InDesign Fundamentals: An Introduction to InDesign

Course Description

Adobe InDesign CC software speaks the language of professional designers, delivering unparalleled creative freedom, productivity, and precision for designing superb pages. It works seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, providing a single integrated design environment that doesn't interrupt your creative process.

This 3-day course provides a thorough overview of the interface, the tools, the features, and the production tips for page layout and design using InDesign. The course is an ideal combination of instructor-led demonstration and hands-on practice.

Who Should Attend

Professional designers who are new to InDesign.

Prerequisites:

• Practical working knowledge of computers and basic Mac OS X or Windows skills
• Photoshop Fundamentals: An Introduction to Photoshop class or equivalent experience is recommended.

Course Outline:

Note: The curricula below comprise activities typically covered in a class at this skill level. The instructor may, at his/her discretion, adjust the lesson plan to meet the needs of the class.

Lesson 1: Introducing the Workspace

• Looking at the workspace
• Working with panels
• Customizing the workspace
• Changing the magnification of a document
• Navigating through a document
• Using context menus
• Modifying Interface preferences
• Resetting InDesign Preferences

Lesson 2: Getting to Know InDesign

• Viewing rulers, guides, and grids
• Preflighting as you work
• Adding text
• Working with styles
• Working with graphics
• Working with objects
• Working with object styles
• Viewing a document in Normal, Trim, & Presentation mode

Lesson 3: Setting Up a Document

• Creating and saving custom document settings
• Creating a new document
• Creating and using Bleeds
• Switching between open InDesign documents
• Working with master pages
• Using the Layout > Creating Guides command
• Applying master pages to document pages
• Adding new document pages
• Rearranging and deleting document pages
• Changing the size of pages
• Using the File > Adjust Layout command
• Adding sections to change page numbering
• Overriding master page items on document pages
• Viewing and navigating pages and spreads

Lesson 4: Working with Objects

• Working with layers
• Creating and modifying text frames
• Creating and modifying graphics frames
• Adding metadata captions to graphics frames
• Placing and linking graphics frames
• Changing the shape of a frame
• Wrapping text around a graphic
• Modifying the shape of frames
• Transforming and aligning objects
• Selecting and modifying grouped objects
• Flowing Type along on a Path
• Drawing Lines and creating Arrowheads
• Creating and Exporting QR codes

Lesson 5: Working with Color

• Managing color
• Defining printing requirements
• Creating and applying colors
• Working with gradients
• Working with Color Groups
• Creating a tint
• Creating a spot color
• Applying colors to text and objects
• Using advanced gradient techniques

Lesson 6: Flowing Text

• Flowing text into an existing frame
• Flowing text manually
• Creating text frames while flowing text
• Creating threaded frames automatically
• Flowing text automatically
• Deleting Extra Paragraph Returns and Spaces
• Applying paragraph styles to text
• Adjusting columns
• Creating text frames with Gridify
• Adding a jump line page number

Lesson 7: Editing Text

• Finding and changing a missing font
• Entering and importing text
• Finding and changing text and formatting
• Checking spelling
• Editing text by dragging and dropping
• Using the Story and Copy Editor
• Using Track Changes

Lesson 8: Working with Typography

• Adjusting vertical spacing
• Working with fonts, type styles, and glyphs
• Fine-tuning columns
• Changing paragraph alignment
• Creating a drop cap
• Adjusting letter and word spacing
• Adjusting and creating line breaks
• Setting tabs
• Adding a rule above a paragraph
• Working with paragraph rules and shading

Lesson 9: Working with Styles

• Creating and applying paragraph styles
• Creating and applying character styles
• Nesting character styles inside paragraph styles
• Creating and applying object styles
• Creating and applying table and cell styles
• Globally updating styles
• Loading styles from another document
• Using InDesign Libraries with styles

Lesson 10: Creating Tables

• Working with tables
• Creating a table
• Converting text to a table
• Changing rows and columns
• Formatting a table
• Adding graphics to table cells
• Creating a header row
• Creating and applying table and cell styles

Lesson 11: Importing and Modifying Graphics

• Adding graphics from other programs
• Comparing vector and bitmap graphics
• Managing links to imported files
• Updating revised graphics
• Adjusting display quality
• Importing and sizing graphics
• Editing placed graphics
• Working with dropped backgrounds
• Importing native Adobe graphic files
• Using Subject Aware Text Wrap
• Filling Type with a graphic
• Using an InDesign library to manage objects
• Using Adobe Bridge to import graphics

Lesson 12: Printing and Exporting

• Preflighting
• Packaging files
• Creating an Adobe PDF proof