From UX design to web design, app design to social design, there’s a whole range of design fields that have emerged in the digital era. Of course, this doesn’t mean graphic designers have to know how to code. However, having some idea about digital design can help you to create designs for print that translate to screens seamlessly, while a little knowledge of the basics of digital design can help you to broaden your skillset and offer your clients a little something extra.

If you’re starting out in graphic design, or are a seasoned print designer looking to learn a little more about the world of online design, this quickstart guide will help you to find your feet in the digital world.

What is Print Design?

Traditionally (i.e. before the birth of the internet), graphic designers were print designers and the two were synonymous. Print design includes, but isn’t limited to:

• Branding for print
• Packaging design
• Publishing and editorial design
• Stationery design
• Exhibition and signage design
• Poster design

Today, many graphic designers will find that the designs they create for print must also translate effectively to digital screens. While some graphic designers find that they can get by with knowing the basics (scroll down to Digital Design Tips for Graphic Designers, below), others might become full-time digital designers, applying their skills to web design, UX design or social media design.

What is Digital Design?

Although the majority of print design work is created using digital software, digital design refers to design which is created solely for digital purposes and devices. If you can see and interact with a design on a screen—whether it be on a phone, desktop or digital billboard—this is a form of digital design.

The main digital design disciplines are:

1. Web design

The original digital design discipline, web designers create the layouts and styling of websites, often with the help of a web developer.

While developers ensure the website is built, hosted and maintained, a web designer’s job is to define the aesthetic of the site. From selecting web fonts to formulating color palettes, defining photography styles to creating a wireframe (a sort of blueprint for the layout of the site’s pages), a web designer might create a live demo of the site before the developer takes over, or use web design software like Adobe Dreamweaver, Canva or Google Web Designer.

2. App design

Similar to the above, except that the designs are optimised for apps. App designers may have to take into account the limited screen size used by most app users, as well as give more consideration to icons, accessibility and UX design (see below).

3. UX and UI design

User experience (UX or UE) design is a relatively young discipline, and combines aspects of graphic design with psychology, interaction design and anthropology, as well as other fields. At its core, UX design aims to provide users of websites and apps with the best possible experience, allowing them to have a seamless and efficient journey through a digital design.

UI (user interface) design is different to UX in that it tends to focus more on the design and aesthetics of a digital design, and how this can be enhanced to achieve a better user experience.

4. Branding for web

Brand design is a more familiar subject for graphic designers, who are used to creating logos and identities for print media (see What is Print Design, above). Branding for web simply refers to how that brand design translates to digital media, such as websites and apps. For example, a graphic designer might need to provide a brand color palette with HEX swatches as well as printable CMYK versions, or optimise a logo design as a much smaller favicon for a browser tab.

5. Social media design

Social media design refers to designs created for social media, including but not limited to, posts and stories on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok, as well as social media advertising. Once the domain of social media marketers, businesses are increasingly seeking out specialised designers to create content for social media that uses creative designs for static and video content.

Now you know a little more about what the main digital design disciplines are, you might be wondering how you can start to use digital design in your own projects. Scroll down to learn  how you can adapt your design work for screens and discover tips and tricks for making your print designs digital-ready in no time!

Digital Design Tips for Graphic Designers

If the thought of UX design makes you turn pale, don’t panic! There is a good reason why these specialist disciplines have emerged over the past decade—each aspect of digital design requires particular experience and specialist knowledge. Of course, it’s very likely graphic designers—including traditional print designers—will have to interact with digital design at some point. The tips below are intended to help graphic designers engage productively with digital designers, and help adapt your print projects to screens.

Tip 1: Convert to HEX colour

While CMYK, spot colours and Pantone are the language of print designers, for digital designers RGB swatches are the standard, with HEX codes—which render RGB values as a hexadecimal code, e.g. #ff8e00 (dark orange)—used ubiquitously across web and app design.

Tip: If you create a CMYK palette, it’s not always a good idea to use automated conversion to create an RGB palette (i.e. by simply switching the colour to RGB using Adobe software or an eyedropper tool). RGB colour works by emitting light, making them appear very differently (and brightly in comparison) to their CMYK counterparts. You can use a colour tool like Adobe Color to convert and tweak colour swatches between CMYK and RGB modes.

• Read more about the difference between CMYK and RGB colour types here.

Tip 2: Design with interaction and animation in mind

As video content becomes increasingly normalised across websites and social media platforms, designers are becoming more used to adapting their static content for animation. While graphic designers don’t have to become animators overnight, it can be useful to consider how your design could be animated or incorporated into a video. Whether it’s a logo that could transform from one thing into another, or an illustration that could be animated as part of a simple GIF, think about how your static work could be given motion and dynamism.

Tip: You can use Adobe Photoshop’s Timeline feature to create quick video animations from static images (Window > Timeline).

Tip 3: Use typefaces that include web fonts

Graphic designers are always falling for the latest lust-worthy typeface…but take a moment to find out whether your typeface of desire is available as a webfont. Webfonts are fonts which have been specially created for use on websites and apps, and contain CSS code to allow the font to be rendered on your website for viewers to see.

While you can use OTF (OpenType Font) and other types of font files on most web applications, WOFF (Web Open Font Format) is the standard file type for use online.

Tip: Note that you will also usually require a separate webfont licence to use your chosen font on websites and apps.

Tip 4: Rethink sizing

A billboard is huge. A poster is big. A mobile phone screen is teeny tiny. Graphic designers who are used to creating layouts for large-scale media will need to get used to working in miniature when working on digital designs.

Tip: Reconsider the sizing of elements such as type, graphics, icons and buttons (hint: they will need to take up more space on your layouts to be legible). Develop a habit of viewing completed designs on your phone screen—this will give you a good sense of how legible elements are when set at a particular scale.

Tip 5: Consider accessibility and usability

While UX and UI designers are habituated with considering these issues, print designers are not always as well initiated when it comes to accessibility.

Why is accessibility important on screens? First of all, as pointed out above, screens are often much smaller than printed layouts, meaning that text and other elements are already more difficult to read and see. In addition, the brightness of screens can diminish the visibility and legibility of text for visually-impaired users.

Consider the effect of colour contrast, text size and layout design on how users can view and interact with your design. Vision simulator tools like Web Disability Simulator can help you to assess how a design would appear to users with different vision impairments.

Conclusion: Time to Go Digital?

While digital design is ever-evolving and ever-expanding, there will always be a place for print design in the industry. Nonetheless, print designers will undoubtedly have to consider how static, printable designs can be adapted for screens.

Armed with a little know-how about HEX colours and webfonts, even the most committed of print designers might be tempted to explore the exciting possibilities of digital design.

Want to keep a footing in the tangible world? These print design tutorials will help to hone your hard-copy skills:

• The Essential Guide to Print Finishes
• The Most Popular Standard Book Sizes in the US and UK
• How to Make a Zine in Adobe InDesign

Illustrations used throughout by Kate Pilko.

The post What’s the Difference Between Digital Design and Print Design? A Helpful Guide appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Fear not! Read on for your straightforward guide to types of digital and print image files, as well as where (and where not) to use them.

Check out how to work with images in InDesign.

1. JPEG (files ending in .jpg)

The most common and versatile of types of image file, JPEG (or JPG) stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Catchy.

JPEGS are compressed image files, resulting in a smaller file size than the original, pre-exported file. JPEGs are raster files, meaning that they lose quality when scaled, and can appear blurry or pixelated if scaled to a larger size than they have been saved to.

Because JPEGs can be saved with particular dimensions and quality (usually measured in DPI, dots per inch), they are useful for when you have an idea of the space the image will need to occupy. For example, if you want to use an image on a printed magazine cover, you can size the JPEG to the dimensions of the cover, and set the resolution to 300 dpi (see tip, below).

Where to use a JPEG: Photos on websites and print media.

Top tip: For print design, JPEGs are best used at a minimum of 300 dpi. For websites and apps, a 72 dpi resolution will suffice.

2. PNG (files ending in .png)

PNG images (standing for Portable Network Graphic) are essential tools for web design. Able to preserve the quality of text and lines better than JPEGs, they are also able to preserve transparencies.

PNGs are usually larger files than JPEGs, which is why they are not usually used for saving images that are photos only.

Where to use a PNG: Images that contain a mix of photos and text, or logos and other exported vector images, on websites and apps.

3. TIFF (files ending in .tif)

TIFF image files, which stands for Tagged Image File Format, contain a large amount of image data. They are uncompressed, resulting in very large file sizes, but as a result are flexible in terms of color, preserve layers and image tags, and are of a very high quality.

Though usually used for print design due to their large size, TIFFs can be rendered in both CMYK and RGB color.

Where to use a TIFF: Print media and high-quality website images; photos for printing or using online.

4. GIF (files ending in .gif)

Having achieved fame as easily shareable animations, GIFs are probably best known for bringing the antics of household cats to the masses on Tumblr and WhatsApp.

Standing for Graphic Interchange Format, GIFs are compressed image files, but in contrast to JPEGs the compression is lossless, resulting in a larger file size.

GIFs have a limited color range, meaning they are rarely used for photos online, and almost never used in print design.

Where to use a GIF: Low-quality images and animations for websites and apps.

5. EPS (files ending in .eps)

Short for Encapsulated PostScript, EPS files contain vector image content. Compatible with most vector editing software, like Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW, EPS files can be scaled up or down to any size, without compromising on quality. They can also be edited using vector software.

Not usually used on websites because of their large size, EPS files are most commonly used as shareable image files for illustrators and designers. For example, one individual can save a logo or other vector file as an EPS file in Adobe Illustrator, and share this with another individual who can open and edit the file in CorelDRAW.

Where to use an EPS: Use as a more flexible ‘native’ file format (see below), for sharing editable vector files with others or across different vector programs.

6. ‘Native’ and Raw Image Files

One of the most baffling things for novice designers to be faced with is to be asked for a ‘native’ image file. A vague term indeed, but essentially a native file refers to the original file type that the image was created in.

The most commonly requested native file types are those generated by Adobe software, such as PSD (Adobe Photoshop), INDD (Adobe InDesign) and ASE (Adobe Illustrator) files.

Usually native files are requested by designers (or clients) from other designers, so that they are able to access  and optionally edit and re-export the image.

Raw image files are similar, in that they are unprocessed, non-exported images, but raw files are normally used by photographers and photo editors, as these files contain data from digital cameras.

Where to use Native and Raw image files: To exchange original, editable images with other designers or clients.

Learn how to wrap text around images in InDesign in this quick and simple tutorial.

Discover more beginner’s tips and tutorials for getting started in Adobe InDesign, and pick up some essential graphic design skills.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Types of Image File appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From adding optical margin alignment to adjusting tracking, here you’ll find a handy set of guides for lifting your typography skills to a pro level.

1. Balance Classic Typefaces with Cutting Edge Fonts

Fonts are the building blocks of great typography, but with so many type styles vying for your attention it can be easy to neglect genuinely good fonts in favor of the newest fad.

Most pro designers will retain a deep respect and affection for classic fonts, often opting for Old-Style serifs like Garamond or geometric sans serifs like Futura over newer fonts. Why? These typefaces have enduring popularity for good reason—they’re attractive, legible, are often available in a wide variety of weights and styles, and have design traits which ensure they still look fresh and relevant on modern layouts.

If you want to make your typography look as professional as possible, try pairing an old-school font, like Baskerville or Avenir, with a new font. Our favorite source for free commercial fonts is FontSquirrel.

2. Increase Your T r a c k i n g

Tracking effects the letter-spacing across a whole word, phrase or paragraph of text. Reducing tracking often makes typography appear a bit too squashed (though try it if your font is already too generously spaced), but increasing it just slightly can have an instant prettifying effect on your type, making it appear more legible and attractive.

To edit tracking in InDesign, access the option from the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character). Try increasing the value to just 5 or 10 to see an instant difference.

3. Edit Your Typography’s Leading

Leading, which effects the spacing between lines of text, has a similar beautifying effect on typography as tracking. Increasing the leading from its default value allows long sections of text to ‘breathe’ and helps improve readability.

InDesign applies an automated leading value to text, which you can see underneath the Font Size menu in the Controls panel. Place your Type Tool (T) cursor in the paragraph or highlight the text, before increasing this value slightly.

4. Apply Optical Margin Alignment

Optical margin alignment is the pro typographer’s best kept secret. Applying margin alignment shifts small elements like serifs and apostrophes to the outside of the text frame, creating a tidier edge to a paragraph. It’s a really subtle trick which really works—try it and you won’t look back!

To apply margin alignment in InDesign, go to Window > Type & Tables > Story and check the Optical Margin Alignment box.

5. Establish a Hierarchy

This isn’t as frightening as it sounds. Establishing a hierarchy in your typography only means that you create an A, B, C order to your type. By making A your largest and boldest header, B your smaller subtitle and C your smallest body text, you can guide the reader’s eye comfortably across the layout. Establishing a hierarchy helps layouts to look less crowded and confusing, even if they contain a lot of text content.

Varying the size, weight (e.g. Bold, Italic) and switching between uppercase and lowercase characters all help to create a hierarchy on your designs. Pulling out sentences in pull-out quotes can also help to draw attention to key items of information.

It may seem obvious, but keep in mind that in English language layouts readers will naturally look to the top-left corner of the page as a starting point, so it often makes sense to place your A heading here.

New to print design? Start off on the right foot with this beginner’s introduction to preparing your artwork for print. Or discover more InDesign tutorials here.

The post 5 Typography Rules All Designers Should Know appeared first on InDesignSkills.

PDFs (Portable Document Formats) are one of the most commonly used file types for sharing your artwork with others. Here we’ll look at how to export your InDesign documents as both print-ready and web-ready PDFs.

How to Export Your InDesign Document as a PDF for Print

Whether you’re sending your artwork to a professional printer, local printshop or online to a POD (print on demand) site, it’s likely they will ask for your work to be submitted in PDF format. Here’s how to do it!

Step 1

First make sure you’re completely happy with your InDesign artwork. Perform a Preflight to check for any missing images or errors, and consider running a spellcheck or checking a printed proof before you export.

Step 2

File > Save your InDesign document, before going to File > Export.

In the Export window that opens, name your file (putting something like ‘to print’ in the title is a good idea) and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Save as type/Format drop-down menu.

Click Save.

In the Export to Adobe PDF window that opens choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu at the top.

Click on Marks and Bleeds in the window’s left-hand menu.

If you’re exporting artwork for print, it’s usual practice to include some printer’s marks on your PDF. While some printers won’t require registration marks or color bars, they may prefer it if you did include crop marks and/or bleed marks. Check your printer’s preferences before you export. To include all marks check All Printer’s Marks.

Most printers will also want you to include a bleed on your PDF, which extends the artwork past the edge of the page (trim edge).

To include a bleed in your artwork, check Use Document Bleed Settings to include a pre-defined bleed, or set the width manually.

Click Export to generate your press-ready PDF. Great job! You can send this straight off to the printers.

How to Export Your InDesign Document as a PDF for Online

PDFs are equally adaptable to viewing on digital devices, such as laptops, phones and eReaders. To optimise your artwork for viewing on a screen the export steps are a little different.

Step 1

Go to File > Export. Name the file and choose Adobe PDF (Interactive) from the Save as type/Format menu.

Click Save.

In the Export to Interactive PDF window that opens, select the range of pages you’d like to include. If you’ve created a document made up of facing spreads (such as a magazine), you may want to ensure the viewer sees these as Spreads, rather than individual Pages.

Under the Viewing options, you can define how the pages of the PDF are scaled on the screen. Choose Default for automatic sizing, or choose Fit Page to ensure the page fits to the screen size.

Under Presentation you can also choose Open in Full Screen Mode if you want the reader to have an immersive experience.

Click on Compression in the window’s left-hand menu. For viewing online, set the JPEG Quality to Medium and Resolution (ppi) to 72.

To add a secure login for your PDF, click on Security in the window’s left-hand menu. From here you can set a password to open the document, and/or to restrict printing and editing.

Then hit Export to create your PDF. If you’ve set a password you’ll be prompted to enter this when you export.

New to print design? Start off on the right foot with this beginner’s introduction to preparing your artwork for print. Or discover more InDesign tutorials here.

The post How to Export InDesign Documents as PDFs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’ll look at some quick and effective tips for fixing overset text, making your documents error-free in no time.

1. I have an error, is it overset text?

The problem: “I have a red ‘error’ flagged up; but how do I know it’s overset text?”
The solution: Identify the root cause in the Preflight panel

You may have noticed a small red circle at the bottom-left of the InDesign workspace, next to ‘x errors’ text. When you go to File > Export an InDesign document, InDesign will also alert you at this point if there are any errors in your document that require attention before exporting.

Errors come in various forms—from missing font files to missing image links—but one of the most common errors you will come across is overset text.

Usually, this is because you’ve been happily occupied tweaking font sizes and leading, without realising that a couple of lines of text have slipped beyond the edge of the final text frame. In more extreme cases, you could have pages of unwanted overset text brought in from a placed Word file, or simply a case of Edit > Paste clicked one too many times.

But there’s no need for tears. Overset text is easy to fix. It all starts with identifying it as the problem in the first place.

Click on the red ‘error’ circle at the bottom of the workspace to open the Preflight panel (or go to Window > Output > Preflight).

In the panel that opens, you’ll be able to see areas of errors capitalised, in the case of overset text this will be ‘TEXT’. Click on the arrow symbol to the left of ‘TEXT’ to expand the error.

Expanding each ‘Overset text’ in turn will reveal the source of the error, i.e. ‘Text Frame’, with a page reference highlighted in blue to the right.

Click on the page number to bring up the culprit on screen.

