Essentials of Adobe InDesign CS

InDesign is one of the world’s most powerful and flexible desktop publishing programs. This book will have you using InDesign CS (version 3) like a professional--and you'll be able to finish in just a few short days.

Once you have finished with this book, you will be able to produce a variety of projects including: newsletters, brochures, flyers, magazines, PDF documents and more.

Here is exactly what you will learn:

The InDesign Environment

• Start InDesign and Open a Document
• Change Views by Zooming
• Scroll by Dragging the Page
• Show and Hide Palettes
• View Multiple InDesign Documents
• Create and Use Custom Workspaces
• Create a New Document
• Change Document Setup
• Create a Text Frame
• Create Graphics Frames
• Resize and Move Page Elements
• Customize Preferences

Text Basics

• Create a Text Frame
• Type Text Into a Text Frame
• Work with Overset Text
• Modify a Text Frame
• Make Simple Edits
• Select Text
• Cut, Copy and Paste Text
• Change Character Attributes

Placing Text and Formatting Paragraphs

• Create a Document Preset
• Place Text
• Drag and Drop Text into a Layout
• Align Paragraphs
• Create Multiple Columns
• Set a First Line Indent
• Add Paragraph Space
• Set Leading
• Set Paragraph Rules

Text Frames and Threads

• Flow Text onto Multiple Pages
• Navigate a Multi-Page Document
• Set Pages Palette Options
• Insert and Delete Pages
• Work with a Master Text Frame
• Modify a Master Text Frame
• Use Step and Repeat
• Add Ruler Guides to the Page
• Use The Selection Tool To Thread Frames
• Use the Selection Tool To Unthread
• Thread Text Across Multiple Pages
• Create Flexible Text Threads

Tab Stops

• Set and Move a Tab Stop
• Add a Fill Character
• Set a Decimal Tab Stop
• Use the “Align to Other” Tab
• Create a Hanging Indent
• Apply Text Formatting Using the Eyedropper Tool

Graphics

• Place an Image on the Page
• Place an Image in an Existing Frame
• Move and Resize an Image
• Change the Scale of an Image
• Rotate and Skew an Image
• Resize the Frame and Graphic with the Mouse and Keyboard
• Flip an Image Horizontally and Vertically
• Change the Fill Color of a Frame
• Create a Clipping Path
• Customize a Clipping Path

Working with Objects

• Use Step and Repeat
• Align Objects
• Group Items
• Lock Position
• Resize a Group
• Compound Paths
• Pass Through a Stack
• Change and Edit a Shape
• Add Arrowheads to a Line
• Change Frame Content

Create a One-Page Flyer

• Create a Page Border
• Create a Multiple Column Text Frame
• Use Find/Change
• Format Text and Paragraphs
• Add Ruler Guides
• Place a Graphic onto the Page
• Create a Text Wrap around an Object
• Spell Check a Document
• Preflight and Package a File for Handoff
• Create a PDF

CMYK Colors, Master Pages and Libraries

• Change the Units and Increments to Picas
• Transform a Frame
• Add and Use Process Color
• Type and Format Text
• Create and Use a Library
• Create a Master Page
• Add Objects to a Master Page
• Use an Existing library
• Add an Automatic Page Number
• Duplicate and Rename Master Pages
• Enable Layout Adjustment
• Assign a Master Page
• Wrap Text Around an Image
• Edit a Text Wrap

Styles

• Create a Body Text Paragraph Style
• Create a Headline Paragraph Style
• Use the Story Editor
• Edit a Style
• Set Keep Options
• Apply Direct Formatting to a Paragraph
• Create a New Style Based on a Selection
• Lock Text to a Paragraph Grid
• Insert Drop Caps
• Create and Nest a Character Style

Tracking, Kerning, and Hyphenation

• Track Text
• Kern Letter Pairs
• Use Tracking as a Layout Tool
• Adjust Hyphenation
• Create User Dictionary Hyphenation Exceptions
• Work with Discretionary Hyphens
• Prevent Selected Text from Breaking
• Outdent Punctuation

Tables

• Draw a Table
• Add Data, Columns and Rows
• Combine Cells and Format Text
• Format a Table
• Change Text Rotation and Cell Stroke Weight
• Place Graphics In Table Cells
• Convert Text To a Table
• Scale a Table and its Content

Fonts, Links and Templates

• Use Find Font to Replace a Font
• Use the Links Palette to Update a Graphic
• Create and Use a Template

Layers

• Create and Modify Layers
• Move Objects to Layers
• Hide and Show Layers
• Reorder Layers

Long Documents

• Create a Book File
• Add Documents to a Book File
• Reorder and Remove Book Documents
• Synchronize Selected Documents
• Create a Table of Contents Style
• Create a Table of Contents
• Add Index Entries
• Generate an Index
• Change the Index Punctuation
• Create Index Paragraph Styles
• Create Second-Level Index Entries
• Create a Cross-Reference