Adobe InDesign CS4: Advanced

Course Description:

This Adobe authorised advanced course has been designed to enable existing Adobe InDesign users to experience new levels of productivity. The course covers InDesign CS4's enhanced tools and features and allows you to create complex and sophisticated documents that can be output to multiple media.

This two day course will cover advanced text handling and text wrapping techniques, working with tables, advanced methods of working with process and spot colours, using object libraries, InDesign's advanced transparency options, streamlining repetitive tasks and creating customised pdfs.

You will also explore InDesign shortcuts, workflow management issues and receive hints and tips from experienced InDesign professionals.

This course includes the following modules:

Advanced text controls

• Using the Info panel
• Creating custom glyph sets
• Inserting special characters
• Adding copy breaks
• Advanced Find/Change options
• Finding and changing fonts
• Using type on a path
• Frame based baseline grid
• Advanced text wrap options

Working with tables

• Creating tables
• Adding text and graphics
• Importing from Word and Excel
• Editing tables
• Running headers and footers
• Creating table and cells styles

Advanced type formatting options

• Importing styles from Word
• MS Word import presets
• Creating looping nested styles
• Controlling how headings align to a baseline grid
• Creating balanced headline text
• Adding rules above and below
• Creating balanced headlines
• Controlling paragraph breaks
• Working with composition
• Setting composition preferences
• Advanced hyphenation controls
• Advanced justification controls
• Preventing word breaks
• Advanced Next Style options
• Creating footnotes
• Automatic bullets or numbering

Combining text and graphics

• Creating object styles
• Justifying text next to an object
• Choosing which text frames are affected by text wraps
• Anchoring objects
• Advanced text wrap options
• Sharing colour swatches across applications
• Importing multi-page PDFs
• Layer visibility options

Pages and spreads

• Creating multi-page spreads
• Copying pages between documents
• Controlling spread pagination
• Automatic layout adjustments

Working with shapes in InDesign

• Adjusting path segments
• Using the Scissors tool
• Working with stroke styles
• Applying corner effects
• Creating and editing compound paths
• Shape-to-shape conversations

Advanced colour options

• Editing mixed ink swatches
• Converting mixed inks
• Working with colours from EPS or PDF files
• Using PSD spot colour channels

Using libraries and snippets

• Working with object libraries
• Updating library objects
• Cataloguing and finding objects
• Libraries vs snippets

Advanced transparency options

• Applying transparency to groups
• Creating transparency knockouts
• Using blending modes
• Flattening transparency artwork
• Understanding pre-defined flattener presets
• Flattening individual spreads
• Creating, saving and loading custom flattener presets
• Understanding flattener preview options
• Guidelines for successful output

Creating Adobe PDF files

• Global PDF export options
• Producing PDF files for a high-resolution composite workflow
• Using pre-defined PDF presets
• Customising PDF options
• Creating and editing presets
• Understanding PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 export options

Printing from InDesign

• Setting output options
• Specifying printers marks
• Printing the bleed and slug areas
• Printing oversized documents
• Saving print settings
• XHTML support - an overview