It’s quick and easy to create pull quotes in InDesign once you know a few tips. In this bitesize tutorial we’ll look at two ways of creating pull quotes that are simple to do and look really effective.

Method #1: Wrap Text Around Your Pull Quote

If you want to add pull quotes over the top of existing paragraphs of text, applying a text wrap is an easy way of ensuring quotes and body text work seamlessly together.

Step 1

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame near to or over the top of the body text where you want the pull quote to appear.

Type in the quote, and use either the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) to format the text. Here I’ve set the font to Cardo Italic.

Step 2

With the text frame selected go to Window > Text Wrap.

Choose Wrap around bounding box from the options at the top of the window, before adjusting the Offset values until the body text around the quote is pushed away equally from the edges of the text frame.

You may need to apply subtly different Offset values to create an evenly spaced look.

Step 3

If you want to create multiple pull quotes across columns sitting next to each other, you can ensure the baseline of the body text remains consistent by copying and pasting the pull quote frame, preserving the same text wrap settings.

Method #2: Adjust the Inset Spacing of Your Pull Quote

If you want to layer a pull quote over an image, you can give your text frame a color fill and adjust the inset spacing to create a seamless effect. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame for your pull quote, and type up the quote.

Format the quote using the Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character). The font I’ve used here is Futura Extra Bold.

I’ve also used the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) to add a different Font Color to the quotation marks.

Step 2

Go to Window > Type & Tables > Story.

With the text frame selected check the Optical Margin Alignment box. This will shift outlying elements of text like quotation marks to the outside of the text frame, creating a tidier look for your quote.

Step 3

Use the Swatches panel to add a Fill Color to your text frame.

If, for example, you were creating a layout set on blank, white paper, you could set the Fill to [Paper] to match the background and create a seamless overlapping effect.

Step 4

With the text frame selected go to Object > Text Frame Options.

Adjust the Inset Spacing values so that the text frame has a generous margin around the outside. Make sure the Preview box is checked, to allow you to see how much spacing you are adding. This will frame the quote nicely, and create a more attractive final result. When you’re happy, click OK to exit the window.

And there we have it! Two quick and easy techniques for creating magazine pull quotes. Really simple, and really effective.

Eager to pick up more print design skills? Check out our magazine design tutorials, or download free magazine templates for InDesign.

The post How to Create Stylish Magazine Pull Quotes appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These book sizes are guaranteed to fit snugly on the bookstore’s shelf, and you’ll also find suggestions for choosing a suitable size for your chosen genre.

The Top 4 Most Popular Book Sizes in the US

Pocket Book: 4.25 in x 6.87 in

Best for: Low-cost paperback fiction

Pocket books are sized to do just that—fit nicely in a back pocket. This format is cheap to print and convenient to carry around, so it makes a great fit for cheap paperback fiction. You’ll see this size sold in newsagents and airports, as well as bookstores.

Digest: 5.5 in x 8.5 in

Best for: Paperback fiction and non-fiction

The Digest format is the smallest of what are termed ‘trade’ sizes in the States.

These are amongst the most widely circulated paperback sizes in the country, and suit both fiction and non-fiction titles.

US Trade: 6 in x 9 in

Best for: Paperback fiction

The more common of the trade sizes is US Trade, a slightly larger format often used for paperback fiction. This is a failsafe size to pick for fiction, and is the most common standard size offered by print-on-demand services for both self-published authors and publishing houses.

Hardcover: Ranges from 6 in x 9 in to 8.5 in x 11 in

Best for: Premium fiction and non-fiction

Hardcover (or hardback) sizes vary widely in the US, but generally the size of these books tends to fall somewhere between 6 x 9 in and 8.5 x 11 in.

Self-publishers tend to avoid hardcovers in favor of cheaper paperbacks, but with more POD sites offering hardcover print runs at increasingly better value, it’s starting to become more of a realistic option for self-published authors.

