A Few InDesign Tips ...

#1 Font control

Don't allow InDesign to control your fonts. When you open a document on a different computer, it may not have the same fonts. In the Font panel, you need to CHOOSE the substitute font instead of letting InDesign do it.

Another choice is to save as PDF to retain the font.

If it is just a couple of phrases or headings that you need to retain, you can click: TYPE/Create Outlines.

#2 Linked images

This is a biggie! Placed images are NOT embedded in your files. Instead they are linked. To prevent fuzzy, low resolution images, your images MUST TRAVEL WITH your InDesign files.

It's really fussy! If you change folders or rename your files, InDesign will not recognize them until you use the Links panel to fix the broken link.

* This is only for Placed files. Not impacted by copy/paste images.

#3 Resizing grouped objects

When text is grouped with other objects, you cannot drag the handles to resize the group. Instead, you must use the Scale X Percentage tool on the Control Palette.

#4 Quick Repetitions

1. ALT-Drag (we did in Project 1)
2. ALT-Shift-Drag (we did in Project 4)
3. EDIT/Duplicate (we did in Project 1)
4. EDIT/Step -n- Repeat

#5 Always Moving

Just type V.

In Adobe software, we constantly need to select and Move objects. Instead of clicking on the Arrow, just type "v". It's much faster.

If you want to quickly move the page around, just type H, which is the Hand tool.

#6 Raster vs. Vector

There are two broad categories of computer graphics - vector and raster.

Raster images, also called bitmaps, consist of a grid of individual pixels where each pixel can be a different color or shade. The edge of images become jagged as they are increased.

Common formats are GIF, JPG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, EPS. More on these later.

Vector images are composed of a collections of lines and other geometric shapes, each defined by a mathematical formula. They can be sized infinitely without pixilation.

Common formats are AI, other native formats, and EPS.

Practice:

RASTER:
Right click to download. Paste in InDesign and let's check it out. (sample raster)

VECTOR:
-Right click, save as. (sample#1 vector, OR sample#2 vector)
- FILE/Place in InDesign.

Later,
-Then open in Illustrator.
-Ungroup and make other changes.
-Then paste part in InDesign or Photoshop and continue designing from it.
(of course you can stay in Illustrator if you're comfortable with it.)

 

#7 Color Modes

The two most popular color modes in graphic editors are RGB and CMYK

RGB is best suited to onscreen display such as monitors and projectors. It works by assigning an intensity value to each pixel ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white) for each of the RGB components in a color image. When the values of all three components are equal, the result is a shade of neutral gray. When the value of all components is 255, the result is pure white; when the value is 0, pure black.

CMYK is best suited for printing, as it allows for color separation to be produced. It works by assigniing each pixel a percentage value of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. The lightest (highlight) colors are assigned small percentages of process ink colors, the darker (shadow) colors higher percentages. For example, 0% white, and 100% is black..