Now we’ve located the overset text, you can fix it quickly and easily. Read on to find out how…

2. How to find the overset text

The problem: “I can’t see the overset text!”
The solution: View ‘invisible’ overset text

Sometimes it’s difficult to know whether you’re dealing with a single paragraph of overset text or several pages.

To make the overset text visible, place your cursor in the text frame and go to Edit > Edit in Story Editor.

And voila! All the overset text is marked by a red line.

From here, you can edit the overset text, highlight it, Copy or Cut it, or Delete it.

3. How to fix overset text

The problem: “I can’t get rid of all this excess text”
The solution: Ctrl+Shift+End

Manually highlighting text in the Story Editor and deleting it from here is a good solution for removing small amounts of overset text. But what if you’re dealing with pages upon pages of unwanted text?

This is where a simple keyboard shortcut comes in handy. First, place your text cursor at the end of the text you want to keep. Then:

(Windows) Ctrl + Shift + End to select all overset text, then hit Delete to remove it

(Mac) Cmd + Shift + fn + Right-arrow to select all overset text, then hit Delete to remove it

Problem sorted! Now you can get on with exporting your document, and generally get on with your day.

Want more InDesign quick tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into an InDesign pro in no time.

The post Quick Tip: How to Fix Overset Text in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Baseline grids are super simple to use and instantly make layouts look ultra-professional. Let’s look at how to activate them and snap text to the grid lines.

Why Do I Need to Use a Baseline Grid?

A baseline grid is a grid of horizontal lines that are evenly spaced across your document. Without the grid visible it can be tricky to make your text perfectly aline across your document.

A baseline grid is particularly handy for multi-column or spread-based layouts, like magazines, flyers or EPUBs, where you have multiple text frames lined up next to each other. Overall, it promotes a more uniform, professional look across your InDesign documents, so it’s well worth doing.

How to View the Baseline Grid in InDesign

Before making the baseline grid visible you can edit its settings by going to Edit > Preferences > Grids (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Grids (Mac).

From here, you can adjust where the grid starts on the page (from the Relative To menu you can select whether you’d like the grid to start from the top of the page or the top margin), and how far apart you want the lines to be spaced (measured in pt; you can set this to match your desired Leading setting).

With your preferences defined, go to View > Grids & Guides > Show Baseline Grid.

The grid will now be visible on all pages of your document. If it doesn’t appear initially, you may need to zoom into the page to make it visible.

How to Snap Text to the Baseline Grid in InDesign

Open up the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph).

To snap text to the grid either place your Type Tool (T) cursor into one of the text frames or highlight all the text you’d like to apply the action to.

Then click on the Align to Baseline Grid button at the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph panel. All the lines of text will snap into place, aligning perfectly with each other.

If you save your formatted text as a Style (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles), the same baseline grid alignment settings will apply to all text you go on to apply that style to. This is really useful if your document is very long.

Want more InDesign quick tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into an InDesign pro in no time.

The post Quick Tip: How to Use Baseline Grids in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to draw shapes and silhouettes in InDesign, and apply stylistic effects, like noise, shadows and gradients, to create a vintage-inspired, screen-printed effect.

Suitable for beginners, this is a handy little introduction to drawing with shapes in InDesign.

Why Draw in InDesign?

InDesign isn’t always the first software option that springs to mind for creating vector graphics, but it’s actually a fantastic choice if you’re looking to create quick illustrations to incorporate into other InDesign layouts, such as flyers, magazines or posters.

InDesign brings together the best of both worlds for illustration—a set of vector drawing tools you would normally find in Illustrator as well as the advanced effects you would usually only be able to apply in Photoshop.

Geometric shapes, simple silhouettes, logo designs and patterns are all easily achievable with the tools available to you in InDesign. You’ll also end up with a vector (not raster) graphic, which means you can scale your design as you wish without compromising on quality.

Here, we’ll work towards creating this winter tree illustration, to demonstrate a range of handy drawing techniques. You can apply the same techniques and principles to your own designs—the only limitation is your imagination!

Ready to get drawing? Awesome, let’s go!

1. How to Draw a Shape

Step 1

Open up InDesign and go to File > New > Document, creating a document at any size you wish. If you’re creating your illustration for print media (e.g. flyers, stationery etc) set the Intent to Print. Want to create a design for social media or attaching to an email? Choose Web instead.

With the document created, you’ll need to get familiar with the Tools panel to create your illustration. This is docked over on the left side of the workspace (or go to Window > Tools).

Even if you’re not using a graphics tablet, using the Pen Tool (P) to create shapes on the page will give you a high level of control. Click onto the page and move around to create your shape, before connecting the silhouette at the first anchor point.

Step 2

You can switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select individual anchor points and tweak their position.

Once you’ve clicked onto an anchor point (it will switch to white once accurately selected), use your mouse or the arrow keys to shift the position of the anchor point, perfecting your shape.

Step 3

For illustrations made up of separate lines (i.e. not a complete shape), it’s best to use the Line Tool (\).

Click onto the page once, then twice, to create a single line. To create a completely straight horizontal or vertical line hold down Shift while you drag.

Here I’ve created a single central branch for the tree using the Line Tool, before creating individual branches reaching from the trunk to the outer edge of the tree using the same tool.

I switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select individual anchor points and move them until I’m happy with their position.

2. How to Add Color and Effects

Step 1

Once you have your shape in place it’s time to get creative with color!

If you’re creating a simple logo or icon design you may want to use just one or two colors, but more complex illustrations might benefit from a palette of colors. To create a variety of color swatches to work with, go to the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s top-right drop-down menu. Play around with the CMYK (for print) or RGB (for web) percentage levels, before clicking Add and OK to add it to the Swatches panel.

Select the shape you’d like to apply the swatch to and set the Fill to your chosen swatch from the Swatches panel. For larger shapes it almost always looks best if you set the Stroke Color to [None].

Step 2

Now you’re ready to start applying effects to your illustration to bring in texture and depth.

If you have a group of elements you want to apply the same effect to you may find it easier to first Right-Click > Group them together, as I’ve done here with the branches of the tree.

Then head up to Object on the main menu bar running along the top of the workspace, and choose Effects and then select any option from that menu. Whichever option you click on will open the Effects window. From here you can apply all sorts of effects to your design, such as shadowing, gradients and glows.

Below you’ll find highlighted some of the effects which I think have the potential to bring out the best in your illustrations…

Drop Shadow

Adding a shadow to your graphics can give the design more depth and body.

Apply the effect subtly by adjusting the Effect Color from Black to be a closer match to the background color below (here, I’ve opted for a dark green to complement the tree foliage below). You can also bring down the Opacity and adjust the Distance, Size and Spread to make the shadow more subtle.

Step 3

Copying and pasting (Edit > Copy/Paste) certain elements on your design and shifting their position slightly can give your illustrations an authentic screen-printed or letterpress look. Here I’ve pasted a copy of the tree branches to create that effect.

In this design I’ve used the Pen Tool (P) to create individual sections of color across the tree.

Selecting each colored section I can also adjust the transparency settings by once again heading up to Object > Effects and choosing Transparency.

Transparency

Applying a Transparency effect to some or all of your illustration can really help the design to blend together and look more professional.

Choosing Normal from the Mode menu and reducing the Opacity will simply fade the element selected, allowing details from other elements sitting below to become more visible.

Applying an Overlay blending mode is a great way of preserving the impact and color of the element while still making elements below more visible.

Step 4

You can make vector graphics look more hand-drawn by adding grainy texture. The best way to do this is with the Inner Glow option in the Effects window.

Inner Glow

You can apply a glowy, light-up effect to the inside of your shapes by adding Inner Glow, but I tend to use this option for applying grainy noise instead.

To do this, adjust the Mode to Normal, and choose a color that is similar to, but not the same as, the color of the shape you are applying the effect to. Increase the Size and Choke to extend the effect across the whole shape, and then adjust the level of Noise until you are happy with the amount of grain.

Step 5

You can also make shapes appear as if they are glowing on the outside, which is a lovely effect for adding a lit-up effect to elements like stars, lightbulbs, suns or moons. Once you’ve created your shape (here, I’ve created a star shape using the Pen Tool), head up again to Object > Effects, and choose Outer Glow.

Outer Glow

With the Mode set to Screen, adjust the Size and Spread of the effect until you’re happy with the amount of glow around your shape. Adding a little Noise will soften the effect.

Conclusion: Illustrating Made Easy in InDesign

In this tutorial we’ve looked at a simple three-step process for creating illustrations in InDesign. Let’s take a quick recap:

• First, use the Pen Tool and shape tools (e.g. Line Tool) in the Tools panel to create simple shapes, lines and silhouettes.
• Next, create a range of color swatches in the Swatches panel and apply your palette to your drawing.
• Finally, style your illustration using the options available in InDesign’s Effects window, such as glows, shadows, noise and transparencies.

Hungry for more drawing tutorials? Check out this guide to creating arrow shapes in InDesign, or why not find inspiration for your next InDesign layouts here?

The post Drawing Shapes and Illustrations in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

How to Create and Format Vertical Text

Step 1.

I’ve prepared a single-page document in InDesign, set to a standard ‘Architectural D’ poster size, 610 mm (24 in) in Width and 914 mm (36 in) in Height, with a 5 mm Bleed around the edges of the page.I’ve also placed an image of a ballet dancer onto the page, and locked this layer, creating a new layer above from the Layers panel (Window > Layers). When creating your own vertical text effect, you may also want to edit this on its own layer, so you don’t mistakenly move around any other elements sitting below.

Image of a ballet dancer from Shutterstock

Step 2.

Once you have your page and layers prepared, you can get started with creating your vertical text effect.

From the Tools panel select the Line Tool (\) and, holding down Shift, drag your mouse down from top to bottom, creating a vertical line.

Step 3.

Select the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T), which you can find in the Type Tool’s drop-down menu in the Tools panel.

Click once onto the top of the line to convert the line into a text path. Now you can type in the text you want to appear vertical.

Using the Type Tool (T), you can highlight the text and apply formatting like font, size and color from the Character Formatting Controls panel (running along the top of the workspace) and the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). The font used here is Charlevoix Pro.

You can also remove the automated black color of the line by selecting the line with the Selection Tool (V, Escape), and choosing [None] from the Swatches panel.

Step 4.

Open the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph), highlight the text with your type cursor and set the alignment to Justify All Lines. This will pull the text across to fill the full length of the line. You can adjust the height of the line by dragging the horizontal lines which appear at the top and bottom of the line when the Selection Tool is active.

Step 5.

To switch the text to a vertical orientation, head up to Type on the top menu and choose Type on a Path > Options.

Under Effect, choose Stair Step. From the Align options choose Center. Click OK to exit the window.

Step 6.

Now your text is aligned vertically you can tweak the formatting to suit your layout.

Here, I’ve adjusted the kerning between certain characters to reveal the dancer’s face on the poster and create a more interesting typographic effect. You can adjust this from the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).

I’ve also created a faded effect to the text by repeatedly copying and pasting the vertical text line, and reducing the opacity by going to Object > Effects > Transparency.

I also applied a gradient (Object > Effects > Gradient Feather) running at a 0 degrees angle to enhance the fade effect.

Building a complete layout around your vertical text effect can be really fun—try teaming vertical text with rotated type and standard left-to-right text to create contrast and interest. Alternatively, creating a layout solely with vertical text can look amazing, and is a technique that was often employed by the Swiss School, who were interested in the qualities vertical text brought to grid-based layouts.

Want to update your typography skills? Our beginner tutorials page is a great resource for fun and easy-to-follow typography tips and tricks.

The post How to Create Vertical Text in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here you’ll learn how simple it is to create stylish arrows in a range of styles directly in InDesign.

1. Creating Arrows Using the Stroke Panel

The first step of creating an arrow is to create a stroke. Let’s take a look how…

Step 1

With the InDesign workspace open and a new document created go to the Tools panel and select the Line Tool (\).

To create a line at a perfect horizontal or vertical angle, hold down Shift, and drag your mouse onto the page from side to side or top to bottom. 

Step 2

Go to Window > Stroke to open the Stroke panel (if you have your workspace set to the default Essentials setting, you will find the Stroke panel docked on the right side of the workspace).

In this panel you can adjust the Weight of the stroke, making it thicker or slimmer. Step 3

From the Stroke panel’s drop-down menu you can select Show Options, which will expand the panel.

In the bottom section of the panel you’ll find options for styling the Start and End of your stroke. Click on the Start drop-down menu and you’ll see a range of arrowhead options for applying to the start point of your stroke. Here I’ve opted for SimpleWide.

Applying a different style to the End of your stroke can create a stylish look. Here I’ve opted for Circle to give the arrow a sort of retro, mid-century look.

You can also adjust the Type of your stroke, which adjusts the style of the stroke’s line between the arrowheads. Here, I’ve chosen Left Slant Hash and also increased the Weight of the stroke to create a chunkier, more graphic arrow style.

2. Editing Your Arrows Further

Now you have a basic arrow shape you can start to develop the arrow using color and effects.

Step 1

You can adjust the color of your arrow from the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). Click on the Stroke (X) hollow square symbol at the top-left of the panel to adjust the color of the arrow (you won’t need to apply any Fill Color).

You can also have flexibility over the position of your arrow by using the Selection Tool (V, Escape) to move the arrow, or hover over one end to Rotate it. 

Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) to access other transform options, such as flipping the arrow vertical or horizontal, or rotating the arrow to precise degrees.Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the arrow to build up designs, and team with typography set in text frames created using the Type Tool (T) to demonstrate data concepts.

Step 2

You can add more interesting effects to your arrows using the Effects panel (select the arrow, then go to Object > Effects). From here you can add a Drop Shadow.…..more specialist texture effects, like Satin, Bevel or Emboss……or create a graduated effect by applying a subtle Gradient Feather to the arrow.

Looking to refresh your InDesign skills? Our beginner tutorials page is a great resource for fun and easy-to-follow InDesign lessons.

The post InDesign Basics: Creating Arrows appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here we break down the basics of Masters, and share some tips on how to get the most from one of InDesign’s handiest features.

1. What is a Master Page?

The basic principle of a Master page is this:

Whatever you place onto the Master page will be visible on all the pages of your document that have the Master applied to them

You can edit the Master, and add elements to it that you want to appear across multiple pages, such as page numbers, running headers and borders. Masters are indispensable when creating multi-page documents like magazines, books, reports and brochures, allowing you to add design elements across a number of specified pages, creating a sense of consistency and professionalism in your document.

You can also create multiple Master pages, each with different design elements. A good example for when it would be appropriate to use multiple Master pages is when you’re designing a book that’s split into chapters. You might have one Master page for the opening page of a chapter, and another Master for the pages that sit within the chapter. You can also add different Masters for index pages and contents pages, which may require different page numbering systems or headers.

2. Where Do I Find the Master Pages?

When you create a new document in InDesign, the software automatically creates two new Master pages for the document, which are visible at the top of the Pages panel (Window > Pages).

One of these Masters is called, by default, the ‘A-Master’, and depending on whether you’ve set the document up with single pages or facing spreads, will be made up of one or two pages.

The A-Master is automatically applied to all the pages in your new document, which means that anything you put onto the A-Master will show up on all pages of your document.

The Master page above the A-Master in the Pages panel is, in fact, not really a Master. It’s called [None], and by dragging this down onto a page icon in the panel below you can wipe the page of any applied Master.

3. How Do I Edit a Master Page?

Masters are quick and simple to edit—simply double-click on one of the Master page icons in the Pages panel to bring it up on screen. You can now edit the Master as you would a normal page. Let’s walk through the steps of editing an A-Master for a magzine, and look at how to add simple features like page numbers, running headers and background color.

Step 1

In this document, I want to create a Master that will add a few consistent elements to the pages of articles in the magazine. To do this, I double-click on the A-Master icon in the Pages panel (Window > Pages). This is a two-page Master as the document has been set up with facing pages; clicking on either the left or right page of the Master will bring up the full spread on screen.

Step 2

Now you’re ready to start editing your Master!

Think about the elements that will remain consistent across a group of pages. You can only edit these elements on the Master, and they will all sit behind the page content, so try to focus on elements that make up the background and basic template of your page.

For the A-Master for this magazine I’m going to add background color, page numbers and running headers. First, I take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag onto the Master to create a rectangle that fills the entire left-hand page. Using the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) I give the shape a black color fill.

I Copy > Paste the rectangle and place the pasted shape on the right-hand page of the Master.

By keeping the color in separate shapes on each page I can apply only the left- or right-hand page to a spread in my magazine. If I was to extend a single shape across the whole of the spread, the color would be applied to both pages of a spread automatically.

Step 3

I can also add page numbers to my A-Master. To do this, I zoom into the bottom left-hand corner of the left page, and use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame. Placing my type cursor into the frame, I head up to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. As this is the A-Master InDesign flags this up as an ‘A’ (this will adjust to the correct page number in the pages of my magazine).

I can format the page number using either the Character window (Window > Type & Tables > Character) or the Formatting Controls panel running along the top of the workspace.

Then I Copy > Paste the page number’s text frame and manouver it over onto the right-hand page of the Master. I switch the text to Align Right using the Paragraph window (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph).

Step 4

Using the Type Tool (T) I create a long text frame at the top of the right page, adjusting this to read the issue’s date, and then format the text to adjust the size, font and color. I rotate the frame 90° (Right-Click [Windows] or Ctrl-Click [Mac] > Transform > Rotate).

I Copy > Paste this text frame, moving it over to the top of the left page, and adjusting the text to read the magazine’s title. Then I rotate it 180°.