The Top 4 Most Popular Book Sizes in the UK

A-Format: 178 mm x 111 mm

Best for: Airport fiction

A-format books are dinky, and perfect for readers on the go. This format used to be the standard for airport fiction, but now you’ll also see it used widely for reprints of classic novels and niche fiction, like self-help or humour.

B-Format: 198 mm x 129 mm

Best for: Paperback fiction

B-Format books are probably the most widely circulated in the UK, being the industry standard for most paperback fiction. If you’re unsure about which size to choose for your book, B-Format is a pretty safe bet.

You’ll see this stocked widely across both physical and online bookstores, and most print-on-demand sites will feature the B-Format as one of their recommended sizes for self-publishers.

Demy: 216 mm x 135 mm

Best for: Large-format paperbacks

Larger paperbacks are being increasingly used in the UK in place of more expensive to produce hardbacks. The Demy format is commonly used for airport fiction these days, often replacing the more traditional and smaller A-format size.

If you’re looking to create a mass-market book, either in the self-help or fiction genres, a Demy size is a good option for attracting maximum attention on the shelf without the expense of printing a hardback.

Royal: 234 mm x 156 mm

Best for: Hardback novels

A Royal is a large-format size suited to novels and some non-fiction (such as high-volume biographies). Because Royals are larger than Demys, B-formats and A-formats, you’ll often see them in hardback (hardcover) format.

These are the books you’ll see showcased in the ‘New Hardback Fiction’ section of the bookstore, arranged so that the front covers face the browser. Being the largest of British fiction sizes, Royals aren’t the cheapest to produce, but they make a big visual impact.

Designing your own books doesn’t have to be scary. Get started on the right foot with more handy tutorials for self-publishing and book design here.

The post The Most Popular Standard Book Sizes in the US and UK appeared first on InDesignSkills.

To explain how it works, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a Table of Contents for a short book.

1. Prepare Your Page Numbers

Before you begin putting together the table of contents, you need to make sure you’re happy with your page numbering. InDesign will use your page numbering information to make your table of contents, so it’s important to get it accurate.

You may have already introduced page numbers into your InDesign document by placing markers onto the Master pages. If not, and you don’t know where to start, make sure to check out this quick tutorial first.

The page markers will reflect the page number as listed in the Pages panel (Window > Pages), and not necessarily the page number you want it to be. So this is the first thing to address before you put together a table of contents.

Step 1

I’ve created a document in InDesign, made up of facing spreads, for the inside pages of The Great Gatsby.

My document has three chapters, with each new chapter page defined by a chapter heading, graphic and half-page text frame.

At the moment the first page of Chapter One is on page 7 of the document, which the marker has rendered as a ‘7’ on the page. I want to change this and make this page show up as page 1 of the document.

Expand the Pages panel (Window > Pages) and Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) on the page you would like the numbering section to start from, in my case Page 7. Then click on Numbering & Section Options.

Step 2

In the window that opens, select Start Page Numbering at: and type in 1. Under Style choose 1, 2, 3, 4… and then click OK.

A warning message will flag up, reminding you that by making this change you will have created a duplicate of pages 1-6 in your document. We can rectify that, so just click OK.

Step 3

In my book document, I have designed it so that no page numbers appear on the introductory pages of the book. This is quite common for novels, with numbered pages only beginning on the first page of the first chapter.

Irrespective of whether the page numbers are visible or not, to avoid duplicate page numbers in the document I can set these first few pages to have a different numbering system.

Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) on Page 1 in the Pages panel > Numbering & Section Options.

Again, select Start Page Numbering at: and type in 1. Under Page Numbering, choose a different Style for the numbers—roman numerals are usually a good choice for introductory pages. Then click OK.

Now you have two separate numbered sections in your book. Once you have decided on all the numbering for your document (for example, you may also want to have a different numbering system for the final pages of the book, as part of an index or bibliography) you’re almost ready to create a table of contents.

2. Set the Style of Your Contents Title

There’s one more ‘prep’ stage before you create a Table of Contents and that’s to create a Style for the title of your contents list.

