A professional program used for creating high-quality graphic publications.
Main Features of Adobe InDesign
Templates: Start your next creative project on the right foot with preloaded templates for print and digital publications of all sizes. Customize them with your content and format them accordingly with InDesign’s plethora of fonts, colors, layouts, styles, and transitions.
Layout Adjustment: Enabling layout adjustment in InDesign lets you automatically change the size and arrangement of individual text boxes or images to match the required scale for your project. This can be helpful if you want to quickly adjust your project’s layout without manually resizing each item.
Master Pages: These pages are not usually printed or published, but they are used to achieve consistent elements such as headers, footers, and page numbers.
Efficient Typography: The text-editing tools in Adobe InDesign CC are easy to use. You can quickly change the font, color, size, style, and alignment of your text with a few clicks of your mouse. You can also rotate any text block by 90 degrees with the Rotate tool.
Page Layout: Adobe InDesign CC is an excellent tool for creating professional-looking documents, from simple two-page spreads to more complex multi-page magazine layouts.
Versatile File Formats: Now, you can save your InDesign projects in any format of your choice, whether PDF, JPEG, PNG, or HTML. No longer do you have to worry about compatibility issues when working with clients who want different types of files created from one source document!
Interactive PDFs: Ever wanted to include hyperlinks that allow users to jump between different PDF pages with just a tap? InDesign lets you do that!
What We Like
InDesign is more than just the industry standard for layouts. It’s also got a ton of great merits that make creating designs easy and fun, like these:
- As an InDesign user, you can join an amazing community where you can post questions about InDesign, get insights, and share your knowledge with other members.
- When you subscribe to the software, you’ll access tutorials that will teach you how to get the best out of it.
- The program comes with several built-in templates so that you can get started right away.
- InDesign is integrated with all apps in Adobe Creative Cloud, so you can implement changes in an InDesign project from app to app.
What We Don’t Like
Adobe InDesign has a lot of pros, but it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. Here’s why:
- This DTP program is one of the most expensive options, especially if you want to use it for personal projects or small business ventures.
- Even if you’ve used other Adobe products before, like Photoshop or Illustrator, it might take some time to get used to the interface and workflow of InDesign.
- It’s slow and clunky sometimes, even on computers with more than enough RAM and processing power. This can be frustrating when you’re trying to turn around projects quickly!
Adobe InDesign Alternatives
Affinity Publisher 2.0: If you’re looking for something more affordable than Adobe InDesign, try Affinity Publisher. With lifetime access to its digital and print layouts, mind-blowing graphics, and raster and vector support, you’ll be able to create high-quality books, business proposals, resumés, flyers, and website mockups.
VivaDesigner: VivaDesigner is the first desktop publishing program that runs on all operating systems and web browsers. Since it is compatible with InDesign, you can easily integrate InDesign files into your VivaDesigner workspace and use the functionalities of both apps to take your publication to the next level.
Xara Page & Layout Designer 11: Xara’s intuitive interface, along with its abundant font faces, clip art, and royalty-free images, makes it a good starting point for anyone looking to create multi-page documents. From checking spellings to manipulating 3D objects, there’s nothing you can’t achieve with Xara.
Scribus: Although Scribus is free to download and use, it offers many features typically found in professional DTP software. With Scribus, you can create PDF documents and manipulate vector images. You can also convert documents to markup languages such as Lilypond and LaTex.
Conga Composer: Composing and distributing sales quotes, revenue reports, proposals, contracts, and other official documents can be a time-consuming hassle for most companies. Conga Composer automates these processes efficiently and accurately. It also provides an eSign feature that makes signing contracts easier.
How to Use Adobe InDesign:
Download:
- Once you’ve subscribed to Creative Cloud, you’ll find a list of apps on the homepage. Navigate to InDesign and click “Open.”
- If you’ve downloaded the Creative Cloud desktop app on your computer, you’ll be redirected to the app to complete this download.
Installation:
- Launch Creative Cloud, go to “All Apps,” select InDesign and wait while your computer installs it.
Function:
- Open Creative Cloud. InDesign is listed among the Adobe apps installed on your desktop. Open InDesign.
- On the InDesign homepage, a pop-up informing you of InDesign’s new features appears. Click “Done.”
- Click File>New to get started.
- The default template on InDesign is “Letter.” To use it, check its layout specifications, and adjust them if they don’t suit your needs. Enter a title for your project in the title field at the top of the preset details and click “Create.”
- Your project opens. Now you can use Adobe’s many tools to create whatever you want or warm up with free, information-packed tutorials.
