The Best of InDesign Secrets

/in , /by


David Blatner



Anne-Marie Concepción

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

The Best of InDesign Secrets

Wednesday, 9:00 am – 10:00 am Central

Anne-Marie and David have spent over a decade publishing tips and tutorials about our favorite page-layout app: 2,000+ blog posts, 280+ podcasts, hundreds of magazine articles… Watch as they battle to find the best of InDesign Secrets.

Topics include:

  • Little-used InDesign features that you really should be using
  • Obscure tricks that could literally change your life (or at least your workflow)
  • Keyboard and other shortcuts for improving your productivity
  • Using common features together in uncommon ways for maximum benefit

Managing Your Assets with Libraries

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Bart Van de Wiele

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Managing Your Assets with Libraries

Tuesday, 3:45 pm – 4:30 pm Central

Working smarter-not-harder is possible when you leverage features in InDesign like native libraries and Creative Cloud libraries. Both offer a way to save, organize, and share your brand assets. In this session, you’ll explore the differences between InDesign native libraries and Creative Cloud libraries, and see how you can significantly speed up your daily workflow and help you push through global updates over multiple programs and projects.

Topics will include:

  • The difference between InDesign libraries and Creative Cloud libraries
  • How to create and manage Creative Cloud libraries
  • How to store your assets in online folders
  • How to use the web portal to manage your assets
  • How to share your libraries and collaborate with others
  • Best practices when re-using assets in multiple Adobe applications

Charts and Graphs

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Jason Hoppe

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Charts and Graphs

Tuesday, 3:45 pm – 4:30 pm Central

Building charts and graphs is an essential piece of the designer’s toolkit… and yet the tools and resources for building them are not obvious!

In this class, you’ll learn:

  • Create compelling visuals faster and more effectively than you ever thought possible
  • Illustrator’s chart features (the good, bad, and ugly)
  • Data input: manually or imported from a spreadsheet
  • Create radial, pie, line charts, and graphs
  • Plug-ins and scripts for InDesign
  • Do’s and don’ts of chart creation

Design and Layout for Print

/in , /by


Kladi Vergine

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Design and Layout for Print

Tuesday, 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Central

Designing a layout is about designing a user experience — even if the layout is in print! Learn how to create eye-catching spreads using type, color, form, relationship, grid, and pattern.

InDesign to Interactive HTML

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Keith Gilbert

Keith Gilbert

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

InDesign to Interactive HTML

Tuesday, 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Central

There are all kinds of reasons why you might want HTML output from an InDesign file. Perhaps you want to create a microsite or an interactive document. Or export text and graphics ready to be added to a CMS-based web site. In this session, we’ll explore several techniques to get useful HTML out of InDesign.
You will learn:
  • Using in5 from AjarProductions for high-quality HTML export
  • Real-world case studies
  • How to get clean text, formatted graphics, and interactivity from InDesign to WordPress (and elsewhere)
  • How to automate the workflow with scripts and plug-ins

Essential Image Techniques

/in , /by


Jason Hoppe

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Essential Image Techniques

Tuesday, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Central

How you handle images can make or break your design (and your workflow). Fortunately, there are tons and tons of useful tips and tricks for working with images in InDesign! And in this fun and fast-paced session, we’ll share as many cool image-related tips as humanly possible in the span of 60 minutes.

You’ll see tips for:

  • Placing and sizing
  • Relinking and exporting
  • Enhancing images with custom frames and special transparency effects
  • Making images pop

Engaging Interactive Documents

/in , /by


Laurie Ruhlin

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Engaging Interactive Documents

Tuesday, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Central

If you’re curious how InDesign can create engaging interactive documents, this is the session for you! InDesign has a rich toolset for adding buttons, slideshows, and even animation. But to use these features well, sometimes you need to think outside the box. In this session, we’ll take a look at the “trickery” involved in producing a series of interactive effects, using some obvious and not-so-obvious techniques. If you’ve tried InDesign’s interactive features and found them lacking, join this session and look again.

We’ll cover techniques for creating:

  • Animated bar charts
  • A hamburger menu for navigation
  • Creating a slide show
  • Pop-up windows

InCopy: The Key to Editorial Workflow

/in , /by


Anne-Marie Concepción

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

InCopy: The Key to Editorial Workflow

Tuesday, 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm Central

We wanted to call this session “InCopy for Fun and Profit” because… well, like we say, “if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right!” But can software for editors actually be “fun”? It sure can, especially when you consider the alternative: endless revision rounds, mark-up, and design proofs for everyone involved. And just watch how profitable it can be when it reduces your publication’s turnaround time in half. (And at only $4.99/month, it’s Adobe’s most affordable Creative Cloud app.)

Join InCopy/InDesign workflow expert Anne-Marie Concepcion as she demonstrates how it works, starting from a “first proof” partially-finished InDesign layout all the way to sending the final, packaged publication to the printer. She’ll explain when InCopy is the best solution as well as when it isn’t (and alternatives to consider), as well as strategies for gradually incorporating InCopy with your existing workflow.

You’ll learn:

  • How to edit an InDesign layout in InCopy
  • Sharing files locally and remotely
  • Checklists for designer and editors
  • Best practices for a smooth workflow

Designing PDF Forms in InDesign and Acrobat

/in , /by


Richard Turner-Jones

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

Designing PDF Forms in InDesign and Acrobat

Wednesday, 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Central

Fillable PDF forms let your readers enter information on desktop and mobile devices, regardless of whether they have an internet connection. In addition, you can capture information from those PDF forms and utilize that information without having to set up a server or other complicated technology.

In this session, you’ll learn how to leverage the capabilities of Adobe InDesign to build PDF forms and then how to refine those forms in Adobe Acrobat. When planning a forms project, it’s helpful to know which program gives you the features that you need to perform the job at hand and how editing can be achieved most easily. You’ll also learn some tips to make the process easier, not found in the native applications!

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • Best practices for adding form fields in InDesign
  • Tricks for adding form fields in Adobe InDesign
  • Tasks you’ll need to perform in Adobe Acrobat
  • Tips & tricks to help you build flexible and robust forms
  • Dealing with changes to forms

InDesign + Photoshop + Illustrator

/in , /by


Bart Van de Wiele

ARCHIVE: This session was presented at CreativePro Week 2020.

InDesign + Photoshop + Illustrator

Tuesday, 10:30 am – 11:30 am Central

It’s the ultimate Adobe power-trio: InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator! But you’ll never be efficient with any one of them if you don’t understand how they work with the others!

Topics include:

  • Why layers are such a big deal
  • How to properly set up Photoshop and Illustrator files for InDesign
  • Choosing between layers and artboards
  • CC Libraries: the secret back door conduit
  • Best practices for managing vectors and pixels
  • And much more!