Adobe InDesign Workshops

After viewing the three Adobe InDesign workshops, I felt I had a much more solid understanding of the basic tools used in this program. I'm already familiar with the setup of many programs from the Adobe Suite, but there are certain things about each program that just make jumping into easier. Here are some of those things I learned:

1. Making Selections

• I learned that on the text box, when you select it there are two additional white boxes to import and export text when you want to thread two text boxes together.
• When you want to select a layer that is behind other layers, you can press command or control and click on the layer--with each click you're moving back another layer, until you reach the one you need to select.
• One of the "smart" things about InDesign is that it can sometimes tell based on the nature of the layer what tool you will need to use after selecting it. For example, double clicking on a text box will result in an immediate switch to the text tool.

2. Working with Text

• My name always comes up as being spelled wrong, so it was good to know how to make sure that InDesign recognizes that this is a word in another language, and that it is still spelled correctly.
• I learned that in the Open Type sub-menu, there are options to create symbols such as fractions.
  
• The drop-cap format is located in Paragraph Format, and lets you add that cool-looking larger letter that draws attention to the start of a document. I love this!
• When I make a change to a specific paragraph, such as alignment, and I want this to be reflected in the rest of the document, I just choose "Redefine Style."

3. Working with Text Styles

• I learned how to apply the style of a line of text to all of the other lines so that I don't have to go through each individual line. To do this, I would create a Character Style Sheet and a Nested Paragraph Style Sheet. I can then apply this by using Quick Apply.
  

I thought that all three videos were helpful, especially considering the tools that can be used when I go to create my resume. The first one was more basic but totally necessary as a starting point for using InDesign. I will definitely be using these tools in the near future.

All three presenters were considerably easy to follow, although I felt that the second presenter (Working with Text) packed in a lot of information in the little time he had. I liked the tips he gave on making something more "professional", especially considering my needing this program to write a resume. Also, while I could follow him, his use of language for a person who may not be familiar with computer programs may have been confusing.