Building Great Templates with InDesign, Part 1

Creating a document in InDesign that can be used to build other documents, often by other people, requires an understanding of a wide range of InDesign features. In this three-part tutorial, we’ll explore the features you should know to set up a great template, how to set up files properly, and how to make use of templates you’ve acquired elsewhere.

Part 1: First, we’ll learn all about templates, what they are, how to create, customize and use. Then we’ll check out a few popular template resources to download for free, or purchase a pre-made template to customize for your own use. We’ll find out that these free or purchased templates may not suit your exact needs or be built with the correct tools. They are useless until you customize them for your own brand.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• What is a template? What’s the difference between an InDesign document (.indd) and a InDesign template (.indt)
• What InDesign elements should go into a template, and what should stay out?
• How to build a document from the ground up that others can use
• How to save an existing document as a template
• Where to find quality templates
• How to find and use free templates from Adobe Stock
• Customize a template for your own brand

Learn about Part 2 here.