SGR-AAD8105 - Intermediate InDesign CC
Course Description
If you've ever struggled to complete a project in InDesign, or wondered how to save time and increase efficiency in your work, this is the course for you! You'll get hands-on training and experience using many of the more advanced tools and features of this powerful program. While the course focuses on using InDesign in the Creative Cloud (CC), it includes instruction and practice files for any version of InDesign CS4 or later.
In each lesson, you'll master important features as you prepare a range of print and online products for a fictional resort and conference center. You'll get dozens of files to work with, including templates and partially completed InDesign documents to start each lesson, and the graphics, fonts, and other content to complete the project. Many lessons include advanced content, such as techniques for managing snippets, swatch files, and color. For reference, you'll always get a copy of the finished InDesign project file—usable in InDesign CS4 and newer.
Lesson by lesson, you'll discover how to use program features to produce professional brochures, forms, and documents, and produce publications for different page sizes and devices. By the time you finish the course, you'll not only be comfortable designing and planning your own workflows and templates, you'll also know the most efficient and effective ways to take your InDesign publications to the next level.
Course Outline
Lesson 01 - Getting up to Speed With Indesign CC
- Create a booklet for your employee orientation. Add some multilayered effects to take your newsletter to the next level. You'll spend this lesson exploring some time-saving InDesign features as you dig into the first project: a master style sheet you'll develop and use throughout the course.
Lesson 02 - Creating a Multipurpose Template
- You know that the better organized you are, the easier it is to get your work done. You're going to delve into more organizing in this lesson. You'll start by defining your own workspace in InDesign, tailoring it to how you like to find and access tools and features. Picking up from where you left off before, you're going to make a library from the images you assembled in the first lesson, and a business logo. Then you'll get started on a multiuse template for your resort, using various InDesign features to save time and add consistency to your publications.
Lesson 03 - Using Multiple Pages and Page Sizes in a Document
- Master pages are one of the most important tools in your InDesign toolkit. In this lesson, you'll finish the basic template for your resort business. You'll create multiple Master pages you can quickly apply for different projects. You'll see how to use the multiple page size feature in InDesign CC to build a letterhead and an envelope for your business, using the Library and other time-saving features in InDesign.
Lesson 04 - Applying Specialized Layout Features
- Have you ever seen publications using features like text wraps that add a professional touch? That's what you're doing in this lesson. You're going to start from an existing publication containing the images and text sitting on the pasteboard. Then comes the fun! First, you'll see how to adjust image sizes and locations. You'll work with different types of text wraps to control how the text flows on the page—and you don't have to be an illustrator to do it! Then you'll learn how to attach a small graphic to text to give the headings in the project some extra pizzazz.
Lesson 05 - Working With Double-Page Spreads and Facing Pages
- There are usually several ways to do the same task in InDesign, and there's often one method that's more advanced than others. In this lesson, you'll dig into some of the ways you can design features to help you work faster and smarter. You'll learn how to use facing pages and double-page spreads as you create part of the guest room guide for your example business. Along the way, you'll work with several character styles and create a nested style to apply several styles at one time in the same paragraph. Then you'll see how to build and use an object style.
Lesson 06 - Designing With Tables and Custom Template Layouts
- Tables aren't just for pages of data! In this lesson, you'll build a folding tent card to display special menu items for the resort. You'll use a custom template, like the ones you'd download from a print shop. You'll see how to convert text into a table, and how to style the table and its contents using colors you sample from the project's logo. Since the project includes a folded page, you'll see how to flip content and the spreads so that you can produce the finished product—without trying to read upside down!
Lesson 07 - Constructing a Book Publication
- If you've ever wondered how a book comes together, this lesson will answer all your questions. You'll build an employee handbook using several documents combined into a book file. You'll learn how to coordinate the appearance of the content in all the files by setting one file as the style source. Then you'll work your way through the files to make sure they conform to the styles. You'll work with page numbering and headers, and finally create a table of contents to guide your readers through your masterpiece.
Lesson 08 - Organizing and Merging Data
- Have you ever had to do a mail merge where you plug fields from one table into a boilerplate letter? That's what you'll be doing in this lesson, but in a much more efficient way! Yes, you're going to use fields from a source table and merge them into fields in an InDesign document—but wait until you see the document! Rather than a letter, you're going to work with a photo cube template and make a snazzy invitation to the opening of ArtSpace, the new gallery at The Ferns. You'll work with a table of merged data and use metadata from images you place in the photo cube to automatically add captions to the project.
Lesson 09 - Producing an Interactive PDF Document
- You know about using InDesign to create all sorts of wonderful print publications from brochures to newsletters. But did you know InDesign has a whole category of features designed for interactive documents, too? You're going to assemble a new file quickly from parts brought in from other documents. Then you'll organize the items and content on the page to make it easier to add interactive content. Once everything is in place, you'll add hyperlinks and buttons to create a snazzy RSVP document and export it from InDesign as a PDF file.
Lesson 10 - Handling Color and Transparency in a Publication
- There's nothing like color to add interest to your publications. There's nothing worse than having problems printing color. In this lesson, you'll start a two-part adventure into color. You'll learn how to calibrate your monitor—the first step in using color confidently. Then, you'll see how to work with a Color Management System in Adobe Bridge used across all your Adobe products for consistency. Finally, you'll get into a new InDesign project. You'll be designing a brochure for the wedding services at The Ferns. You'll work with multiple objects and project components and learn about transparency and how to apply it for the most impact.
Lesson 11 - Printing Color Documents
- What's the big deal about printing a color document? As you'll discover, there's a whole lot more to printing color than just making sure you have paper in your printer. You'll dig into the Printing and Proofing workspace and check out what it has to offer. You'll learn about using transparency flattening to make sure your color pages and images print the way you want, and then try some test prints. You'll learn how to evaluate your document using a preflight profile and how to work with color separations and overprint previews. You'll work with spot colors and discover how to produce a two-color publication. Many high-end projects need to be printed at a print shop, so you'll discover how to package up your files for the printer.
Lesson 12 - Producing Multiple Document Versions and EPUBs
- In this lesson, you'll start by exploring ways to produce content for different-sized digital devices by using alternate layouts and layout rules. Then you'll work with text and images from Alice in Wonderland to build an EPUB. You'll learn a lot about what does and doesn't work in an EPUB, and work with best practices for producing different types of EPUB documents. You'll create both reflowable and fixed layout EPUB publications.