4. How Do I Apply a Master to Pages in my Document?

By clicking on one of the page icons in the lower part of the Pages panel I am taken back to my document. I can see that the pages have all been updated with the edits I made to the A-Master. This looks great on some of the article pages…

…but I don’t want to have this Master applied to all the pages. I then have two choices. I can either click and drag down the [None] Master page icon in the Pages panel, dropping it onto pages which I don’t want to have a Master.

Or I can create a new Master page to apply to different pages. For example, I might want to create a second Master which has the same page numbers and headers, but has a white background and black text instead.

To create a new Master you can go to the Pages panel’s drop-down menu and choose New Master.

This opens up a New Master dialogue box. From here you can set the specs for your new Master. If you want to create a new Master that contains all the elements of an existing Master and you simply want to build on this you can choose the appropriate Master from the Based on Master menu.

However, as here I want to create a Master with similar elements to the A-Master but I want to be able to edit them too, I can simply create a copy of the Master by selecting both pages of the A-Master (hold down Shift while you do this) and dragging it down onto the Create New Page icon at the bottom of the Pages panel.

From here I can edit this new B-Master, such as removing the colored background and editing the text to a black color.

To apply this B-Master to other pages in the document, I select either the left or right page of the B-Master in the Pages panel and drag and drop it onto the relevant pages.

5. Pro Tips for Using Masters

Master pages can be as simple or complex as you like. If you want your document to look extremely consistent, you can edit the Master to include elements that will help your whole document feel even more uniform. Here are just a few things you can do with Master pages that will help take your designs to the next level:

• You can add linked text frames to your Master. This is particularly handy for typesetting long, text-heavy documents like books. Place a series of linked text frames on the Master page, but don’t fill them with text. When you return to the document’s pages, you’ll be able to feed text into the Master’s text frames without needing to add new text frames to each new page.
• The elements sitting on your Master page don’t necessarily need to sit behind the content of your pages. By placing some or all of the elements on your Master page onto a separate, top layer in your document (Window > Layers) you can ensure that page numbers and headers will always sit on top of other content.
• You can create as many Master pages as you like. For long documents some designers will use a wide range of Masters, treating them as templates for specific sections of a book or magazine.
• You can delete Masters by selecting the Master and either Right-Clicking (Windows) or Ctrl-Clicking (Mac) > Delete, or dragging the Master down onto the trash can icon at the bottom right of the Pages panel. You will be prompted with a warning message if the Master is applied to pages in your document. If you go ahead with the deletion, InDesign will apply the [None] Master to the affected page(s).

Want free InDesign templates? Of course you do! Find a range of ready-to-edit templates for book covers, business cards and more.

Find more InDesign tutorials here, and make sure to check out our edit of the best design inspiration to keep your ideas flowing.

The post InDesign Basics: A Quick Guide to Master Pages appeared first on InDesignSkills.

You can achieve the effect directly in Adobe InDesign—here we show you how!

1. The One-Image/Multi-Frames Effect

This effect is beloved by professional designers for adding interest and creativity to photos.

Once you know the basics of creating the effect, you can build up the design to create incredibly intricate collage effects.

First, let’s start out simple…

Step 1

Open up Adobe InDesign and create a New Document.

Set the Page Size to A3, Portrait orientation. Deselect Facing Pages. Keep everything else set to its default values and click OK.

Step 2

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the default Layer 1 name to open the Layer Options panel.

Rename the layer Guides and click OK.

Create a new layer so that it sits above Guides, and rename it Images. Lock the Images layer and stay on the Guides layer for now.

Step 3

You now need to choose a suitable photo for your design. Any high-resolution photo will do, but try and look for interesting details in the image—generally, portraits and close-up shots will work better for this effect than landscapes, which tend to lack strong detail.

I’ve gone for this image of a flamingo.

Take a look at the photo—is it more portrait or landscape, or even square? My photo is square, so I make a mental note of that, and head back to my InDesign document.

Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag to create a shape that’s either roughly portrait or landscape to match your photo (it doesn’t need to match the exact dimensions or proportions). I hold down Shift to create mine, to create a perfect square shape.

Center the shape on the page.

Step 4

Now it’s time to think about the kind of shape effect you want to create. Let’s start here with a basic example, using squares to create a ‘windowpane’ effect.

Return to the Layers panel and lock the Guides layer. Unlock the Images layer above.

Take the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) and, holding Shift, drag onto the page to create a square, and sit it inside the a corner of the rectangle guide.

Go to File > Place, navigate to your chosen photo, and click Open.

Double-click inside the image frame to directly select the photo and, holding down Shift, resize the image until it matches the proportions of the guide shape.

Step 5

Select the image frame and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste.

Place the pasted frame somewhere inside the guide shape, like in the top-right corner as I’ve done here. You can either resize the image frame to meet the edge of the first image frame, choose to leave a little gap between the frames or even overlap.

Whatever you go for, the guide shape is your constant. So, double-click inside the pasted image frame to select the photo and pull it into the same position as the guide shape sitting below.

You’ll start to see that the images are beginning to look correct, gradually making up a whole image.

Step 6

Repeat the process of copying and pasting image frames, and resizing the pasted frame if needed…

…then grabbing the image inside the frame and adjusting its position so it sits within the guide shape.

Once you have filled the whole area of the guide shape with image frames, you should see your whole image has taken shape.

 2. Creating Advanced Designs

Step 1

Once you’ve experimented with the effect using simple shapes you can start to get more creative. Circular image frames are accessible from InDesign’s Tools panel (Ellipse Frame Tool), and look great when layered over each other in a venn diagram style.

To recreate this design, as before create a square shape on the Guides layer below.

Use the Ellipse Tool to create a circular image frame which has the diameter of one quarter of the guide shape. Place in the corner of the shape and File > Place.

Repeat the process described above, copying and pasting circular image frames until you’ve filled the area of the guide shape.

To add an overlapping effect to the circles, go to Object > Effects > Transparency and set the Mode to Multiply.

You can build up this collage effect to create designs that are simple and striking…

…or intricate and ornate. The only limitation is your imagination!

In this tutorial you’ve learned how to create a collage-style effect in Adobe InDesign using multiple frames to assemble a single image. Awesome work!

Want free InDesign templates? Of course you do! Find a range of ready-to-edit templates for book covers, business cards and more on our Templates page.

Head over to our Inspiration page to browse stunning examples of professional design in magazines, books, stationery and packaging. Learn more about working with photos in InDesign or pick up top tips for improving your InDesign layouts instantly.

The post How to Place One Image into Multiple Frames in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Do not despair! Read on to find four quick and easy solutions to deal with the problem pronto!

Solution 1: Identify If You’ve Added Anything to the Document Recently

You might need to get your detective’s hat on…It’s likely that there’s something hiding in your InDesign document that has prompted InDesign to flag up the file as damaged. This could be a something like a damaged image or a dodgy font file.

Were you able to open your file without a problem not that long ago? If so, try to think about what else has been added to the document since that point in time. Recently introduced a new font into the document? It’s probably the corrupting culprit.

If you have back-ups on your computer, or have Time Machine set up if you have a Mac OS, you should be able to open a slightly older version of your file.

Solution 2: Check Your Preferences

Your problem might be something to do with corrupt InDesign Preferences.

To get rid of any corruption in your preferences, relaunch InDesign and straight away hold down Control-Alt-Shift(Windows) or Command-Control-Opt-Shift (Mac OS) and click Yes when prompted with the message Delete InDesign Preference files? Usually this will allow you to open your file without a problem. Hooray!

Solution 3: Resave to a Different File Format

INDD (normal Adobe InDesign format) files are more susceptible to being corrupted than IDML (InDesign CS4 and later) or INX (InDesign CS3 and earlier) file formats.

Try to open your corrupted file on a different computer (e.g. try opening the file on a PC if you normally use a Mac, and vice versa; or try opening on a different version of Windows).

If you are able to open it, go to File > Save and resave the file as an IDML or INX file. You’ll normally have no problems with opening the file in this format.

The file will open up as a new Untitled document, and from here you can File > Save your now uncorrupted document to your preferred folder.

Solution 4: Open a Copy of Your File

Being able to open your corrupted file is sometimes as frustratingly simple as opening up a copy.

Open InDesign and go to File > Open. Navigate to your corrupted InDesign file and click to select it. From the bottom of the Open window, choose Open Copy. InDesign will open the file as an Untitled copy. From here, you can File > Save the file as an uncorrupted copy.

We hope that we’ve helped to make your computer say ‘YES!’

Track down more helpful tips for Adobe InDesign over at our Beginner Tutorials page.

The post Open Corrupt InDesign Files: Make Your Computer Say ‘Yes’! appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this series of tutorials, How Did They Do That?, we dissect the tricks used by graphic design pros and share surprisingly simple tips that will make your InDesign work look ultra-professional, even if you’re a beginner to the software!

Examples of the Type on a Path Tool

We’re going to focus on how the Type on a Path Tool can be used in magazine design. Image + typography might be the consistent formula for selling issues, but this doesn’t mean the formula needs to be conventional. Magazine designers are always on the lookout for new ways to reinvent their covers.

Layering text in interesting, fluid ways over the top of striking photography is an attention-grabbing way to make covers look more artistic and exciting. It’s also a great technique for making the text interact more naturally with the curves, lines and shapes of an image.

Text is positioned along the curves of Sophie Hicks’ head, from Fraulein Magazine

Graffiti-style headers sit on irregular baselines, from Elle Indonesia

A chalkboard-style cover, from Milwaukee Magazine

This technique might look tricky, but it’s anything but. You can recreate the style easily in Adobe InDesign with the Type on a Path and Pen Tools.

It all comes down to a few simple steps…

Step 1: Create a New Layer for Your Typography

Create a basic cover in Adobe InDesign, to a size that you prefer. On the existing layer, use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create a new image frame, and File > Place a photo in the frame.

Look for photos with strong shapes and curves—portraits of people work well, as do aerial photos with plenty of white space in-between items on the photo (this doesn’t have to be actually white, just one plain background color which will allow text to appear legible).

I’ve used this aerial shot of rolls of bread on a wooden board. There’s plenty of curves and lots of space for placing text, without being interrupted with too much detail beneath.

Create a new layer from the Layers panel (choose New Layer from the panel’s drop-down menu), and rename the layer Typography.

Lock the bottom layer, to avoid moving the photo around by mistake. You can make room for a header, and subtitle at the top of the page.

Step 2: Use the Pen Tool (P)

From the Tools panel choose the Pen Tool, or hit P on the keyboard.

You can use the Pen Tool in two ways. One, by simply clicking onto the page and creating a series of joined straight lines. The second way, which we’re going to use here, is to click and drag onto the page to create a curved line, then click again to create a second curve joined to the first and so on

Move across to the pasteboard, next to the page, to experiment with creating curved lines with the Pen Tool. You can do this quite easily without a graphics tablet, but it might take a little bit of practice to get the curves looking really smooth and fluid.

Move back onto the page, and use the Pen Tool to draw smooth curves around one section of your selected photo.

You can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the anchor points and handlesof the line, and adjust them by either dragging or using the arrows on the keyboard. You may also find it useful to set the Stroke Color of the line to a bright, contrasting color for now, to make it easier to see.

Step 3: Use the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T)

Once you’ve created your line, head back over to the Tools panel. From the Type Tool drop-down menu, choose the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T).

Hover your cursor over one edge of the line and click once. The curved line will be transformed into a type path. You can now type in text, and apply formatting in the same way as you would for text in a text frame.

Remove the color of the Stroke and set it to [None].

Here, I’ve used two fonts to create a bold, uppercase effect, set in a white, [Paper], color—Aachen Std…

…and Return to Sender.

Repeat the process, using the Pen Tool (P) to draw curved lines around parts of the photo, and then transform them into text paths using the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T).

Format the text using the Formatting Controls panel at the top of the workspace, or from the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).Vary the Font Size, Font and Color to create an eclectic, interesting look.

Great work! Try applying the technique to different photos and layouts—this effect also looks great on posters and cards.

Craving more pro design tips? Discover how to design a movie poster, or how to create an impressive 3D effect for magazine design.

The post Type on a Path in InDesign Tutorial appeared first on InDesignSkills.

If you’re new to the EPUB game, this article will take you through the process of getting started—from which software to use to design your EPUB, to where to sell your work.

1. What is an EPUB?

An EPUB (Electronic Publication Format) is a broad term which applies to a range of different digital publications. The most commonly known and commonly used EPUB format is the eBook, which can be read on EPUB-compatible devices, like readers and tablets.

Just like a web page, the structure of an EPUB is based on HTML, and the EPUB can be viewed on a number of digital devices, including tablets, laptops, desktop computers and specialist eReader devices.

If you’re looking to create your first EPUB, there’s something important you need to be aware of—that EPUBs come in two different formats, called Reflowable and Fixed Layout.

What is a Reflowable EPUB?

A reflowable EPUB contains ‘live text’, which you can select, highlight and search.

You can also change the size of the text and even the typeface in a reflowable EPUB. This will force the lines of text to expand and break onto other lines; to ‘reflow’.

Most text-heavy publications, like novels and textbooks, will be set in a reflowable EPUB format.

What is a Fixed Layout EPUB?

A fixed layout EPUB is just that—the layout is fixed and doesn’t behave responsively when the reader views it.

This actually works really well for more complex eBooks and eMagazines, that perhaps contain a lot of images and have intricate layouts that would suffer if they had a reflowable digital format. The final result may appear a bit more like a PDF (though take note that a PDF is different to an EPUB).

Design: Eleanor Rogers

Which Format Should I Pick?

Both reflowable and fixed layout EPUBs are in line with the most recent specification for EPUBs, which is 3.0.1. So, if you export your EPUB to one of the above formats, you’re ready to go ahead and sell your eBook on a commercial eBook or eMagazine site.

But how do you know which of the two EPUB formats is right for you?

If you’re designing a visual-heavy EPUB, like a magazine or photo book, a fixed layout EPUB format is probably going to give you the best result. Your layout arrangements and effects, such as transparencies and gradients, will remain intact.

If you’re typesetting a novel, a reflowable format is probably going to be best; readers will be able to blow up the size of text to help make it more legible; and they’ll also be able to search the book to find particular words, passages or chapters.

2. How Do I Create an EPUB?

EPUBs are designed using a layout software of your choice, that’s suitable for exporting to an EPUB format.

The field of digital publishing is relatively young, and as a result there’s no single market leader in digital publishing software. That’s great for you, as this gives you lots of choice, and depending on your budget and skillset you can choose a software that’s going to suit your needs perfectly.

Here are some of the popular options for creating EPUBs and eMagazines, some of which are paid-for and some free:

Adobe InDesign

An (obvious) favorite of the InDesignSkills team, this print publishing giant has been adapted for designing EPUBs (look to the most recent CC version of the software for the most updated EPUB adaptation), and you can export existing designs to both reflowable and fixed layout formats.

InDesign CC is subscription-based, with different payment options for schools, individuals and businesses, but if you’re looking for complete control and professionalism in your EPUB design, InDesign certainly won’t disappoint. It also interacts fluidly with other Adobe software, like Photoshop and Illustrator, allowing you to move content easily between the programmes.

Adobe Digital Publishing Solution

Adobe has also created this software, which is aimed directly at digital publishers.

Perfectly suited to creating apps and EPUBs, DPS allows you to design complex layouts for digital devices without the need for coding.

BlueGriffon

BlueGriffon is another great software choice for creating EPUBs, and is probably best suited to more traditional, text-heavy publications. It’s a WYSIWYG editor, like Sigil, and works for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

BlueGriffon is a paid-for subscription-based programme.

Sigil

A great choice if you’re on a tight budget, Sigil is completely free to download and use.

It’s an open-source EPUB creation software package for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This software is great if you’re going to be creating more traditional EPUBs, with less interactive content, and it also gives you direct control over the code, which is a handy option to have.

Apple iBooks Author

For all you Apple lovers out there, this is a great little free app, aimed at designers wanting to create EPUBs for iPads and Macs.

iBooks Author is an easy-to-use, intuitive and stylish app for creating EPUBs.

3. How Do I Add Interactivity to my EPUB?

Interactive elements, such as video content and animation, add an extra-special touch to EPUBs. They can liven up educational eBooks, and keep eMagazine readers engaged with an extra level of content to explore.

There are now so many ways to integrate more interactive content into your EPUB designs.

Once you have your basic EPUB layout in place you can add animations (try out Adobe Edge Animate), interactive engagement and eLearning content (Adobe Captivate is perfect for creating quizzes and tests) and videos.

Adding touch-sensitive page-turning to your EPUB can also make the reader’s experience more immersive, and imitate that real-life page-turning action.

4. Where Can I Sell My EPUB?

Once you’ve designed your EPUB, you’re ready to share it with the rest of the world!

Some EPUB softwares are designed to link you directly with an eBook store, such as Apple iBooks Author, which encourages you to upload your completed EPUB for sale on the Apple iBooks Store.

Other major eBook stores* that you can check out are:

• Amazon (Kindle)
• Kobo
• Barnes & Noble
• Lulu
• Smashwords

*A word of caution—different eBook stores may require different sizes and resolutions for your EPUB cover, so be sure to check out the store’s requirements before uploading.

Once you’ve picked your design software, created your EPUB, added a dash of interactivity, and sized your cover for your eBook store of choice, you can officially crown yourself as an EPUB expert!

Whether you’re aiming to be the next eBook sensation, or just looking to dip a toe into the world of EPUB design, it’s certainly an expanding and exciting world to be a part of.

Read up on tips for creating books in Adobe InDesign, or discover our dedicated book design section to find even more inspiration for your next project.

