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InDesign tutorial: basic tool functions

InDesign tools

from the Adobe InDesign User Guide

floating toolbox
The InDesign toolbox appears on the left side of the screen but may be moved by dragging the top bar. A tool may be selected by clicking it. Some tools have a small arrow to the right of the icon, which indicates hidden tools are available. The hidden tools may be accessed by holding the mouse button down on the arrow. The tool shortcut is shown in parenthesis. Hold down Shift to constrain dragging or drawing objects. This is helpful when moving and creating circles, squares, multiples of 45 degrees and straight lines.

frequently used tools

(V) Selection tool - select, move and resize (P) Pen tool - advanced drawing; anchor points (N) Pencil tool - freehand drawing (R) Rotate tool - rotate and flip objects (H) Hand tool - moves screen freely (X) toggles Fill and Stroke - assigns color (T) Type tool - adds text and text boxes (\) Line tool - draws rules and lines (M) Rectangle tool - draws boxes, circles... (S) Scale tool - scales size of objects (G) Gradient tool - assigns creative gradients (Z) Zoom tool - increases / decreases view

Excerpt from the Visual Media Course Manual ISBN: 0-99585-801-B Caryn Esplin

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choose a style

InDesign tutorial: tips for page layout

InDesign layout
Start by following these six steps for basic layout: 1. Message - Select a layout style to communicate the message. 2. H-I-T - Choose the Heading - Image - Typestyle. 3. Guides - Create guides to keep elements aligned. 4. Focal Point - Emphasize the focal point and determine hierarchy. 5. Principles - Check for the design principles P-A-R-C...F. 6. Inquire - Make variations and ask several opinions. 1. Select File - New - Document (Apple N). 2. Document setup: 8.5 x 11; vertical orientation, .5 margins; 1 column. 3. Select Layout - Create guides or drag guides in or down from the rulers. 4. Hide or show guides by clicking the icons at the bottom of toolbar (Apple ;). 1. Select rectangle tool (M) and drag a box to the desired size. 2. Open color palette: Select Window - Color (F6). 3. Add fill color to a box by selecting a color from the palette. 4. The color selected will show in the tool palette for the fill and the stroke. 5. Now select the color for the stroke (outline) box. Red slash means no color. 6. Choose weight of desired stroke from the stroke palette located under the tab to the left of color palette. 7. To add fill and stroke color to text, select the T in the tool palette, under the fill and stroke boxes. 8. Gradients and transparencies are the other two tabs in the color palette. 1. Select T from the tool palette (T). Drag a text box to the desired size. 2. Open character palette: Select Window - Type - Character (Apple T). 3. Select a font name by scrolling through the top left window in the character palette. It helps to open Word to see the fonts, until you learn the names. 4. Type or paste text in the text box. 5. Note: The T in the tool palette must be selected to type text in a box. To move or resize the entire box, the direct select tool (V), in the top left of the tool palette must be selected. The type may be changed by selecting the text box with the direct select tool, then choosing a new font in the character palette. To change the font, size or color of one word or group of words in a text box, highlight the word(s) while the T is selected. Then make the change. 1. Select File - Place (Apple D). 2. Browse the files and select the desired image. 3. When the cursor changes appearance - drag a box to the desired size. 4. Select Object - Fitting - Fit Content Proportionally (Shift+Apple+Alt+E). 5. Images can be cropped easily by dragging in the edge of the box.

set up guides

add boxes & color

add text

place images

Use a quick shortcut key to replace several slow mouse functions

Excerpt from the Visual Media Course Manual ISBN: 0-99585-801-B Caryn Esplin

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kerning leading

InDesign tutorial: common functions

InDesign tips
Add or reduce space between letters/words: 1. Select or highlight the type. 2. Find the character palette; locate the second box in the right column. 3. Click the up or down arrow to watch as the space increases or decreases; or click the arrow to the right and select a number. Hit return. Add or reduce space between lines: 1. Highlight the line of type below the area you want to change. 2. Select the character palette; locate the first box in the right column. 3. Click the up or down arrow to watch the space above that line increase or decrease; or, type in a number and hit the return key. What to do if the last line of a paragraph has more leading: 1. Place the cursor at the end of the line. 2. Hit the return key and the leading should adjust automatically.

