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[Week 9] InDesign

Topic_01: Getting Started/Pages

As part of the Adobe Suite, Indesign has many of the same settings and features as Photoshop and Indesign. Many of the tools are synonymous across the programs.
Indesign serves as a final platform for formatting and combining all the final outputs from other programs. This is where your pngs, pdfs, jpegs, etc… all come together with some text to create a stunning, structured presentation.

File>New>Document (a window appears, these are your document presets)

  1. At the top you can name your file.
  2. Page Size category ensure the correct size is set (i.e. 11×17, 8.5×11) or manually enter a custom size in the Width/Height boxes.
  3. In the Units category you can change the preset from picas to inches.
  4. Checking the Facing Pages box allows you to create a document with spreads – two pages side by side.

All of these settings can be modified under File>Document Setup once you’ve been working on your file.

Pages

  1. You can edit your Pages from the Pages tab on the right hand side of the interface.
  2. The top page icons are your Master Pages – double click to edit the Master Pages. The Master Page applies any information (text, images, guidelines, etc.) to all the pages. This is a great place to put your name in the bottom corner or add an icon image to your presentation packet. If using a general layout, I create my guidelines on the Master Page and then they are applied to all the pages.
  3. At the bottom of the tab, you can add, move, and delete pages.
  4. To reorder pages you can also right click>Move Pages. You will see that right clicking on the respective Page Icon will generate a number of editing options for that page.

Topic 02: Links/Placing Files

To place image go to File>Place (Ctrl+D/Cmmd+D) and select an image from your hard drive. You can also drag and drop files from an open finder window onto your Indesign screen to Place.

When you place an image into a document, InDesign automatically converts it to a clipping mask (Just by default set to a rectangle). Double clicking the image allows you to change the size of the image behind the mask. The blue outline indicates you are editing the frame. The brown outline indicates you are editing the placed file.

Right click over the image and select Fitting from the drop-down menu. Next select “Fit content to frame”

  1. With the File/Image selected, you can begin editing and moving it.
  2. The top bar contains tools to edit the Size, and Placement of your Placed File. “W” is the width. “H” is the height.
  3. The Stroke tools also appear at the top of the bar as well as the Side Panel. Stroke lets you change the outline and color of your Placed File’s Frame – the bounding box that holds your file.
  4. The Links tab on the Side Panel lets you find and update the original file. This is important to reference. Remember that InDesign is really a tool for bringing files together and organizing them visually in the same place. All of the files still exist outside of InDesign and can be continuously edited and re-linked/updated as long as you retain the same file path.

  1. Right Click on your File/Image to see further editing tools. Transform gives you options to Scale, Rotate, and Mirror your File/Image.
  2. Lock – locks the image into place on the page. You cannot further move or edit it unless you unlock it.
  3. Effects opens up options similar to those found in Photoshop. Effects>Transparency opens a new panel where you can manipulate the display style of your File/Image. Multiply gets rid of the white pixels. Screen gets rid of your black pixels. Have fun experimenting with other transparency fields and drop effects.
  4. Edit With allows you to select a program to edit the original file. If you downloaded an image off the internet and want to further edit it in Illustrator to change the color you can go Edit With>Illustrator. You will be taken to Illustrator and the File/Image will open for you to edit it. Make sure to save it to maintain changes.
  5. Display Performance is an important tool to locate. The default in InDesign leaves your File/Images looking grainy and pixelated. You can select Display Performance>High Quality Display to see a higher resolution draft of your final output.

ADDING TEXT

  1. On the left hand toolbar locate the Text tool. Click and hold on the canvas to create a bounding box for your text.
  2. Open the Character toolbar by navigating to Window>Type & Tables>Character
  3. Type something inside the text box. Next select the text (Not the box). In the Character window navigate through different text styles. Underneath the first drop down there is a second drop down that indicates the a sub style (Bold, Italic, Condensed, etc. varies depending on font style, some have more, others none)
  4. The remaining 8 drop down menus control the Font Size, Kerning, Vertical Scale, Baseline Shift, Leading, Tracking, Horizontal Scale, Skew. Adjust these to create a more custom font (Subtext/Text Tag). Adds a nice touch.
  5. Access the Stroke panel through Window>Stroke. Can adjust the strokes of boxes similarly to Illustrator

**Selection tool vs Direct Selection work exactly as they do in Illustrator.

Topic 03: Exporting/Packaging Files

  1. To save an output version of your file simply navigate to File>Export. Under Format ensure that the format is set to “PDF Print” or “JPEG” if you will upload to the blog. Specify a file name and location and click Save
  2. You can also go to File>Adobe PDF Presets> [High Quality Print] to get a presentation ready PDF.
  3. File>Package creates a packaged InDesign folder complete with all referenced link (artwork) as well as texts, etc. When I finish working on a file, I will usually Package it to get all the referenced links in one place. **This can be extremely useful while working in a team and trying to coordinate keeping things in one location.
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