The InDesigner

Launch day for Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 is here, and so is my first podcast episode dedicated to the newest version of InDesign.

In this episode, I take a look at a number of very cool new features in InDesign CS5. There’s a lot more (see the full list below), but I’ve focused on some of my favorites, including span/split-column paragraphs, multiple page sizes, simplified transformations, metadata captions, the new Layers panel, and animation features (hinted at in my last post).

This episode is kind of a a long one, but I’ve included chapter markers so you can quickly jump to the section of the episode (there are five demo segments) you want to see.

Watch the episode here (36:46 | 70.1MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Here’s a (just about) complete list of the new features in InDesign CS5. There are numerous other small details and enhancements, but here’s the biggest and the best: … (read more)

Posted in Automation, CS5, Design, Document Set-up, Graphics & Images, Interactivity, Layout, News/Announcements, Podcasts-Video, Productivity, Styles, Type & Text | 18 Comments » |

After a seven-month hiatus…the podcast returns!

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of work designing forms, which present their own unique design challenges, one of which is that more forms are being completed digitally as PDFs. As we’ll see in this episode, when you’re designing a form to be as Acrobat-friendly as possible, the same principles that make for a clean, function, well-organized form on the page also lend themselves to fast and easy form field recognition in Acrobat.

Watch the episode here (14:58 | 49.6MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Download the InDesign Interchange (.inx) file with the flexible form line style used in this episode

Posted in Design, Interactivity, Podcasts-Video, Styles | 30 Comments » |

Inspired by a question from a podcast subscriber about creating a text frame that looks like a folder tab, and with the help of a technique suggested by another subscriber, this episode builds on the potential of Paragraph Rules revealed in Episode 49. By combining Paragraph Rules with First Baseline Offset options, a fully-editable, single-object tab-topped text frame is easy. But it gets easier and more interesting when Object Styles and Effects are added to the mix.

Watch the episode here (14:29 | 38.1 MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Posted in Design, Podcasts-Video, Styles, Transparency, Type & Text | 36 Comments » |

At last month’s InDesign Conference in Miami, an unexpected blackout cut my typography session short, so my demonstration of OpenType features never saw the light of day (no pun intended). In this episode, I bring that missing part of the presentation to all of you and take a look at several useful OpenType features including Ligatures, Discretionary Ligatures, Contextual Alternates, Small Caps, and Titling Alternates.

Watch the episode here (14:55 | 30 MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Posted in Design, Podcasts-Video, Type & Text | 44 Comments » |

OK…Christmas has already come and gone, I know, but it’s still technically the holiday season, and the title of this episode is the title of a Christmas CD project I recently designed. That’s the project I showcase in this episode, in which I demonstrate a holiday grab bag of InDesign goodies including: … (read more)

Posted in Design, Graphics & Images, Podcasts-Video, Type & Text | 3 Comments » |

It’s time to get back to the original mission of the videocast — real-world examples of InDesign in action to help you work better, smarter and faster. In this episode, I take a look at a feature that debuted in CS2: Object Layer Options. Not only does InDesign understand the native Photoshop format, it also … (read more)

Posted in Design, Graphics & Images, Podcasts-Video, Productivity | 3 Comments » |

Picking up right where Part 1 left off, this episode concludes my InDesign Inventory of features put to work in the design of a 256-page magazine. In two more examples, I cover working with Master Pages and Document Pages simultaneously, and deconstruct how … (read more)

Posted in Design, Document Set-up, Layout, Podcasts-Video, Styles, Type & Text | 1 Comment » |

Add depth and interest to an InDesign layout using the “cheap tricks” demonstrated in this episode, which uses a magazine feature to demonstrate what I called “Poor Man’s Lighting Effects” in Episode 4. In the process of building this example, I put a lot of other features to use including … (read more)

Posted in Design, Layout, Podcasts-Video, Transparency | 3 Comments » |