Sessions

Essential Tools and Services for Accessibility

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When it comes to creating accessible documents, you can do most of what you need in InDesign and Acrobat… but a third-party tool or online resource can often help you work smarter and faster. Discover this art director and accessibility expert’s favorite add-ons and services that can upgrade your accessibility workflow from good to great.

Topics include:

  • Demos of 3rd party plug-ins for accessibility
  • Reviews of online tools and resources for accessible design

Accessible PDF Files: Key Acrobat Techniques

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In the two earlier sessions (Accessibility Fundamentals for InDesign and Next Steps in InDesign Accessibility), we explored how to set up Adobe InDesign documents to export accessible PDFs. But there’s only so much InDesign can do! In this session, we’ll see the critical next steps you need to take in Acrobat.

Topics include:

  • Key Checkpoints to Check Every time
  • Accessibility versus Usability
  • Testing with a Screen Reader without being an Expert
  • How to Use the Preflight Panel to Your Advantage
  • Testing Tools You Should be Using

Interactive PDF is Dead

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Have you ever exported an interactive PDF from InDesign only to find that the interactive parts were missing?

It turns out that a PDF doesn’t really support most of InDesign’s interactive features. In this session, you’ll learn why that is, and what options you do have to create interactivity without coding.

In addition to PDF, we’ll look at

  • Publish Online
  • Fixed Layout ePub
  • in5

You’ll get to see live, interactive projects that were created with InDesign and include

  • Animation
  • Audio & Video
  • Object States
  • Pop-ups
  • Buttons
  • Flipbook transitions
  • 3-D Flipcards
  • Responsive Layouts

This session brought to you by our partner, Ajar Productions.

Design with Data, Present with Power

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3M has combined 30+ years of research informing our understanding of the human visual system with our expertise in machine learning and analytics to bring data-driven workplace solutions. Developed by expert neuro and data scientists to quickly and accurately simulate how people see your visuals within the first 3-5 seconds, 3M™ Visual Attention Software (VAS) instantly predicts – with 92% accuracy – where your viewers’ eyes are drawn. This “pre-attentive phase” is critical in capturing your audience’s interest and increasing the likelihood they will engage with your content. A VAS analysis will show you which areas are attracting, or distracting, viewers’ attention so you know if your content is on track in achieving its goals. You can integrate testing into you design workflow with the VAS web app or plugins for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or XD and make refinement decisions based on objective feedback. Learn more at vas.3M.com.

This session brought to you by our partner, 3M.

The Presentation Designer as Visual Translator: Interview

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The role of the presentation designer is similar to being a translator standing between two people who don’t speak the same language. Your job is to understand both sides and find a way to help them communicate.

Join us in this fascinating and insightful interview, as Mark Heaps discusses presentation design with Jef Tyler, Senior Interactive Art Director at VMware.

Adobe Dimension for Graphic and Packaging Designers

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The session focuses on how to get Photoshop and Illustrator designs into a 3D environment. Content includes:

  • Finding models
  • Basic shapes
  • Decal vs material
  • CC Libraries
  • Linked graphics
  • Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop artboards
  • Lighting and rendering

Adobe After Effects for Print and Web Designers

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Get to know the “other” design application in the Creative Cloud. Chances are you know Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. But did you know After Effects supports just as many file formats, provides amazing design and compositing features, and can be used in any print, web, animation, video, or photo compositing project?

What you’ll learn:

  • The After Effects interface
  • Starting a new project from scratch
  • How After Effects is similar to Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
  • How to import photos, videos, and artwork into your project
  • Applying effects (it’s all about effects!)
  • Getting started with Animations in After Effects
  • Exporting animations for social media, web, and email animations

The Most Important Design App Ever is… Excel?!

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We know it sounds crazy, but every designer and production artist needs to know at least a little bit about Microsoft Excel! There is just so much you can do with this amazing tool. Join us as we cover some of our favorite Excel tricks for designers.

This session includes:

  • Embrace VLOOKUP for matching two lists. Quickly find out which items are missing from one list or the other.
  • Do a Mail Merge from Excel data to InDesign. Create a PDF file with one page per row in Excel.
  • Use Flash Fill in Excel to quickly convert a column of text. Make everything Proper case, extract part numbers, or add text to each line.
  • You, too, can make a pivot table with these four simple steps

Easy AR (Augmented Reality) for Print Designers

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Augmented Reality (AR) is a new medium for designers and marketing professionals to explore and take advantage of.

You’ll learn:

  • Steps for setting up AR scenes and triggers
  • Best tools for building AR, including Adobe Aero
  • How you can take your audience from print piece to web to AR in super easy steps

Premiere Pro for Print and Web Designers

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Premiere Pro sounds scary and overwhelming — after all, it’s used by Hollywood studios and high-end pros around the world. But here’s a secret: In this one-hour session, you can learn everything you need to know to get up to speed and making videos.

Topics include:

  • How Premiere Pro is similar to Photoshop and other CC tools you know
  • How to use Illustrator, Photoshop, and even InDesign to build assets for your videos
  • Exporting video for social media, YouTube, Vimeo, and more