The post A Quick Guide: Creating & Publishing EPUBs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Let us guide you through the recommended sizes for typesetting books, and make sure nobody’s going to need to strain their eyes.

1. Why Does Font Size Matter?

Typesetting is an unsung hero in the publishing world. When you read a book that has high-quality typesetting, you probably won’t even notice it. Good typesetting will make the book more legible, easy-on-the-eye and be superbly suited to the genre and context of the book.

Font size is the most crucial factor in typesetting a book, but it can be tricky to get it just right. The ‘ideal’ font sizes listed at the bottom of the article are given as part of a recommended range. Whether you lean towards the smaller or larger end of the range will depend on some of the following factors. Take note, and choose your type size in accordance:

Q: Is the book long or short?

A publisher might want to be economic with the number of pages if a book is going to be long. If that’s the case, edge towards the smaller end of the size scale. You can also reduce the size of the Margins on your pages to squeeze more text onto the page.

If the book’s short, a publisher might want to increase the number of pages to make the book look fatter, and therefore appear to be of higher value to a browser. Increase your font size (and your Leading [the space between lines of text]) if this is the case.

Q: Who is the Readership?

Who is the book aimed at? This ties in with the genre of the book as well. Will the audience be intellectual (literary and classic fiction), or will they be looking for a quick, absorbing read (‘airport’ fiction, romance, thrillers, young adult fiction)? Are they adults or children (children’s books will often need a much larger font size)?

Some genres go hand-in-hand with a particular font size. It seems like an unspoken rule that more intellectual fiction requires a smaller font size, and therefore more concentration (or eye-strain, whichever way you see it) to read it. Nonetheless, a very slightly smaller font size communicates intelligence and seriousness, and will suit modern literary fiction and classic novels equally well.

Larger font sizes are more digestible, and will be more suited to typesetting 50 Shades of Grey than a Franz Kafka reprint.

So make sure to consider your readership, and the sort of font sizes they will be expecting to encounter.

2. The Perfect Font Size for Books

Of course, everybody has different preferences for book font size, and quality of eyesight can be a factor in shaping these preferences.

But assuming most people will fall in the middle of the spectrum (neither eagle-eyed nor poor-sighted) these font size ranges for headings and body text should cut the mustard each and every time…

Body Text:

Minimum 10 pt — Maximum 12 pt

Chapter Headings (‘A’ Headings):

Minimum 14 pt — Maximum 16 pt

Sub-titles (‘B’ Headings):

Minimum 12 pt — Maximum 14 pt

Make sure to think about your Leading too—as a general rule, try to make it a little more generous than the Auto leading value in InDesign.

Once you’ve decided on your perfect font size, you’ll need to find the perfect font too! Discover our pick of the only 5 fonts you’ll ever need for books or brush up on your skills for creating books in InDesign.

The post Choosing Font Sizes for Books: Get Your Typesetting Size Right appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Use this guide to navigate the murky waters of InDesign file formats, and wise-up on the difference between INDD and IDML, and the right way to down-save or up-save your files.

1. The Dual Nature of InDesign File Formats

When you create and save a file in Adobe InDesign, you’ll notice that the file has been given the extension .indd. INDD is the extension given to all InDesign files created in the standard way in any version of the design software, whether that’s InDesign CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 or CC.

If you navigate to an InDesign file in your Finder (Mac OS) or Windows Explorer, you’ll also notice that the InDesign file has been classified in an additional way, under Kind. This indicates which version of InDesign the file was created in; in this case we can see that the file has been created in InDesign CC 2015.

It is this Kind categorisation that prevents you from opening a CC file in say CS5 or CS6. If you try to open it up, an error message will flag up, informing you that the file is not of a supported file type and cannot be opened in an older version of InDesign.

2. How to Open your Files in any Software Version

Adobe wants to encourage all InDesign users to gravitate to CC, the newest subscription-based version of the software. But this may not be the right choice for everybody—some designers are loyal to older versions of InDesign because of their familiarity with the programme, others might be discouraged by the cost of a subscription-based service.

And guess what? That’s absolutely fine, because you can open any InDesign file in any other version of InDesign if you save the file in the right way.

If you want to be able to open a file created in an older version of InDesign in a newer version you should have few problems with opening INDD files just as they are. But to down-save (open a file in an older version to the original) or up-save if you’re having problems opening the original file you need to save your work as an IDML file (or INX file for opening in CS3, see below).

An IDML (InDesign Markup) file is a ‘legacy’ file format. Saving your InDesign file as an IDML file allows users of different versions of InDesign to open up the file without a problem.

Saving a CC or CS6 file for opening in CS4, CS5 or CS5.5:

To save your INDD InDesign file as an IDML file, open up the file in InDesign, and go to File > Save As. Select InDesign CS4 or later (IDML) from the drop-down Format menu, and click Save.

You now have an IDML version of your original InDesign file.

Saving a CS5 or CS5.5 file for opening in CS4:

With your INDD file opened up, go to File > Export. Choose IDML from the drop-down Format menu and click Save.

Saving a CS5, CS5.5 CS6 or CC file for opening in CS3:

Unfortunately you can’t save back directly from CS5 for opening in CS3. To do this you will have to down-save to CS4 first.

With the INDD file open in CS5 or later choose File > Export. Choose IDML from the Format drop-down menu and hit Save.

Open the IDML file in InDesign CS4. From here, go to File > Export and this time choose InDesign Interchange (INX) as the file Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS). Click Save to create your INX file, which is now suitable for opening in InDesign CS3.

IMPORTANT: To share your work with others, you should be sure to send a copy of your original INDD file along with the IDML file. The IDML file is linked to the original INDD file; and the IDML file acts as a sort of key which is able to unlock the INDD file.

The best way to share your compatible files with others is to first Package your InDesign file, and then save the IDML file into the packaged folder.

To send the file over email or large file transfer, simply compress the packaged folder (containing both the INDD and IDML files) and attach.

To learn more about using InDesign and develop your design skills pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Which File Format?: A Guide to INDD, IDML, INX and Everything In-Between appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These are some of the most common head-wringing printer problems when they encounter client files, and tips on how to get them sorted out. In no time at all, you and your printer are going to be best buds!

1. You’ve cropped everything to the trim edge…

You may think you’re being helpful getting everything tidied up and looking nice and neat, but if you’re cropping all your images and background colour to the edge of the page (the ‘trim’ edge), that means you won’t have a Bleed on your final print file. A bleed extends content past the edge of the page, which minimises the visibility of trimming errors at the end of the print process.

So why does my printer hate me??

The printer will have to either get you to re-export the file with a bleed, or access the native (original InDesign) file and manually extend everything past the trim edge themselves. Which takes time…and money.

What can I do about it?

Include a bleed in your artwork, and make sure you include it when you go to export your document to a print-ready file (e.g. PDF). This quick tutorial will give you the details: How to prepare a bleed in your InDesign documents.

2. You’ve set the document at the wrong size…

So you’ve created a stunning business card design, and placed it in the middle of a letter-sized page. When you gave it to the printer they audibly groaned. What gives?

So why does my printer hate me??

You should always size your documents to their final print size. So if you’re creating a business card in InDesign, set the page size at a business card size; don’t place your design in the centre of a larger page. Or even worse – NEVER set a number of repeated designs on one large page. Nightmare.

What can I do about it?

Use the New Document window in InDesign (File > New > Document) to set the right size for your document from the outset; or use the Page Tool (Shift+P) to resize pages flexibly as you work.

Read this tutorial to master the New Document window.

3. You’ve included random Spot Colors or RGB Swatches…

You’ve sent your printer your original InDesign file, which they process and print. But then the print bill comes back…and it’s much more than expected. But why?!

So why does my printer hate me??

It seems pretty likely that you’ve included some unwanted Spot Colors in your design. This means that they have to be pulled onto a different printing plate, which adds time and money to the job. If your printer really doesn’t like you they might go ahead and print regardless; but if they’re nice they might suggest you sort out your colours pronto. If you’ve also included any RGB Color Swatches in your design, this is going to make the final printed result really unpredictable as well.

What can I do about it?

Get savvy about all things colour-related with our beginner’s guide to colour in print design. Adjust all your colour swatches to CMYK (not RGB), and only include Spot Colors if you really, really have to.

4. You’ve exported your file as ‘Printer’s Spreads’…

So you’ve arranged the pages in your print-ready file in the order they will be printed and bound, not necessarily in the order they will be read. Helpful right?

So why does my printer hate me??

Afraid to say, that’s not helpful at all. You should always export your file as Reader’s Spreads (i.e. the order the pages would be read by the reader). Don’t sweat about getting your file in the order it’s going to be bound (e.g. a page near the front of a book or magazine sitting opposite a page near the end of the document); the printer will sort that out in the way they know best.

What can I do about it?

Export your InDesign document in the order of pages as you created it originally; no need to do anything fancy. And always export your file as pages, not spreads. If you’re worried about the printer not understanding how you want everything to be printed, provide them with a rough mock-up.

Feel ultra-confident about preparing your work for print with our handy two-part guide.

5. You’ve sent the printer your InDesign file…

Why send a print-ready PDF when I can send my original InDesign file, right? OK, well, that’s fine as long as they have the relevant version of the software to be able to open your file. But hold on, your file is just that – just a file on its own.

So why does my printer hate me??

If you send the printer your ‘native’ (InDesign) file the printer will have the freedom to export the file to a print-ready format that suits their purposes. But that’s no use if you just send the printer your InDesign file in isolation. If you’ve not packaged your file, and provided the full folder of packaged Links and Font files, the printer won’t be able to see your InDesign document as you intended it. It will be riddled with errors and blurry images, and simply not fit-for-purpose.

What can I do about it?

When you’ve finished working on your InDesign file make sure that you package it (File > Package).

Read up on our straightforward guide to packaging your documents and make your printer a very happy bunny.

Take these tips to heart and you and your printer will be the best of friends guaranteed!

The post Why Does My Printer Hate Me?: This Advice Will Make Them Love You… appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to find out how you can quickly and easily delete excessive text without compromising your sanity…

1. The Tip That Will Banish Overset Text from your Documents…

We’ve all been there—perhaps opened up a document from a third party to find huge amounts of overset text errors or simply made the mistake of importing too much text in the first place. Rather than spending the time manually accessing and deleting the overset text…(I mean, seriously, who has time to highlight and delete pages upon pages of text?)…you can use a simple keyboard shortcut to select all the text sitting past where you place your type cursor.

First up, you may want to find out how much overset text you’re dealing with here; which is when the InDesign Story Editor feature comes in handy.

But you may just want to get rid of that text asap, and give your InDesign Preflight the green light. If that’s the case, take the Type Tool (T), then place your cursor at the end of the section of text you want to keep. Then use this keyboard shortcut to select all the remaining text, even text that isn’t visible on the document:

Use Ctrl if you’re using a Windows system, and Cmd if you’re on a Mac OS. If you can’t find an ‘End’ key on your mac keyboard, hold down the down arrow for a few seconds instead, to select all the text to the end.

Then simple hit Delete to banish the text forever, and make your Preflight panel very happy!

Discover more about threading text in InDesign efficiently through your InDesign documents, and how to create a book in InDesign. Looking for more tutorials and tips? Head on over to our InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Secret: How to Get Rid of Excessive Overset Text appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Why you should proof your InDesign documents

• How you can use the Preflight panel to perform a technical proof of your work

1. Why do I need to proof my InDesign work?

It’s amazing how many errors can become glaringly obvious on a printed document, compared to just glancing over it when it’s up on screen. But sadly there’s no ‘Undo’ button when your printed items get delivered. Proofing your InDesign work before you send it to print is an essential step in minimizing the number of errors, both in terms of content and on a technical level.

Before you even look into performing a Preflight, which we’ll take a more in-depth look at here, you should check for spelling errors by conducting a spell check. You can also get some more stats about the text content in your document by seeing what you can find out from the Info panel.

OK, so what is Preflight? It sounds like something you might have to do before an aircraft takes off, and it is really the same idea, but instead for preparing a design document to ‘take off’ from the screen to go to the printing press.

Before you can export your InDesign document to a print-ready format, you need to make sure that everything is going to print in the way that you want it to. The Preflight panel is going to flag up any technical issues that might cause a problem when you want to package your InDesign file, export it, or send it to a printer.

2. How do I perform a ‘Preflight’?

Preflight is an essential part of the InDesign proof process, and is especially important for addressing technical errors, like missing images, missing fonts or overset text.

Let’s see the Preflight panel in action…

…Here we have an open InDesign document. And at first glance, all looks fine. But then, if I take a look down at the bottom left of the screen, I notice a little red circle, next to some text reading ‘3 errors’. As long as there is a red circle here, this means that there are errors in the document that need to be addressed before I send the document to print.

If I double-click on the red circle, I will open up the Preflight panel. You can also access the Preflight panel from the top menu, under Window > Output > Preflight.

First up, at the top left of the panel you can see a check box for turning Preflight On and Off. As a rule, you should always have Preflight set to On. This means that InDesign will actively flag up technical errors as you work, and update them to ‘No errors’ as you resolve them.

In the main part of the panel is the Error window. In this window, Preflight lists the errors it’s found, and categorises them into different groups. At the top here, there’s one Links error, for example.

If I click on the grey arrow to the left of the text, the error message expands, to reveal it’s a missing link. Clicking the grey arrow again the name of the missing link is revealed. If you double-click the name of the link, InDesign will take you directly to it in your document. Handy!

Click to select the name of the link in the Preflight panel, then expand the Info window at the bottom of the panel. InDesign is trying to help you out here, so it tells you what the specific problem is, and how you can resolve it.

It’s telling me to head over to the Links panel and use the Relink button to find the missing file. With the missing link highlighted – it will be flagged up with a red question mark if missing – I click on the Relink button, symbolised by a chain link, at the bottom of the top section of the Links panel.

From here, I can track down the missing link, and click Open to relink it. Find out more about working with images in InDesign here.

That’s the missing link resolved, and I can see in the Preflight panel that the missing link error has vanished, and I’m left now with just two errors to deal with.

These remaining errors are something to do with Text, and I can find out more by again clicking the grey arrows to reveal the specific error, and then the specific location of the text error. What we’ve got here is two instances of overset text, where text is overspilling a text frame.

If I double-click on the ‘Text Frame’ name, I’m taken directly to the text frame with the overset text.

I then take my cursor and drag the frame down to extend it, until the text error disappears from the Preflight panel.

After resolving all the errors flagged up in the Preflight panel, the Preflight circle turns green and a message comes up at the bottom of the panel reading ‘No errors’. That’s when you know your Preflight is complete, and you’re ready to prepare your document to send to print.

The Preflight panel is a simple, one-stop solution for addressing technical errors in your InDesign layouts. Taking just 5 minutes to run a Preflight before you prepare your document for sending to a colleague or sending to print will make a huge difference to the final quality of your work. And you won’t be biting your nails when that print delivery box arrives!

Click to find out more about conducting a spell check of your InDesign work and how to add a bleed to your print designs. Looking for more tutorials and tips? Head on over to our InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Proof your InDesign work with Preflight appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Consider everything listed here and in Part One, and there’s no need to fear sending your work to the press. Here in Part Two we’ll take you through:

• Why you should export to ‘Reader’s Spreads’

• How to accommodate for trimming and binding

• Choosing paper weights and finishes

• How to export and package your InDesign work

• Asking for a proof and providing a mock-up

• How to pick the right printing method for the job

1. Why you should export to ‘Reader’s Spreads’, not ‘Printer’s Spreads’

If you’re creating a document with multiple pages, such as a book, for sending to print, you might notice from existing examples of printed books that a page in the first chapter of a book is often physically connected to a page in the last chapter, forming a single spread.

The printed book has been put together by the printer using ‘Printer’s Spreads’. This is when the printer rearranges the order of the pages in order for the book to be bound.

Your job, however, is not to export your ‘print-ready’ file set up as Printer’s Spreads. It’s much simpler, both for you and the printer, if you set up your document as ‘Reader’s Spreads’, i.e. how the reader would actually view the document, page 1, then page 2, then page 3 etc.

Let the printer do their job (they’re pretty good at it, after all) – they will be able to arrange your print-ready file in the way that will work best for them to print and bind.

As a bonus, you’ll spare everyone a whole load of confusion at the press when you try to explain why page 2 is sat opposite page 15 (even more confusing if you haven’t included page numbers on your design!). This little parrot is just really confused about your attempt at Printer’s Spreads…

So don’t even go there – just export the file in the same page order that you’ve been working on in InDesign.

You should also include any blank pages that feature in your multi-page document, whether it’s a few pages at the beginning of a book, or the reverse side of some pages in an annual report. Sure, they don’t contain anything that needs to be actually printed, but including them in your exported file will help your printer understand the structure of the document, and accommodate for any blank pages you want included in the final print product.

2. Accommodate for trimming and binding

Once your design is printed, it will be trimmed. The excess parts of the paper (including the Slug and Bleed) will be cut away, leaving your final layout intact, up to the trim edge.

You should be aware that trimming errors can and do happen (printers are only human after all), but you can minimise the visibility of any slight trimming errors by doing two things. Firstly, as we mentioned over in Part One, you should include a Bleed.

A bleed is an extra space around the perimeter of your layout that extends past the edge of the page(s). You should always include a bleed if any elements (e.g. images, colored backgrounds) on your layout will cross the edge of the page (also known as the trim edge).

The second thing you can do to minimise trimming errors is to make your Margins lovely and wide. Margins that are narrow will appear even more narrow if the trim is out by a millimetre or two. So make sure you give your document generous margins (at least as wide as the InDesign default width of 12.7 mm). If in doubt, make them wider – while also minimising the visibility of a poor trim job, wide margins will also give your layouts room to breathe and make them look instantly more attractive.

