There are many methods for importing and adjusting images in an Indesign document, one of which is the Ellipse Frame tool. We show you a full range in our Adobe Indesign training courses.
It’s possible just to go to File > Place (or Control +D; Mac Command +D) and browse to where your image is saved. However, for more control, you can first create a placeholder using on the the Frame tools. Right-click on the Rectangle Frame tool in the toolbox to view the three options of Rectangle, Ellipse and Polygon Frame tools.
In the example shown here we have used the Ellipse Frame tool. Pressing Shift to constrain the width and the height, click and drag to create a perfect circle. Release the mouse button before the Shift key, or the frame can stretch accidentally. Then go to File > Place and browse to your chosen image, in this case the top image is that of the male Superb Fairy Wren, which is native to Australia.
The image will be imported at its full print size, which or may not be the size you want. To scale the image within the frame, right-click on the image and choose either Fitting > Fill Frame Proportionally or Fit Content Proportionally, depending on how much of the image you wish to see in the frame. If you choose the former option you can then adjust its position with the Direct Selection tool (the white arrow).
You can also adjust the scale of the image and frame by pressing down on Control and Shift together (to scale proportionally) and clicking and dragging a corner anchor point with the Selection tool (the black arrow). Also remember that this image is not embedded by default into the Indesign document – it is only linked to the document. There are pros and cons to both options – more of this in a later blog post.
Finally, we may wish to add a small outline to the image – this we do by selecting the image, then making sure that the Stroke icon is overlapping the Fill icon, and choosing a colour. The weight of the outline, or Stroke, can be adjusted either on the top Control panel or in the Stroke panel. The weight is measured in points and there are three points to a millimeter. Note also the various line types in the drop-down list below the line weight field. The option chosen here is Dotted.
More tips and techniques can be found at Adobe user groups which meet regularly in most capital cities, and are free forums for designers to discuss topics and the latest Indesign features. See also many examples of our own clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Indesign Blog Posts:

• Indesign images and text
  
• Indesign workflow
• Indesign templates
• Indesign page numbers
• Indesign add hyperlink