Way back in October 2007 I published a series of beginning articles on InDesign that discussed Setup Basics, Master Pages, Paragraph and Character Styles, Layers and Shortcuts. Several people wanted to see a walkthrough on a real InDesign project, which is a great idea. Well, I’m finally getting to publishing that now!
We’ll pick this up at the digital stage. I’ve already done my thumbnail sketches and digital comps.
The Project Folder and Images
Before I begin assembling any project, I set up a project folder and a folder within that for Images. By default, InDesign only links images, so the path to the image must remain the same if you want the image to show up in the final output as more than just a screen grab. You can always relink images, but that’s an extra step you won’t have to take if you set your project files up correctly from the start.
I usually like to color correct photos in RGB and keep a copy of that layered file in an RGB or Builder Files folder within the Images folder for the project. This does add to the amount of space the project takes up on the hard drive, but I’ve had to go back and correct photos more than once!
When I convert my files to CMYK, I flatten them (adjustment layers won’t translate anyway) and save the CMYK version as a TIFF. This is also a good time to double check to be sure my resolution is 300 ppi and that the dimensions are approximately what I will be using. Too large an image only hogs resources on your computer; if you have an 8×10 but you’ll only need a 4×5, you can reduce the dimensions and cut the file size in half.
After I’ve assembled all the images I plan to use (of course images are changed or new ones are added sometimes), I open InDesign and create a new file by going to File>New>Document. The default measurements for US versions are 8.5″ x 11″ or 51 x 66 picas, which is the standard letter size. If this isn’t what I need, I change it.
I can also set up margins before clicking ok to create the new document. I usually use 1p6 or 1/4″. If you don’t see the fields to enter the Bleed at the bottom, you can click the More Options button to the left of the dialog box. For bleed, I tend to be generous and use 1p6 or 1/4″, though for most printers 0p8 or 1/8″ is also acceptable (check with your printer if you’re unsure). As in other Adobe programs, when the link icon is active, it will make all the field values the same.
If you don’t set these options up now, you can always go back to them later by navigating to File>Document Setup.
Master Page Grid and Guides
The next step is to go into the Master Page by going to the Pages panel and double clicking on the A-Master. This is where I set up my grid guides.
Make sure you have double clicked on the A-Master, so that both pages of the facing page spread are selected at the same time (verify by glancing to see that both pages look highlighted (grey) in the Pages panel). This ensures that you’re creating identical guides on both pages at the same time. Go to Layout>Create Guides and enter the number of rows and columns and the amount of space in between each (should be labeled Alley, but misnamed here as Gutter. A gutter is actually the additional margin on the spine edge of the page).
I usually have at least 1p6 (1/4″) of space in between each column, in this example it’s 3p0 or 1/2″. Most of the time I’m only using rows to mark off my page into three sections, so I leave the “gutter” as zero.
Grid Colors
All guides are by default cyan, but you can change this before creating them if you go Layout>Ruler Guides. I usually make my grid guides (not baseline grid, but my layout grid) a different color so that if I drag out a guide later to line something up, I don’t get it confused with the grid guides. I also change the guides back to cyan when I’m done setting up my layout grid.
Also, if this is going to be a multi-page document, I determine my baseline and go to Edit>Preferences>Grids and adjust the Increment Every field. I will use this later to make it so that every line is aligned across the whole document. You can change the baseline guide colors in this panel, too.
Stick around because next I’ll discuss setting up Master Pages in detail and how I create styles that I’ll use throughout the rest of the project. You can get free updates via RSS (what is RSS?) or email every time I post a new article to Creative Curio.
Do you need more help with InDesign? Feel free to leave a comment below, contact me or head over to Lynda.com and sign up for their InDesign Tutorials. It’s only $25/mo for unlimited access! This is a resource I use myself and I highly recommend it.
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Thanks Lauren – while I’m very comfortable using InDesign, it’s really useful to see your workflow and the way you organise your files.
