InDesign Basics FILE TYPES

InDesign can import a wide range of graphics file formats. Consult with the service providers who will help you produce your document to clarify which formats to use. You can then plan your document around those formats and the options that best apply to your project.

The following table summarizes what graphics formats would work best for the kind of document you’re designing. InDesign Basics GOOD DESIGN HABITS

Create a document folder Before you begin a project, determine which files you’ll need and how you’ll store them. Create a folder for storing your document and its linked files. InDesign maintains links to files you place in a document, but if a link is bro- ken, InDesign looks for the file in the document’s folder. Storing a document and its linked files in the same folder makes it easy to move them from one computer to another. Storing files in one folder also ensures that InDesign finds the original graphics when printing a document. If InDesign cannot locate a linked graphic, it won’t reflect changes you make to the original graphic, and it may print the graphic poorly or not at all.

If your project consists of multiple documents (for example, chapters in a book), you may find it useful to create a project folder that contains a folder for each document and its linked files.

Consider using a template Use a template if you frequently create similar projects. Templates let you create consistent documents more quickly while protecting the original file. For example, if you create a monthly newsletter, your template might include ruler guides, page numbers, the newsletter masthead, and styles you want to use in each issue. (See Use document templates.)

Open documents locally Before you open a document stored on a network volume or on removable media, copy the document and any linked graphics to your local hard disk. The slower access time and data transfer rate of a network volume or re- movable media can cause data to become lost or corrupted, possibly damaging the document.

Save documents Save documents frequently, and create backup copies of important files. You can clear unnecessary data from a document by using the Save As command. When you use the Save command, InDesign appends new information to the document but doesn’t remove outdated data, such as information about a deleted graphic. When you use the Save As command, however, InDesign completely rewrites the document, including only information about objects and pages currently in the document. A document that contains only necessary data occupies less hard drive space and redraws and prints more quickly.

Practice good design habits Create styles in a document. Creating styles with no documents open can cause duplicate styles to appear when you create a new document. To share styles in documents, save the styles and load them.

Use appropriate fonts When choosing fonts for a document, consider how you intend to format and print the text. InDesign works best with Microsoft® OpenType®, Type 1 (also called PostScript), and TrueType fonts. Damaged or poorly constructed fonts can damage an InDesign document or cause it to print with unexpected results, so use reliable fonts created by established font vendors. If you work with a service bureau, find out its font requirements.

Avoid using too many text frames Use as few text frames as possible to keep the document file size smaller and the layout easier to manipulate.

Be smart with art Use the appropriate graphics file format. When you create graphics for a project, consider how you plan to print the document. For example, if you plan to print color separations, place Adobe-conforming EPS graphics, DCS files, or CMYK TIFF files only. Other color graphic formats may not separate reliably. If you intend to print the document at a service bureau, ask the service bureau which graphic formats work best with the output device it uses. The service bureau can also advise you on the optimal resolution for images. InDesign Basics GOOD DESIGN HABITS

Store graphics externally When you import a graphic file, InDesign creates a link to the graphic by default. Linking helps minimize the filesize of the document and improves the performance of InDesign. When you print the document, the original graphic file must be available and linked. If InDesign can’t find the original, the graphic may print as a low resolu- tion preview or as a gray box.

Transform (for example, skew or rotate) When you print a graphic that is transformed in InDesign, InDesign sends the graphic to the printer in its untrans- graphics before placing them in InDesign formed state and then appends the transformation instructions to it. This process causes longer print times and requires more printer memory to perform the transformation.

Verify links and fonts before you print To ensure that a document prints correctly, verify that all links are intact and all fonts are available. A link becomes broken if you delete, move, or rename the original graphic. Use the Preflight and Package features before handing off files to a service bureau. InDesign Basics GETTING STARTED

To create a new document: When you create a new document, the following window will appear. Most of the field options—page size and file > new > document orientation, margins, etc.—are fairly straightforward and self explanatory. A few however, are not:

Number of pages It is not necessary to define the number of pages you will have in a document, you may not know ahead of time how many pages will be needed. You will see later that adding pages is simple once the document is created.

Facing Pages If you have this box checked, the program will create a document with “facing pages” like a book or a magazine where the left and right hand pages have page numbers in opposite corners. If you are creating a document that will be seen one page at a time, you should not chose this option.

