This is an overview of my whole document set up in Indesign and all the pages I had in my magazine.

My Magazine specs:

Width: 190 mm, Height: 250 mm

Number of pages: 8

Font size: 9pt

Leading: 11pt

Margins: Top 16mm, Inside 20mm, Bottom 23mm, Outside 20mm

Columns: 3, Gutter: 4.233 mm

Bleed; 3 mm

I enjoyed getting used to the software and researching to learn more details about what it could offer me in helping me design my magazine. I had a few troubles with understanding the Baseline Grid, but I got there in the end and managed to use it to my advantage with my layout of text.

Moving on the text, my notes;

InDesign is not brilliant for using text for the spellchecker etc. always write in word. You can flood the text so that it fits across many columns. To link a text box, you drag one out, and then click the bottom white box and you can either click on an existing second text box, or then drag out one after you’d clicked on the bottom white box. This will link to two allowing the text to flood from one to another. If you are laying out a page, if working with a large amount of text, InDesign is always best.

To fill with placement text, you can select Type- fill with placeholder text. This helps to see how it will work out.

Clicking on the text, there’s a bar at the top with options way beyond the abilities of illustrator.

Word will ad pixels to made something bold, InDesign will not force a bold setting upon any typography, the only option with italic is ‘semi bold’ which will not always appear on a font. 

Leaving the text size around 9 or 10 points is acceptable.

Changing the point size of text. It also changes the value of the leading in-between. It works out what the best leading will be.

You also have the option to change the text to small caps and all caps.

Superscript option will make the writing higher like a squared number and writing the date. Subscript is scientific equations.

There’s an option for Underlining.

There’s and option Strike-through.

Kerning space between he letters. If its set to metrics, InDesign will specify the certain amount of pixels.

If you change to optical kerning, it looks at every two characters and gives them the best fit visually, moves them closer or further apart.

Tracking will look at the entire writing, and will alter the spacing in between all the letters.

Sans-serif fonts will always need a little bit of tracking due to their nature.

Baseline grids are to set the text to create a vertical rhythm through the design. they help give unity to design and helps the text to be easier to read to the viewer. Without it, readers can be known to get lost. It sits the text onto the grid lines which means in a book, if the pages are fairly thin, the text from the opposing side can’t be seen through.

Creating a baseline grid requires attention towards these properties:

• font-size
• line height
• top and bottom margins
• top and bottom paddings
• top and bottom borders

Continuing Indesign document setup.

When it comes to layout, it can be helpful to set up guides to keep structure throughout the magazine/layout etc.

Select - Layout, then – Guides

And a starting point would be to create a ‘modular’ grid 3 by 3 or 5 by 5. Quite often even numbers is uneasy to the eye. When setting up the grid, be sure to use the margins for the grid layout. It helps to keep things even, and equal. And you don’t want to put any design in the margin.

In order for these guides to appear on all of the pages, they need to be set up on the master page. The master page is where you can create guides, number pages and the same layout will appear on every page if you’re creating a book. Double click on the master page which is in the pages panel at the top.

I’ve recently been introduced to the Adobe Software InDesign, which I was completely new to. These tutorials are vital for us to learn the software and understand how to use it even on a basic level; as we will be making our own book next week. I’ve noted down our first tutorial to help myself and others that want to learn/remember the steps needed to get to know InDesign thoroughly.  

InDesign is a piece of software that brings everything together both image and text. For example the process that happens to create a magazine would include many steps, you’d have an illustrator, a designer, and many more than would cooperate in the process. It can even go as far as creating interactive books and interactive PDF’s that hypothetically you could download and use. Mainly, the software is used to create pages made for printing. Whether it’s considered an upside or a downside to the software, InDesign needs to operated in a very organized manner when it comes to working with images in other files, simply because when you place an image within the software, unlike that of Photoshop and Illustrator, it will remember the link from where that’s been opened from and would only print/show a blocky version of the image with large pixels. Working with the software, the rules are to just start with fresh files keeping them organized with the images you intend to use. If you move an image later on, things will get complicated which is why it’s important to be organized at the beginning. This is why it helps to always know a sketched out idea of what you want to produce before entering the software. 

