Adobe InDesign is the industry-standard software for producing print publications: books, magazines, brochures, flyers, posters, business cards, documents and even product packaging. You name it, InDesign is always the first and best choice for designers when they want to produce professional-standard design work for print.

Description

Adobe InDesign is the industry-standard software for producing print publications: books, magazines, brochures, flyers, posters, business cards, documents and even product packaging. You name it, InDesign is always the first and best choice for designers when they want to produce professional-standard design work for print.

This course, aimed at complete beginners to InDesign, will lead you through the process of creating, formatting, proofing, preparing and exporting InDesign documents, ready for sending them straight to the printers. Over 10 concise and structured sessions, and 35 lectures, we'll cover the basics of setting up professional print layouts and working with images, typography, color and effects to create your desired result. We'll also take a look at how features like Masters, Book Files and proofing with Preflight can speed up your workflow and transform you into an InDesign Pro!

To help you along, you'll receive a course handbook, 10 Essential InDesign Skills, which is yours to keep after you've completed the course. You'll also work towards creating your own magazine layout in InDesign and receive pre-prepared, complete magazine templates for you to refer to and use throughout and beyond the course lessons.

You might be embarking on a new career in graphic design and want to develop a foundation of knowledge in print design. Or perhaps you want to grow your confidence in using InDesign on a practical basis when you encounter it in your work (e.g. if you work in Marketing, Publishing, PR, or if you run your own business). You may have a little bit of experience of using the software, or you may be a complete beginner. If you fit any of these criteria, the Become an InDesign Pro in 10 Skills course will be a perfect fit for you!

• Suitable for beginners to Adobe InDesign, or for individuals who have encountered the software and are looking to formalise their knowledge of preparing documents for print.
• Perfect for individuals who often encounter InDesign in their daily work, but do not necessarily need to have an in-depth knowledge of the software, or of graphic design.; e.g. individuals working in Marketing, Advertising, Publishing, Printing, Retail etc.
• Also suitable for designers looking to gain more confidence with using Adobe InDesign and creating beautifully designed and technically flawless print layouts
• This course is concise and aims to equip you with the skills to feel confident using InDesign from start to finish. Professional tips and tricks are shared; but this course is not really aimed at Advanced users of Adobe InDesign.

Course content

• 10 Essential InDesign Skills: Course Overview
  • Welcome!
  • Why Use InDesign?
  • An Overview of the InDesign Workspace
  • Downloading and Opening the Course Materials
• Skill 1: Preparing for Print in Advance
  • Why Do I Need to Prepare for Print?
  • The New Document Window
  • What is a Bleed, and Why Do I Need it?
• Skill 2: Mastering Master Pages
  • Overview of the Pages Panel and Master Pages
  • Edit Master Pages in Your InDesign Document
  • Apply Page Numbers to your Masters
• Skill 3: Typography Basics
  • Overview of the Character and Paragraph Formatting Controls Panels
  • Special Typography: Tracking, Kerning, Leading, Alignment and Drop Caps
  • Applying Color to Text
  • The Basic Guide to Styles
• Skill 4: 'Threading' Text
  • Introduction to 'Threading'
  • Troubleshooting Overset Text
  • PRO SKILLS TIP
• Skill 5: Creating Book Files
  • Why Bother With a Book File?
  • Creating a Book File
  • Preflight Your Book File
• Skill 6: Making Pages Flexible
  • Adjusting Page View
  • Adjusting Page View
  • PRO SKILLS TIP
• Skill 7: Working With Images
  • The First Law of Images in InDesign
  • The Second Law of Images
  • Applying Effects to Image Frames
• Skill 8: Swatches and Color
  • CMYK is the Way to Go!
  • The Swatches Panel
• Skill 9: Proofing and Preflight
  • Using the Info Panel
  • Conducting a Spell Check
  • Performing a Preflight
• Skill 10: Exporting for Print
  • Packaging Your InDesign File
  • Exporting Your InDesign Document as a Print-Ready File
• Great Work!
  • Course Conclusion
  • Next Steps...