Master Text Frame This option will automatically place a text box on each page. The text box will use the margins of the page to define its size. You CAN modify the size of this text box once in the document, so you may want to use this option for quick set-up.

Columns The program will create column “guides” if you like. You will notice that my templates use column guides. This makes the layout more organized, especially when you have a lot of information (like the newsletter). The default gutter width—distance between columns—is usually fine. You can add/edit/delete these later. InDesign Basics TOOL BOX

The items in the “Tool Box” are very similar to other Adobe software products. If you for- get the name or function of a tool, you can roll your mouse over it (without clicking) and a window will pop-up with its name and keyboard shortcut. You can also see examples of how each tool functions in the Adobe InDesign CS3 Help Viewer > workspace > gallery of tools.

Selection tool: Use this tool to select and move objects. You can also use it to redefine the size of an object. You must select something (picture, box, text, etc.) before you can adjust it in any way.

Direct Selection tool: Use this tool to select and move a specific point on an object or to move one item in a group of items without disturbing the rest of the group. You will not use this as often as the selection tool. Position tool lets you crop and move images in a frame.

Pen tool: Use the pen tool to draw straight and curved paths. You must click a series of points and join the first and last point to make a shape. Options under this tool can add and delete points of a shape or path and can let you convert corner points and smooth points.

Type/Type Path tool: Use this tool to define text areas and to make and modify type (see following notes of making type).

Erase/Pencil/Smooth tool: Use the pencil tool to draw free-form lines. Erase tool lets you delete points on a path. (does not work the same way that the eraser works in Photoshop). Smooth tool lets you remove excess angles from a path.

Line tool: Use this tool to draw straight lines. Click and drag to make a line. For a perfectly straight line, hold down the shift key while drawing it.

Rectangle/Ellipse/Polygon Frame tool: Use these tools to define areas in which to place a picture or text.

Rectangle/Ellipse/Polygon tool: Use these tools to define areas to place text or to simply draw shapes.

Rotate/Scale/Shear/Free Transform tools: Use these to transform objects. I prefer to use the menu across the top for more precise alterations: Object > Transform > InDesign Basics TOOL BOX

Button tool: lets you create a button that performs an action when the document is ex- ported to Adobe PDF.

Measure tool: measures the distance between two points.

Scissors tool: cuts paths at specified points.

Hand tool: moves the page view within the document window.

Stroke and Fill colors: Use this to chose colors for your “stroke” (frame/outline or line) colors, and “fill” (solid shape) colors. There are two overlapping boxes to show stroke and fill, the stroke is the one behind in the illustration at left (it looks like an outline) and the fill color is the box on top. In the illustration at left, both the stroke and the fill have no color (shown with a red strike through each box). To change the color of text or an object:

Select the object or highlight the text

If you want to change the outline (stroke) color of an object, click once on the outline box in the toolbox so that it is in front (see left).

If you want to change the fill color of an object, click once on the fill box in the toolbox so that it is in front (see left). InDesign Basics COLOR

Choosing a spot color Swatches > New Color Swatch > Color Type (SPOT) > Color Mode (Pantone Solid ...) > click on color or type value.

About spot colors A spot color is a special premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks, and that re- quires its own printing plate on a printing press. Use spot color when few colors are specified and color accuracy is critical. Spot color inks can accurately reproduce colors that are outside the gamut of process colors. However, the exact appearance of the printed spot color is determined by the combination of the ink as mixed by the com- mercial printer and the paper it’s printed on, not by color values you specify or by color management. When you specify spot color values, you’re describing the simulated appearance of the color for your monitor and composite printer only (subject to the gamut limitations of those devices). InDesign Basics MAKING TEXT

With the Type tool, you can click and drag a “text box” which is a defined text area, or you can make a text area with any of the shape tools and then use the type tool to fill the defined shape with type. To do this: Draw your object and with it selected, choose the type tool and click on the shape. You should see a cursor appear if you have done this correctly. klajfk- fka jasf jaskf sfk- askdfja sklf- jas jaklsj fklasjf dfk jask aklsjf asljkfklas dfj k asj ajkd- fjaklsdfj kd jf ja fkaj aklsfjklasfj f k a fau

With the Type Path tool, you can put type on a path (a line or the outline of a shape). To do this, create a path (either line or shape) and with it selected, click on the Type Path tool and click on the start of your line or path. If you have done this correctly a cursor will appear. fe i aiu ua f fi u i a u k e df i kajdka j a f a u kfll ie kas u jf k f a aj iuef e akj iau d f akj fd akj sdf alj sd-

To modify type, you must chose the type tool and then click on the path or area of the type to be modified. This will give you a cursor and then you may change your type.

