Tag Archive for: indesign

Introduction to GREP

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GREP is one of the most important features in InDesign, and sadly it’s one of the least used! In Part 1 of this three-session series, we’ll get you up to speed (from zero to 60!) with this amazing tool for finding, changing, and formatting text patterns.

We’ll look at some design samples and learn—among other things—how to:

  • Find a range of characters
  • Find all of specific category, such as currency
  • Automatically style fractions, figures, and recurring product names

Jump to Part 2.

RGB vs CMYK: Let’s Put This Argument to Rest Right Now

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It’s the 21st century… are you really still converting images to CMYK in Photoshop? Are you picking the right CMYK at the right time? What the heck is InDesign’s “transparency blend mode” and should you choose RGB or CMYK? This is the session that every InDesign user needs to watch—at least the ones who care about quality and productivity!

This session includes:

  • How to create a PDF that works for both onscreen viewing and printing on a desktop printer
  • Why converting images should be called “targeting” them
  • Why using the default settings will just get you boring color

Wow: Type Projects

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You can’t help but love everything typographic! If the word fonts gets you excited and hearing about special ligatures and swashes makes your mouth water, then this session is perfect for you.

In this fun, fact-filled, and educational hour, we won’t just look at type — we’ll explain it as we pull the designs apart and learn what makes them tick.

Interactive PDF and Forms: Opportunities and Limits

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Fillable PDF forms let your readers enter information on desktop and mobile devices, regardless of whether they have an internet connection. In this session, you’ll learn how to use InDesign to build PDF forms and then how to refine those forms in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

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

Photoshop + Illustrator + InDesign: How Three Apps Work as One

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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:

  • 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

10 Essential InDesign Productivity Tips

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Let’s kick off Day 2 with a fast-paced, fun-filled tip-a-palooza to boost your productivity! We’ll zip through a ton of handy tips and tricks that every InDesign user needs to know. Plus, you’ll get amped to soak up all the InDesign goodness the rest of the conference will bring.

Topics include:

  • If you’re not customizing InDesign, you’re not doing it right
  • Essential shortcuts
  • What to do when something (inevitably) goes wrong

Accessibility Community Conversation

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Join us for an opportunity to connect with others who are working in the world of accessibility. Share ideas, explore new solutions, and find a community that helps each other throughout the year.

Building Great Templates with InDesign, Part 3

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In Part 1 of this three-part tutorial, we learned about finding and editing pre-made templates; then in Part 2 we explored how to build our own custom templates, using styles, colors and masters. In part 3, we dive even deeper into:

  • Add elements to Creative Cloud Libraries, sharing and using them
  • Add anchored graphics to a library
  • Build a correct character style
  • Add and use Layers in a template
  • Use a couple valuable scripts to make template creation and template instructions easier
  • Create and embed a custom preflight profile to check your document before printing
  • Make sure all defaults are correct before saving and sharing your template

 

Essential Tools and Services for Accessibility

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Sure, you can do most of what you need in InDesign and Acrobat… but you can often do it easier or quicker with a third-party tool. Discover these expert’s favorite add-ons and services for stepping up your accessibility workflow, from good to great.

Building Great Templates with InDesign, Part 2

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In Part 1 of this 3-part tutorial, we saw how to find, edit, and—most importantly—begin to customize InDesign templates to your own needs. Now, in Part 2, we’ll dive deeper, exploring:

  • How to set up margins so your text frames will move when margins are adjusted
  • Set up page size, column guides, color swatches and more
  • Add text and image placeholders, as well as reusable elements
  • Create smart paragraph, character, and object styles
  • Make a caption both under a photo and on top of a photo (with a fill transparency), and apply all settings with one click
  • Understand how based on paragraph styles can make a template incredibly flexible
  • Combine separate text frames into one (and why your heads/subheads shouldn’t be a separate text frame from the body, like you see in many templates)
  • How to create tints and gradient from a base color
  • Anchor a graphic into a paragraph

Learn about Part 3 here.