3. Choose the right paper weight and finish

When you first start to draft your design on the computer, consider what sort of material your design will be printed on. Different paper weights and finishes can dramatically effect your final print result, and you should have a good idea of the sort of ‘look’ you’d like to achieve before you commit the work to print.

Design by Rita Neves

Firstly, you should choose a suitable Paper Weight (and I don’t mean a nice weighty stone that keeps your desk papers together). Paper comes in a large range of different ‘weights’, measured in GSM (Grams per Square Meter), which will effect how thick the paper feels. Thicker papers tend to be of better quality (and are therefore usually more expensive). You should feel confident selecting an appropriate paper weight that’s going to suit the item you’re printing (and your budget!).

Here are our recommendations for paper weights:

• If you are printing a newspaper a low GSM would be suitable, something between 35 and 55 GSM.
• Flyers or low-market brochures might need a slightly heavier paper, around 110 to 160 GSM.
• Magazine covers tend to be on the heavier side, from around 180 GSM for a mid-market title, edging up to over 250 GSM for a high-end glossy.
• For a sturdier card weight, like a business card, you should be looking at upwards of 350 GSM to give a luxurious, weighty feel.

You also should know a bit about Paper Finishes. Your printer will ask you to provide a combination of paper specifications for the job – your desired weight and finish. Finishes fall into two main categories – Coated and Uncoated.

Uncoated paper is a suitable choice for printing letterhead, stationery or lower-quality leaflets and flyers. The feel of the finish is smoother and stronger than standard copy paper.

Coated paper falls into two sub-groups – matte-coated and gloss-coated. Matte-coated gives a smooth, unglossy finish and can give your print documents a modern, pared-back look. Gloss-coated paper is smooth and with a slightly reflective finish, giving your documents a glossy, high-end look. Because the ink sits on the surface of the coating, rather than absorbing into the paper, colors appear more vibrant and rich.

This parrot would love to be printed on gloss-coated paper if possible:

4. Exporting and Packaging your InDesign files

Once you’ve completed your InDesign work, and feel ready to go to print, you can export your design as a print-ready file. In theory this print-ready file is suitable for going straight to press.

It’s a wise idea to get in touch with the printer first and see if they have a preferred format for print-ready files. Most printers would probably prefer a Press Quality PDF (Portable Document Format) version of your design, but they might also accept files in other CMYK-compatible formats, such as high-resolution (minimum 300 dpi) JPEG or TIFF files.

To export your InDesign document, go to File > Export on the main menu and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format drop-down menu in the Export window.

In the Export Adobe PDF window that opens, choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.

You should also make sure to export your print-ready file with the Bleed included. If you’re exporting to a PDF format, you can check the option in the Export window to include a bleed.

You can also choose to include Printer’s Marks in your exported print-ready file, which includes trim and crop marks, center marks, and page information. These can be really useful to the printer when preparing your work for the press.

If your printer has requested the original InDesign, or ‘native’, files, this is because this gives the printer the freedom to re-export the file if they need to make any minor technical adjustments. You will need to Package your InDesign file before you send it. Check out this quick and simple tutorial on how to package your files.

5. Provide a mock-up and ask for a print proof

You can’t expect your printer to be a mind-reader; they can only work from what they have been given, in terms of the print-ready or native (e.g. InDesign, Photoshop etc.) files, as well as from your instructions given over email, phone or face-to-face in person. Before you commit to the print run, there are two things you can do that will really help your printer to complete the job in the way you want it to.

The first thing you can do is to create a physical mock-up of the document you are sending to print and share this with your printer. This is especially useful if your document has multiple pages or complicated elements like folds and die cuts, that might not be immediately obvious looking at the print-ready digital file only.

There’s no problem with your mock-up being a bit rough-and-ready, printed at home or at the office – just make sure it shows the final layout of the document clearly, and be sure to incorporate essential info like page numbers, for example. It might also be useful to indicate where pages should be printed on one side or both sides.

Once you’ve shared you mock-up with the printer, and handed over your print-ready file(s), ask if the printer can give you a professional print proof for checking and sign-off, before proceeding with the full print-run. Most printers will offer a proof at no extra cost to the agreed quote for the full print run, and you’d be amazed at how many errors and mistakes can be suddenly glaringly obvious when down on printed paper! Rectify the file if you need to, get a second proof if you have the time, and give the go-ahead for the full print-run only when you’re happy.

6. Pick the right printing method for the job!

Before you select the printer you’re going to use to print your designs, you should know a little about the main print services commercial printers use. The print process can differ depending on the printer, with some championing more traditional offset printing and others singing the praises of digital printing. Commercial printers generally fall into two camps (though some offer both services): Digital Printing or Offset Litho Printing.

Offset printing is a very common commercial printing process, suitable for high volumes. The image to be printed is burned onto a plate and then transferred (offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket, before transferring to the printing surface. Image quality in offset printing is high and the process is cost-efficient at high volumes, so it’s a popular and usually pretty safe choice.

Digital printing is less mechanical, so it takes less time to prepare for printing. As a result, turn-around times for print jobs are quicker, and printing at low-volumes is also better-value. The jury’s still out on whether image quality is quite as good as that offered by the offset printing process.

Either printing method could be suitable for your job, depending on your project’s requirements. Shop around your local area and check out what different printers are offering, in terms of price and quality, for each print method.

7. You’re ready to print…

…In this two-part tutorial (find Part One here) we’ve taken a look at some of the key things you need to think about when preparing your InDesign documents for print. Use the following as your essential checklist when you prepare and send an InDesign document for print.

• Remember to include a Bleed in your InDesign document
• Optimise colour for printing by using CMYK (and Spot Colours) only
• Check the legibility of type by printing a sample and asking others to read it
• Ensure all the images used in your design are high-resolution (more than 300 DPI)
• Export your InDesign file as ‘Reader’s Spreads’
• Accommodate for trimming errors by including a Bleed and increasing the width of margins
•  Think about which paper weight and finish will suit your print project
• Export and package your InDesign work ready for sending to the printer
• Provide the printer with a mock-up for multi-page or folded documents and ask for a print proof
• Pick the right printing method for the job (Digital or Offset Litho)

If you check off every item in this list you’re guaranteed to have no nasty shocks when the printer drops off that delivery box. And you’ll make this colourful, print-friendly macaw very, very happy…

Check out Part One of this tutorial to find out more about preparing your InDesign work for print. For more handy InDesign tips and tricks head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post How to Prepare Your InDesign Work for Print: Part 2 of 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

But there’s no need to panic! We’ll take you through the only checklist you’ll ever need for preparing and sending any InDesign document to print. In the first part of this two-part tutorial we’ll look at:

• Why you should never forget about the Bleed!

• How to optimise colour for printing

• How to maximise the legibility of text

• How to print your images at the highest quality possible

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out about exporting your work to ‘Reader’s Spreads‘, choosing paper weights and finishes and selecting the right printing method for the job.

1. Don’t forget the Bleed!

It’s a printer’s worst (and without a doubt most common) nightmare – receiving a ‘print-ready’ file from a customer that doesn’t have a bleed. Don’t be that customer!

Be nice to your friendly neighbourhood printer and be sure to include a bleed (and export it) when you set up your document on the computer.

Familiarise yourself with what a bleed is, how to set one up on your InDesign work, and how to export your print-ready file with a bleed included, by clicking here.

2. Optimise your colour for print

Every macaw worth his salt knows that colour is at the heart of the print process.

A combination of coloured inks (even if your document is only in black and white) creates your printed result. Get familiar with the main rules for printing colour, and you’ll feel much more confident about creating layouts that look as good on printed paper as they do on your computer screen.

First up, always remember to render your InDesign work in CMYK, not RGB.

You should (almost; see comments on Spot Colors below) always set colour in your print layouts in a CMYK colour mode. CMYK refers to the four inks that are used in four-color printing, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black). Each colour in your design will be printed using a combination of these four inks.

You should never set your print documents in an RGB color mode (even if you’ve been working in an RGB file, make sure to convert the file on export to CMYK). RGB (which is rendered through interaction of Red, Green and Blue light) is only suitable for layouts that will be viewed online or in digital format on screen.

Though you will almost always print using CMYK, you should also be aware of when it’s appropriate to include Spot Colours in your print-ready files. Spot, sometimes termed ‘Solid’, colors, are created by an ink, either pure or mixed, that is printed on a single print run.

What this means is that if you choose to include a Spot color (e.g. a Pantone color, or metallic or fluorescent inks) in your print design, the printer will have to prepare a completely separate plate for the spot color to be printed.

Including Spot colours in your artwork can have its advantages – the final colour result is often much more accurate (more spot-on!), with less colour variation. On larger print runs using Spot colours can even be more economical (if you’re dealing with three or less than three colors). However, on short print runs including Spot colors in your designs can be pricey; make sure you get a quote from your printer before you incorporate a Spot color into your design.

3. Maximise the legibility of text

This parrot doesn’t have fantastic eyesight.

He struggles to read text set at a small 10 pt size, and he’s certainly not alone. Even if your eyesight is fantastic, others may struggle to read small-size text without some difficulty.

What this ill-sighted parrot demonstrates is that you must aim to get your text sizing right! A common issue you may encounter when sending your work to print is that the size of text appears too big or too small. Type Size is really important to get right, as illegible documents, however good-looking, will be immediately off-putting to a reader.

Also consider choosing appropriate font sizing to suit both the document type and the audience for the document. Who will be reading my brochure/poster/book? Will they be expected to spend more time reading it (e.g. a book layout) or will it only be attracting a quick glance (e.g. a flyer or poster)?

If you’re creating layouts for a book, it’s probably OK to size type a little on the smaller side (pick up some tips on how to create book layouts in InDesign with this tutorial), but you might need to amp up the size of text on a flyer, to make sure you catch and hold the attention of a casual reader.

The best way to make sure you’re using the right font size is to print out a sample of the layout at actual size, and ask a few colleagues or (patient) friends to look it over. How many people in your sample found the size OK to read? If fewer than 90% of your sample had difficulty with the type size, change it!

Related to the size of text, and equally important, is also the Weight of the typeface – is it too thin and faint when printed? Do you need to set that sentence in Bold to make it stand out? Can you draw the eye to something important or different by applying an Italic weight, for example?

4. Ensure your graphics are printed in high-resolution

Every macaw (and I mean every macaw) wants their photos to be printed in crisp and clear high-resolution. Including these two. They’ll get pretty angry otherwise…

If you’re including graphics in your print layout, whether that’s photos or illustrations, you have to make sure they are of high enough resolution to print. Low-resolution images produce blurry, pixelated print results. High-resolution graphics, by contrast, will look sharp and clear when you go to the printing press.

You should be aware from the start, when you begin to put together your layouts in InDesign, that different image formats can appear very different on the printed page.

Photographs often cause the most misery when producing print layouts – this is because they are Bitmap graphics, not vectors. Bitmap graphics (e.g. JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PSD) are made up of a number of tiny pixels. If you resize a bitmap graphic, and then resave it, some of the quality of the original image can be lost (particularly problematic with JPEG images), which results in a more pixelated image. You should make sure that your bitmap images have a high rate of DPI (see comments on DPI below) before you include them in your print designs.

Vector graphics, like Illustrator (AI) and EPS file formats, are made up of scalable objects, and as a result will not lose their quality if resized.

The final word on image format is as long as the quality of the image(s) is high (the DPI is high [more than 300 DPI as a rough guide]), there’s no reason why both bitmap and vector graphics can’t work equally well in your print layouts.

You must also learn to recognise the difference between image size and image quality. Say a colleague or client has sent over a JPEG image that they want you to use in your design, and from what you can see, the file size is OK – between 3 and 5 MB. But then you open up the file and see that the image appears pixelated and, frankly, a bit rubbish. What gives?

The picture of the parrot on the left is the same file size as the image of the parrot on the right, but the DPI for the left-hand image is higher, which results in a crisper, clearer image.

Even though the file size of the image is usually a good indicator of quality, the quality of a bitmap image is not determined by the size of the file, or even the dimensions of the image. Quality is determined by DPI (Dots per Inch). DPI describes the resolution number of dots per inch that make up the colors and tones of an image.

You should always aim for a high DPI count for any image you’re hoping to use in a print layout. If your options are exhausted, and you have to use a slightly blurry or pixelated image, with a lower DPI, consider first upping the DPI manually in Photoshop and then setting it a reduced scale in your design. Remember that pixelation and blurring will appear much more obvious on the printed page than it will on screen.

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out more about preparing, exporting and sending your InDesign work to print. For more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post How to Prepare Your InDesign Work for Print: Part 1 of 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’ll give you an overview of:

• What ‘Rich Black’ is and why you should use it for your print designs

• How to create a ‘Rich Black’ and adjust it for warmer or cooler tones

1. Why Does My ‘Black’ Look Washed Out?

You’ll notice that InDesign provides you with a default [Black] swatch in the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) when you create any new print document.

You’ll also notice that when you colour text or other elements in your InDesign document with this [Black] CMYK swatch and send the document to print, that the result can come out looking…well…a little more grey than black.

This is because the default [Black] swatch provided in the Swatches panel isn’t actually a true black at all – it’s just 100% of the Key (Black) pigment from the CMYK spectrum, and O% of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

Nobody wants their blacks to look less than dark, dramatic and high-contrast! Sorry, grey cat…

To remedy your washed-out black, you need to create a New CMYK Swatch, something printers and industry-insiders know as a ‘Rich Black’.

A Rich Black is a much darker, truer black that looks like the depths of space, the dead of night, or indeed this very black cat…

2. How Do I Create a ‘Rich Black’?

To create a Rich Black, you simply need to increase the levels of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow when you create a new CMYK swatch, and keep the level of Key (Black) at a level of 100%.

To create a new CMYK Swatch, open up the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and click to select one of the existing color swatches (any will do). Click on the New Swatch icon at the bottom of the panel, or select New Color Swatch… from the panel’s drop-down menu.

In the Create New Swatch window, first up the level of K to 100%.

Now you have to decide what kind of Rich Black you want to create. That’s right – there’s no single set value for a Rich Black swatch. You can create a warmer or cooler Rich Black depending on the levels you set for Yellow (warmer) and Cyan (cooler).

Try out these different Rich Black settings to create different subtle tones in your printed result:

• Cool Rich Black: C=60 M=50 Y=40 K=100
• Warm Rich Black: C=40 M=60 Y=60 K=100

Different printers will often have different preferences for processing Rich Black. So if you’re still unsure what to use, just get in touch with your printer and ask after their recommendation for CMYK levels of Rich Black.

3. OK…That’s simple enough. Anything else I should know?

Yes! You should never use the [Registration] swatch provided in the InDesign Swatches panel as a substitute for black.

Why? Because [Registration] is 100% of everything – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key – and will cause a lot of problems for printing if you use it on your finished document.

The [Registration] swatch is only used on Registration Marks, which are visible when you export your InDesign document as a print-ready PDF file.

Stick with a Rich Black, and you’ll be sure to create darkly dramatic, high-contrast print results every time! Look how happy this cat is now that he knows you’ll be able to print text and graphics in a lovely true black color…

Find out more about understanding and working with colour in InDesign and how to prepare your documents for print by adding a Bleed to your print designs.

To discover more handy InDesign tips and tutorials head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Tips: How Do I Print True Black? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How you can use the Info panel in InDesign to conduct a word-count

• How you can find out other information about your InDesign document using the Info panel

1. What is the Info panel?

The Info panel is going to give you a lot of info about your document, unsurprisingly…

…Let’s get the panel opened up. To do this, go to the Window option on the menu bar and select Info from the drop-down menu.

It’s about a third of the way down. Or, you could just tap F8 on the keyboard to open it up.

So here it is – the Info panel.

It’s a tiny little panel but it’s quite powerful, and from this you can do a number of useful tasks to do with text, which can be particularly useful if you’re working with a text-heavy document like a book or a magazine, and you might need to check some details either to pass on to a colleague or to the publisher. 

2. How Do I Use the Info panel?

You can conduct a word-count, a character-count, a paragraph-count and also a line-count from the Info panel.

At the moment, the panel’s looking a bit empty, but that’s because you’ve not got any of the text in the document selected.

Let’s just show you how the Info panel works. To demonstrate, I’m going to navigate to the first page of a magazine document in InDesign (Learn how to create a magazine from scratch with our series of tutorials here).

Select the Type Tool from the Tools panel (or hit T on the keyboard). You can either highlight the text in a text frame, or if you just want to make a count of all the text that’s sat in the text frame, and might be linked to other text frames, you can just simply sit your cursor somewhere in the text in the frame.

So here I click once into the ‘Fresh Autumn Flavors!’ sub-heading, and the Info panel pauses for a moment before the lower half of the panel fills with information about the text in that frame. The Info panel’s telling us that there are 21 characters in this frame, 3 words, 3 lines, and 2 paragraphs.

So that may not be so useful if you’re just looking at a sub-heading, but if we want to find out the word count of a much larger piece of text that can be much more useful.

Now if I take our Type cursor and just highlight all the text in the first column on this page of the magazine document, beginning with the text ‘JO JAN travels to Maine…’, we will just get text counts for the highlighted text only appearing in the Info panel.

In this first column we’ve got about 140 words, and 3 paragraphs.

But if we just place the cursor anywhere in that text frame, or in one of the text frames it’s connected to, we’ll get a full text count for all the text that sits in those linked frames, and it will include text that’s flowing over onto other pages as well. Here we can tell that the article has 837 words, for example. 

