Down & Dirty with Adobe Creative Suite

Session #2: InDesign

InDesign’s primary purpose is to layout books, boards and other documents.

InDesignPurpose

InDesign’s primary purpose is to layout books, boards and other documents.

InDesignPurpose

InDesignInterface

Tools that cover most InDesignCapabilities

1

Object fill & stroke2

Basic properties of currently selected objects3

Menu for panels

4

InDesignInterface

To Zoom In To Zoom Out To Move Around

ctrl + “+”(pc)

ctrl + “-”(pc)

hold down the space bar,

Click & Drag

*tip: press ctrl + alt, and roll mouse wheel to zoom in and outctrl + “0” to fit entire page in current screen

cmd + “+”(mac)

cmd + “-”(mac)

InDesignPage Set-Up

*tip: default unit is pica, which is a typographic measure.

ex. 12pt for reports = one pica

One pica equals to 1/6 of an inch and consists of twelve units.

ex. 1p6 is one and half pica

InDesignPage Set-Up

View > Grids & guides > Show Baseline Grid

*tip: distance between baseline grid line is one pica

To toggle between preview and normal “W”

The Columns and Baseline Gridshould dictate the size of every item in

your document.

InDesignAdding Texts

*tip: black arrow (selection tool)

white arrow (partial selection tool)

1. Using the Text Tool,click and drag to

draw a textbox

1 Text tool

2. Right click > Fill with Placeholder Text.

3. Set the Font Size, Weight, and Leading

2

Leading

3

InDesignAdding Texts

1. Object >Text Frame Options...

1

2. Switch panel toBaseline Options

3. ChangeBaseline Grid to Leading

2

*tip: set leading as 12. As this equals to one pica, which will fit

texts neatly into the baseline grid.

InDesignDrawing Objects

*tip: some tools are hidden beneath the basic ones

1. Using the Rectangle Tool,draw a box

1 Rectangle tool

2. Open swatches menu and apply fill & stroke

3. Set the Font Size, Weight, and Leading

2

3 Object fill & stroke

Swatches menu

InDesignDrawing Objects

1 Add a swatch2 Adjust colors

InDesignMaster page

Add pages2

Master pages 1

Master pages properties will be applied to all the sub-pages automatically.

Insert page numbering to your document.

Right click > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number

InDesignMaster page Insert page header and a line to your document

InDesignCharacter and Paragraph Styles

Create a title, subtitle and contents for your document

*tip: to edit character and paragraph styles, you have to double click inside the box

(Hit esc to deselect)

Keep leading to multiples of 12

Font size: 30 ptLeading: 36 pt

Font size: 24 ptLeading: 24 pt

Font size: 10 ptLeading: 12 pt

1. Select with black arrow, one of your styled textboxes

InDesignCharacter and Paragraph Styles

2

1

3

2. In the Character Stylespanel, Create New Style.

3. Double-click on the new Character Style

1. Create a new textboxInDesignColumns

2

1

2. Add another column to the textboxusing the Number of Columns property.

1. Draw two textboxesInDesignColumns

2

1

2. If your text exceeds the box size, you will see a red plus box

3. Click on the red plus box and then click on your empty box to

let the text spill over

3

1. Using the Rectangle Frame Tool,

draw a rectangle

InDesignPlacing Images

1

2. Hit ⌘D or CTRL-Dor drag the image in

3. Select the fileyou want to Place

in the Frame.

*tip: InDesign treats image as two separate elements: frame & content

Image looks pixelated because, InDesigndoes not store the image directly in current document. It only links to the original file.

2

Frame only Frame & content

1. Select image with black arrow to resize the “frame”

InDesignFitting Images

1

2. Select image with white arrow to resize the “image”

*tip: hold down shift to scale frame/image proportionally

2

1. Select image with black arrow

InDesignFitting Images

1

2. Right click > Fitting > Fit Content Proportionally

*tip: you can also simply drag the image into the document.

You can place many different types of files, such

as .pdf .psd .ai

2

3. Adjust frame or image using black/white arrows

3

1. Save as an InDesign fileInDesignSaving

1

2. Package to create a folder that contains the InDesign file, fonts, and Images all together.

2

InDesignSaving

*tip: select Adobe PDF (Print),NOT Adobe PDF (Interactive)

InDesignSaving

*tip: select latest version of PDF whenever possible. This will

reduce your file size.

1. Check spreads if you want your document side by side.

2. Compression > Bicubic Downsampling to > 150 pixels per inch