moving lines

What to do when a line of type will not move by hitting the space or tab bar: 1. Place the cursor at the beginning of the line. 2. Hit the return key. 3. Delete the new line space that was created above. 4. Now with the line in place again, the tab key or space bar will work. Take off the automatic hyphenation: 1. Select the Paragraph palette, located next to Character tab. 2. Uncheck the hyphenate box in the bottom left corner. 3. Other settings can be found under the arrow at top right of palette. Make an image, type, or object partially transparent, as in a watermark: 1. Select the element to make transparent. 2. Select the Transparency palette, located under the Color tab. 3. Click on the arrow at the left of the Opacity box. 4. Move the slider down to make the element more transparent. Move an element behind or in front of another element: 1. Select the element to move. 2. Click on Object (top menu bar) - Arrange - Bring to Front, etc. Add gradient coloring to objects or type: 1. Select the element; fill it with a color. 2. Select gradient palette, located under the Color tab. 3. Click in the gradient bar located on the bottom of palette. 4. Click the small box under the bar; choose a color from color palette. 5. Slide the diamond above the bar to adjust the blend of colors. Click on Edit (top menu bar) - Check Spelling - Start
Excerpt from the Visual Media Course Manual ISBN: 0-99585-801-B Caryn Esplin

de-hyphenating

transparency

stacking gradients

check spelling

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overview 7 rules

InDesign tutorial: good designs include good writing!

body copy
Proper grammar, spelling, and punctation can make or break a graphic designer. The basic mechanics of good journalistic writing are vital to preparing professional brochures and newsletters or any layout with body copy in paragraph form.

Rules for body copy

1. Left-column alignment is better than justified because of the inevitable gaps. 2. Consistent paragraph style: Choose to indent or add line space between paragraphs - not both! a. If you indent, use only 3 or 4 spaces. b. Do not indent the first paragraph after a heading. c. If you add line space, do not double-return! Add about half the line space instead. (See character palette.) 3. More space above headings; less below. 4. Line up bottoms of columns exactly, or make them obviously different! Use contrast, not conflict. 5. No widows, orphans or underlining. 6. Avoid hyphens and all caps. 7. One space between sentences.

7 steps

Steps for wrapping text

1. Open the image in Photoshop, select the portion you wish to wrap. Do not use feathering! Copy the selection, and paste it into a document with a transparent background. Apple C to copy the selection; Apple N to open a new document. Change the background to transparent; Return; Apple V to paste the selection into the new document. Save the image as a psd. 2. Open InDesign, and place the clipped .psd image so it overlaps part of the text box you would like to wrap. 3. Bring the image to the front (Object-Arrange-Bring to front); then click on the imagenot the text box. 4. Open the text wrap palette (Windows-Type-Text wrap), and click the third icon from the left (with the circle in the center) to wrap the text around the image. Keep the image selected. 5. Select Detect Edges under Contour Options, and the text will follow the clipped edges of the image. If this does not delete enough of the background, you can adjust the settings: Go to Object-Clipping path; choose Detect Edges under Type; then adjust the Tolerance and Threshold to delete more background. 6. You can adjust how tightly the text wraps the image by changing the numbers in boxes in the text wrap palette. Be sure to have the image selected. 7. If you have a text box nearby (such as the caption above this red flower) that is adversely affected by the text wrap, change that text to an object by creating outlines; then it will not wrap: Click on the text; go to Type-Create Outlines.
Excerpt from the Visual Media Course Manual ISBN: 0-99585-801-B Caryn Esplin