I've been browsing around the website http://www.creativepro.com/.
It has some great resources, reviews, tips, tutorials, blogs, and some all around good info in topics such as fonts, graphics, photography, print, and web or mobile.
For example, in one article I learned about a cool InDesign feature called Quick Apply. It's easy to turn on and off, and it allows you to keep your hands on the keyboard instead of searching through menus for those features that don't have keyboard shortcuts (or for features that have keyboard shortcuts, but you just can't remember which key combination it is) (Here's the link for the article.) I think I'll be trying this one out.
There are articles on more than just InDesign. I also found some reviews on products I'd heard of but didn't really know much about, some articles on kerning and type that were informative, and even some free Photoshop brush downloads that were tempting.
But, just a warning, you could get sucked into browsing the site for more time than you expected.
Showing posts with label InDesign Tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label InDesign Tip. Show all posts
Friday, October 7, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Overprinting White Type, or How to Make Type Invisible
No, this post isn't about a cool magic trick with type. It's really about how to not end up with invisible type. White type and other white elements can sometimes surprise you by not showing up on a printed version of your design. You can see the white type on your screen, so why doesn't it show up on paper?
On your screen:
On your paper:
The most common reason is that somehow those white elements in your design have been set to overprint, and white + overprint = invisibility.
There are several ways to check if any of your white elements are set to overprint. The easiest is to turn on the "Overprint Preview" feature in Illustrator, and InDesign. Simply go to View in the menu bar, and then down to "Overprint Preview." This will simulate what your design will look like when printed. If any white is set to overprint, it will disappear and reappear as you toggle this off and on. The keyboard shortcut for this is the same in Illustrator and InDesign: Command + Option + Shift + Y.
Here is Illustrator's menu bar with Overprint Preview selected:
And here is InDesign's menu bar:
You can also check your pdfs for overprinting white type in Acrobat. In Acrobat 9, an easy way to do this is to go to Advanced on the menu bar, then to Print Production, then to Output Preview.
A menu will come up. Simply check the "Simulate Overprinting" box. Any overprinting white will "disappear" from your design when this is turned on.
No one likes to be surprised when it comes to a press check, and we don't want to hear anyone say, "Hey, where is my white type?" So Lorraine Press has safeguards built into our system that will find any overprinting white, whether it be lines or type, and correct it to knock out. But for your own files, and for those that don't print here at Lorraine (if there happen to be any!), you should always check that your white doesn't overprint.
On your screen:
On your paper:
The most common reason is that somehow those white elements in your design have been set to overprint, and white + overprint = invisibility.
There are several ways to check if any of your white elements are set to overprint. The easiest is to turn on the "Overprint Preview" feature in Illustrator, and InDesign. Simply go to View in the menu bar, and then down to "Overprint Preview." This will simulate what your design will look like when printed. If any white is set to overprint, it will disappear and reappear as you toggle this off and on. The keyboard shortcut for this is the same in Illustrator and InDesign: Command + Option + Shift + Y.
Here is Illustrator's menu bar with Overprint Preview selected:
And here is InDesign's menu bar:
You can also check your pdfs for overprinting white type in Acrobat. In Acrobat 9, an easy way to do this is to go to Advanced on the menu bar, then to Print Production, then to Output Preview.
A menu will come up. Simply check the "Simulate Overprinting" box. Any overprinting white will "disappear" from your design when this is turned on.
No one likes to be surprised when it comes to a press check, and we don't want to hear anyone say, "Hey, where is my white type?" So Lorraine Press has safeguards built into our system that will find any overprinting white, whether it be lines or type, and correct it to knock out. But for your own files, and for those that don't print here at Lorraine (if there happen to be any!), you should always check that your white doesn't overprint.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Background Tasks in InDesign CS5
Wonder where that progress bar went when exporting a pdf from an InDesign document? As of CS5, it's now in the background!
That's great news for those who wish to keep working on something else while a document is being exported. Not only will it export one document in the background, but you can queue up several to export, one after another. Just know that there is no changing the order of which one goes first once the documents are queued up: the order in which they are exported is the order they are produced.
For those who want to see exactly what is going on in the background, go to Window > Utilities > Background Tasks to bring up a window that shows what background tasks are in use, what order they are in, and how far along they are in the process. It's also helpful to see when InDesign is done with a specific document so you can safely close it.
Right now, File > Export (or Cmd/Cntrl + E), Adobe pdf (print) runs in the background, but not File > Export, Adobe pdf (interactive). Also, exporting a pdf from a book document isn't a background task yet. Just plain printing (Cmd/Cntrl +P) from InDesign is also not a background task. However, exporting to IDML is a background task. (This is a useful format if you would like someone to be able to open your CS5 document in CS4.)
Hopefully, this new feature will free up some time that would otherwise be spent waiting and watching a progress bar.
That's great news for those who wish to keep working on something else while a document is being exported. Not only will it export one document in the background, but you can queue up several to export, one after another. Just know that there is no changing the order of which one goes first once the documents are queued up: the order in which they are exported is the order they are produced.
For those who want to see exactly what is going on in the background, go to Window > Utilities > Background Tasks to bring up a window that shows what background tasks are in use, what order they are in, and how far along they are in the process. It's also helpful to see when InDesign is done with a specific document so you can safely close it.
