Today, most digital design professionals have used Adobe InDesign at some point in their careers. InDesign is a desktop publishing software which can be used to design a variety of content, both for digital and print formats. InDesign provides tools that allow designers to format pages and other visual layouts, placing text, images, and more to create innovative and striking designs. InDesign can at first seem overwhelming to navigate, given the amount of features and tools offered within the software— but with practice, this platform is a designer’s best friend.
If you’re entering a career in digital or web design, here are some useful tips for working with InDesign.
1. Those with Web Design Training Should Take Advantage of InDesign’s Templates
Whether you’re just starting a project and looking for inspiration, or you want to replicate some elements of your work in future projects, InDesign has many features that make utilizing templates simple and efficient. Templates allow creators to add content and images into a project quickly by providing the formatting upon which a project is based. InDesign offers many free templates available for download, or designers can convert one of their own creations into a template for future use. Adding in grid lines, margins, and other elements to create the layout of a project can be tedious, but by taking advantage of InDesign’s templates, those pursuing a digital media diploma can save time.
2. InDesign’s Liquid Layout Function is Useful for Scaling
Resizing and scaling a document and the content it contains can be difficult for designers, but using InDesign’s Liquid Layout function, designers can change the scale of their designs seamlessly without experiencing formatting issues. By selecting the page tool and then going to the Liquid Page Rule’s drop-down menu, designers can select Scale, allowing them to resize and scale a page by dragging its corners with a mouse. With this feature, InDesign makes it easy for designers to alter the scale and size of a project without affecting its dimensions.
3. Use the Baseline Grid for Alignment
InDesign’s Baseline Grid feature is perfect for projects with complicated layouts. In designs with columns or many different sections of text, it can be a struggle to achieve a uniform line up of text. InDesign’s Baseline Grid feature allows designers to align text without manually shifting paragraphs, saving time and making documents look more professional and uniform. Designers can access this feature by going to the Paragraph panel and selecting the Align to Baseline Grid option.
4. Upgrade Your Project’s Look with InDesign’s Transparency Mode
For designers looking to add greater depth to their creations, InDesign’s Transparency Mode is a great option. By going to Object, then to Effects and selecting Transparency, designers can choose the gradient of the object they are working with. Objects are 100% opaque by default, but with Transparency Mode, designers can alter an object’s opacity to reveal underlying text or artwork. This feature makes a design or layout more eye-catching by allowing designers to experiment with layering. For those in web design training, Transparency Mode can be utilized to attract viewers to a website with a more dimensional design.
5. Designers Can Use Scripts within InDesign
For professionals with design training, it’s no secret that the use of scripts—or program commands—can aid in the design process. InDesign allows designers to use scripts for any task that can be completed manually. InDesign offers designers the ability to use the InDesign scripts in order to place graphics, enter and format text, create frames, and more. Within InDesign, scripts can even be used to automate a designer’s entire process, increasing efficiency and allowing designers to spend more time on their innovative creations rather than getting hung up on formatting difficulties. The sample scripts panel can be accessed by going to Window, then Utilities, and clicking on the Scripts command.
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