Master Adobe InDesign Desktop Publishing

This two-day training course will give you an insight into some of the creative concepts and fundamentals of Adobe InDesign desktop publishing programme.

With hands-on practice, our instructors will take you from knowing nothing or just a little, to a level where you can confidently start creating brochures, newsletters, posters and flyers.

Learning Outcomes

You will learn the core features and tools of this page-layout application including concepts such as setting up documents with master pages and easily formatting text, objects and tables using styles.

Beginning with creating and editing documents, the course moves on to how to navigate and customise the workspace, work with text frames and graphics and add/format tables. Finally, you will learn how to package, print and export the finished project.

The standard range of topics covered on the course are detailed below.  These can be tailored to your specific needs for in-house delivery.

Getting Started

• Adding and editing text
• Adding and replacing graphics
• Moving objects
• Printing and creating a PDF
• Understanding Your Workspace
• Exploring the application window
• Navigating and magnifying pages and objects
• Setting rulers and measurements
• Working with panels
• Setting the view quality of artwork
• Adjusting view and preview settings

Creating a Document

• Creating a new document
• Saving and reverting documents
• Saving for CS4, CS5, or CS6 with IDML
• Setting margin and column guides
• Putting ruler guides on your page
• Bleeding colours or images off the side of the page

Managing Pages

• Inserting, deleting, and moving pages
• Changing page size
• Creating and applying master pages
• Overriding master page items
• Adding page numbering
• Changing page numbering with sections

Text

• Understanding text frames
• Selecting and editing text
• Inserting special characters
• Importing text
• Threading text frames
• Setting text frame columns
• Using the Story Editor
• Checking spelling
• Using Find/Change

Graphics

• Importing graphics
• Using the Links panel
• Editing graphics in their original application

Fitting Graphics to the Frame

• Inserting QR codes and barcodes
• Formatting objects
• Selecting objects
• Applying basic strokes and fills
• Colourising images
• Adjusting transparency
• Adding drop shadows
• Using other transparency effects
• Copying formatting with the Eyedropper tool

Colour

• Creating colour swatches
• Understanding the danger (and power) of unnamed
• Creating gradient swatches
• Applying gradients

Frames and Paths

• Editing frame and path shapes
• Adding rounded corners and other corner options
• Making polygons and starbursts
• Creating text outlines

Managing Objects

• Stacking objects
• Creating and controlling layers
• Managing objects in the Layers panel
• Aligning and distributing
• Understanding text wrap
• Using anchored objects

Transforming Objects

• Duplicating objects
• Rotating objects
• Scaling objects
• Skewing objects
• Mirroring objects

Character Formatting

• Applying basic character styling
• Applying advanced character formatting
• Changing case
• Using Find/Change for text formatting
• Using Find Font

Paragraph Formatting

• Applying formatting to a paragraph
• Spanning a paragraph across multiple columns
• Splitting a paragraph into multiple columns
• Using drop caps
• Setting tabs
• Adding automatic bullets

Styles

• Creating and applying paragraph styles
• Using character styles
• Editing and redefining styles
• Using object styles
• Applying styles with Quick Apply

Tables

• Creating a table
• Adjusting rows and columns
• Adding and deleting rows and columns
• Formatting a table
• Formatting cells
• Applying table styles

Packaging, Printing and Exporting

• Checking your document with the Preflight panel
• Packaging for output
• Using the Print dialog
• Printing a small booklet
• Exporting a PDF
• Exporting text

Is It For Me?

If you are new to InDesign or wish to improve your skills then this is the course for you.