10 Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Workflow in InDesign CS5

10 TIPS AND TRICKS TO
IMPROVE YOUR WORKFLOW
IN INDESIGN CS5

Things you have probably heard about, but aren’t using… Yet.

Nicolette D. DeGroot
Creative Director
UNC-CH Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
v  Three years of UNC-Chapel Hill Communications experience
•  Department of ENT since January 2011
•  Division of Gastroenterology (2008-2011)

v  Daily user of InDesign CS5, by no means an “expert”
v  Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology degree, Appalachian (2006)
v  Fine art background, budding photographer
v  Freelance graphic designer
v  Sharing topics that are helpful to me, in hopes that it will help you!

BY A SHOW OF HANDS…
v  How many are actively using InDesign for layouts?
v  Would you describe your experience as:
•  Rookie
•  Passable
•  Old hand

v  What do you use InDesign for?
•  Books/long documents
•  Newsletters
•  Posters/signs/fliers
•  Something else?

TOPIC LIST*
v  Master Pages v  Data Merge

v  Paragraph Styles v  Multiple Page Import

v  Page Numbering v  Placing Images

v  Table of Contents v  Preflighting & Packaging

v  Image Grid v  Shortcuts

*Basic understanding of ID is assumed. Each topic has much to cover, and are
listed here merely as a brief introduction, and deserve further examination.

MASTER PAGES
v  Master pages or spreads are non-printing
pages that provide repeating “background”
elements which can be made to appear on every
page portions of a publication.
•  Page numbers
•  Headers/footers
•  Watermarked images
•  Guides and grids !

•  Graphic Elements !

PARAGRAPH STYLES
v  For use with long publications with uniform
text layouts or pages of the same style.
•  Annual reports
•  Newsletters
v  Play! Use paragraph styles while playing with
text bodies to determine what the best look for
your publication will be.
v  Create a new paragraph style whenever you
create a unique body of text, even if you only
use that typeface once.

PAGE NUMBERING
v  Create a text box where you want your page number to appear.
v  With Type tool selected in the text field, go to Type > Insert Special Character
> Markers > Current Page Number . The number initially appears as a letter in
master view, but once you go back to the pages view all pages are numbered.
v  To continue pagination, Go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers >
Next Page Number , and the next page number has been set.
v  Style your page number adjusting color and size, choose fonts and, if suits,
add words or symbols before/after the number. (Sect., URL, Page 1 of 5, etc.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
v  Create a frame for your TOC.
v  Type the first TOC entry in the frame, followed
by a shift-tab, followed by the page number for that
entry, followed by a return. Repeat this for each
TOC entry. The shift-tab creates a "right indent
tab", a special kind of tab stop that causes the text
after the tab stop to always right-align with the
right edge of the frame.

IMAGE GRID
v  Select File > Place, and select multiple images by
clicking on one image, and then command-clicking (Mac)
or ctrl-clicking (Windows) on subsequent images.
v  Click the Open button. InDesign will import all the
images you selected, and then display the "place
cursor" with a number showing how many images
you've imported.
v  Hold down command-shift (Mac) or ctrl-shift
(Windows), and drag out a rectangle. You will see a grid
of frames appear. Don't release the mouse button, but
you can now release the command/ctrl-shift keys.

IMAGE GRID (CONT.)
v  While continuing to hold the mouse button down, you can
adjust the number of rows and columns using the cursor (arrow)
keys on the keyboard. The up/down arrows increase/decrease the
number of rows in the grid, and the right/left arrows increase/
decrease the number of columns in the grid.
v  Again, while continuing to hold the mouse button you can
adjust the space between the rows and columns using shift+the
cursor keys on the keyboard. Shift + the up/down arrows increases/
decreases the vertical space between rows, and shift + the right/left
arrows increases/decreases the horizontal space between columns.
v  Release the mouse button, and a precise grid of frames will be
created, with an image placed in each frame.
v  The grid is not grouped, and each image may have to be
manipulated to fit their frames.

DATA MERGE
v  Mailing labels (re: Word)

v  Personalized letters, postcards, etc

v  Contact directories

v  Nametags

MULTIPLE PAGE PDF IMPORT
v  Import more than one page of a multi-page
PDF in InDesign simply by turning on the Show
Import Options in the Place dialog box. Once
the options box is open, choose which pages from
the PDF you want to import (or select All to bring
them all in).
v  Once you click OK, you’ll see the normal Place
PDF cursor, except that every time you click,
another PDF (in order) is placed until all PDFs
have been placed in your document.

PLACING IMAGES
For the slimmest possible InDesign files :
1.  Don’t copy and paste content from
Photoshop or a web browser
2.  Don’t leave extra items floating around
(stuff on pasteboards, extra master pages).
3.  Do go to File > Save As to create a
duplicate of your document.
4.  Do resize images and set their resolution in
Photoshop, not InDesign.

PREFLIGHTING & PACKAGING

v  Best thing you can learn for your printer.
v  Click File > Preflight. Open the Preflight
Check dialog screen. You will find
categorized sections to check documents
for errors and missing files.
v  A small warning icon indicates problem
areas.
v  Missing files can be replaced those from
the Preflight Check dialog screen.

SHORTCUTS

v  The secret handshake between InDesign users.

v  They are your friend! They expedite your workflow by leaps and bounds.

v  Job security! A graphics teacher once told me that someone who uses
shortcuts in Adobe products appears to be an expert to the untrained eye!

v  http://gilbertconsulting.com/resources-misc.html

Contact Nicolette:
Office 919.843.7323
Mobile 919.926.8094
ndegroot@med.unc.edu

Adobe InDesign Users
Group Contact:
Kelly Vaughn:
kelly@documentgeek.com

Resources:
-  InDesign Secrets

Thank you! -  O’Reilly Digital Studio
-  Adobe.com
-  Trial and error

10 Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Workflow in InDesign CS5

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