Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is one of the cornerstone tools of modern publishing, alongside Illustrator and Photoshop. Most of today’s books, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, and other printed materials are produced using InDesign; the application also supports popular digital formats like PDF, ePub, and HTML5.

In this course, we’ll cover the basics of page layout and typography. We’ll examine how to produce effective printed and digital documents using many of the application’s features. The course is both theoretical and practical: we’ll learn how InDesign works, how to use it effectively and efficiently, and how to design layouts that better compliment the nature of your content.

Who Should Attend
This course is designed for people who are new to InDesign, and for existing users who would like a comprehensive overview of the application and its important features. It is also for people who regularly work with InDesign users, and need to exchange working files.

Course Structure
Although we use a structured curriculum, we customize every session to meet your specific needs. We like to foster an open dialogue in class, and encourage you to ask questions at any time. We also recommend that you bring any example files and materials to class, as it helps us better understand the types of designs and layouts that you’d like to produce.

Course Outline
Because we adjust the subject matter of every course to better suit your needs, please note that this is a general guide of what we’ll cover:
• An introduction to the basics of page layout
• Understanding the relationship between frames and content
• Positioning and arranging objects in a layout
• Transforming and duplicating objects
• Placing graphics from Illustrator and Photoshop
• Importing and flowing text through a layout
• Using RGB, CMYK process and Pantone spot colours
• Applying transparency and special effects
• Creating a document with multiple pages
• Working with the pages panel and master pages
• Working with grids and guides
• Using the layers panel
• The basics of typesetting and fine typography
• Using bulleted and numbered lists
• Building tables
• Using paragraph styles and character styles
• Producing PDFs for review, distribution and print production
• Preparing and collecting files for final output