 50% down, which means the dead centre of the object or page in which this gradient is to be used.

  3. If you have created a new gradient style that you like, you can add it to the list of Styles provided by Opus. Click on the Presets button and select the Add to Presets… option – this will open the Fill Preset Name dialog in which you can give the new style a name. When you click the OK button in the dialog, the new style is added to the bottom of the Preset box and can be used with other pages or objects in this publication.

  4. To delete or rename the preset styles shown in the Preset box, click the Presets button and select the Manage Presets… option – this will open the Manage Preset Fills dialog in which you can select the name of one of the panes displayed in the Preset box and either delete or rename it.

  5. Click the image\Gradient_Reverse.jpg button if you want to reverse the order of the colours on the Gradient Bar.

  6. Click on the Apply button to save your changes.

The QuickStyle button

The QuickStyle button provides instant access to a number of pre-defined styles that you can quickly apply to objects. The effects applied by the QuickStyle feature can be edited via the Effects and Background tabs in the same manner as any styles you have added yourself.

The QuickStyle dialog will only modify elements required for a specific effect, so it will not remove any existing effects. For example, if the object has a shadow, the QuickStyle tool will not remove that shadow.

Note:
The QuickStyle tool can only apply it’s effects to objects, not to whole pages – this is because it is not possible to apply alpha effects to pages. The QuickStyle button will not display on the background tab when a page or pages are selected.

Related Topics:

Using drop down colour wells

Creating and Editing Properties

QuickStyles