ADOBE TRAINING, CS6 INDESIGN BASICS: INTERFACE & TOOLS Adobe InDesign is a powerful program for professional design and layout of documents. It is used by professional graphic designers and marketing professionals to create flyers, brochures, magazines and more. In this tutorial you will learn to: • Navigate the InDesign Interface and menus • Identify the basic navigation tools • Access and identify the function of the Panels • Create a new document and identify the document settings

The Basic Interface

Once you have opened InDesign, you will see the interface. Your interface should default to the Essential tools and layout. This interface includes the following: (1) InDesign Menu - this is the most familiar of the InDesign interface elements. The menu contains lots of options for working with documents. (2) Application Bar - contains features for controlling how we see the document in the interface. For example rulers and guides. ADOBE TRAINING, CS6 INDESIGN BASICS: INTERFACE & TOOLS - 1

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(3) Control Panel - allows you to get information about objects (text, images, etc.) in the document as well as to control the formatting of those objects. (4) Toolbar - contains tools you can use to select, move, add, adjust and edit objects in your document. (5) Panels Dock - gives you control over how objects look or how they work in the page. Additional Panels can be activated from the InDesign Menu > Window.

The Welcome Window opens automatically whenever you open InDesign. Although it can be deactivated it contains useful features for getting started so it is recommended that you keep this feature active. Note: InDesign features a considerable amount of redundancy across its menus. Don't be surprised if you find 3 or even more places to find a tool, feature, etc.

The InDesign Menu Here are some of the options in the InDesign Menu. Many of these options are also available in the Control Panel. File contains New, Open, Save, Save As, Export (which allows you to export a document to PDF), Place (which allows you to place text and images in the document), Document Presets and a lot of other options. Edit houses many of the functions to edit a document or object in a document, to undo/redo changes, spelling and more. For Windows users it is also where you can change your InDesign interface settings (for Mac users this is under the InDesign menu option). Layout this menu is where you can find options related to the document layout like adding pages and page numbers. It is also one place you can use to navigate a document (i.e. jump to a particular page). Type allows you to work with features specific to typed text in your project, including creating character styles, changing case size and more. Object helps you work with objects in InDesign such as rotating an image of fitting an image to a frame. Table this menu allows you to insert and work with tables in your document. View use this menu to adjust your workspace view of your document, like guidelines, and to zoom in and out, etc. View also controls the display performance feature and other display settings. Window allows you to adjust the elements of your interface. This is an important menu if you ever lose one of your interface items.

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Help gives you a searchable online resource to answer your InDesign questions. It is also where you can re-open your Welcome Screen.

The Application Bar Just under the InDesign Menu is the Application Bar. This bar contains just a few items to help you arrange your workspace. (1) The Zoom pop-up menu combo box can help you zoom in and out of your document. Note: You can pick from a list of standard zoom percentages or enter your own percentage by clicking on the number. (2) View Options gives you options to hide or show certain parts of your workspace like rulers and guides. (3) Screen Mode allows you to toggle between different views of the document. (4) Arrange Documents gives you options for viewing multiple documents in your workspace. (5) Workspace Options Menu allows you to change the workspace interface based on the type of document work you are doing and/or your preferences. Note: The Essentials Workspace is the easiest to work with especially when you are just beginning with InDesign. (6) Help gives you a searchable online resource to answer your InDesign questions.

The Control Panel The Control Panel is one of the most important areas in InDesign. It is located just below the Application Bar and just above the Workspace area. Although much of what is in the Control Panel is also available in the InDesign Menu, Panels and other areas it is much easier to get to these options in the Control Panel once you get familiar with the icons. Tip: If you don't know what an icon represents, just hover over it for a quick tooltip! The Control Panel is Context Specific The contents of the Control Panel are context specific, meaning they will change based on the object or items you have selected. For example: if you are working with text you will have Control Panel options to choose a font type, style, color and more.

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The Toolbar The Toolbar contains icons that represent the different tools used in InDesign. It mostly includes tools for selecting and moving objects/items in the document AND adding items to the document such as text boxes, frame placeholders, basic shapes and more. There are also several tools for navigating the document. Only one tool can be activated from the toolbar at a time. Learn more about each tool: http://tinyurl.com/AdobeInDesignTools Note: Tools are often stacked together. To reveal grouped tools left-click and hold your mouse on that tool and a pop-up will open all the tools in that group.

The Panels Dock Many of InDesign features are located in the Panels Dock. In each of these Panels you find the tools and action items related to working with objects, items and text in your document. Activating & Working with Panels Panels can be added to the dock by activating the Panel from the InDesign Menu > Window (put a checkmark next to the panels you want to activate) and then dragging the floating panel into the dock.

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Here are some additional features to help you organize your Panels: • • • •

Panels can be pulled away from the dock so you can place them over the document for quick access. Panels can be reordered in the dock by dragging and dropping them. The Panels Dock can also be collapsed to give more workspace area for the document. Panels are by default collapsed in the dock, but they can opened by clicking them individually OR by selecting the double-headed arrow at the top right of the dock to open all panels in the dock at once.

