The InDesigner

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 | 20 Comments » |

Hot on the heels of Episode 49, I received an e-mail from Adi Ravid, an Adobe Certified Expert in Israel, who pointed out a much better method for creating rounded Paragraph Rules. Shortly thereafter, my friend Birgit Stolte in Germany popped up on iChat to remind me that she had already mentioned the same tip to me some time ago. I’m embarrassed to admit that not only didn’t I think of this technique myself, but I completely forgot that I’d been told about it before.

Adi was nice enough to let me share his description of the technique here on the blog, so here goes: … (read more)

Posted in Show Notes, Type & Text | 18 Comments » |

Most of us are familiar with the two types of Paragraph Rules, but despite their names, a Rule Above can easily appear below your text, and a Rule Below can just as easily appear above it. This ability to bend the rules, so to speak, can produce some very interesting and flexible type effects that don’t require drawing extra frames, grouping anything or relying on anchored objects. This episode covers the rules of paragraph rules (and a bit about underlining) to showcase how flexible and versatile they can be.

Watch the episode here (15:52 | 37.2 MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Download the sample files (68K .zip file) for this episode

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Type & Text | 11 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 | 41 Comments » |

I was watching the local news coverage here in Miami, where I’m speaking at the InDesign Conference, and there’s been a lot of talk about the causes of yesterday’s two-hour power outage that hit us (and a lot of south Florida) in the middle of the day. Personally, I think the real explanation for why the lights went out is that a demonstration given by Adobe’s Michael Ninnes and Tim Cole here at the keynote speech was so cool that it sucked all the power from the grid.

In what was referred to as a “technology preview” — meaning it’s technology Adobe has, but will neither confirm nor deny will appear ever in any product — Michael and Tim demonstrated the direct export of InDesign layouts to Flash, including … (read more)

Posted in News/Announcements | 10 Comments » |

A subscriber’s question about moving and copying layers led me to peel away the layers of the Paste Remembers Layers setting and discover a few things about how it behaves that I wasn’t aware of. This episode shares that little discovery with all of you, while providing context for the overall behavior of Paste Remembers Layers, and ending with a tip for combining this feature with Snippets to accomplish something InDesign won’t let you do by default.

Watch the episode here (13:51 | 28.6MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Posted in Document Set-up, Podcasts-Video | 19 Comments » |

CreativePro.com has posted an excerpt from Scott Citron’s Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3 on their web site. If you’re looking for a glimpse into the book before you buy it, here’s your chance. The excerpt consists of two PDFs taken from the “Creating Newsletters and Forms” chapter of the book.

Click here to go to download the excerpts from CreativePro.com.

Posted in Designer's Bookshelf, News/Announcements | No Comments » |

A long last, Adobe has made CS3 certification and re-certification exams available. For anyone looking to get certified in InDesign, I’ll reiterate what I said in May of 2006 when I passed my CS2 ACE exam: study. When you think you’ve studied enough…keep studying.

I consider myself a fairly sharp guy, and I live and breathe InDesign on a daily basis, but even this re-certification exam — which was made up of 47 questions covering only new CS3 features — was, to say the least, challenging. The questions are obscure, very strategically and often cryptically worded, and the multiple-choice answers are structured so well that they’ll have you doubting your own certainty as to which is correct.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m better in practice than theory, or just a lousy test-taker, but I’m just glad I passed and I have another full version cycle before I have to be put through one of these exams again.

Posted in News/Announcements | 29 Comments » |

A package arrived on my doorstep the other day containing something for which I’ve anxiously been waiting: my copy of “Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3″ by Scott Citron. A lot of things factor into my excitement about this book:

First, Scott is the chapter representative of the New York InDesign User Group, a great designer, and a good friend.

Second, this book fills what — in my opinion — is the biggest gap on the design software bookshelf: project-based instruction, taught from a designer’s perspective, with as much attention given to time-honored design principles (that pre-date computers) as to the software that makes it all so much easier and faster.

Third, I had the honor and good fortune to contribute two chapters to this book when deadlines started looming near for Scott. I can’t claim to have created the beautifully designed projects that go with these chapters, however. That was all Scott.

Peachpit Press has been kind enough to offer a 35% discount to The InDesigner’s audience. Just use promo code PPT-PBM-1151 when you order the book from Peachpit.com. There’s a full table of contents for the book on that page, too, if you want to know more about what’s between the lemon-yellow covers.

Posted in Designer's Bookshelf | 6 Comments » |

If you’re used to www.theindesigner.com automatically taking you InDesignSecrets…surprise! The InDesigner podcast/blog has a new home…or, more accurately, it has returned to its old home.

For nearly a year and a half, I’ve had the pleasure and honor of being part of David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepcion’s fantastic InDesignSecrets web site as their exclusive video provider and occasional blog poster. As colleagues go, it would be hard to fall into better, more expert company, and I thank David and Anne-Marie for making me a part of the team, and for all of the increased exposure to my videocasts that came with that association. I look forward to continuing … (read more)

Posted in News/Announcements | 14 Comments » |