Adobe InDesign Bible

Adobe InDesign Bible

"Master This New Layout Program"

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Title: Adobe InDesign Bible
Author: Galen Gruman, John Cruise, Kelly Kordes Anton, Cathy Abes
Publisher: IDG Books, Inc. http://www.idgbooks.com
Publication Date: November 1999
Pages: 820 with CD
ISBN: 0-7645-3243-X
Price: $39.99

Type of Book

Adobe InDesign Bible, is a comprehensive guide to Adobe's new professional page-layout application. It shows you the program's innovative architecture and functionality and tells you everything you need to know to get up to speed. It is written for both Mac and Windows users, and the book can be used as an introductory aid for beginners and a useful reference tool for more experienced users. You get full coverage of the features in InDesign, and it covers in detail such topics as: table creation image control, color output, and electronic publishing. The book presents you with something more than just the program's tools. It provides you with information on knowing when, how, and why to use them. And it is written in a way to help you realize the potential of InDesign by applying its tools to real-world publishing design needs. There is an accompanying CD-ROM that includes free software, shareware, and demo software. IDG Books has other books in the Bible series. See their Web site for more information: http://www.idgbooks.com

User Level

Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced computer users. The book is written for all designers: designers new to InDesign but familiar with other desktop publishing software; designers familiar with print publishing but new to electronic publishing; experienced designers new to desktop technologies; and novice designers new to desktop technologies.

Review

Adobe InDesign Bible is made up of 39 chapters divided into 11 parts. If you are a novice publisher or designer, you can read the book in order because the process of page design is presented in increasing levels of sophistication. You first learn how (and why) to create placeholders, and then how to work with common elements (such as text), and finally how to use special effects and deal with high-end publishing issues (such as output control, image manipulation, and printing). If you are experienced, you can read the book in any order--pick the sections or chapters that cover the design issues you want to know more about. The book is very well organized, and even though it is not in color, it has a wealth of illustrations and tables on almost every other page. Each chapter begins with an overview of its information, and ends with a quick summary.

Icons
There are various icons placed in the text to indicate important or especially helpful items:

Caution--The Caution icon warns you of potential hang-ups or pitfalls you may encounter while using InDesign (and tells how to avoid them);

Cross-Reference--The Cross-Reference icon points you to different parts of the book that contains related or expanded information on a particular topic;

Design Advice--The Design Advice icon indicates a technique or approach to layout that will enhance your publication's design;

Note--The Note icon indicates information that you should remember for future use--something that may seem minor or inconsequential but will in reality resurface;

Platform Difference--The Platform Difference icon alerts you to differences using InDesign on the Macintosh versus in Windows, as well as between Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0;

Tip--The Tip icon indicates a technique or action in InDesign that can save you time or effort;
Oddity--The Oddity icon indicates something that works contrary to expectations and thus could cause confusion unless known in advance.

Part I: Welcome to InDesign--Chapters 1 through 4 walk you through the initial steps of using InDesign to create publications. They give you a basic introduction to InDesign itself, explaining the concepts it uses in its layout approach. They highlight what's special about InDesign and define a whole passel of publishing and InDesign terms.

Part II: Frame and Line Fundamentals--Chapters 5 through 8 explain how InDesign's frame and line tools work so you can create and manipulate layout objects. With these building blocks, you construct almost all the components in a layout: from the frame containers that hold text and pictures to original artwork you create in InDesign.

Part III: Text Fundamentals--Chapters 9 through 15 show you how to prepare, import, and format your text for use with InDesign. For many designers, text is the gray stuff that flows around picture and headlines, but text is actually a key component of the layout and its design.

Part IV: Typography Fundamentals--Chapters 16 through 19 show you how to use typography effectively in any program, and then teaches you how to take advantage of InDesign's typographic power to really jazz up your layout.

Part V: Picture Fundamentals--Chapters 20 through 23 discuss how to use InDesign to manipulate and work with images--in all popular formats--in your layout. Although text carries the message. It's a picture that gets your attention and that often can say more than any collection of words. These chapters help you get the most out of your images in InDesign.

