InDesign CS5 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) [Paperback]

Galen Gruman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0470614498 | ISBN-13: 978-0470614495 | Edition: 1

Get up to speed on the latest features and enhancements to the new version of InDesign

As the industry standard in professional layout and design, InDesign delivers powerful publishing solutions for magazine, newspaper, and other publishing fields. This introductory book is an easy-to-understand reference for anyone migrating from another software application or those with little-to-no desktop publishing experience. You’ll explore InDesign basics and examine the enhancements to the latest version, while you also discover how pages work, build templates, create frames and shapes, manage styles, and much more.

• InDesign is proving to be an increasingly popular layout and design application; the latest version includes new functionality and enhanced tools
• Teaches all the basics for first-time users, including how to open and save your work, arrange objects, work with color, edit text, manage styles, finesse character details, add special type, import and size graphics, set paths, work with tabs, create indices, and more
• Demonstrates how to calibrate colors, export PDF files, fine-tune paragraph details, create frames and shapes, manipulate objects, and work with automated text

InDesign CS5 For Dummies offers a straightforward but fun approach to discovering how to get the most from your desktop publishing experience when using InDesign.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get up to speed on InDesign CS5 and create great publicationsfor print or the Web

How do you design? Free-form, creating one-of-a-kind pieces? Or would you love a highly formatted template that you could modify as needed for regular periodicals? InDesign is the right tool for both approaches, and this is the right book to help you master the essentials. Learn to set up your documents, prepare them for output, and get creative!

• Take a tour — navigate around InDesign's menus, dialog boxes, panels, and panes, and customize preferences

• Master the template — set up and modify templates, use master pages, build libraries, and work with color

• The essential object — manipulate, organize, align, and arrange design objects

• Terrific text — see how to import and thread text, edit and style it, and finesse characters to make your words look great

• Must-have graphics — prepare graphics files, work with image layers, and create a clipping path

• Get down to business — create manuals and annual reports with tables, footnotes, and indexes

• Pretty in print — calibrate color and prepare your document for printing

• Present your project — export your work to the Web or make it an interactive presentation with animation and sound

Open the book and find:

• Tips on modifying defaults for views, colors, and styles

• How pages and layers work

• What you can do with color swatches

• When to align objects and when to stack them

• How to customize the spelling and hyphenation dictionaries

• Import options for Word, Excel, and RTF files

• How to handle automatic text

• Tips for cropping and positioning graphics

Learn to:

• Navigate the interface and set up reusable master pages

• Work creatively with lines, text frames, and graphics frames

• Manipulate text and spiff up your documents with graphics

• Create PDFs, Web pages, and Flash files from InDesign

About the Author

Galen Gruman is the principal at The Zango Group, an editorial and book production firm. He has designed and produced numerous publications. Galen has authored or coauthored more than 20 books on desktop publishing, and he is currently the Executive Editor for InfoWorld.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (May 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470614498
• ISBN-13: 978-0470614495
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Galen Gruman has written more than two dozen books, mainly on desktop publishing software: InDesign, QuarkXPress, and PageMaker. You can find more details on his InDesign books at www.indesigncentral.com. He has also was lead author for the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Bible. Gruman was a pioneer in the use of desktop publishing technologies in the mid-1980s and has covered and used all the major software in production environments ever since. In addition, he has been executive editor of Macworld, M-Business, InfoWorld, and Upside magazines, among other roles in high-tech publications. Gruman lives and works in San Francisco as a writer, editor, and consultant on high-tech and business issues. His Web site is www.zangogroup.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Spring for the Adobe manual, June 24, 2010

By 

M. Nave (Gainesville, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: InDesign CS5 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

I first referred to this manual for the details on text autoflow, during an attempt at layout.

During my call with technical support I learned the text was flat WRONG.

Believe me, help like this... you don't need. And what irks me; this is not a new feature! They've had 5 versions to correct it and get it right!

Now that the Adobe manuals are out, stick with them; and Quality!

Mark

3.0 out of 5 stars InDesign for Dummies, December 30, 2011

By 

Brian - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: InDesign CS5 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

The instruction is OK and is probably as good as it could be, but with a program as complicated as ID, I'm better off watching video instruction, which is readlily available online. Go to Google, type in ID and what you need to learn and multiple videos come up.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of great assistance for a newbie - which I am., June 4, 2011

By 

Joan C. Forster "computer junkie" (Buffalo, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: InDesign CS5 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

May have to use the program at work, but do not have at home. This will help me understand better what I am doing.