Now imagine if you’ve got a scenario where you need to be keeping within a specified word count for a long document, like a book, for example. Just by placing your Type cursor in one of the text frames in the document and opening the Info panel, you’re equipped to find out the total word count of the document instantly (depending on whether all the text frames are successfully threaded to each other).

The Info panel is a useful little InDesign function to be aware of. It can be especially useful when you come to the editing stages of a text-heavy document – it’s good to know that you can retrieve quite a bit of detail about the quantity of text by simply going to Window > Info.

Click to find out more about creating InDesign documents or How to add a bleed to your print designs. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: How to Conduct a Word-Count appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How you can use the Page Tool to create custom page sizes as you work
• How the Liquid Layout function can keep the content of your page proportional
• How Master pages can help you achieve easy-peasy page size changes in your InDesign document

1. Meet your new best friend…the Page Tool

You probably already know how to create a new InDesign document which shares the same page size and orientation throughout. But what happens when you want to resize a single page to, say, provide a pull-out section in the middle of a book? Or you want to rotate a page to allow the viewer to read a single page in landscape, rather than portrait, format?

This is where the Page Tool (Shift + P) comes in handy. The Page Tool (Shift + P) is a really useful little tool that you can find in the Tools panel.

Up near the top of the Tools panel, just the third option down, is the Page Tool. It looks like a white rectangle with a small cursor at the corner. 

Click the Page Tool to activate it. Now, here we have a few pages from this layout for Foodie Magazine, just to demonstrate. Now, let’s say the printer has been in touch with me, and wants the back cover of the magazine to be slightly larger than the inside pages of the magazine. This seems pretty unlikely, unless we were going to be creating a hard-bound cover, but let’s just take this as an example.

With the Page Tool selected I then click onto the back cover page to tell the Page Tool that this is the page we want to resize. Small white extension marks have appeared around the edge of the page.

To resize the page, I need to navigate up to the controls panel running along the top of the workspace. You’ll notice that some new options have appeared. We’ve got some text boxes where we can manually type in a revised Width and/or Height measurement for the page. So you can resize using that method, if you want to create a non-standard size for the page.

To the right of the Height and Width text boxes you can also access a drop-down menu of standard page sizes. So we can adjust the page size to something like A3 or Letter, or we can select a pre-saved Custom Page Size from the options towards the top of the menu if we scroll upwards.

Let’s set a custom Width and Height, adding 2 mm to the size on all sides. So I can type in 214 mm for the Width and 301 mm for the Height.

And we are also given the option to adjust the orientation of the page, from the Landscape and Portrait icons to the right of the standard page size drop-down menu.

And then, when we’re happy with the revised size of the page we can go back to the usual Selection Tool, by clicking the top black cursor in the Tools panel, and begin to reshuffle and resize the content on the page to fit the page’s new dimensions.

2. Hmm…OK…but how do I keep the content on the page proportional?

Well that’s all fine I guess…but isn’t there a more efficient way of reorganising your page’s content once you’ve resized something?

Well, the answer is yes – there’s this nifty feature called Liquid Layout, which arranges the content on the page according to how you resize it, and to what orientation you set the page to.

We can see a very reduced option for applying Liquid Layout from this top control panel, but let’s open up the full Liquid Layout panel, so we can take a really good look. Go to Window > Interactive > Liquid Layout.

You’ll notice that this panel is greyed out whenever we don’t have the Page Tool selected. Keep the Page Tool selected in order to use Liquid Layout.

The default Liquid Layout Rule is called Controlled by Master. That means that whatever Rule has been applied to a Master, will be applied in turn to the page or pages that Master is applied to.

From the Pages panel I can see that this back cover page has a Master called ‘E-Back Cover’ applied to it. So let’s double-click that Master page to bring it up on screen.

When I select the E-Master with the Page Tool, the Liquid Layout panel tells me that the Liquid Layout Rule is set to Off. So this means when I resize any page with the E-Master applied to it, nothing will happen to the content on the page.

But if I return to the Master and adjust the Liquid Layout Rule to Re-center, for example, you’ll see that I can now the content of the page remains centered on the page as I resize.

If I choose Scale as the Liquid Layout Rule for the Master, the content will resize, and scale up or down uniformly, as you resize the page.

Note: If I want to permanently change the size of the page I have to hold down the Alt key while I resize. If I don’t the page will just snap back to size.

Pretty neat. This is particularly useful when you have a lot of carefully prepared content on your page, and you don’t want to lose the proportions. 

And that’s how you resize pages in your InDesign documents using the Page Tool. The rule of thumb is:

• If your page is blank or has very little content, you can just resize using the options available in the Controls Panel at the top of the InDesign Workspace.

• If your page is content-heavy, open the Liquid Layout panel (Window > Interactive > Liquid Layout); set the Rule of the page to Controlled by Master, and adjust the Master’s Liquid Layout Rule to one of the following options: Scale, Re-center, Object-Based, or Guide-Based, depending on how you want your content to adjust on the page that has that Master applied to it. This will keep give you much more control over the arrangement of elements on the page.

Using the Page Tool, and becoming familiar with the Liquid Layout function, in InDesign can really transform the way you approach designing and editing documents. They allow you to be flexible in your work, accommodating changes to page size and orientation without having to rethink the whole layout of the page from scratch.

To find out more about pages and Masters InDesign, check out our detailed look at the Pages panel here. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: How Do I Change the Size of a Page in My Document? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• What the heck is a Bleed??
• When do I need to use a Bleed?
• How do I add a Bleed to my InDesign document?
• How do I export my document, including the Bleed?

1. So…what exactly is a Bleed?

This is a really common question, so don’t worry if you don’t know (or think you know, but aren’t completely sure!).

A Bleed is the area just extending past the edge of the page, past the trim edge. So here in this diagram you can see the edge of the bleed marked out skirting around the outer edge of the page.

A Bleed acts as a margin of error when the document is trimmed, after it’s been printed. So, if you have any content that will cross the edge of the page, such as a coloured background or maybe an image, you should extend it into the bleed to avoid any white lines appearing around the edge of your document. Printers are human after all – trimming errors can happen, and they are just an inevitable part of the print process. This could just be a tiny millimetre-wide margin of error, but if you don’t extend your content into a bleed, it will still be visible.

By including a bleed in your InDesign documents you can help to make your final print product look flawless, and minimise the visibility of any trimming errors.

2. When do I need to use a Bleed?

A Bleed is essential to include if you’re creating any document for print. The rule for applying a bleed in InDesign is as follows:

If you’re creating a single page document you can set a bleed all the way around the document.

But if you’re creating a document with facing pages, that’s going to be bound, like a book, you don’t need to include a bleed on the inside edge. Firstly, because nobody’s going to see it, as the page edge will be sucked into the bind, and second, because if you export the InDesign document as a spread (not as single pages), the bleeds on the inside edges (the inside is the edge of the page that will be bound) will cross onto the opposite page, which is unsightly, like in the example below.

This magazine spread was mistakenly set up with a 5 mm bleed on the Inside Edge, but on exporting the spread as a PDF, it becomes apparent that the content of the inside bleed has spilled onto each opposing page. You can see that the image of the fish has crossed the central page divider, and spilled into the image of the boats.

If you’re creating a document made up of facing pages, that you’re intending to bind, be sure to set the bleed on the Top, Bottom and Outside edges only. We’ll take a look at how you can set up your bleed in InDesign next.

3. Add a Bleed to your InDesign document

It’s best to set up your InDesign document with a bleed before you start working on your document. You can add a bleed later, by going to File > Document Setup, but it can be fiddly as InDesign will only apply your revised settings to the pages you currently have selected.

The best place to start is right at the beginning of the process, in the New Document window. When you go to File > New > Document to create a new InDesign document (or select New > Document from the Welcome window), the option to apply a bleed to your document is down at the bottom of the New Document window, just above Slug.

In this example, I want to create the inside pages for a paperback book. Because the pages are going to be bound in the center of each spread, I won’t need a bleed on the Inside edge.

I type in 3 mm into the Top Bleed text box, then click the chain icon at the far right of the Outside text box to break the uniform values, and get rid of the bleed on the Inside edge, reducing it to 0 mm. Once I’ve set up the rest of my document I can close the panel and create the new document by clicking OK.

4. Export your InDesign document with a Bleed

Once you’ve finished your InDesign artwork and are ready to export it to a print-ready format, you should ensure that your beautiful bleed is exported along with the rest of the document.

The best way to prepare a print-ready file is to export the document as a PDF. Go to File > Export and select Adobe PDF (Print) from the drop-down menu in the Export window.

Click Save.

In the Export Adobe PDF window, under the General options, select [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset drop-down menu.

From the menu on the left-hand side of the window select Marks and Bleeds to open up a new set of options.

Under Marks, check All Printer’s Marks.

To ensure your carefully prepared bleed is included in the final exported file, check Use Document Bleed Settings under Bleed and Slug.

Click Export at the bottom right corner of the window to create your PDF file. Your file will now include your predefined bleed, and is ready to send to the printers.

Adding a bleed to your InDesign documents is essential when creating documents that will be printed professionally. Avoid unsightly trim errors (or even worse a lecture from your disgruntled printer!) by being sure to include a bleed in all your InDesign work. To find out more about setting up documents in InDesign, check out our detailed look at the New Document panel here. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: What is a Bleed and When Do I Use It? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Why packaging your InDesign work is an important step after proofing and Preflight

• How to Package your InDesign file

Why should I package my InDesign files?

If you want to send your InDesign document to a colleague, client or to the printers, you should ‘package’ the file so that all the linked elements in your document are retrieved and contained in a ready-to-send folder.

It’s a common error to send on your unpackaged InDesign file via email, large file transfer or USB. The recipient will be able to open and view the file, but the linked images will flag up as missing in the Links panel. Unless the recipient also has all the relevant fonts installed on their computer, the fonts you carefully applied in your original document will also be listed as missing, and will be replaced with a temporary alternative font in InDesign.

This is frustrating for both you and the recipient and may even result in erroneous changes being made to your document. Let’s look at how you can Package your InDesign work and prevent a headache!

Step 1: Proof and Preflight

I’ve prepared the artwork for a magazine cover, in InDesign, for the next issue of Foodie Magazine. Learn how to design layouts for the magazine with our fun series of tutorials.

I first check the document for errors (check out how to perform a Spell Check on your document here) and perform a Preflight (Window > Output > Preflight); then save the file (File > Save) once I’m happy.

Then I go up to File > Package.

Step 2: Check for Errors

The Package options window opens. To the left of the window there is a list of options.

Navigate down through the options and check the box that says Show Problems Only for each option. So here, under Fonts we have no problems. Great!

But here, under Links and Images two images are flagged up as using an RGB colour space (not CMYK, which would be better suited for print).

However, this isn’t a problem as the InDesign file will eventually be exported to a print PDF for printing, and all RGB colour will be converted to CMYK. So let’s not take any action on that; and go ahead and click the Package button.

Step 3: Save and Navigate to Your Packaged File

Click OK and select an appropriate place to save the packaged file.

InDesign will package your file in your chosen location. Navigate to the location and you can see that InDesign has placed a copy of the InDesign (.indd) file in the folder, alongside folders for Links and Document Fonts, and a copy of your entered Instructions.

You can share your packaged folder straight away via USB or Hard Drive; or you can compress the file (e.g. in ZIP format) to send over email or large file transfer.

Great work! Your recipient will be thrilled!

Packaging files is a simple and essential skill that will help to preserve your InDesign work as you intended, no matter how many individuals you share your file with. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Why Package Your InDesign Files? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How to create Character Styles and Paragraph Styles

• How to create Object Styles

• How to apply your saved Styles to elements in your InDesign document

Step 1: Find and Open the Styles panels

You can find all the Styles panels by going to Window > Styles. Here you’ll find five options for applying styles to different elements. When you open a particular Style panel, you’ll notice that they group with other related Style windows.

Character Styles and Paragraph Styles can both be applied to text. A Character Style remembers formatting for single characters, words or phrases. A Paragraph Style will remember the formatting applied to a whole paragraph (a section of text separated from other text by line breaks).

Table, Table Styles and Cell Styles are grouped together in one panel.

Object Styles has its own panel (Window > Styles > Object Styles). You can apply an Object Style to graphics, shapes and frames.

Step 2: Create and Apply a Character Style

Once you’ve formatted a letter, word or phrase, you can save your edits as a Character Style, to apply to other parts of your text with ease. In this example, for a magazine layout, I have set the first word of a short extract in a decorative font, LeckerliOne Regular, and set the size to 32 pt and the colour to a dark red CMYK swatch. The text is also aligned center.

Open the Character Styles panel (Window > Styles > Character Styles). Highlight the relevant text and either click on the small square icon at the bottom right of the panel (Create new style) or select New Character Style from the panel’s drop-down menu.

The New Character Style window opens. You can give the style a recognisable name, and scroll through the formatting options from the left-hand menu; editing them further if you want to.

Click OK and the Style appears in the Character Styles panel. Highlight individual letters, words or phrases in the text of your document and simply click on the Style’s name in the panel to apply it.

Step 3: Create and Apply a Paragraph Style

To create a Paragraph Style, first format a single paragraph of text. You can apply a Drop Cap and Indents, as well as Font, Size, Weight, Leading, Tracking and Alignment.

You can then either place your cursor somewhere in the paragraph or highlight the paragraph before selecting New Paragraph Style from the Paragraph Styles (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles) panel’s drop-down menu.

You’ll notice there are two sets of menus running along the left-hand side of the panel. The top menu lists the formatting attributes already applied to the text, but you can add further attributes from the bottom menu. Check the Preview box to see your edits as you go.

You can also create a Nested Style by selecting Drop Cap and Nested Styles from the left-hand menu. This allows you to ‘nest’ a Character Style within the Paragraph Style, allowing you to define more specific formatting rules for some characters in the paragraph.

When you’re happy with the settings you’ve defined for the Style and given the Style a name, back under the General options, click OK.

You can apply the Style to a paragraph by resting your cursor in a paragraph of text and clicking the name of the Style in the Paragraph Styles panel.

Step 4: Create and Apply an Object Style

You can apply an Object Style to graphics, shapes and frames. Formatting attributes like Fill, Stroke (colour and weight), gradients and transparencies, as well as text wrap settings, can be saved as an Object Style and applied to objects. Open the Object Styles panel by going to Window > Styles > Object Styles.

As an example, this polygon, with a solid white Fill and a decorative dark red Stroke, is being used as a background shape for a magazine layout (the text frame is separate from the polygon, and layered on top).

Select just the shape alone (you can also copy formatting from a text or image frame) and select New Object Style from the drop-down menu in the Object Styles panel.

In the window that opens give the Style a name, here I’ve named the Style ‘Magazine – Polygon’.

The top left-hand menu lists attributes already applied to the shape, but you can add extra attributes from the bottom left-hand menu, such as transparency, drop shadow, bevel etc.

Once you’re happy with the formatting, click OK to add the Style to the Object Styles panel.

You can then apply the Object Style to other objects (frames, shapes) in your document. Click to select the shape you want to edit, then click once on the name of the Object Style in the Object Style panel.

In this example, you can see how the Style applies all the formatting characteristics of the original shape, such as the Fill Colour, Stroke Colour, Stroke Weight and Stroke Type, to this shape created using the Ellipse Tool (L), but the Style doesn’t alter the original shape of the shape/frame.

Get in the habit of using Styles and see your InDesign documents become more polished and the time spent formatting your designs cut dramatically. Build on your knowledge and develop more InDesign skills using our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: The Beginner’s Guide to InDesign Styles appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Learn how to thread text across text frames

• Cut or Delete unwanted text frames

• Learn how to troubleshoot problems, including overset text, using the Story Editor and Info panel

Step 1: Thread Text Across Frames

Once you have created a text frame and inserted text into it you may find there is too much text to sit in the frame without overflowing. You will see a small red + symbol at the bottom right-hand corner of the text frame.

The first thing to do is to set up a series of text frames to allow the text to flow into. Select the Type Tool (T) and drag to create new frames across the page(s) of your document.

Return to the first text frame and click once on the + symbol to load the cursor with text. A tiny script symbol will appear next to your cursor.

Hover over the next text frame and click once inside it. The text will flow into the frame. Continue this process until all your text is contained within text frames.

A green No errors notice will appear at the bottom left of the screen (from the Preflight panel) once all the text is visible in the document.

To view how the text frames are connected go to View > Extras > Show Text Threads.

In Normal Mode (View > Screen Mode > Normal, or tap W on the keyboard), when you select a text frame, you will see the Threads connecting the frames, showing how the text is ordered throughout the document.

If you have loaded your cursor with text, but have no text frame prepared to flow the text into, you can click anywhere on the page. InDesign will create a text frame automatically, and channel the text into it. You can then choose to resize the text frame.

Step 2: Delete or Cut Threaded Frames

You may want to delete or cut a text frame from a threaded sequence.

To cut (and optionally paste elsewhere, complete with a copy of the text from that point forward), select the text frame(s) with the Selection Tool (V, Escape) and go to Edit > Cut.

To delete, simply select, as above, and hit the Backspace or Delete key.

Step 3: Help! My Text Has Disappeared!

Sometimes you might encounter problems with threaded text. For example, if you have received a third party InDesign file which includes some text that you know is in the document (or should be) but may not be showing up on screen.

To check the text is definitely there in the document, go to Edit > Edit in Story Editor. The Story Editor function allows you to view all the text content in the document, regardless of whether it’s overflowing any text frames, or is set in an invisible color or opacity. It will also highlight any problems, such as if any of the text is overset (overflowing the text frames).