Tip: It can be easy to lose track of your panels if you are moving them away from the dock. To reset your workspace to the Essentials Panels Dock configuration go to the InDesign Menu > Window > Workspace > Reset Essentials.

Navigating the Workspace Before you open or start a new document you will see a blank workspace area and the Welcome Window. To begin working on a project you will need to Open an existing InDesign document OR select Document to start a new document from Welcome Window.

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Document Tabs: When you have opened more than one document in InDesign you will see tabs for each document at the top of the workspace. Click a tab to view the document in the workspace. Click the 'x' to close the document. Note: An asterix will appear appear in the tab of a docment if it has been modified since opening it. The Document: The edge of the document is marked with a black line. Within the document you will see a pink margin guide and purple column guides. In the example below there is only one column. The Paste Board: Outside of the document edge is the Paste Board, an area where you can store objects that you may not be ready to incorporate into the document.

Basic Tools, Panels & Menus for Navigating the Document Some of the tools and panes in InDesign are used for navigating the workspace and document. Moving in a Document: There are several options to help you move around in a document project. The Workspace Scroll Bars allow you to move within a document from page to page or within the page.

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From the Toolbar the (1) Hand Tool allows you to quickly move around in a page or between pages in a document by clicking and dragging around the document. Keyboard Shortcut: Mac opt + spacebar OR PC alt + spacebar. To move quickly to another page in a longer document open the (2) Pages Panel. Double-click on the number of the spread (two facing pages) you want to navigate to OR click on a single page to navigate directly to that page in the workspace. You can also find workspace navigation options in the (3) InDesign Menu > Layout. Zooming In/Out in a Document: From the Applications Bar select or enter a zoom percentage in the (4) pop-up menu combo box. Keyboard Shortcut: Mac cmd > +/- OR PC ctrl > +/From the (5) Toolbar the Zoom Tool allows you to quickly zoom-in to a particular area in your document. Hold Opt (Mac) or Alt (PC) to reverse and zoom out when this tool is activated. To quickly center the document back in workspace double-click the Hand Tool. Keyboard Shortcut: Mac cmd + opt + 0 OR PC ctrl + alt + 0

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Document Display Options InDesign features many different ways to adjust your display and preview your document project. These are located in the InDesign Menu > View. (1) Display Performance adjusts how clear (resolution) images and other objects appear in your document. A typically display (default) will often make images appear pixelated to the eye. This typical display allows the InDesign software to move quickly, but it does not accurately reflect how the image will print. Tip: Leave your display in the typical mode, but toggle it to a higher display to preview the images rather than printing proofs. (2) Screen Mode gives you a Preview option (Keyboard Shortcut: "W") that allows you to see the document without all the guides and frames and a Presentation option (Keyboard Shortcut: Shift + W turns it on/off) that allows you to see the document without all the guides, frames and even the workspace.

Create a New Document To create a new document in InDesign you can select (1) New Document from the Welcome Screen OR navigate from the (2) InDesign Menu > File > New > Document (Keyboard Shortcut: Mac Cmd + N OR PC Ctrl + N). Note: Creating a Book is for connecting different InDesign Documents together and creating a Library is a feature to store objects you may use in an InDesign document. These are not commonly used features for basic users.

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Document Settings Dialog Box Whenever you create a new document you will have a chance to set the document settings. Note: Document settings can be changed later by navigating to the InDesign Menu > File > Document Presets. Most of the features in the Document Settings dialog box will not apply to your document project, but some are very important: (1) Intent - if your intention is to print this document (either as a PDF or to a printer), select Print from the drop-down menu. Other options include web (screen) or digital publishing (for creating apps on a device). The settings will adjust based on your selection. (2) Facing Pages - only select this if you are making a book, magazine, program or other document that needs a left/right page orientation. (3) Number of Pages - Select how many pages you think you might need; you will be able to add more later. (4) Page Size - set the final size be of the document be after it is trimmed down; the width and height will adjust based on your choice. (5) Orientation - swaps the values of the height and width for the document (changing from portrait to landscape orientation) (6) Columns - Number (number of column guides you need on the page and gutter space in between the column guides). Note: these are guides, not text columns. (7) Margin - guidelines for the edges of the document printable area. Note: You can unlock the margins to set different margins for different parts of the page OR you can keep the margins locked for universal adjustment.

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(8) Save Preset - if you typically use the same document set-up again and again, save the set-up as your preset option you can pick from later. Select OK to open your new document in the workspace. Learn More: http://tinyurl.com/InDesignDocumentSettings

Additional Resources Adobe TV: http://tv.adobe.com/ Adobe InDesign Help Documents: http://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/topics.html InDesign Templates & More: http://indesignsecrets.com/indesign-templates#licensing AND http://tinyurl.com/AdobeInDesignTemplates

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