Step 1

You can do this either from the Paragraph Styles panel (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles) or from inside the Table of Contents function directly. Let’s do the latter, so we can take a look at the TOC window.

Go to Layout > Table of Contents.

In the Table of Contents window that opens you’ll notice a Title text box at the top-left of the window. This is where you can set the text for the title of your contents. A simple ‘Contents’ is pretty failsafe, but you might want to customise this to fit your own project, such as ‘In This Issue’ or ‘List of Entries’.

Step 2

To the right of this text box is a Style drop-down menu. From here you can either choose a pre-created Paragraph Style or create a New Paragraph Style. In this case let’s create a new Style.

I’m going to name it ‘Contents Style’ (or something like ‘Contents Title’ might also be a good fit), and set the Font to Aleo Light, Size 12 pt to match the formatting I’ve used for headers in my book design.

Clicking on Indents and Spacing in the left-hand menu allows me to tweak the Alignment of the Style to Center. Then I click OK.

Back in the Table of Contents window there is a Styles in Table of Contents section in the center. You can see that we can’t create a new Paragraph Style for the body of the Table of Contents directly in this window. We’ll need to create them first, then return to the TOC window to add them to the Include… list. So click OK for now.

3. Set the Style of the Body of Your Contents

Styles are one of the most useful functions in InDesign, but are often underused. Creating a Paragraph Style allows you to reproduce the exact formatting of your text elsewhere in your document, so it’s a great timesaver when you’re creating text-heavy documents like books.

We can create a new Paragraph Style for only the chapter headings in the book, and then tell InDesign to only use these styled items of text to create the contents list.

Step 1

Click to select the Chapter One heading text frame in the body of your document. Open the Paragraph Styles panel (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles) and click on the Create New Style button at the bottom of the panel.

Step 2

Double-click on the new Paragraph Style 1 name in the Styles panel to open up the Options window. Rename the Style as something like ‘Contents Headers’ and click OK.

Step 3

Scroll through your document, clicking on each new chapter heading and then clicking on the ‘Contents Header’ Style to apply it.

If you’ve already formatted all your chapter headings in the same way this won’t affect the look of the text, but it will tell InDesign that all the chapter headers now have their own distinct style which sets it apart from other content in the document.

4. Create your Table of Contents (TOC)

Now that you have your numbering system and Styles in place, you’re ready to create your contents list.

Step 1

Go back to Layout > Table of Contents. As before, set the Title and title’s Style, choosing the original Style you created for this (e.g. ‘Contents Style’).

Then from the selection of Other Styles below, click on the new Style you just created, the ‘Contents Header’ Style.

Click the Add button in the center of the window to add it to the Include Paragraph Styles list.

By clicking the More Options button you can customise your TOC as you like, defining how the Page Numbers appear, how these are styled and whether there appears any symbol, such as dashes or dots, Between Entry and Number.

Explore the options, and customise as you like it, before clicking OK.

Step 2

A small text preview will appear next to your cursor, indicating that the cursor is loaded with the created table of contents and is ready to place.

Navigate to the page of the document where you would like the contents to be and click once onto the page to create the contents list in a new text frame.

Step 3

Now you can tweak the formatting of the contents if you like, using the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph) to adjust alignment.

Or use the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) to adjust the Font Size, Leading or Font Weight (e.g. Light, Bold) of the text.

Format the rest of your contents page as you would for the rest of your book, and there you have it! A simple, quick-to-create table that shows all the page numbers of your chapters accurately without needing to manually type them all up.

Delve deeper into book design with our selection of publishing tutorials and inspirational articles for book fonts and book cover designs.

The post How to Create a Table of Contents in InDesign 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.

In this, the second part, we’ll delve further into the world of typography and look at the ‘Big Four’ – the four special typographic effects you can apply to your InDesign layouts to make them really stand-out…

1. Leading

Leading is the unsung workhorse of typography. If you’re looking at a paragraph of type and thinking “That looks great, but I can’t put my finger on why it looks so great”, it’s probably because the designer has applied some generous Leading to the text.