You can also open the Info panel (Window > Info) to view how much text is overset. This is shown next to the number of Words, indicated by a + sign.

So in the document example here, we have 308 words, plus an additional 141 words which are not visible as they are overflowing a text frame.

If you’re concerned about missing any incidents of overset text, particularly in you’re working with a long document, don’t be!

When you go to Export or Package your InDesign file, ready for print or for handing over to a colleague or client, InDesign will flag up a Warning window, notifying you if you have any overset text, and on which page(s) the error occurs.

Simply click Cancel to return to your document; navigate to the indicated pages to rectify the problem.

Next step, find out how to wrap text around images. You can develop more basic skills from our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: ‘Threading’ Text appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Learn how to Place images into your InDesign document

• Learn how to Link images, and rectify Missing Links using the Links and Preflight panels

Step 1: Understanding How Images Work in InDesign

The first key rule to remember is that images are Placed and Linked in InDesign. They are not embedded, as you might do with a Word Document or in Photoshop.

When you Place an image, InDesign remembers the Link to that image’s location in the relevant folder on your computer. This means you can work quickly and efficiently without dealing with a large quantity of heavy images slowing down your workflow. If you move an image to another location on your computer, i.e. another folder or drive, InDesign will be unable to locate the image and will flag up a warning in the Preflight panel (Window > Output > Preflight).

You can also spot an error relating to an image, which is missing or has been edited since you placed it, from the Links panel (Window > Links).

You can insert an image into an InDesign document by going to File > Place.

Step 2: Working with Frames

The second rule of images in InDesign is to remember that InDesign places images within a Frame. Whether you prepare a frame before placing the image, or you place the image straight into the document (File > Place) InDesign will contain the image within a four-sided frame by default.

You can choose from three Frame Shapes in the Tools panel (Window > Tools), Rectangle (F), Ellipse and Polygon. These are marked out as different to the Shape Tools by a x shape running through the centre of them.

Select a Frame Tool, and click and drag to create a frame (hold Shift to create a perfect shape).

With the frame selected, go to File > Place and select an image. Click Open.

You can arrange the image in the frame by double-clicking to select the image itself within the frame (it will be marked by a brown line around the edges) and holding Shift while readjusting.

Or you can choose from the options available to you in the control panel which appears at the top of the screen. Fill Frame Proportionally is usually a good option to pick; InDesign will resize the image to the size of the frame, and center the content.

You can resize the frame of an image with ease at any time, simply by moving the edges of the frame using the Selection Tool (V, Escape).

However, you will notice that this won’t have any effect on the size or location of the image itself. To select the image directly, double-click on the frame. A brown line will appear around the image, and a small hand icon will also appear, indicating that the image itself is selected.

You can adjust the size of the image, its position in the frame and you can also Rotate it manually or by performing the action Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac OS) > Transform.

Step 3: Help! I’ve got an Error in my Preflight panel!

After inserting images, you can go to Window > Links to view the Links Panel and deal with any images that might be missing or images that have been edited since you placed the original file.

These will be flagged up with a ? (which indicates a missing file) or ! (which indicates a changed file) symbol.

Click on the name in the panel to select the missing image and select the chain-link icon at the bottom of the panel to locate the missing image on your computer.

You will notice that the same ‘chain link’ icon appears at the top left corner of an image frame when the image is successfully linked. Likewise, a ? or ! symbol will appear next to the image frame if the link is broken.

To find out about wrapping text around images, try reading this article. You can develop more basic skills from our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Working with Images appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Learn how to Place text into your InDesign document

• Learn how to preserve the format of your source text

Option A: The Simple Methods for Inserting Text

There are three principle methods to insert text into your InDesign document, each of which have their advantages and drawbacks. (For help setting up an InDesign document, read this quick tutorial first.)

For each method, you should first prepare a text frame, or series of text frames for the text to be entered into, using the Type Tool (T). You can prepare a series of text frames, and thread them together before you insert any text.

The simplest two methods for inserting text are:

• To type text directly into the document (which can be manageable for short headings, titles and captions, but is a time-consuming method).

• To copy text from your source document and Edit > Paste the text into your InDesign document (which will not carry over any text formatting that may have been applied to the source document).

This shows an original source file created in Microsoft Word, and is the opening chapter of the classic novel, Alice in Wonderland. Some text formatting, such as font choice, font size, first-line indents and text alignment have been applied to the document.

If we simply copy and paste the content from the Pages document into our InDesign document, the formatting will be lost, only the paragraph structure of the chapter will be maintained. The text will adapt to the default style that has been applied to the InDesign text frame.

This method potentially gives you more control over the formatting of the text, but you have to define Styles etc in InDesign, and this can be time-consuming.

Option B: Import Text from a Word-Processing Application

A third option for inserting large quantities of text is:

• to import the text from an existing source file, like a Word or Pages document, by using the Place function (this can maintain the formatting of the original document).

This is the preferred method used by InDesign professionals when dealing with long documents, such as books, reports or catalogues.

Before you place the source file, you should be sure to clean the file of any potential ‘junk’ that might disrupt the import of the text. In your word-processing software, you should choose to Accept All Changes if the document has a number of tracked changes or notes.

In InDesign, ensure you have a text frame, or a series of threaded text frames, prepared on your document.

Then click away from the frames, onto the pasteboard. Go to File > Place.

Navigate to your source file and check Show Import Options at the bottom of the window. Click Open. The Import Options window will appear, allowing you to select which parts of the text you want to import. You can choose whether to import contents, index, footnotes and endnotes, and you can also tell InDesign how to manage formatting.

You can check the box next to Remove Styles and Formatting from Text and Tables to just import the text without any of the formatting applied to it in the source file. This can be a good way of managing the text, as it gives you more direct control over the formatting of the text going forward in InDesign.

The second option is to keep Preserve Styles and Formatting from Text and Tables checked to keep your existing formatting.

Click OK.

Your cursor will load with a symbol showing the first few lines of the text. Hover over the first text frame and click once. The text will flow into the frame and into any other text frames the first frame is threaded to.

You may get a warning window flashing up detailing any compatibility issues. A common issue , for example, might be a missing font. You can choose to Find Font, and pick a replacement, or just click OK. All text set in a missing font will be highlighted in the Normal Screen Mode.

A final option for placing text from a source file is to check Customize Style Import, at the bottom of the Import Options window. This option is only viable if you are sure that styles have been set up correctly in the source file.

Click on Style Mapping to the right of the check box. This function allows you to assign pre-existing InDesign styles to match the styles in your source file.

Once you have assigned styles, click OK. Then click OK again in the Import Options window.

Click once in the first text frame. Your text flows into the document, formatted according to your instructions.

Explore more beginner-level InDesign tutorials here.

The post InDesign Basics: Importing Text from a Word Document appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Learn about the InDesign Workspace

• Understand Master pages

• Learn how to navigate through your InDesign document using the Pages panel

Step 1: Locate/Open the Pages panel

When you click the OK button in the New Document window, InDesign creates a blank document set up to your specifications. If you’re used to working in a single-page programme, like Illustrator or Photoshop, or even a word-processing programme, like Microsoft Word or Pages, the way that documents are laid out and navigated through in InDesign can seem quite different and may not be immediately intuitive.

Unless you have set your Preferences to open a pre-defined Workspace, InDesign will open the workspace (the collection and arrangement of panels) in Essentials mode. You can view this, or alter the workspace to suit your specific purposes, from the top right of the control panel running along the top of your screen.

One of the most important, and useful, panels in InDesign is the Pages panel. This will open by default, or you can find it in the Window menu (Window > Pages). You will see that the panel is actually a group of three panels: Pages, Layers and Links.

The Layers panel allows you to manage layers in your document, just as you would in Photoshop or Illustrator. You can choose to View or Hide layers, and Lock or Unlock them, by clicking in the two square spaces to the left of the layer’s name in the panel.

The Links panel keeps track of the images you have placed into your document, and to which folders on your computer they are located (‘linked’ to).

Step 2: Managing Masters from the Pages panel

For now, let’s look more closely at the Pages panel. At the top of the panel you’ll see a section with two default Master pages, one single page named [None], and a second, a two-page spread, named A-Master.

To edit the A-Master, double-click the page icon in the panel to bring it up on screen. You can place elements on a Master page, and these will be applied in turn to all pages in the document that have that Master applied to them.

A letter, e.g. ‘A’, will appear at the top right corner of the relevant page icon in the panel, indicating which Master is being applied to that page. By default, all pages in your new document will have the A-Master applied to them.

To apply [None] (i.e. no Master) or a Master (e.g. A-Master) to a page, simply click and drag the Master’s page icon and drop onto a page in the lower section of the Pages panel.

To create a new Master, navigate to the drop-down menu accessible at the top-right of the Pages panel, and select New Master. In the New Master window you can give the Master a Prefix, a Name, and state whether it should be based on an existing Master (i.e. pick up the elements on that Master, and update the new Master accordingly, if you make changes to the original Master.)

Step 3: Navigating and Editing using the Pages panel

The lower half of the Pages panel shows the actual pages making up the document. When you print the document, only these pages will be printed, not the Master pages.

If you checked Facing Pages in the New Document window, the document will always begin on a right-hand page, whether you have an odd or even number of pages. This mimics the layout of a spread-based document, like a book or magazine.

The first page, unless otherwise specified, will be Page 1. You can navigate through your document by double-clicking on the page icons in the panel. The page which is currently up on screen will be highlighted in the panel.

To create a new page, which will be added after the page that is currently selected, click the Create New Page icon at the bottom right of the Pages panel. To delete a page, click the relevant page icon in the panel, and then click the trash-can icon at the bottom right corner of the panel.

Explore more super quick InDesign tutorials like this.

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• Learn how to apply Page Numbers to Master Pages

• Divide your document into Sections, which is appropriate if you’re creating a longer document, such as a book or report

Step 1: Apply Page Numbers to a Master Page

Inserting page numbers into your InDesign document is quick and simple. The first thing to realise is that InDesign numbers pages according to the page numbers listed in the Pages Panel (Window > Pages). Unless you want to spend the time manually inserting individual page numbers to override this, you should understand how to define sections in your document (see Step 2, below).

For now though, let’s assume you have a document with just one uniform section, going from Page 1, the first page of the document, to Page x, the last page of the document.

Here, I set up a 16-page document, with Facing Pages. In the Pages Panel, this is what the document will look like:

First things first, double-click on the default A-Master page icon in the top section of the Pages Panel. This brings up the Master page spread on screen. Remember, everything we place on the A-Master spread will be applied to the pages which have that Master applied to them. To refamiliarise yourself with Masters, click here.

Because this document has facing pages, we want to insert page numbers on both the left and right pages. For now, navigate to the bottom-left corner of the left-hand page by zooming in (Ctrl + [Windows] or Cmd + [Mac]). Select the Type Tool (T) from the Tools Panel (Window > Tools) and drag to create a small text frame, resting the top of the frame against the margin.

Set the text orientation to Align Left from the Character Formatting Controls panel running along the top of the screen. You can also set the formatting of the page number at this stage, such as Font, Size and Colour.

Then go to Type in the menu running along the top of the screen and select Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. An A Marker will be dropped into the text frame. This will adjust to the relevant page number on each page in your document.

Select the text frame with the Selection Tool (V, Escape) and go to Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste. Manoeuvre this second text frame onto the right-hand page in a mirrored position. InDesign will provide pop-up guidelines once the text frame lines up exactly with the frame on the left-hand page. Once your happy with the positioning, select the Type Tool (T) and adjust the orientation of the text to Align Right from the Character Formatting Controls panel, as before.

And you’re done! The page markers on the Master will be applied to every page that has the Master applied to it.

To apply the Master to a page, click and drag the A-Master page icon and drop onto the relevant page icon in the Pages Panel.

Step 2: Create Sections in your InDesign document

Larger documents like books and reports may benefit from being split up into sections. In this example we’ll create two simple sections for a short book. Section I will consist of introductory pages and be set in roman numerals, i – vi. Section II will be made up of the main pages of the book, set in standard numbers, from 1 – 10.

If you created the document example in the first step, above, use this same document if you’d like to create your own example document in InDesign.

This is how our document looks. It’s 16 pages long and has page numbers applied to it, as in Step 1, throughout. You can see that the main text of the book starts on Page 7 of the document, and that the page number marker has adjusted accordingly to mark this as 7. But we want this to be numbered as 1 in the book instead. So, let’s discover how to do just that.

Firstly, select the page icon of the first page in the document in the Pages Panel (Window > Pages). Then navigate to the drop-down menu in the Pages Panel, which you can find at the top-right corner of the panel.

Select Numbering & Section Options... to open the Numbering & Section Options window.

Here, you’re presented with a range of options which affect the way your document is numbered and organised. For now, check the option Start Page Numbering at, overriding Automatic Numbering. Then navigate down to the Style drop-down menu and select i, ii, iii, iv… from the options available. Click OK.

All the pages in your document will now be set in Roman Numerals.

Now, select the relevant page icon in the Pages Panel which represents the page you want to set as the first page of the second section of your document. In this example, this is Page 7 (which is currently numbered as vii). As before, go to the drop-down menu in the Pages Panel and select Numbering & Section Options… to open the Numbering & Section Options window. Again, check Start Page Numbering at, and from the Style drop-down menu select 1, 2, 3, 4… from the options available. Click OK.

A new section, beginning on page 7 of the document but numbered as 1, has been created.

Great work!

TIP: If you want to remove page numbers from some pages in your document, e.g. a title page or a blank page, click and drag the [None] Master page icon from the Pages Panel and drop onto the relevant page icon(s) in the lower part of the Pages Panel.

Develop more skills from our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Insert Page Numbers and Create Sections appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Become familiar with the Text Wrap Panel

• Apply different types of Text Wrap to a shape or frame

Step 1: Create a Frame or Shape and run Text behind them

The easiest way to set up your document for text-wrapping is to position your text frame(s) behind the image frame or shape you want to apply the text wrap effect to. This means you can easily select your frame/shape.

In this example, I have created two columns of text using the Type Tool (T), threading the text between them by clicking once on the bottom right corner of the left-hand column, then once again in the right-hand column.

Then I selected the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) and dragged to create an image frame, before going to File > Place > Open to place an image in the frame. I selected the Ellipse Frame Tool and, holding down Shift, dragged to create a perfect circular frame before placing a second image in this new frame.

Step 2: Open the Text Wrap Panel

Select the image frame or shape and go to Window > Text Wrap to open the Text Wrap Panel.

Across the top of the panel there are five icons, each of which indicate a different way of applying the text wrap. The icon to the far left, selected by default, has No Text Wrap applied to your frame/shape. Click on the second icon along from the left to apply a wrap around the Bounding Box of the frame/shape.

You can adjust the Offset values to increase or decrease the distance between the text and the edge of your frame/shape.

You can also adjust the direction of the wrap from the Wrap Options drop-down menu.

Experiment with different ways of applying a wrap using the icons in the Text Wrap Panel. You can wrap text around an Object’s Shape to give a more closely fitted appearance to the wrap. This can work particularly well with outlined text (Type > Create Outlines), which gives a dramatic typographic effect.

Read for more, check out our whole range of quick InDesign tutorials for beginners.

The post InDesign Basics: Wrap Text around Shapes and Images appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Understand how Gradients work in InDesign

• Become familiar with the Effects Window

• Apply Gradient and Feather Effects

Step 1: Create a Frame or Shape

In order to apply a Gradient in InDesign, you must create a frame or shape to apply the effect to.

To create an image frame:

Select the Rectangle (F), Ellipse or Polygon Frame Tool from the Tools Panel (Window > Tools) and drag to create a frame on the page. Go to File > Place > Open to insert an image.

To create a shape:

Select the Rectangle (M), Ellipse (L) or Polygon Tool from the Tools Panel (Window > Tools) and drag to create a shape on the page. Fill the shape with color to be able to see a gradient effect once applied.

Step 2: Open the Effects Window and Apply a Gradient Feather

Select your shape or frame with the Selection Tool (V, Escape) and then go to the top menu. Object > Effects > Gradient Feather… opens the Effects window.

Gradient Feather applies an easy to adjust Linear or Radial gradient to your shape or frame. Adjust the gradient to Radial from the Type drop-down menu. You can adjust the extent of the gradient using the Gradient Stops slider, and choose to flip the direction of the gradient by selecting the Reverse Gradient icon to the right of the slider.

You can also adjust the Opacity and Angle of the gradient.

Once you’re happy with the result, click OK.

Step 3: Apply a Basic Feather

On the left-hand side of the Effects window you will notice a list of possible effects you can apply to your shape or frame. Two places above the Gradient Feather effect is Basic Feather. Click on Basic Feather to open the options for this effect.

Basic Feather applies a uniform, more subtle gradient around the edges of your shape or frame, with a defined boundary. You can adjust the Feather Width, Choke (which effects how diffused the edges appear), the appearance of the Corners and the amount of Noise (grainy appearance) from the Effects window.

When you’re pleased with the look, click OK.

Step 4: Apply a Directional Feather

There is a third gradient effect you can apply to your shape or frame from the Effects window. This is the Directional Feather effect, which sits between the Basic Feather and Gradient Feather options. Click on Directional Feather to adjust the options for this effect.

Directional Feather gives a uniform gradient effect with a sharper appearance. As with the Basic Feather, you can adjust the Feather Width, Choke and Noise, but you can also give the effect more direction, by adjusting the Shape, giving the fill of the frame or shape a jaunty appearance.

When you’re happy with the effect, click OK.

You can remove a gradient or feather effect by navigating back to the Effects window (Object > Effects > click on one of the Feather or Gradient options) and unchecking the check box next to the name of the effect.

