Course summary

This two-day Adobe InDesign training course will have you designing a variety of layouts for both print and digital publishing. You will be guided step-by-step through the basics of the software, in order to create your own print and digital material.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• discuss how the application can be used and start working with it
• set up and create a new document
• work with and modify elements of a workspace
• use basic navigation
• understand the frame tools
• work with text
• work with layers
• understand colour and how to use it
• work with linked graphics and images
• work with pages
• ensure documents are ready to print
• package and export options
• use the Help menu and access online help resources.

Content

InDesign Interface

• Introduction
• Workflow at a Glance
• Start Workspace
• Workspaces
• Reset Workspaces
• Navigation - Zooming
• Screen Modes [ W ]
• Display Performance

New Document

• New Document
• Templates
• Document Settings
• Preference Settings
• Adjust Document Size
• Adjust Document Layout
• Layout Margins and Columns
• Custom Document Preset
• Different Page Sizes within a Single Document

InDesign Frame Types

• Text Frame (Type Tool)
• Rectangle Frame Tool (Placeholder)
• Rectangle Tool (Shape)

Typography

• Character Formatting
• Select Text
• Placing Text (Import Microsoft Word file)
• Find and Replace Fonts
• Properties Panel
• Paragraph Formatting
• Overset Text
• Hyphenate
• Paragraph Settings Overview
• Text Frame Options - Centre Text within a Frame
• Character and Paragraph Spacing
• Text Threading
• Automatic Text Threading
• Text on a Path
• QR Code
• Glyphs & Special Characters
• Number of Columns

Graphics & Images

• Placing Images & Graphics
• Fitting options
• Content Grabber
• Transform Images
• Align and Distribute
• The Gap Tool
• Paste Into
• Text Wrap
• Clipping Path
• Links
• Layers
• Group Layers

Shapes and Objects Shapes

• Pathfinder Tool
• Rounded Corners
• Stroke
• Stroke Type Example

Colour & Transparency

• Apply Fill and Stroke Colour
• Swatches Panel
• Custom Colours
• Colour Picker
• Tint Swatch
• Gradient Tool
• Gradient Feather
• Colour Theme Tool
• Transparency & Effects
• CC Libraries

Pages

• Pages Panel Overview
• Insert New Pages
• Parent Pages vs Document pages
• Create Parent Page Items
• Apply Parent to Pages
• Delete Pages
• Override a Parent Page Item
• Parent Item on Top
• Restore Parent Page Items
• Automatic Page Numbering
• Rearrange Pages

Save and Export

• Save InDesign Document
• Save a InDesign Template
• Preflight
• Package Files
• Export to a PDF for Printing
• Export JPG and PNG File Formats for the Web
• Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard Shortcut list

Who this course is for

Suitable for anyone wanting to learn the basics of graphic production to create layouts for print media.

Prerequisites

This introductory course assumes little or no knowledge of the software.

Delivery modes

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught training using your own device
• Online training via the platform Zoom

Materials

Course materials are provided electronically using Dropbox

What you need to do before the course

To participate in this course, you will need Adobe InDesign installed on your device and an Adobe Creative Cloud account. If you do not already have an account, you can purchase one through the Adobe Creative Cloud website. Please bring your account login details with you to class.

• Recommended operating system: Windows or Mac
• Required software: Latest version of Adobe InDesign
• AI features: Download the BETA version of Adobe InDesign via your Creative Cloud app to access AI tools.

Face-to-face classes

Please bring your own laptop with all required software pre-installed.

Online classes

For the best experience, we recommend using a computer with a large monitor or dual screens/devices. Small laptop screens can make it difficult to follow the facilitator’s display while working in the software.

Course Brochure