Adobe InDesign CS2 - Introductory

(2 days)

 

Background

This professional publishing software combines immensely powerful typographic and page layout controls with a wide range of creative options.

Our two day Adobe authorised introductory course is designed to enable you to make the most of the power of InDesign and will highlight how to use InDesign to improve productivity without sacrificing quality.

Day one of the course concentrates on building an InDesign document from scratch using the versatile layout and text handling features.

Day two will explore more advanced layout and typographical controls, clipping paths, working with layers, and creating PDF files.

This is an introductory course for new users of InDesign. If you are an experienced QuarkXPress user migrating to Adobe InDesign, there is a two-day InDesign migration course designed specifically for your requirements.

Course Content

DAY ONE

INTRODUCTION

THE INDESIGN INTERFACE
Using palettes, tools and menus
Creating custom workspaces
Using the Control palette
Using the Navigator palette
Zooming and scrolling
Using context menus

INDESIGN BASICS
Creating a new document
Creating and using frames
Selecting frames and contents
Introducing layers

WORKING WITH TEXT
Placing text
Selecting and editing text
Handling missing fonts
Working with glyphs
Drag and drop text

FORMATTING CHARACTERS
Character-level formatting
Introducing OpenType fonts
Using optical kerning
Assigning languages

Common keyboard shortcuts
FORMATTING PARAGRAPHS
Paragraph-level formatting
Choosing a composer
Basic H&J options
Using the Eyedropper tool
Creating drop caps

WORKING WITH STYLES
Character and paragraph styles
Creating styles
Editing and applying styles
Introducing nested styles
Removing style formatting

IMPORTING GRAPHICS
Different file formats
Placing graphics
Manipulating graphics
Understanding fitting options
PSD and PDF layer options

COMBINING TEXT AND GRAPHICS
Wrapping text around graphics
Introducing snippets

UNDERSTANDING COLOUR
Spot and process colours
Loading swatches
Working with swatches
Using stroke and fill options
Creating tints

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

DAY TWO

INTRODUCTION

LAYING OUT PAGES ACCURATELY
Using rulers, grids and guides
Using the Info palette
Creating grids
Working with layers

CREATING MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENTS
Using the Pages palette
Targeting pages and spreads

EDITING COPY
Using the Story Editor
Using Find/Change
Using the Spell Checker

INTRODUCING TRANSPARENCY
Creating drop shadows
Feathering edges
The Flattener Preview palette

FINESSING TEXT CONTENT
Linking and unlinking frames
Flowing text through frames
Multi-column text frames
Setting text frame options
Document baseline grids
Frame-based baseline grids
Redefining styles
Hanging punctuation
Using special characters
Viewing composition options

WORKING WITH MASTER PAGES
Master page guidelines
Creating and editing masters
Applying master pages
Auto-numbering pages
Basing one master on another
Overriding master objects
Reapplying master objects

COMBINING TEXT AND GRAPHICS
Image import options
Images with clipping paths
Creating a new clipping path
Removing image backgrounds
Editing clipping paths
Tolerance and threshold options
Advanced text wrap options

TRANSFORMING OBJECTS
Scaling objects vs. contents
Transforming objects
Grouping and ungrouping

EXPORTING AND PRINTING
Exporting as a PDF
Performing a pre-flight check
Packaging files for handoff

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS