One of the things InDesign does best is styles. I couldn't do without them. Seriously, I don't know how I made it through the first three years of being a designer without styles.

I first started my journey of learning InDesign with InDesign 2.0, then InDesign CS, CS1, CS2 and now CS3. The program has come such a long way in my 5 years of experience using InDesign. By far one of the coolest things I've learned about InDesign is the styles you can make.

The obvious choice for styles is to have a consistent format. Yet, there is so much more to styles than many of my peers realize. Michael Murphy, a certified Adobe InDesign user (and the guy behind the InDesigner podcast) opened my eyes when it comes to styles and what I could be doing with styles. I heard him speak at the InDesign conference in Miami. The talk he gave was titled "Styles = Substance." He summed up the use of styles so well. It made me want to start using the InDesign styles immediately.

Styles allow you to change the formatting of an entire document with just a few clicks. Change a paragraph style to be a larger font size and every paragraph attached to the style will have that new font size. This feature is extremely crucial in designing long documents like I do. It allows me to focus on the bigger picture and not on every little type format change.

There is more to styles than just the simple. Styles allow you to create a Table of Contents, nested styles, running headers, etc. My favorite of these features is nested styles. Nested styles allow you to link character and paragraph styles to create automatic paragraph. It is critical to use nested styles in a long document with repetitive content. It saves you from doing the same thing twice.

Michael Murphy has an excellent podcast teaching about nested styles. Take a look at the InDesigner Podcast episodes 11 to 13 to find out what nested styles are and how you can use them in your work. If you are an avid InDesigner like me, you'll be glad you learned about nested styles.

InDesign shortcut of the Day:
shift + com (ctrl in windows) + ['i' or 'b'] will give you the bold or italics font of your current font. If there is not such font as a bold of your current font, InDesign won't apply the function.

My friend Ned just switched from Quark to InDesign. Good move, Ned!

He emailed me today asking the following question:

"I have some text boxes on top of a picture box... I put a shape behind the picture and the shape's text wrap, which is supposed to affect things underneath the picture, is pushing around the type on top of the picture???"

First off, they are text frames in InDesign, not text boxes. They work a bit differently than Quark text boxes. Basically, the biggest difference is that you can just paste. You don't have to create a box before placing text. Text is confined by the frame, not a box dictating where the text can go or be. The frame can be adjusted to make a shape much like in illustrator. I say it puts the rigid Quark text box to shame.

Not sure what exactly what you are referring to with the picture box, but I'll try to answer at least in general. The InDesign default setting is to be text wrap no matter where the box is. There is an option or preference you can set to make it only affect text beneath. The setting is under the InDesign Menu/Preferences/Composition. Check the box beside 'Text Wrap only affects the text beneath.'

According to David Blatner in Real World InDesign, "Many QuarkXpress users get confused when using text wrap (runaround) in InDesign" because the default settings are different. Ned, you are not alone in your confusion.

Hope that was helpful, Christine.

  

shortcut of the day:
'opt + command + c' (mac) or 'ctrl + alt + c' (Windows) fits the text frame to the content in InDesign.

 
Today's resources:

indesignsecrets.com podcast episode 72 recorded at the one InDesign Conference session I attended.

Real World InDesign by David Blatner and Olav Martin Kvern. 

A few weeks ago I traveled to Miami for an InDesign conference. The trip was expensive but totally worth it in my book.

The conference sessions were about all things InDesign. It even included a sneak peak at what might be coming in the next version of InDesign. I found it really hard to walk away after two days. I wanted to stay the entire week. 

Since the conference, I've been slowly sifting through the material collected:

    First off, I got some handy plug-ins. Recosoft has a PDF2ID plug-in that works wonderfully. Basically, you open the PDF like you would an InDesign file. You then specify what settings you want and the plug-in converts it. I've been using that for a week, almost two now. It has its issues but overall saves me a ton of time. I understand why Adobe doesn't want to support the importation of PDFs.
    Second, I downloaded a keyboard shortcuts plug-in that is from David Blatner of indesignsecrets.com and Real World InDesign. You can get the plug-in from DTP tools. I've taken to looking up something that i use all the time once a day. This week I learned a lot about page navigation. For instance, you can go to a page by using com + J (mac). Truly a great feature when working on long documents!

The most helpful tools I've found besides books and the tons of notes I took are the following Podcasts:

    indesignsecrets.com - David Blatner & Anne-Marie Concepcion
       Two professional graphic designers who also answer questions and share helpful tips and tricks for working professionals. (My favorite part is the obscure feature of the podcast.)
    theindesigner.com - Michael Murphy
        An Adobe Certified expert that answers questions on podcasts as well as sharing practical skills
    designtoolsweekly - Jay Nelson & Jeff Famet
         They read the major design publications and bring you what you need to know about technology, etc.

I recently upgraded to the new Leopard operating system and consider the system a success. It functions smoothly. That's more than Windows Vista can proclaim. We can chalk it up to another win by Apple in the Mac vs PC world or we can take a closer look and see more than just an operating system.

A computer is —simply put— a tool. It's not about what the tool or computer can do for you — although that stuff is cool. It's more about finding the right tool for you and what works for you.

The changes made between Tiger and Leopard are not subtle. They cause the mac user to take a second look at things like Apple Mail, storing documents and downloads, Front Row, and Spaces. However radical these changes may seem, the average mac user adapts quickly. Personally, I've had the new system for a month or more. I'm only now beginning to utilize the full potential of leopard.

I no longer use stickies or an application for reading RSS feeds. I take notes in Apple Mail where I can save or send my notes, I make a to do list and mark off when I've completed it, and I read all my RSS feeds with my email, not to mention the Microsoft Word-like spell check I apply to notes, emails, etc. Saving address or dates is no longer a copy paste job, but [ctrl + click] one where it automatically adds the information. Before my upgrade to Leopard, I wasn't a big fan of iCalendar. The sync with Apple Mail is to thank for this change.

The look of Leopard is simple and sleek like most of Apple's products. A shelf replaced the toolbar. The addition gives the bar a 3D look, which makes me smile. Finder has more preview possibilities, which I have found extremely handy. Spaces gives additional screen space. I like this feature, but find it slow in switching between spaces. Also, it becomes one more thing to manage and remember where an application is open. I've actually switched off the spaces feature due to it slowing down my work. When switching from one space to another [assuming you use 'command + tab' to switch between programs], I couldn't go straight to InDesign or Illustrator because I lose my toolbars and panels. I solved this issue several ways. The first option was to press tab twice. This allows for the toolbar to disappear and reappear since the keyboard shortcut for making the toolbar disappear/reappear is tab. The second option is to go to a non-Adobe program when switching back to the space with InDesign/Illustrator open, then [command + tab] to get to InDesign. Doing this, keeps the toolbars and panels in the correct place. So far, I haven't had many other issues or problems when using any of the Adobe Software. I've stopped using iPhoto and completely rely on Finder and Adobe Bridge.

How well you do with this operating system depends on how much you know about previous Apple systems. For example, my brother is a Windows XP user and on occasion uses my computer to check weather, email, etc. I usually have to be nearby because the spaces feature and other normal Mac features pose a problem for him. In contrast, I'm an avid Mac user and graphic designer by trade so the transition from Tiger to Leopard went smoothly.

For a design professional such as myself, the Leopard system is worth getting. It allows me to use fewer applications and get more done. All in all, it works and it's the right tool for me.

 

Note: I upgraded a Macbook Pro laptop which I've had for several months. A friend of mine has a powerbook and had major problems when upgrading. Do your homework before you upgrade. You'll be glad you did.