Can’t wait to learn more? Check out all our InDesign tutorials.

The post InDesign Basics: Gradients in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How to set suitable Page Sizes and Margins for Paperback and Hardback books
• How to create simple Master Pages for maintaining consistency throughout your book
• How to define Page Numbering Sections
• This tutorial covers how to create the inside pages of a book. Check back soon for a Book Cover Template tutorial.

Step 1: Creating a Book File

First things first – how does InDesign help you to create a book? Before you go to create a New Document in InDesign, you should know that InDesign offers you a really useful feature for creating long book documents – these are called Book Files.

A Book File is a collection of documents grouped together to form a whole book. You can share Styles across the documents within the Book and the Numbering Sequence will continue from one document to the next. You can also make edits to your book more quickly and easily when you work from a Book File. Instead of opening a single large file with a high number of pages, you can simply bring up the section or chapter you would like to edit.

Note: In this tutorial we are creating a book for print. For producing digital and eBooks, check back soon for more tutorials.

Let’s start by creating our own Book File. Open InDesign. From the Welcome Window, select Book from the Create New list. You can also go to File > New > Book. You’ll be prompted to give the Book a Name and to Save it. Find a suitable name and location, then click OK.

A small window will appear, which is currently empty. You’ll notice when you click the + icon that InDesign wants you to add an existing InDesign document to the Book.

The next step is to create your first Chapter or Section, which we’ll then add to the Book File…

Step 2: Creating your first Document

First, decide how your book will be divided up. If it’s a long book, you may have split the text into Chapters. If it’s very long, you may have Sections, with Chapters sitting within them.

Your first task is to create a document which will feature the formatting Styles you will be using across the whole book. A good place to start is with the first chapter of your book. Save your introductory pages to do afterwards, as they will have some unique formatting atypical to the chapters in the book.

For a Standard Paperback:

(United States ‘B’ Format – 130mm x 198mm [5.12″ x 7.8″]).

Go to File > New Document to open the New Document Window.  Ensure the Intent is set to Print. Set the No. of Pages to 10 (you may know the number of pages your text will probably fill, but you can easily add or delete extra pages as you go) and keep Facing Pages checked.

Next up, set the Print Size by selecting Custom… from the drop-down menu. In the Custom Page Size window type a Name for your custom page size, such as B – Paperback. Set the Width to 130 mm and the Height to 198 mm, click Add to save it to the custom list (this means you can reuse this Size template for future documents by simply selecting it from the Custom menu), and then OK.

Back in the New Document window, we can set the Margins and the Bleed (to find out more about the basics of creating New Documents, click here).

If you look at an example of a Paperback book, you’ll notice that the Inside Margin (i.e. the margin which sits against the bind of the book) will be a little more generous than the Outside Margin. This is to allow for a few millimeters of the page to be sucked into the binding and the fold created by the binding. For a glue-bound (otherwise know as ‘perfect bound’) Paperback, whatever the page size, allow an extra 3 mm on the Inside Margin.

Set the Margins to: Top 15 mm, Bottom 20 mm, Inside 18 mm, Outside 15 mm.

Include a Bleed if you will have any pages in the book with content that will cross the edge of the page (e.g. colored pages, or images that extend across the edge of the page). If you’re producing a standard typeset paperback on white paper, you might not need one.

Set the Bleed to: Top 5 mm, Bottom 5 mm, Inside 0 mm, Outside 5 mm. You won’t need a Bleed on the Inside edge. And click OK.

For a Standard Hardback:

Hardcover sizes vary widely, the dimensions stated here are common for printing hardcover novels.

Go to File > New Document to open the New Document Window.  Ensure the Intent is set to Print. Set the No. of Pages to 10 and keep Facing Pages checked.

Next up, set the Print Size by selecting Custom… from the drop-down menu. In the Custom Page Size window type a Name for your custom page size, such as Hardback Novel. Set the Width to 151 mm and the Height to 233 mm, click Add to save it to the custom list, and then OK.

In the New Document window, let’s set the Margins and the Bleed.

If you look at an example of a Hardback book, you’ll notice that the Inside Margin will be more generous than the Outside Margin, even more so than a Paperback if the hardback has Stitch Binding. For a glue-bound (perfect bound) Hardback, whatever the page size, allow an extra 5 mm on the Inside Margin. For a stitch-bound hardback, you may need a little extra added to the Inside Margin; check with your printer before you set up your document.

Set the Margins to: Top 23 mm, Bottom 25 mm, Inside 25 mm, Outside 20 mm.

Include a Bleed if you will have any pages in the book with content that will cross the edge of the page (e.g. colored pages, or images that extend across the edge of the page). If you’re producing a standard typeset hardback on white paper, you might not need one.

Set the Bleed to: Top 5 mm, Bottom 5 mm, Inside 0 mm, Outside 5 mm. You won’t need a Bleed on the Inside edge. Click OK.

Step 3: Creating a simple set of Master Pages for your book

Now you have set up the first document for your book, you should create a set of Master Pages to carry common features (such as page numbers and page headers) across all the pages. Here we’ll be working using the Paperback document we set up earlier, in Step 2, but you can follow the same steps for a Hardback as well.

Open the Pages Panel by going to Window > Pages in the top menu bar. You’ll notice at the top of the Pages Panel there is a marked-off section, with a default Master spread, A-Master. Double-click on the double-page icon on the right-hand side of the Panel to bring up the A-Master on screen.

Now click in the top-right corner of the Pages Panel, to bring up a drop-down menu. Select Master Options for A-Master… to open an options window for the Master. Rename the Master as Start of Chapter – Master and click OK.

This will be the Master spread applied to all pages which begin a chapter, i.e. the text will start halfway down the page and there will be a prominent chapter title.

We will also need to create a second Master spread, for applying to all pages in the body of chapters, i.e. simple text-filled pages with page numbers and a running header at the top of each page. To do this, click once again in the top-right of the Pages Panel to open the drop-down menu. Select New Master…

In the New Master window that appears, set the Prefix to B and name the Master Body – Master. Click OK.

Now you can edit the Masters and then apply them to the relevant pages.

On the Start of Chapter – Master you can insert page numbers at the bottom of each page. Create a text frame using the Type Tool (T) and stretch it centrally across the margins of the left-hand page. Set your desired Font (here I’ve used Fournier Std), Size and a Centered Orientation (using the options available to you in the Character Formatting Panel). Then go to Type > Insert Special Characters > Markers > Current Page Number to drop in a flexible page number glyph. This will appear as A on the Master but will adapt to the given page number on the pages themselves.

TIP: You can also flank the page number with decorative glyphs (Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs to view the full selection available to you in your chosen font) to add an extra flourish.

With your page number text frame selected, go to Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste to create a second page number frame. Manouver this into a mirrored position on the right-hand page.

You may also want to mark out where you would like the Chapter Titles to sit on the page. You can pull down Guides from the top Ruler (View > Show Rulers) onto the Master to mark where a text frame should sit. This makes it extra easy to ensure you’re always placing chapter titles in the same place each time:

To apply the Start of Chapter – Master to the first page in your document, simply click and drag the right-hand page of the Master icon in the Pages Panel, dropping it on top of the Page 1 icon in the section of the panel below.

Once you’ve done that, return to the Start of Chapter – Master and select both the page number text frames at the bottom of the page. Edit > Copy and double-click the Body – Master in the Pages Panel to bring up your second Master, then simply Edit > Paste in Place to drop the page number frames onto the Master.

You may want to insert Running Headers along the top of your pages too. To do this, remain on the Start of Chapter – Master and introduce two new text frames using the Type Tool (T). Place these, with matching formatting to your page numbers, at the top of the left and right pages of the Master, as shown below. You can type the name of the book in the left frame, and the chapter number in the right frame.

To apply this Master to the remaining 9 pages in your document, you can either manually drag and drop the Master icon onto pages in the Pages Panel, or click in the top-right of the panel to open the drop-down menu, select Apply Master to Pages… and type in the page range you would like the Master to be applied to.

Step 4: A Brief Note on Numbering and Sections

You may want a very simple numbering arrangement for your book – the first page of the book will be Page 1 and so on. But you may want to have Sections, each with their own numbering system. A common example of this is a book with the introductory pages listed in Roman Numerals, with Page 1 only beginning from the first page of the first chapter.

We’ll set up an example here with our paperback document. Say we wanted to start a new section on Page 5 of the document, and number the first four pages in Roman Numerals…

In the Pages Panel, click the Page 1 icon to select it, then click on the right-hand corner of the panel to bring up the drop-down menu. Select Numbering & Section Options… to open a new window. Check the Start Page Numbering at: box, keeping the value as 1. Next to Style, pick i, ii, iii, iv… from the drop-down menu. Then click OK. The whole document has been renumbered in Roman Numerals.

Now click on the Page 5 icon in the Pages Panel. Again, bring up the Numbering & Section Options… window, and again check the Start Page Numbering at: box, keeping the value, as before, as 1. This time, for Style, select the 1, 2, 3, 4… option and click OK.

And there you have it! An easy way of creating new sections. Simply repeat the process above to create more new sections throughout your book.

Step 5: Adding Documents to your Book File

Now you’ve created your first Chapter in your book, you can add this to your Book File (see Step 1).

If the Book File isn’t already open, go to File > Open and navigate to the folder where it is saved. Open as you would a normal document file. Click the + icon in the window that appears; you will be prompted to navigate to an InDesign document. First, ensure you have saved your document with a suitable name, such as Chapter One. Then navigate to the document as prompted and click Open.

You’ve created a simple book template in hardly any time at all! Well done!

Now you can add more documents to your Book File (you don’t need to complete each document before you add it, just set it to the same size and Copy and Paste the Masters across to each new document).

The post InDesign Basics: Creating a Book appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How to use the Info Panel to conduct a super quick and simple Word-Count
• This tutorial covers word-counting in InDesign. See here to learn how to spell-check your document.

Step 1: Open the Info Panel

Go to Window > Info to open the Info Panel.

Step 2: Conduct a Word-Count

To count words in a select area of text, highlight the text and see the Character, Word, Line and Paragraph counts appear in the Info Panel.

To count words in a whole story, stretching across a large number of text frames, click your cursor into one of the text frames, and see the relevant info appear in the Panel.

The post InDesign Basics: Word-Count your InDesign Document appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How to set Spelling Preferences
• Check spelling in your document
• This tutorial covers spell-checking in InDesign. See here to learn how to word count.

Step 1: Set your Spelling Preferences

You can set Spelling Preferences before you begin working on a document, while you’re working, or once the document is complete. To ensure all future documents observe the same spelling rules, be sure to set your Preferences before you begin.

Go to Edit > Preferences > Spelling (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Spelling (Mac OS) in the top menu to open the Preferences window.

You can tell InDesign to note any Misspellings (in accordance with your chosen Language Dictionary [Preferences > Dictionary]), Repeated Words, Uncapitalised Words and Uncapitalised Sentences.

You can also choose to enable Dynamic Spelling, which underlines potential spelling mistakes as you work.

Step 2: Locate and Correct Spelling Errors

Go to Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling to view highlighted errors. The Check Spelling window will give you possible corrections for each error, and invite you to Change or Skip them. When you’re finished, click Done.

The post InDesign Basics: Spell-Check your InDesign Document appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Learn how to create a New Document in InDesign

• Become familiar with the New Document Window

• Set Margins and Columns

• Understand Bleed and Slug

• Create Custom Page Sizes

Step 1: Overview of the New Document Window

Let’s get started. Open InDesign. From the Welcome Window, select Document from the Create New list.

The New Document Window opens on screen. This image shows everything you need to address before clicking that OK button…

There’s quite a lot going on here, but it’s really important that you set all your values correctly before creating your Document. It will be much more fiddly to make changes afterwards.

Let’s break it down bit by bit…

Step 2: Set the Intent of your Document

The first thing to tell InDesign is what your final document is intended for, i.e. is it for Print (e.g. a magazine, book, brochure, poster etc), Web (e.g. a website banner) or for Digital Publishing (e.g. a digital eBook designed for tablets or smart devices)? InDesign will be prompted to bring up recommended Page Sizes depending on your choice, and also set the Units and Increments of your document (e.g. Millimeters for Print, or Pixels for Web/Digital).

Click once on the default ‘Print’ value next to Intent to bring up a drop-down menu. Click on the three different Intent options and see how the rest of the New Document Window adapts accordingly. If you keep ‘Print’ as your Intent, you are offered a number of pre-loaded, standard Page Sizes in the drop-down Page Size Menu, and all Units will be in Millimeters.

You can see that InDesign has some preloaded Page Sizes ready to use, such as US Business Card, Letter, as well as European A5, A4, A3 etc. You can choose a preloaded size or create a Custom Page Size. Let’s keep the Intent as Print, and create a Custom Size for a paperback Book as an example…

Step 3: Set the Page Size of your Document

From the Page Size drop-down menu select Custom… (the last option) to open the Custom Page Size window.

You can set the Width and Height of each Page in your document and give the Custom Size a Name by typing in the bar at the top of the window. For example, for a standard European Paperback Book, you would set the values to Width, 132 mm and Height, 197 mm. Name your Custom Size, ‘Paperback Book’ and Click OK.

You may find back in the New Document window that InDesign has switched the Orientation of your document from Portrait to Landscape. Ensure the correct Orientation is selected by clicking the left-hand Portrait icon.

Next, you want to make sure the Facing Pages check-box is selected. If you’re creating a book, magazine or booklet, you will want to be able to view spreads (of two facing pages) while you design. When you check Facing Pages, your Document will always start on a Right-Hand single page.

If you’re creating a single-page document (e.g. a Letter or Resume), or a document which will be printed on one single ream of paper stock (e.g. a Business Card, a Folding Brochure [with no spine, unlike a Booklet], or a Book Cover), you should uncheck the Facing Pages box.

For this Book example, keep Facing Pages checked.

Step 4: Define Margins for your Document

Setting accurate Margins is a very important task before creating your Document. Adequate Margins will give your final document a professional look, and also, in the case of books in particular, ensure that text or images don’t disappear into the binding at the spine. These are recommended Margin measurements for a Paperback Book.

NOTICE that the Inside Value (i.e. the edge of the Page that sits against the spine of the Book) is Wider than the Outside Value. This allows extra white space where the page will be sucked into the binding or the folds of the book. If you’re producing a Booklet (which also has a spine, but may be bound using a Lay-Flat binding technique) you should do the same, but the Inside Margin doesn’t need to be as wide, just add 2-3 extra millimeters.

Set the Margin values to:

Top: 22.3 mm

Bottom: 22.3 mm

Inside: 19.05 mm (As this is a Book, add on an extra 5-6 mm to your Outside Margin)

Outside: 12.7 mm

Step 5: Define Columns for your Document

To help develop a uniform Grid throughout your Document, you should set the Number of Columns and the Gutter value (the space between Columns). Setting Columns does not restrict where you can place text or images, but simply provides visual guidelines.

Columns are the backbone of a number of print documents, the most obvious being a Newspaper format. Keep in mind that for some documents, such as newspapers, newsletters or magazines, you will need to set 2-3 columns in the New Document Window. This will then be applied uniformly across all the Pages and Masters in your document.

For a paperback Book, you may not want to introduce Columns as the area for text is already restricted. So, for now, leave the default Column value at 1.

Step 6: Set the Bleed for your Document

So, first a common and really important question – WHAT IS A BLEED??

A Bleed is an essential setting for Print documents (you don’t need to set one for Web or Digital Publishing).

A Bleed is a small amount of space extending beyond the very edge of the Document. When a Document is printed, it is then Trimmed, or cut along the edge of the Document. There may be a small error in the accuracy of the Trim (printers are human too, after all!). If you have not set a Bleed area, and you have created, for example, a document with color that extends to the edges of the Trim, you may see an unwanted white edge along the perimeter of the card.

You can use the Bleed to extend this color across the Trim, so when it’s cut, whatever the margin of error, you will have a seamless all-color edge.

If you are producing a document which will have elements (text, images or color) that extend up to the edges of the document, at any point in the document, you should include a Bleed.

For a Book, you can set a 3 mm Bleed (or ask your Printer for their recommended Bleed Width), on the Top, Bottom and Outside edges. As the Inside Trim edge will not normally be visible, due to being sucked into the binding of the book, you can set the Inside value at 0 mm. This also prevents a Bleed appearing in the final PDF on the Inside edge, which could overlap with the page on an opposite spread, creating an ugly look, and a very confused (and angry) Printer!

Click the Chain icon to the right of the Bleed options to allow you to set different Bleed values.

In your document this is how it will look:

For now, remain in the New Document Window. We’re going to take a look at that other confusing term, the Slug…

Step 7: Set the Slug for your Document

A second very common question – WHAT IS THE SLUG??

While a Bleed is ESSENTIAL for a print document, a Slug is not. But it can be useful.

A Slug, like a Bleed, does not appear on your final printed Document. It is simply a useful area to place information which might be required by an Editor, or a Printer. This might be the date of when the draft InDesign file was created, or the name of the creator etc.

I often find it easiest to place a single Slug area below the Bottom of the Document. So, for now, ‘break’ the chain icon to the right of the Slug values and set the Bottom value to 10 mm.

Step 8: Set the Number of Pages in your Document

Now, all you need to do is decide how many Pages your document will have. You may have a firm idea of this before you even start inserting text and images. But you may have no idea! That’s absolutely fine, you can easily add new Pages to your Document as you work on it. So for now, type in an estimate of the number and leave it at that.

Click OK.

And ta-dah! Your Document is ready for working on.

Explore further how to create a Book here…

The post InDesign Basics: Creating your First Document appeared first on InDesignSkills.