InDesign Workshop Week 1

InDesign

• Page layout software
• Used in the commercial print industry
• Some layout similarities to Photoshop

File -> New -> Document

Paper size: top options on drop down menu are American paper sizes and lower options are British/European paper sizes. The page size is the printed, finished, trimmed size of what you are going to create. 

Bleed: an image that touches the edge of the page must extend beyond the border of the page to compensate for inaccuracies in the trimming process. 

Crop marks: marks outside the border of the page which help you line your ruler up to cut the page down to the correct size. 

Slug: the area around the page used for registration marks and printers marks which will be removed during the trimming process (for example, in a concertina book to show where fold lines need to be).

Bleeds and slugs are all removed when trimming the paper. 

Columns: adding guides to the page to help with the arrangement of text or image.

Gutter: the space between the columns.

Margins: allowance of blank space around the edge of the page.

Margins and columns don't limit where things can be placed on the page, they are just there as guides. 

Pages palette:

• shows previews of pages
• adding or removing pages
• navigation through the document by clicking on a page

Pages palette - single pages

Pages palette - facing pages

Reader's spreads: the layout will appear on paper as it does on screen.

When using InDesign, content must be contained within a frame. 

Type tool - text frame. 

Type menu -> fill with placeholder text -> this gives an idea of what the page will look like and you can format the text using the options at the top of the screen. 

Frames: you can work with the contents of the frame or with the container. 

Selection tool: working with the frame itself. 

More guidelines appear as you move frames around - showing when things are central or in line with other frames. 

Preparing images for InDesign (specification for commercial print)

• Resolution: 300dpi
• Must be the actual size you want it printing at
• Colour mode: CMYK (or greyscale)
• File format: .tif or .psd (not .jpeg)
• Save all images in the same folder

Putting images into InDesign

File -> Place -> Select an image -> click on page to drop image. 

OR… Prepare the frame in advance (rectangle frame tool). Select frame -> File -> Place -> Select an image. 

Use the frame to crop the image.

Click and hold for a second to get a continuous preview of movement or cropping. 

Using the the circles in the image allow you to reposition the image within the frame. 

Enlarging images will lower the resolution. 

Images look pixelated on InDesign because they are only a preview to work with on screen. The preview establishes a link between the InDesign file and the original image. When sent to print, the preview is replaces with the high resolution images. 

Links palette: list of links used within the layout. 

Link info: can use this to check the images are prepared to the correct specification. 

Actual ppi: what was prepared in Photoshop. 

Effective ppi: the resolution after any enlargement.

Save the InDesign folder in the same folder as images. 

If the original image is deleted, you will get a low quality print or no image at all. 

Colour

• Use either rectangle tool
• Select shape
• Select shape or stroke on the colour palette
• Enlarge shape so it meets the bleed
• Right click -> arrange -> send forward or backward. 
• You apply colour to text in a similar way.
• Menu in top right of colour palette allows you to select CMYK

Adding colour

Preview: make sure you have nothing selected and are not working in a text frame. Use keyboard shortcut 'W' to view a preview of the page. 

Preview mode - keyboard shortcut 'W'