You can also change the starting postion of the type on the path by clicking and draging the blue box before it. InDesign Basics TEXT EFFECTS

Text containing image To fill text with an image: type in the text > type > create outlines > oject > content > graphic > file > place …

Greek Type When display capabilities are insufficient to show text at a small size, InDesign displays the text as a dimmed bar. This behavior is called greeking type. Any type at or below the specified type size is replaced on‑screen with non- letterforms that act as placeholders.

InDesign > Preferences > Display Performance

From the Adjust View Settings menu, choose the view setting for which you want to change the Greek Type set- ting. You can specify different Greek Type values for each of the view settings. For Greek Type Below, type a value. To control whether to greek text and images when you scroll a document, drag the Hand Tool slider to the desired level of performance versus quality, and then click OK. InDesign Basics WORKING WITH TYPE

Auto Page Numbers To make an automatic page number, go to your master document and place a page number on it. Place it in the location, size and font that you would like to use in your document (act as if this were page one). Then highlight this number and go to: Type > Insert Special Character > Auto Page Number Once you have done this, you will see the letter “A” to denote auto page number. Page numbers in your document will update automatically if the pages are based off of this master page.

Checking for errors To run the spell check feature go to: Edit > Check Spelling , and follow the commands.

Text Wrap (runaround) You can wrap text around any object, including text frames, imported images, and objects you draw in InDesign. When you apply a text wrap to an object, InDesign creates a boundary around the object that repels text. The object that text wraps around is called the wrap object. Keep in mind that text wrap options apply to the object being wrapped, not the text itself. Any change to the wrap boundary will remain if you move the wrap object near a different text frame.

To make your text “run- around” a shape first open the Text Wrap window (Window > Text Wrap). Place the object and text where you would like them. Then select the object that you would like the text to wrap around and click on one of the five runaround options illustrated in the Text Wrap window. In the fields below these options, you can also adjust the amount of “padding” for the runaround.

Thread text frames The text in a frame can be independent of other frames, or it can flow between connected frames.

When a text box is too small to fit all of the text in, it shows you a red “+” on the bottom right edge of the text frame. If you cannot make the text box any larger you may want to link it or Thread it to another text box. To do this draw another text box—on any page—then click on your first text box and using your selection tool, click on the red “+.” The “+” should now have a blue arrow in it. Then click on the text box you would like to link to and your text will fill in. You can thread endlessly and you can also un-thread.

Choose View > Show Text Threads to see visual representatives of threaded frames. You can thread text frames whether or not they contain text. InDesign Basics IMAGES

To place an image into your document you can either draw a bounding box or shape for that image to be placed into, or you can simply import the image,

To import the image, simply go to: File > Place and choose the image to be used from your computer.

To place the image in a defined shape, draw the shape using one of the Frame Tools and with the shape selected then go to: File > Place.

Use the position tool in the toolbox (under the direct selection tool) to resize and position the image within a bounding box.

You can also move and fit images to the bounding box usingobject > fitting > fit content…

Align or distribute objects

You can use the Align panel to align or space selected objects horizontally or vertically to the selection, margins, page, or spread. The various diagrams in the window illustrate the options available. window > objects and layout > align

About anchored objects

Anchored objects are items, such as images or text boxes, that are attached—or anchored—to specific text. The anchored object travels with the text containing the anchor as the text reflows. Use anchored objects for all ob- jects that you want associated with a particular line or block of text, for example, sidebars and callouts, figures, or icons associated with a specific word.

You can create an anchored object by pasting or placing an object (or frame) into text using the Type tool or by using the Insert Anchored Object command. When you place the object, Adobe InDesign CS3 adds an anchor marker at the insertion point. Anchored objects inherit the rotation and skew attributes of the text frame they’re anchored to—even when the object is positioned outside of the text frame. You can select the object and change these attributes. You can create anchored objects that use any of the following positions:

Inline Aligns the anchored object with the baseline of the insertion point. You can adjust the Y Offset to position the object above or below the baseline. This is the default type of anchored object. In earlier versions of InDesign, these objects were called inline graphics.

