I give out a copy of ‘InDesign in easy steps‘, along with supplementary handouts, to all delegates who attend my introductory InDesign training courses.
I’ve written books in the ‘in easy steps‘ series since 1997 and there are no other InDesign trainers in the UK who can offer their own printed book as courseware.
The book underpins my InDesign training and gives the new user a clear, simple reference that they can use to extend and enhance the skills and techniques I cover in initial training sessions.
InDesign in easy steps
InDesign in easy steps – book reviews
Excellent reference/ guide
I’m a first year graphic design student. While I’m handy enough on a computer, I found InDesign quite different to get a handle of than Photoshop, Flash or Premiere. I think that’s because of how much of InDesign is about the print side of the industry.
This book was recommended by my lecturer and I have found it invaluable. It can be used step by step or you can use the index to find a solution to any issues you may be having with the software.
Amazon book review (2nd Edition) by WitchyWoo – see more reviews on Amazon
Buy InDesign in easy steps (3rd Edition) on Amazon
Table of Contents
The Working Environment
The Home Screen
New Document Dialog Box
Document Setup
The Working Environment
The Tool Panel
Opening Documents
Zooming and Scrolling
Workspaces and Panels
The Control Panel
Ruler Guides
Saving Documents
Building Pages
Creating Frames
Selection Techniques
Moving Objects
Manually Resizing Objects
Control and Transform Panels
Lines
Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear
Smart Guides
Live Corners
Text Basics
Entering and Importing Text
Basic Text Editing
Highlighting Text
Threading Text
Understanding Text Threads
Glyphs
Special Characters and White Space
Text Frame Options – Columns
Text Frame Insets & Vertical Alignment
Character Settings
Font, Size, Style
Leading
Kerning and Tracking
Other Character Formatting Controls
Paragraph Settings
Indents
Space Before/Space After
Alignment
Drop Caps
Hyphenation
Paragraph Rules
Bullet Points and Lists
Images and Graphic Frames
Placing an Image
Fitting Options
Scaling and Cropping Images
Stroking a Frame
Image Links
Managing Links
Clipping Paths
InDesign Clipping Paths
Arranging Objects
Stacking Order
Creating Layers
Understanding Layers
Moving Objects Between Layers
Managing Layers
Hiding and Locking Layers
Grouping Objects
Working with Groups
Aligning Objects
Distributing Objects
Anchored Objects
Working with Color
Filling and Stroking Objects
The Swatches Panel
Add, Delete and Edit Swatches
The Color Panel
Color Matching Systems
Creating and Applying Gradients
Managing and Editing Text
Spell Checking
Adding Words to the Dictionary
Finding and Changing Words
Finding and Changing Basic Text Formatting
Text Wrap
Irregular Text Wrap
Type on a Path
The Pages Panel and Master Pages
The Pages Panel
Inserting and Deleting Pages
Setting Master Pages
Automatic Page Numbering
Overriding Master Page Objects
Paragraph, Character and Object Styles
Paragraph Styles
Character Styles
Applying and Editing Styles
Copying Styles
Tables and Tabs
Inserting a Table
Adding and Deleting Rows/Columns
Highlighting and Moving Techniques
Resizing Columns and Rows
Entering Content in Cells
Cell Controls – Text
Cell Strokes, Borders and Fills
Alternating Fills and Strokes
Importing Tables
Setting and Editing Tabs
Printing and Exporting
Printing a Composite
Live Preflight
Package
Exporting to PDF
CC Libraries
Transformations and Transparency
The Rotate Tool
The Scale Tool
The Shear Tool
The Free Transform Tool
Transparency and Blending
Effects
Gradient Feather Tool
Paths and the Pen Tool
Points and Paths
The Pen Tool
Selecting and Manipulating Points
Smooth and Corner Points
Converting Points and Cutting Paths
Pathfinder Commands