InDesign CS6 New features, PDF Forms

 InDesign  5 Responses »
Jun 222012
 

InDesign has always been an excellent application for generating forms but, until now, adding the form fields themselves had to be done in Acrobat Professional, a process that could be time consuming, especially if you were creating complex forms. InDesign CS6 now includes built-in form field support, making form creation much easier and faster.

In this example I am using a quote request form for a fictional design company

The form has been designed and text boxes have been drawn in the areas designated for responses.

Screenshot of InDesign form

InDesign form

To convert the text boxes to form fields, select Window>Interactive>Buttons and Forms.  Read more...

What’s new in InDesign CS6

 InDesign  No Responses »
Apr 232012
 

InDesign CS6 IconFind out what’s new in InDesign CS6 with our run down on the latest features that have been introduced.
The chances are these days you are developing content for a variety of different devices and screen sizes and InDesign CS6 makes it easier than ever to make that job simple.

Some of the new features introduced include:  Read more...

Roundup of recent Adobe DPS news

 InDesign  No Responses »
Apr 022012
 

Adobe recently updated the DPS components for InDesign. Before you rush to upgrade you should take a moment to consider you workflow requirements. DPS works across several systems and suppliers, not all of which update at the same time. Though Adobe updates all of its components simultaneously, Apple can take some time to approve the Content Viewer for iPad. If you upgrade InDesign’s Overlay Creator too soon, you’ll find you have generated publications that can’t be previewed on your iPad. To make sense of all the components and the best time to update, Johannes Henseler has created the Caniupdateadobedps? web page. Keep an eye on this to judge when it’s safe to update.  Read more...

6 ways to Copy objects with InDesign

 InDesign  No Responses »
Mar 082012
 

Copying objects is one of those tasks we all do all the time. I regularly come across users who aren’t aware that there are many ways to copy beyond the standard copy and paste commend. Duplicating items in precise ways can be one to the most powerful ways to get a job done quickly and InDesign has numerous ways to do it.

I want to make duplicates of my sample logo. I can do it in the following ways:

1) Select the object then Edit>Copy followed by Edit>Paste

The resulting copy is placed in the middle of the page but the location  is not controllable.  Read more...

Creative Suite Workspaces

 InDesign, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jan 312012
 

Another often overlooked aspect of most Creative Suite apps is their ability to store preset panel combinations. Adobe call these workspaces and they can be extremely useful for rapidly loading specific panel sets or just carrying out general tidying up.

Workspaces can be found in two locations: under the View>Workspaces drop down menu or, in the Application bar on the right hand side.

Screenshot of InDesign workspace switcher

InDesign workspace switcher

I this example I’m using InDesign. The current workspace (Essentials) is displayed in the application bar next to the search field. Click on the downward triangle to see a list of preset workspaces (this is known as the workspace switcher).  Read more...

Boxoffice for iPad

 HTML5, InDesign  1 Response »
Jan 132012
 

Here’s another interesting DPS generated iPad app I downloaded recently. Boxoffice is a movie industry weekly magazine. It features the usual range of industry news & gossip, celebrity interviews and film previews. I think the Boxoffice design team has made very interesting use of the features of DPS to make an engaging and genuinely entertaining app.

Screenshot of Boxoffice cover 1

Boxoffice cover 1

Boxoffice makes use of DPS’s horizontal and vertical layouts to create two entirely different covers for each edition. Just rotate to switch between them. This theme is repeated in various locations in the magazine.

Screenshot of Boxoffice cover 2

Boxoffice cover 2  Read more...

Secrets of the Word Import filter

 InDesign  No Responses »
Sep 222011
 

InDesign has some extremely powerful text editing tools however it’s more likely that you will be creating and importing text from Microsoft Word. One of InDesign’s less well-known features is the Word Import Filter, designed to help you work more efficiently in a Word based workflow.

The filter is only accessible when you import a text file. In the Import dialogue box, make sure to check the Show Import Options check box.

screenshot of indesign text import dialogue box

InDesign text import dialogue box

InDesign will display the following dialogue box.

screenshot of InDesign Word import options dialogue box

InDesign Word import options dialogue box  Read more...

Adventures with the Option/Alt key

 InDesign  No Responses »
Sep 092011
 

Have you ever noticed how many useful InDesign functions can be enabled by using the option/alt key?
I’ve tried to itemise as many as possible in the following list though there may be some more…

General uses for the option/alt key

In most Adobe applications, holding option/alt changes the cancel button to reset in many dialogue boxes, saving the need to close and reopen the box.
Similarly, option/alt + drag an object duplicates it, including guides

Option/alt In InDesign

holding option/alt on  import text, changes the loaded text cursor to semi-auto flow mode. This will flow text into a column then reload the cursor automatically.  Read more...

Creating interactive documents with InDesign pt 8

 InDesign  No Responses »
Sep 022011
 

In the final part of this series, I’ll describe how to import movie content into InDesign and how to export your document as an animated Flash file.

InDesign has been able to import movies for some time, unfortunately it was not possible to view them without exporting the file to another format. CS5 introduced the Media pane which addresses this issue.

Screenshot of empty media frame

Empty media frame

Importing movies is exactly the same as importing standard images. Either select an existing frame or import directly by hitting cmd + d (ctrl +  on Windows).

Screenshot of media import into InDesign CS5

Media import into InDesign CS5  Read more...

Creating interactive documents with InDesign pt6

 InDesign  No Responses »
Jul 082011
 

With this part of the series we move to InDesign’s new interactive features, specifically creating animations.

Before starting an interactive document, it’s worth changing your workspace to Interactive. There are a number of new panels on display including Animation, Timing, Preview, Media and Object States. We’ll use each of these in the next couple of articles.

Indesign interactive workspace panels

InDesign interactive workspace panels

When you open a document with animated objects you will notice a new icon. InDesign cannot display animation directly so it indicates where an animation has been applied by displaying the 3 bubbles icon. This spread already has three.  Read more...

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