The InDesigner

If you’re only using tracking to control the look of your type at the paragraph level — like I will confess to doing in the past — you’re missing out on features that give you far greater control of your type and make for much better-looking paragraphs. This episode covers … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Type & Text | 5 Comments » |

I usually stick to things that can be done automatically within InDesign, but every now and then, you can’t avoid the fact that some things just haven’t made it into the product yet. In this episode, I demonstrate two methods for getting a solid-to-transparent gradient … (read more)

Posted in Graphics & Images, Podcasts-Video, Transparency | 5 Comments » |

In response to a subscriber who was concerned about using Transparency without causing output problems, this episode provides guidelines for best practices in documents that contain transparent objects. From layers to flattening to exporting, I lay out my four simple rules for … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Printing & Production, Transparency | 9 Comments » |

Collect your custom characters into an easy-to-use set by using the Glyphs palette and a little-known feature explained in this episode. Whether you need quick access to dingbats, accented characters, fractions or any other special glyphs … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Type & Text | 6 Comments » |

When you actually read the InDesign User Guide cover-to-cover — which I did to study for my recent Adobe certification exam — you actually find a lot of things you didn’t know InDesign could do. In this episode, I take a look at Automated Jump Lines — a feature that was new to me and that I immediately started using … (read more)

Posted in Automation, Podcasts-Video, Productivity | 4 Comments » |

Add bells and whistles to your rows and columns in the conclusion of the three-part Tables series. Examples of real-world design projects that feature tables are used to demonstrate placing graphics and shapes into tables as … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Tables | 14 Comments » |

The second installment of the video series covering Tables gets down to the smallest details. This “intermediate” episode covers the settings you can apply in the Table Options and Cell Options dialog boxes, how InDesign differentiates between Header, Footer and Body rows, how to automate … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Tables | 1 Comment » |

If you haven’t already discovered InDesign’s robust table-creation feature, you’re going to be quite impressed by what it can do. If you’re familiar with tables, but haven’t used them that much, you’re going to find that the level of design control you have over tables — and the ways in which you can use them — is far beyond … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Tables | 3 Comments » |

As designers, we have a lot of stuff we need to have at our disposal quickly. But finding a place for that stuff and knowing what stuff you need is a challenge. This episode covers a great place in InDesign for your stuff: Libraries. What are they? What are they for? … (read more)

Posted in Podcasts-Video, Productivity | 6 Comments » |

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 » |