Leading is the word used to describe the space allocated between the lines of text in a block of type. Take a look at this example – at the top you’ve got a body of text with a default amount of leading applied, but the text on the page below that has a more generous leading. And it’s clear to see which one looks more clear and legible…

Leading is super simple to edit in InDesign; you can find the option to adjust it in the Character Formatting Controls panel, below the Font Size option:

2. T r a c k i n g

Tracking is the second of the typography ‘Big Four’ you should make a note of. Tracking defines the space between all characters (letters) in a section of text.

Upping the Tracking of type can make it instantly more legible, attractive and high-impact, without needing to increase the Font Size or adjust the Font Weight (e.g. to Bold or Black). Take a look at these two example chapter headings from the typesetting for an edition of Moby Dick. The lower example, with its increased Tracking, looks a bit more interesting, no?

You can find the option to adjust Tracking in InDesign, up in the Character Formatting Controls panel (when you have the Type Tool (T) selected), just along from the All Caps section. It’s symbolised by a two letters, ‘AV’ and a double-ended arrow. Hover over the icon and you’ll see that InDesign reminds you that this is for increasing or decreasing Tracking. 

By default, when you create any new text, the Tracking will be set to 0. But you can pick from a range of options for the spacing of your letters. You can reduce the space by picking from the negative values, giving the text a more compressed appearance, or you can choose to increase the spacing.

3. Kerning

Kerning is a much more subtle typographic technique, but it can really transform your type, and elevate it to a super-professional level. Kerning increases the space between individual characters, and it’s a great technique for evening out text that looks a little off-balance. It’s a particularly useful feature for transforming logos and headings.

Take a look at this example and play a game of ‘spot-the-difference’! If you think the lower heading looks a little more even and symmetrical you’d be right – a little bit of kerning between a couple of the letters has helped space out some of the characters that were a bit closer together.

To adjust Kerning in InDesign, set your type cursor between the two letters, head back up to the Character Formatting Controls panel and find the Kerning option just above the Tracking option. Click the arrow to the right of the text box to increase the space between the two letters by 10 units at a time.

4. Drop Caps

Another really cool typography feature in InDesign which can really pull your designs together is the option to apply a Drop Cap to your text.

A Drop Cap pulls out the first letter or few letters of a paragraph to a larger size, in units of lines of text. You can find the Drop Cap Number of Lines and Drop Cap One or More Characters options in the Character Formatting Controls panel, just along from the alignment and indent settings.A Drop Cap is a great technique for drawing attention to the start of a large body of text, and gives books, magazines and brochures a formal, elegant appearance. In this example, I’ve set the Drop Cap Number of Lines to 4.

For a quirkier typographic effect, you can increase the Drop Cap One or More Characters to pull more characters into the Drop Cap. Here, I’ve increased the Drop Cap One or More Characters to 4.

PRO TIP: Give your Drop Cap more breathing space by pushing the rest of the text further away from the Drop Cap. Set your cursor between the Drop Cap letter and the first letter of the remaining text, and increase the Kerning to move all the text adjacent to the Drop Cap.

Refresh your knowledge of typography basics with Part One of this tutorial or find some font inspiration for magazines, books, or print design to get started with using your typographic skills!

To learn more about using InDesign and expanding your skillset pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Crash Course: How to Format Text Part 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In the first part of this two-part tutorial, we’ll give you a crash course in the basics of typography in InDesign, and find out:

• What ‘Typography’ actually is, and how you can create it in InDesign
• How you can format your text using the Character and Paragraph Formatting Controls panels

1. What is ‘Typography’ and How Do I Create it in InDesign?

InDesign is designed to give you flexibility and professional control over your typography.

What do we mean by ‘typography’? Well, typography is a term we use to describe text that has been specially formatted to create a particular look—typography can transform text from dull and illegible to beautiful and clear to read.