On to opening up InDesign:

Once InDesign is running, you’ll have to open up a new document. The box that will appear will most likely not include the extra options needed to set up a document properly. On the far right of the box you will have the button named ‘More options’ which you need to click on to be able to see the bleeding/slug options (one of the vital things to needed when working with InDesign for printing). The options available to you would need to be set up for the requirements of your client, but here is a brief overview of what each option is for;

• Intent: This is the option where you select where you want it to go (web or print).
• Number of pages: Self explanatory, and down to what the client needs, but it’d easy enough to add pages later on, the same for start page.
• Facing pages: Is an option for something like a magazine, in which case that needs to be ticked, however if your designing a poster it would be un-ticked. 
• Master text frame: This is something that is better to leave to add at a later time.
• Page Sizes: When working with sizing, for printing purposes to avoid wastage it’s easier to work with the ‘A’ sizes such as A4. This is purely because of paper sizing in particular will be created into these sizes, choosing to print in a different shape will be less economical with the wastage of paper. 
• Columns: These set guides for the text columns. Unless you know what you want, leave the columns set as default because they are very easy to change later on once you have a better idea.
• Gutter: The space in-between the columns. 4.233 is default and sits well.
• Margins are the space around your page. Think of it as if when you hold a book, your thumbs cover the edges and not the content. A margin consistent round if fine if it’s a poster, however margin size will need to be altered for a book, as when it bends in the middle, with a fixed margin size you’d have some of the content folding in the bend. But also depends on how many pages the book has.
• The bleed – if you put a 3 mm bleed, is should compensate for any inaccuracy, but it depends on the printer as it varies, but the bleed is generally the whole way round.
• Slug in terms of printing, is for leaving notes for the printer

All these alterations to the page set up are only good with a decent printer!

Understanding Page layout:

Changing font, with a book with multiple pages, you can use something called master pages. To repeat a layout you need to select the ‘A’ master page, which is locked but is able to be repeated. Command shift and click on an object that’s an A master page to unlock the object. You can then alter than single object on the master page.You can have more than one master page. If dragged on top to another master page, it will overight the last master page. Master page are a big way of saving time, they take a while to adjust to, but i’m sure are worth the practice!

Window- styles- object styles

Object styles is an option to create a style that can be placed on all the master pages to save time doing a layout for each page.

If you want all the boxes to be pre formatted so that they all fit in a perfect way.

Object style will carry over a couple of boxes, so if you select a couple, you can then select objec style. To set one up, its quick and similar as colouring text, you can change the background colour and stroke. You can add a stroke to either the outside, inside or the middle. The end cap is to select a specific line. Corner size and shape. will change the stroke on the outside.

Paragraph styles: Paragraph styles do the obvious, styles for paragraphs.

From there we learned how to wrap text around an image. We learnt to change the distance the text sits from the object, or how much it overlays. We were using directional feathering and many of the options from the object styles e.g. wrap stoke etc. We learnt about frame fitting options and how you can select where to align from, you can select the fitting to be auto. Which is pre setting an image automatically rather than you doing the image manually. We experimented with the effects for objects. There are options for transparency, drop shadow, outer glow, inner glow,basic feather etc.!

These all are in terms of speeding up page layout process. However if you choose specific fronts etc., that’s what’s most important from a design point of view.

 If you put text in a text box, something to look out for is the little box at the bottom right and that means there’s more text overset.

More indesign!

The next step after setting up the Indesign document:

Understanding the basics, to work with a grid you need to go to;

Layout – Guides

Starting out with a modular grid 3 by 3 or 5 by 5. Quite often odd numbers is uneasy to the eye. You can click and type in the boxes or click and drag the lines. Using the margins for the grid helps to keep things even, and equal. You don’t want to put a any design in the margin to do this select ‘fit guides to margins’.

 

Understanding photos in InDesign;

Photos are to be added to an Indesign document using a rectangle frame tool for an image, selecting the yellow box will allow you to alter the shape of the box. To open an image into the rectangle frame tool you click command D as a short cut and then locate the image. To move around with the image to make is fit more comfortably, you click the white arrow.The top of the tool bar there are a few options to help the image fit within the rectangle frame, for example you can stretch the image across, fit it proportionally etc.

These are helpful when working with all images.

Understanding Text:

Text is easy to work with in Indesig using the text tool in the left hand options bar, if have a selection of text and would like to create columns then this is a handy tip: To link a text box, you drag one out, and then click the bottom white box and you can either click on an existing second text box, or then drag out one after you’d clicked on the bottom white box. This will link to two allowing the text to flood from one to another.

Clicking on the text, there’s a bar at the top with options way beyond the abilities of illustrator.

