Saying goodbye to Adobe InDesign

I am reluctantly saying goodbye to training Adobe InDesign. I remember seeing its introduction in the 90s, based on the old Aldus Pagemaker program, and wondered if it would ever replace QuarkXPress. It did. And much of its strength was because that it was based on Adobe Illustrator, my favorite software program. And it's Adobe Illustrator that I am now recommending to my clients, instead of InDesign.

There was a time when Illustrator was for drawing and InDesign was for page layout. In fact, I used to tell my students that if they understood Illustrator, they would understand InDesign, and it's true. InDesign is essentially Illustrator expanded. And it is expanded quite a bit! But Illustrator has grown a lot since its invention, and has added a lot of page layout features, like style sheets, linking images, and multiple pages. So, as much as I hate to say it, InDesign just isn't worth the trouble for most of my clients. Sure, if you are doing large documents, or catalogs, it makes sense. But for brochures, ads, and most page layout functions, Adobe Illustrator can do it, and is much, much, easier.

My background is in page layout and I've always said that you should learn the correct tool for the job. A decade ago, using Adobe Illustrator for page layout instead of InDesign would have been a serious mistake. Now it's the best way to go.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

What four-color is

I was reading a book today and the author mentioned a "four-color photo". Since she is in the publishing business, and I am a Graphic Designer, we know what it means. But if you don't, I really can't blame you. It's a very old term, but it's still around. And if you are a Graphic Designer working in print, and using InDesign, you need to know it.

Four-color means full color, as in a color photo, that is printed on a printing press. Sometimes it is referred to as "Process Color", or sometimes just "process". CMYK are the four ink colors that are used on a printing press. In case anyone asks you, this is what CMYK stands for

• C - for Cycan, a light blue
• M - for Magenta, a kind of purplish red
• Y - for Yellow
• K - for Black. K is used to avoid confusion with Blue. And black is known as the "Key" color.

Pick up any magazine and look really, really closely at the photos and you will see a tiny "rosette" pattern made up of these four colors. No, they're not pixels! They are the four-color process that has been in use since its invention over 80 years ago. These dots are sometimes called the "line screen". It started with a photographic process and is still how all high-quality and high-speed printing is done today.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Why you should use CMYK color, not RGB, in InDesign

Before you begin working in InDesign, you need to know about CMYK color, as opposed to RGB color. The reason for this is that InDesign creates documents for printing on paper, which uses CMYK, as opposed to color that is seen only on a computer screen, which is RGB.

What you are looking at right now as you read this, is RGB color. It is a combination of Red, Green and Blue. Those are the colors that make up the colors that you see on a computer screen.

When look at something that has been printed on paper, for example a magazine, you are looking at CMYK color. CMYK stands for Cyan (a light blue), Magenta (a purplish red), Yellow, and Black. K stands for black and is used because B might be confused with blue. It is also known as the Key color.

When you create a document in InDesign or QuarkXPress, you need to think in terms of the CMYK color space, even though you are viewing it on a computer, which is RGB. If you want to be successful in print, you need to learn about CMYK color. Telling a printer that it "looked different on your monitor" just exposes your ignorance. Take a print production class at your local community college, learn how printing presses work, and you will become a valuable designer with InDesign.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Power tools in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Illustrator all have something in common - there are ways to accomplish hundreds, even thousands, of tasks with just a few mouse clicks. Real pros know these, and it will make your work easier, make you hit deadlines with ease, and it will get you out the door at quitting time!

If you are a Graphic Designer, or a Graphic Design student, who "brags" about how many hours a project took, or how late you stayed working on something, you are probably just telling everyone that you don't know how to use Adobe's power tools. There are a lot of them and I would like to talk about a few here. It's all about learning these tricks and understanding that computers love to do what humans hate to do - repetitious tasks. In fact, if you are doing anything at all that is repetitious, you should ask yourself, is there any easier way? There probably is!

Here are a few power tools that you should know -

Photoshop - Actions. Actions allows you to record a complex series of tasks and then apply them with a single click. Even better - Batch. You will find Actions under "Window". Batch is under File>Automate. While you are there until midnight, a pro has created an action and a batch and was home before rush hour.

