InDesign: Create Beautiful Layouts Efficiently

This three-day class, taught by an Adobe Certified Instructor, teaches you all the essential features of Adobe InDesign. After learning to navigate the application’s interface, you will master the tools necessary to build single and multi-page print documents, including graphics, threaded text, styles and master pages. 

You will learn to use layers, select and export color, export files to PDF and prepare documents for output by a service bureau as well as to ePub fixed layouts.

Prerequisites
This class is ideally suited for people with at least good computer skills. Word processing or page layout experience is helpful, but not required.

Course Outline

Application Overview: 

• workspaces 
• best practices for panel management 
• tools overview 
• understanding the control panel 
• terminology  

Working With Objects:

• understanding frames
• align
• smart guides
• object positioning
• gap tool
• scaling, resizing, rotating
• selection vs. direct selection tool
• guides
• stroke and corner options
• transparency
• layers
• eye dropper

Working With Text/Typography:

• placing and importing text
• paragraph vs. character formatting
• keyboard shortcuts for text manipulation
• text wrap
• deconstructing text
• text threading
• paragraph styles / character styles
• nested styles
• baseline grid 

Working With Graphics:

• importing images
• the Links panel
• understanding image file formats
• understanding image resolution
• image transformation  

Color:

• understanding color separation 
• fill vs. stroke
• swatches panel vs. color panel
• tint swatches
• gradient swatches 
• CMYK vs. RGB
• spot color vs. process color 

Multiple Page Documents:

• pages panel
• master pages
• adding / deleting pages
• multiple page sizes
• numbering, sections, automatic page numbering  

Advanced Content

• tables
• anchored objects
• table of contents
• the Book feature

ePub Fixed Layout Publishing

• overview of ePubs
• interactive elements and media
• outputting to desktop, mobile or web

Preflight:

• live preflight
• the Preflight panel
• packaging

Printing/PDF:

• print options
• PDF export / options