September 30th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
If it takes me a while to answer your e-mails, or if you’re wondering why you don’t see me on iChat or AIM…there’s a very good reason why: this beautiful little girl who was born on September 26, 2008 at 11:31 pm. This is my daughter, Brenna Clare Murphy, and she and her mother are doing wonderfully.
I thought I’d “frame” this photo in a manner appropriate for the web site. 
September 22nd, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
Today, Adobe announces the Creative Suite 4 in all of its various iterations (Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and so on). This updated Creative Suite includes another evolutionary and significant new version of InDesign, and in this episode, I take a look at some (but by no means all) of my favorite new features including Smart Guides, Flash export, and GREP Styles.
Watch the episode here (14:14 | 51.7MB), or you can subscribe via iTunes.
September 9th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
This is a “guest post” from my good friend Noha Edell from Adobe who has been keeping in regular contact with Scott during his amazingly fast recovery from his auto accident in late July. In it, she mentions a way in which those inclined to help can do so. A recent InDesign User Group in New York boasted its biggest raffle ever and an auction where people very generously bid on items to help send some financial support Scott’s way. Here’s Noha’s update: … (read more)
July 24th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
Early yesterday morning (23-July-2008), my good friend Scott Citron was in a serious car accident while in Los Angeles for a training assignment. Scott has been mentioned in my podcasts, and I’ve recommended his book, Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3, here on the blog. He is the chapter representative of the New York InDesign User Group (where I first met him), a respected Adobe expert and instructor, and a brilliant designer. More than that, for me, he is a cherished friend, valued confidant and advisor. … (read more)
June 29th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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.
May 29th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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)
May 28th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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
March 30th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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.
February 27th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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)
February 11th, 2008 | by Michael Murphy
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.