Here, the designer has transformed the text on this magazine cover to give it a playful, lively and 3D appearance. Check out more examples of creative typography in print design here.

Magazine: Harper’s Bazaar España; Publisher: SpainMedia

InDesign is designed to give you flexibility in formatting your typography. Because it’s a publishing design application, InDesign’s main focus is on helping you to create layouts, and text is a fundamental element of any layout. Master the basics of typography and there’s no limit to what you can produce in InDesign.

To create typographic effects in InDesign, you first need to select the Type Tool (T) from the Tools panel, and drag onto the page to create a text frame.

Place your type cursor into the frame to type some text, or import a Word document. Now you’re ready to apply formatting, and transform your text from simple type to extraordinary typography!

2. Get Familiar with the Character Formatting Controls panel…

…Let’s take a good look at the Controls panels which are going to allow us to apply formatting to text. You can find these up at the top of the InDesign workspace.

Just below the Application Bar, where you can see the InDesign logo, is the Controls panel. With just the default Selection Tool active, the Controls panel just shows navigational options, such as the position of your cursor on the page.

If we go over to the Tools panel, which is docked on the left-hand side of the Workspace, and click the ‘T’ symbol to select the Type Tool (T), and then click and drag on the page to create a text frame, you’ll notice that the Controls panel has suddenly changed.

Now there’s a small ‘A’ symbol to the far left of the panel. This indicates that the panel is now showing all the Character Formatting Controls. This includes all the options you need for formatting type.

So if I click into a text frame I’ve created and type in the word ‘Foodie’ and then highlight the word, I can start to play around with the look of the text using what’s available to me in this control panel.

First up, you can change the Font of the text. Click on the little arrows symbol to the right of this box, which should have Minion Pro set as its default, and you’ll find a long drop-down menu of all the fonts you have installed on your computer.

Let’s scroll down to ‘G’ and pick Gill Sans. And then just below the menu of fonts, or from the drop-down menu next to the font itself in the font list, we can also pick the Weight of the font – such as Bold, Italic, Light, SemiBold, etc.

We can adjust the Size of the text from up here too, which is measured out in points, by either selecting a value from the drop-down menu or by manually typing in a size directly into the box. 

3. Expand your Typographic Know-How with the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel…

…Now take a look at the far left of the Controls panel, where you can see the ‘A’ symbol. Below that there’s a little paragraph icon. Click on that and the Controls panel shifts again. Now we’re viewing the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel.

This panel has everything you need to use to format a whole paragraph of text. There are some things that are repeated here with the Character Formatting Controls panel, things like Font and Font Size options are still here, but they’ve been shifted over to the right side of the panel. Back over to the left-hand side, we’ve got all these new options to play with.

There are lots of new options that apply to larger sections of text. So if I just click my type cursor into this ‘New equipment and fittings for the home’ section of text in a text frame I created earlier, from the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel we can adjust things like the Alignment of the text, from this first section of the panel, and also apply things like Indents from the next section along.

Further along, you can also see a little check-box next to ‘Hyphenate’ which you can uncheck if you don’t want InDesign to split your words with hyphens, and instead tell it to push whole words onto the following line.

Basically whatever you set here, up in the Controls panel, will apply to just the paragraph of text that you have either highlighted or positioned your cursor into.

To recap, if you want to format isolated pieces of text, whether that’s several characters, words or phrases, you can use the Character Formatting Controls panel options, which will appear automatically when you select the Type Tool from the Tools panel.

If you want to format larger portions of text, like whole paragraphs, and be able to effect things like Alignment of text and Indents, you should click the paragraph symbol in the panel to switch to the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel. 

Get friendly with both of the Controls panel, and you’ll be able to format your typography really quickly and easily!

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out why you should get friendly with the Big Four of Typography: Leading, Tracking, Kerning and Drop Caps.

For more useful InDesign tutorials and tips pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Crash Course: How to Format Text Part 1 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 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.

• 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.