Above Line Places the anchored object above the line with the following choices of alignment: Left, Center, Right, Towards Spine, Away From Spine, and (Text Alignment). Text Alignment is the alignment applied to the paragraph that holds the anchor marker. InDesign Basics MASTER PAGES

InDesign offers the ability to make master pages (or templates) within each document. This saves time in that any- thing you place on a master page will appear in pages in the document that are based on that master page. You can create many master pages within one document. You are not “stuck” with all of the decisions you make on a master page. You can update it as you work and it will be updated on your document and you can also modify or eliminate an item on just one page of your document.

The illustration at left shows the Page window. To get the page window, go to: Window > Pages.

When you open this window, it should show a “none” page (blank page), an “A-Master” (your first master page) and then a dividing horizontal line and a page with the letter “A” in the center and a number “1” below it. This page is the first page in your document. It has an “A” on it because it is based on the “A-Master” page.

To add items to your master page, double-click on the page icon “A-Master.” At this point, it will look just like page one. You will know you are on it because it is highlighted in the Pages Window. Once you are on the master page, you can add things like page numbers, titles, grids, text boxes and shapes—anything you would like to repeat on the pages in your document.

Once you have added items to your master page, double-click on page one in the Pages Window and you will see that those items are now on page one.

To create more pages based on your master page, simply click and drag and drop the “A-Master” icon below page one in the Pages Window. You should then see a page “2” appear.

To create more pages based on a blank page, follow the steps above with the [None] icon. You will know the page is blank because it will not have an “A” in the middle of it. InDesign Basics MASTER PAGES

Modifying master items on non-master Master items become locked on the pages in your document. Occassionally you might want to move or delete pages these items. To do so, simply click on the item while holding down the “shift” and “command” keys. Then you can modify the object.

Making mulitple mater pages You may want to have a few different master pages within one document. To do so, go to the pull-down menu on the Pages Window and choose, New Master.

Character Styles A character style is a collection of character formatting attributes that can be applied to text in a single step. Window > Type > Character Styles open pull down menu and select New Character Style define style through various options

Paragraph Styles A paragraph style includes both character and paragraph formatting attributes, and can be applied to a para- graph or range of paragraphs. Paragraph styles and character styles are found on separate panels. Window > Type > Paragraph Styles open pull down menu and select New Paragraph Style define style through various options

When you change the formatting of a style, all text to which the style has been applied will be updated with the new format. InDesign Basics USING TEMPLATES

Templates are useful starting points for standard documents because you can preset them with layout, graphics, and text. For example, if you prepare a monthly magazine, you can create a template that contains the layout of a typical issue, including ruler guides, grids, master pages, placeholder frames, layers, and any standard graphics or text. That way you can simply open the template each month and import new content.

You create a template the same way you create a regular document; the only difference occurs when you save the document. When you prepare a template for others to use, you may want to add a layer containing instructions about the template; hide or delete the layer before printing the document.

To save a document as a template: Choose File > Save As, and specify a location and filename. Choose InDesign CS3 Template for Save as Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS), and then click Save.

To start a new document from a template: Choose File > Open Locate and select a template. Select Normal (Windows) or Open Normal (Mac OS), and then click Open. Save the new document with its own name.

To open a predesigned template: Choose File > New > Document From Template In Adobe Bridge, double-click the folder (such as Flyers or Catalogs) that contains the type of template you want to open. Double-click the template file.

To edit an existing template: Choose File > Open. Locate and select a template. Select Original (Windows) or Open Original (Mac OS), and then click Open. InDesign Basics FINISHING UP

Saving as a pdf To save your document as a .pdf, go to File > Export, and then choose .pdf from the file types.

Perform a preflight check Before printing or handing off the document to a service provider, you can perform a quality check on the docu- ment. Preflight is the industry-standard term for this process. The preflight utility warns of problems that may pre- vent a document or book from imaging as desired, such as missing files or fonts. It also provides helpful informa- tion about a document or book, such as the inks it uses, the first page a font appears on, and print settings.

For a video on preparing files for output, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0089.