Thanks for starting the InDesign Projects series, Lauren. I hope that in the end you’ll collect all your posts in one downloadable e-book PDF. I’m an amateur designer when it comes to InDesign, picked up various things from different sources, so it’s really great to see how professionals work on their InDesign projects from start to finish.
Tracey,
I’m sure everyone has a slightly different way of doing things, and by no means to I present this as the right way, but it works very well for me. Maybe you’ll pick up on a few things I do differently and try them out!
Vivien,
That’s not a bad idea to create an e-book! Would you really find it useful to reference later? I’m actually working a lot in Quark right now (and learning as I go) so maybe I’ll do a Quark vs. InDesign at the end of this series!
Definitely – I think the whole series has been great and very insightful! I agree with the idea of an e-book too.
Tracey,
Ok! I’ll see about putting this together in a PDF. I need a new download for my subscribers anyway!
This is one program I could never figure out. It’s like GoLive only worse.
Doug,
Aw, no it’s not! Don’t say that! I love ID! The more I use it, the more I find I can’t stand to format text in Photoshop or Illustrator. Besides, there is no acceptable Adobe alternative for creating multiple page documents (and it’s just frustrating to move from Photoshop to Quark).
There’s a bit of a learning curve, yes, but I don’t think it’s too bad. You only need a basic understanding of Master Pages and styles in order to use it effectively. When you need more advanced features like Tables of Contents or Indexes, you can always figure out those features along the way. If I can explain anything for you, just ask!
Hmmm. Well then I guess maybe I should at least give it a go. I do have InDesign CS, but I’ve never installed it.
Doug,
Big improvements have been made since CS. If you can afford it, CS3 is by far more intuitive and less frustrating. You can always upgrade the whole suite, too (far less expensive than buying it all over again, naturally).
Hi there! In here, indesign when setting up a new document why isnt enough to just type in the columms and margins values? why too use guidelines? U use both? And this give me the chance to modify later? …i mean when i use typing in values and i want to do a modification my text will automatic change. with guidlines too? or u use both? what extra this gives me? (i dont have an indesign next too me now)
Student102,
You can set up columns and margins when you create a new InDesign document if you’d like. I’m just sharing my process. I prefer to set guidelines for rows and columns at the same time. You can’t set rows in the document setup window. Either way you do it, no, your text is not affected by changes. If you want a single text box with columns that will adjust text if you change column or alley (InDesign calls it gutter) width, you’ll need to select your text box and go to Object>Text Frame Options and set the columns there. You cannot manually adjust these, though, which is a flexibility I like to have.
Oh yeah, I’ll rush right out and pick that up, lol. Not! This hard working Joe could never afford CS3. I only have CS because I won it in a contest.
Hi there, I am in Australia and printing jobs here are done in millimetres and centimetres. How do I change the document I’m working on from picas to one of these.
Thanks…
Kim,
You should be able to just right-click in the upper left corner of the ruler (where horizontal and vertical meet) and select whatever units you want from the contextual menu there.
Kim,
Where you input values in picas, just include the metric label (ie. 12 mm or 2 cm) and InDesign will automatically do the conversion.
Thank you for providing these articles, there seem to be very good info here. Articles can’t be print well though
(bunch of blank pages come out). Pdf file which gathers them or at least print-friendly view would be great.
Also, I like your approach to get most important things first, even though short dedicated article which gives high-level and top-down explanation of operations (necessary settings first) would be great. I like quality of Adobe products, but such documentation is generally lacking bitterly, in spite of many books. Not all users have abundant time to learn all details before can actually do something… Thanks
Also, any article about basic preparation of book for print in InDesign or recommendation of some text that explains this would be great. From the reviews, InDesign should be step up from Word and good for such task, but searched Amazon and web for days and found nothing substantial
, and starting from Adobe manuals (CS3) is very frustrating. Thanks
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