Tips to consider:

Word will ad pixels to made something bold, InDesign will not force a bold setting upon any typography, the only option with italic is ‘semi bold’ which will not always appear on a font. 

Leaving the text size around 9 or 10 points is acceptable.

Changing the point size of text. It also changes the value of the leading in-between. It works out what the best leading will be.

You also have the option to change the text to small caps and all caps.

Superscript option will make the writing higher like a squared number and writing the date. Subscript is scientific equations.

Underline

Strikethrough

Kerning space between he letters. If its set to metrics, InDesign will specify the certain amount of pixels.

If you change to optical kerning, it looks at every two characters and gives them the best fit visually, moves them closer or further apart.

Tracking will look at the entire writing, and will alter the spacing in between all the letters.

Sans-serif fonts will always need a little bit of tracking due to their nature.

The block ‘T’ is how you choose the colouring, with the options of cmyk. If your given a job with specific design, with in indesign things are more specific. Below the colour option is a button to apply a stroke. To add more colours on the far right side is a swatch pallete, where you manage your colours. Clicking top right of the colour swatch box is the option to ask for a new colour swatch. A client will usually specify a colour to cmyk, in which case you can drag the bars around to get the colour you need. They’re semi-accurate, but colours will always mix differently when it comes to printing.

A ‘spot’ colour, is a colour mixed differently to cmyk, you can then select what the client has selected eg a pantone pastel coloured reference. Selecting one of those will add it to your colour swatched. However this is okay for a good printer, giving these options for a digital printer will be very difficult.

I was recently introduced to the Adobe Software InDesign, which I happened to be completely new to. The tutorials are vital for me to learn the software and understand how to use it even on a basic level; because of the editorial book i have to create.

InDesign is a piece of software that brings everything together both image and text. For example the process that happens to create a magazine would include many steps, you’d have an illustrator, a designer, and many more than would cooperate in the process. It can even go as far as creating interactive books and interactive PDF’s that hypothetically you could download and use. Mainly, the software is used to create pages made for printing. Whether it’s considered an upside or a downside to the software, InDesign needs to operated in a very organized manner when it comes to working with images in other files, simply because when you place an image within the software, unlike that of Photoshop and Illustrator, it will remember the link from where that’s been opened from and would only print/show a blocky version of the image with large pixels. Working with the software, the rules are to just start with fresh files keeping them organized with the images you intend to use. If you move an image later on, things will get complicated which is why it’s important to be organized at the beginning. This is why it helps to always know a sketched out idea of what you want to produce before entering the software.

On to opening up InDesign:

Once InDesign is running, you’ll have to open up a new document. The box that will appear will most likely not include the extra options needed to set up a document properly. On the far right of the box you will have the button named ‘More options’ which you need to click on to be able to see the bleeding/slug options (one of the vital things to needed when working with InDesign for printing). The options available to you would need to be set up for the requirements of your client, but here is a brief overview of what each option is for;

Intent: This is the option where you select where you want it to go (web or print).

Number of pages: Self explanatory, and down to what the client needs, but it’d easy enough to add pages later on, the same for start page.

Facing pages: Is an option for something like a magazine, in which case that needs to be ticked, however if your designing a poster it would be un-ticked.

Master text frame: This is something that is better to leave to add at a later time.

Page Sizes: When working with sizing, for printing purposes to avoid wastage it’s easier to work with the ‘A’ sizes such as A4. This is purely because of paper sizing in particular will be created into these sizes, choosing to print in a different shape will be less economical with the wastage of paper. 

 Columns: These set guides for the text columns. Unless you know what you want, leave the columns set as default because they are very easy to change later on once you have a better idea.

 Gutter: The space in-between the columns. 4.233 is default and sits well.

Margins are the space around your page. Think of it as if when you hold a book, your thumbs cover the edges and not the content. A margin consistent round if fine if it’s a poster, however margin size will need to be altered for a book, as when it bends in the middle, with a fixed margin size you’d have some of the content folding in the bend. But also depends on how many pages the book has.

The bleed – if you put a 3 mm bleed, is should compensate for any inaccuracy, but it depends on the printer as it varies, but the bleed is generally the whole way round.

Slug in terms of printing, is for leaving notes for the printer

Page layout, the blue line is the slug, for leaving information for the printer, black is the page, red is the bleed

And thats the basic set-up to get going on InDesign.