Part VI: Drawing Fundamentals--Chapters 24 through 26 show you how you can use the tools in InDesign to create a variety of shapes that you can use as original artwork or as specialty containers for text and images.

Part VII: Color Fundamentals--Chapters 27 through 28 explain how to use InDesign's color tools to create colors, tints of colors, and even blends of colors, so you'll have plenty of ways to jazz up your document's objects.

Part VIII: Page Fundamentals--Chapters 29 through 31 discuss the tools InDesign sports to work with pages. InDesign comes with a set of tools that let you automate repetitive work, apply common elements to a range of pages, and customize page settings, among other capabilities. These chapters walk you through the ins and outs of all of them.

Part IX: Output Fundamentals--Chapters 32 through 34 walk you through the output steps of publishing. These chapters show you what you need to be aware of as well as show you how to output your documents for printing or for use in the Adobe Portable Document Format often used for network and CD-ROM based documents, as well as for Web based documents.

Part X: Web Fundamentals--Chapters 35 through 36 discuss how InDesign can help you convert print documents for use online as well as create basic Web pages. You'll still need a dedicated Web tool, but for those times where InDesign should be part of the process, these chapters will help you do things right.

Part XI: Advanced Issues--Chapters 37 through 39 expand your horizons a little, once you've become an expert at inDesign. These chapters expose you to key insights into working beyond InDesign.

Appendixes--Appendix A: Installing Adobe InDesign; Appendix B: Most Useful Shortcuts; Appendix C: Top Tips for Using InDesign; Appendix D: Switching from QuarkXPress or PageMaker; and Appendix D: What's on the CD-ROM.

Personal Comments

The Adobe InDesign Bible is a great resource book. It is well organized, comprehensive, and appropriate for all level designers.

Graphics: Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop
Web Page Editor: Macromedia Dreamweaver 3.0
Scanner: Hewlett Packard ScanJet 6250C Professional Series

Adobe InDesign Bible "Master This New Layout Program"
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge it. Use your browser's "BACK" button to return to this review when done.
Title: Adobe InDesign Bible Author: Galen Gruman, John Cruise, Kelly Kordes Anton, Cathy Abes Publisher: IDG Books, Inc. http://www.idgbooks.com Publication Date: November 1999 Pages: 820 with CD ISBN: 0-7645-3243-X Price: $39.99

Adobe InDesign Bible, is a comprehensive guide to Adobe's new professional page-layout application. It shows you the program's innovative architecture and functionality and tells you everything you need to know to get up to speed. It is written for both Mac and Windows users, and the book can be used as an introductory aid for beginners and a useful reference tool for more experienced users. You get full coverage of the features in InDesign, and it covers in detail such topics as: table creation image control, color output, and electronic publishing. The book presents you with something more than just the program's tools. It provides you with information on knowing when, how, and why to use them. And it is written in a way to help you realize the potential of InDesign by applying its tools to real-world publishing design needs. There is an accompanying CD-ROM that includes free software, shareware, and demo software. IDG Books has other books in the Bible series. See their Web site for more information: http://www.idgbooks.com

Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced computer users. The book is written for all designers: designers new to InDesign but familiar with other desktop publishing software; designers familiar with print publishing but new to electronic publishing; experienced designers new to desktop technologies; and novice designers new to desktop technologies.