InDesign - Master Pages. Master pages let you not only place items on hundreds of pages with just a click, they allow you to change hundreds of pages with the same amount of clicks. New logo on every page of the 2,500-page manual? Click! Done.

Dreamweaver - Cascading Style Sheets file. When you go to use CSS for your typography in Dreamweaver, make sure that you create a separate file that links to all your web pages. Don't like those purple Helvetica 18 point headings? Change them on all of the pages in the whole site using the CSS page.

Illustrator - Symbols. Instead of drawing something and copying and pasting it, turn it into a symbol. If it repeats all over the drawing, and you can change it once and it changes in every instance. Need to change 275 six-pointed stars to eight-pointed stars? Do it once and it's done.

And this is just the beginning. Once you start learning these power tools, your productivity goes up like a rocket. And it's kind of fun. Zoom-zoom!

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Why you should use Master Pages in InDesign

InDesign, like QuarkXPress, is designed to create documents with multiple pages, such as books or magazines. Pick up a magazine that is lying around your desk right now and look at the number of things that appear on all of the pages, including page numbers, design motifs (like a graphic or stripe), chapter headings, the name of the publication, perhaps the logo. The list of Master Page items goes on and on and is different with every publication.

When you use a Master Page, all of those elements (and even more cool things) can be controlled from one place. So, if you have a change throughout the publication, which is 45 pages long, you just have to make one change, not 45. And, in addition to being a timesaver, this also makes changes easy and accurate. InDesign won't "forget" to do page 23. You might! So use Master Pages. In fact, if you go to a job interview and the pages palette (shown at right) doesn't have the little "A" in the corners, the person interviewing you will know that you don't understand Master Pages, and if they are wise, they will continue interviewing, and hire someone else. If, however, you do know how to use Master Pages, you are a valuable designer and will be welcomed!

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

What facing pages are all about in InDesign

When you go to add pages in InDesign, the default is "facing pages". Yes, you do want to keep that check box selected! This is because InDesign is designed for print. To understand what facing pages means, just pick up any book or magazine that you see lying around and open it. The two pages that you see are called "spreads" or "facing pages". That book or magazine is designed that way and InDesign is set up to allow you to visually design the way that the viewer of the final printed piece will see it. It's pretty cool.

The pages on the right will be odd (1, 3, 5, etc.) and the pages on the left will be even (2, 4, 6, etc.). The first page is, of course, the cover. There is no "facing page" to the cover of a book or magazine, so InDesign won't allow you to place a facing page to the left of the cover. Try to add one by dragging a blank page in on the pages palette. Go ahead and try it right now, I'll wait. Can't be done! Why? Well, close the book or magazine that you are holding in your hands right now. There is nothing to the left of the cover, and InDesign knows that. So, in the picture at right, page 1 is the cover, page 2 is the inside front cover, and page 3 is the first page.

They are based on Master Pages, which is another reason to use InDesign. I will cover that in another post.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Beginning Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a software program that helps you create materials for print, such as booklets, pamphlets, brochures, etc. The reason that you would need InDesign is for creating multiple pages. For single pages, such as a simple ad, Adobe Illustrator works fine. The process of creating a page and handling type is simpler in Adobe Illustrator, but it also much more restricted. And that means that InDesign can do a lot of things that Illustrator can't, for example "facing pages". By the way, InDesign has essentially replaced QuarkXPress.

When you first open InDesign, you see the Workspace "Essentials". That includes the tools palette (which you should always have open) on the left, the Application Bar, the Control bar, and a panel which includes pages, layers, links, stroke, color and swatches. A good trick that I recommend is to close all of these (except the tool bar!) and open them as you need them and learn their function. This trick works for all software programs - I call it simplifying the workspace. Like all Adobe software, all of these palettes, bars, and panels are conveniently under "Window" in the menu at the top.

The good news is that once you have set the bars, palettes, and panels the way that you want, Adobe software will stay that way. You will find that you will want to have certain things open all the time. I like the Application Bar and the Control Bar. But at first, it just makes the interface look more confusing than it really is. Close 'em down! Clean up the clutter! I guarantee it will make the workspace look more friendly right away, and it will become yours!

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

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