InDesign Basics

• Using and organising Panels
• Working with the Tabbed interface
• Working with Guides and non-printing elements
• Changing the Unit of Measurement
• Changing View size and navigating a document
• Tool Panel overview
• Saving Documents
• Recovering from mistakes

Setting up a new document

• Understanding the New Document options
• Working with frames and content
• Placing text and graphics
• Documents and Templates
• Saving files for use with CS3

Working with text

• Selecting and editing text
• InDesign different Text flow methods
• Applying Character-level formatting
• Applying Paragraph-level formatting
• Dealing with missing fonts
• Using the Story Editor
• Working with special characters

Working with graphics

• Placing graphics - "Old School"
• Placing graphics from Bridge
• Scaling graphics
• Understanding Frame Fitting Options
• Creating a Text Wrap
• Using images with Clipping Paths

Working with Master Pages

• Why use Master Pages?
• Creating, editing, and applying Master pages
• Auto-numbering pages
• Basing one Master on another
• Overriding Master page objects

Working with colour

• Various ways to create colours
• Understanding Fill, Stroke and Stroke weight
• Loading swatches
• Using Kuler Using Paragraph and Character Styles
• Paragraph and Character Styles-what's the difference?
• Creating, applying, and editing Styles
• Loading Styles from another document
• An overview of Nested Styles

Working with Grids and Guides

• Understanding Baseline Grids
• Aligning text to grids
• Grid strategies
• Create Guides Using the Align panel
• Working with Smart Guides

Working Efficiently

• Using Layers
• Using the Info Panel
• Using Find/Change
• Setting Preferences
• Creating custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Working with Effects

• Using Opacity and Blend Modes
• Creating drop shadows & Gradient Feathers
• Preventing Transparency-related printing problems

Working with Object Styles

• Creating, editing and applying Object Styles
• Combining Object and Paragraph Styles

Exporting and printing

• Using Live PreFlight
• Exporting as a PDF
• Packaging files for handoff

Advanced Editorial Controls

• Using the Info panel
• Using Notes
• Creating custom Glyph Sets
• Understanding White Space characters
• Controlling paragraph, column, page, and word breaks
• Using Balance Ragged Lines
• Adding Discretionary Hyphens

Advanced Typographic Controls

• Using OpenType fonts
• Optical vs. Mathematical alignment
• Tracking to avoid widows and orphans
• Useful tips for working with Tabs
• In-depth look at type-related Preferences

Hyphenation and Justification

• Setting the Hyphenation options
• Understanding the Justification options
• Using the Composition preferences
• Using Optical Margin Alignment

Working with complex, structured documents

• Master Pages review
• Section numbering
• Creating and controlling Footnotes
• Automatic Bullets or Numbered Lists
• Adding running headers and/or footers
• Adding Text Variables to a document slug
• Generating and updating a table of contents

Creating Type Effects

• Working with type on a path
• Putting type around a circle
• Converting type to outlines Working with Transparency
• Applying transparency effects
• Applying transparency to groups
• Creating transparency knockouts
• Flattening transparency artwork
• Creating and loading custom flattener presets
• Advanced Colour Options
• Sharing Swatches across the Creative Suite
• Working with Tints, Gradients, and Mixed

Advanced Find/Change options

• Finding and changing character and paragraph formats
• Finding and changing metacharacters
• GREP overview

Advanced Text Import Options

• Text preparation strategy and workflow
• Mapping Word Styles to InDesign Styles

Using Bridge with InDesign

• Interpreting Metadata
• Leveraging Metadata to auto-caption images
• Multiple Place
• Making an InDesign contact sheet

Advanced Text Wrap options

• Adding and editing a clipping path
• Using a Photoshop alpha channel
• Text Wrap tricks

Object Styles

• Creating Object Styles
• Inline Graphics and Anchored Objects
• Using Libraries and/or Snippets

Working with InDesign Books

• Book strategy
• Creating and adding to a Book
• Paginating across a Book
• Synchronizing documents across a Book Working with Vector Shapes
• Using Pathfinder
• Creating Compound Paths
• Applying corner effects
• Aligning and Distributing Objects Using Step and Repeat
• Using the Pen tool
• Copying and Pasting vector shapes from Illustrator
• Using Transform Again
• Using the Make Grid Script

Getting it right in Print

• Print dialog review
• Soft Proofing
• Overprint Preview
• Separations Preview
• Packaging and Preflighting
• CYMK conversion strategy
• Creating print ready PDFs
• Making and loading PDF presets

Making Interactive PDFS

• Adding Hyperlinks
• Adding Bookmarks
• Adding and defining Buttons
• Adding Rich Media
• Setting up Initial View options in Acrobat

Tips, tricks, and resources

• Useful keyboard shortcuts
• Setting up a Workspace
• Books
• Websites
• Free downloadable resources
• Useful third party products

Advanced Paragraph & Character Styles

• Styles review
• Removing overrides
• Parent and child Styles
• Adding Paragraph Rules
• Customising Underlines to create text highlights
• Setting up and using Nested Styles
• Using Next Style to set up sequential Styles
• Combining Character, Paragraph and Object Styles for one-click formatting
• GREP Styles

Working with Tables

• Importing tables from Word and Excel
• Row strokes, column strokes, and fills
• Adding graphics to table cells
• Setting up and using Table and Cell Styles

Inks

• Understanding the Ink Manager
• Creating a Rich Black
• Working with colours from EPS or PDF files
• Using PSD spot colour channels
• Using Bridge to synchronize Colour Settings