Adobe InDesign Bible is made up of 39 chapters divided into 11 parts. If you are a novice publisher or designer, you can read the book in order because the process of page design is presented in increasing levels of sophistication. You first learn how (and why) to create placeholders, and then how to work with common elements (such as text), and finally how to use special effects and deal with high-end publishing issues (such as output control, image manipulation, and printing). If you are experienced, you can read the book in any order--pick the sections or chapters that cover the design issues you want to know more about. The book is very well organized, and even though it is not in color, it has a wealth of illustrations and tables on almost every other page. Each chapter begins with an overview of its information, and ends with a quick summary. Icons There are various icons placed in the text to indicate important or especially helpful items: Caution--The Caution icon warns you of potential hang-ups or pitfalls you may encounter while using InDesign (and tells how to avoid them); Cross-Reference--The Cross-Reference icon points you to different parts of the book that contains related or expanded information on a particular topic; Design Advice--The Design Advice icon indicates a technique or approach to layout that will enhance your publication's design; Note--The Note icon indicates information that you should remember for future use--something that may seem minor or inconsequential but will in reality resurface; Platform Difference--The Platform Difference icon alerts you to differences using InDesign on the Macintosh versus in Windows, as well as between Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0; Tip--The Tip icon indicates a technique or action in InDesign that can save you time or effort; Oddity--The Oddity icon indicates something that works contrary to expectations and thus could cause confusion unless known in advance. Part I: Welcome to InDesign--Chapters 1 through 4 walk you through the initial steps of using InDesign to create publications. They give you a basic introduction to InDesign itself, explaining the concepts it uses in its layout approach. They highlight what's special about InDesign and define a whole passel of publishing and InDesign terms. Part II: Frame and Line Fundamentals--Chapters 5 through 8 explain how InDesign's frame and line tools work so you can create and manipulate layout objects. With these building blocks, you construct almost all the components in a layout: from the frame containers that hold text and pictures to original artwork you create in InDesign. Part III: Text Fundamentals--Chapters 9 through 15 show you how to prepare, import, and format your text for use with InDesign. For many designers, text is the gray stuff that flows around picture and headlines, but text is actually a key component of the layout and its design. Part IV: Typography Fundamentals--Chapters 16 through 19 show you how to use typography effectively in any program, and then teaches you how to take advantage of InDesign's typographic power to really jazz up your layout. Part V: Picture Fundamentals--Chapters 20 through 23 discuss how to use InDesign to manipulate and work with images--in all popular formats--in your layout. Although text carries the message. It's a picture that gets your attention and that often can say more than any collection of words. These chapters help you get the most out of your images in InDesign. Part VI: Drawing Fundamentals--Chapters 24 through 26 show you how you can use the tools in InDesign to create a variety of shapes that you can use as original artwork or as specialty containers for text and images. Part VII: Color Fundamentals--Chapters 27 through 28 explain how to use InDesign's color tools to create colors, tints of colors, and even blends of colors, so you'll have plenty of ways to jazz up your document's objects. Part VIII: Page Fundamentals--Chapters 29 through 31 discuss the tools InDesign sports to work with pages. InDesign comes with a set of tools that let you automate repetitive work, apply common elements to a range of pages, and customize page settings, among other capabilities. These chapters walk you through the ins and outs of all of them. Part IX: Output Fundamentals--Chapters 32 through 34 walk you through the output steps of publishing. These chapters show you what you need to be aware of as well as show you how to output your documents for printing or for use in the Adobe Portable Document Format often used for network and CD-ROM based documents, as well as for Web based documents. Part X: Web Fundamentals--Chapters 35 through 36 discuss how InDesign can help you convert print documents for use online as well as create basic Web pages. You'll still need a dedicated Web tool, but for those times where InDesign should be part of the process, these chapters will help you do things right. Part XI: Advanced Issues--Chapters 37 through 39 expand your horizons a little, once you've become an expert at inDesign. These chapters expose you to key insights into working beyond InDesign. Appendixes--Appendix A: Installing Adobe InDesign; Appendix B: Most Useful Shortcuts; Appendix C: Top Tips for Using InDesign; Appendix D: Switching from QuarkXPress or PageMaker; and Appendix D: What's on the CD-ROM.

The Adobe InDesign Bible is a great resource book. It is well organized, comprehensive, and appropriate for all level designers.

Graphics: Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop Web Page Editor: Macromedia Dreamweaver 3.0 Scanner: Hewlett Packard ScanJet 6250C Professional Series