Adobe InDesign tools allows you to make newsletters, magazines spreads for publication as Acrobat PDF, World Wide Web as well as standard paper hard copies.
Adobe PageMaker has evolved into InDesign CS. Shedding its caterpillar skin, InDesign CS has emerged as a marvelous butterfly. It is fitting tribute that a pen and butterflies adorn the Adobe InDesign CS box.
Adobe InDesign CS software combines production power with graphic freedom. Designers can lay out pages more rapidly. You will find that InDesign CS shares standard Adobe commands, tools, palettes, and shortcuts with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator software programs.
Work More Efficiently with InDesign CS
InDesign creative toolset gives flight to your design ideas. Designers and Illustrators can work more efficiently with InDesign's organized tools. You will save production time by importing native Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator files.
Business designers can work with popular PageMaker features in InDesign CS. This includes data merge, ALAP InBooklet Special Edition for imposition, and dynamic bullets and numbering. InDesign CS easily converts PageMaker 6.0 and 7.0 files with the included document converter.
Work Experience with InDesign
I find the InDesign Story Editor similar to PageMaker Story Editor. Using Control "Y" or simply right-clicking (or control-clicking) the text will call up the Story Editor. This allows you to use live editing for your page design's content and styles.
I can edit text and make changes in a section of my document without having to go to my "Continued on Page . . ." I have found this helpful in a multiple page document. You can set the preferences for font, font size, line spacing and background color.
You can set your document "presets" for page size, columns and margins that are similar to Printer and PDF Export presets. Using the InDesign selection tool, I can drag the handles and press the shift key to preserve the frame's original proportions. In addition, you can import styles from Microsoft Word.
InDesign CS has resizing capabilities but it takes several attempts to get resizing done right. I find it easier to resize my photographs in Photoshop before importing graphics to InDesign. This allows me to crop images to my desired shape and resize them.
I can move the palettes by holding the Option key and dragging them anywhere on my desktop space. You can make changes to tables and your headers and footers and line them up to where you want them to appear.
Pro Reaction
Fortunately, Story Editor is a full-featured text editor with a spell checker, outlining, and table capabilities. The standard Adobe interface works well with InDesign CS, Photoshop and Illustrator. InDesign has nested styles and XML support. InDesign CS has a new Story Editor and better separation and new flattening previews. Noted was improved performance and new tools and palettes in InDesign CS.
Con Reaction
Within InDesign CS, you cannot save files for use with InDesign 2.0 or earlier. You cannot save InDesign files to QuarkXPress. Opening complex pages within InDesign CS takes a large amount of time on Mac G3 computers.
Final Remarks
This InDesign CS version is a full-blown power-packed upgrade. I feel that InDesign CS will convert more PageMaker and Quark users over to the new Adobe InDesign CS program.
System Requirements
Mac OS X v.10.2 through v.10.3. PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 processor, 128MB of RAM (256MB recommended), 350MB of available hard-disk space.
Paul Gerstenbluth is President of the ARIE Foundation and is a Macintosh consultant. The ARIE Foundation's mission is to provide VA hospitalized patients with hobby materials and Powerbooks that help in their stay and recovery.
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