Right now, File > Export (or Cmd/Cntrl + E), Adobe pdf (print) runs in the background, but not File > Export, Adobe pdf (interactive). Also, exporting a pdf from a book document isn't a background task yet. Just plain printing (Cmd/Cntrl +P) from InDesign is also not a background task. However, exporting to IDML is a background task. (This is a useful format if you would like someone to be able to open your CS5 document in CS4.)
Hopefully, this new feature will free up some time that would otherwise be spent waiting and watching a progress bar.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Today's Favorite InDesign CS5 Feature
A while ago, we started out a blog post with a thought exercise. Well, today we are going to leave the brain alone, and work on some hand-eye coordination skills.
You may be asking, what does hand-eye coordination have to do with InDesign?
Well, there are some really handy features in CS5 that require the use of both hands.
But today we are going to concentrate on InDesign's Super Step and Repeat capability, or sometimes called "gridification." It is available in CS5 only.
Let's start out easy. In an open document in InDesign CS5, select your rectangle tool. This will also work with any ellipse, polygon, or text frame, too. Start to draw your rectangle by clicking and holding down the mouse button. As you draw your rectangle (with mouse button continuously held down), use your left hand to hit the right arrow key. If you hit the right arrow key once, you'll then see two rectangles, hit it again, you'll get three. Move your mouse across the page to enlarge the rectangles until they are the size you want and only then let go of the mouse button. You have a perfect line of evenly spaced rectangles.
To summarize: to make a horizontally aligned row of perfectly duplicated rectangles, hit the right arrow key as many times as you need as you drag to the right across your page.
Oh, you want a column of duplicated rectangles, not a row? Easy! To make one column while drawing the rectangles, hit the up arrow key as many times as you need and then drag down all while holding down the mouse button.
To make a grid of perfectly spaced rectangles, say four across and four down, hit the right arrow three times and the up arrow key three times and drag diagonally down and across the page before letting go of the mouse button.
Want squares? Do all that while holding down the shift key. Come on, stretch those fingers across the keyboard!
Okay, now I am just messing with you. You don't have to hold down the shift key while hitting the arrow keys. Just hold it down after you have the number of rectangles you want, and your rectangles turn to squares.
Did you hit the arrow keys way too many times and now you have about 100 rectangles across the page? Don't worry, the left arrow key and down arrow key can remove those. Hit these keys as many times as you need to control your rectangle growth.
And to top this feature off with a cherry, you can do this while placing multiple images. Let's say you have four images queued up in your cursor (command+D, select four images, click ok). Start drawing out a frame, hit the right and up arrow keys once each as you are drawing the frame, and suddenly you have four perfectly spaced, equal in size frames. Let go of the mouse button when your frames are the size you want, and InDesign places your four images into your four frames. Ta-da!
But wait, there's more!
Let's say you already have your perfect shape on the page, you just need more of them. You may already know that you can hold down the control and option/alt keys as you click and drag on the shape to create one duplicate. But with the new Super Step and Repeat, you can control+alt click your object, and then while holding down the mouse button, let go of the control and alt keys, move your hand over to the arrow keys and hit the up or right arrow keys to make multiple duplicates of that shape. Moving around your duplicated objects with the mouse (before letting go of the mouse), redistributes the spacing between your duplicated shapes. Used this way, the Super Step and Repeat doesn't change the size of your shape at all, it only changes the spacing between your copies.
In fact you can have one shape at the top left of your page, then control+alt click and drag to make the second shape, then, all while holding down the mouse button, move that second shape to the bottom right of your page, and then use the arrow keys to fill your page up with a beautiful grid of shapes.
Okay, if you haven't already opened up your InDesign CS5 to try this, you probably are dying to now. So I won't keep you. Have fun exploring the fabulous possibilities of this new capability in InDesign.
You may be asking, what does hand-eye coordination have to do with InDesign?
Well, there are some really handy features in CS5 that require the use of both hands.
But today we are going to concentrate on InDesign's Super Step and Repeat capability, or sometimes called "gridification." It is available in CS5 only.
Let's start out easy. In an open document in InDesign CS5, select your rectangle tool. This will also work with any ellipse, polygon, or text frame, too. Start to draw your rectangle by clicking and holding down the mouse button. As you draw your rectangle (with mouse button continuously held down), use your left hand to hit the right arrow key. If you hit the right arrow key once, you'll then see two rectangles, hit it again, you'll get three. Move your mouse across the page to enlarge the rectangles until they are the size you want and only then let go of the mouse button. You have a perfect line of evenly spaced rectangles.
To summarize: to make a horizontally aligned row of perfectly duplicated rectangles, hit the right arrow key as many times as you need as you drag to the right across your page.
Oh, you want a column of duplicated rectangles, not a row? Easy! To make one column while drawing the rectangles, hit the up arrow key as many times as you need and then drag down all while holding down the mouse button.
To make a grid of perfectly spaced rectangles, say four across and four down, hit the right arrow three times and the up arrow key three times and drag diagonally down and across the page before letting go of the mouse button.
Want squares? Do all that while holding down the shift key. Come on, stretch those fingers across the keyboard!
Okay, now I am just messing with you. You don't have to hold down the shift key while hitting the arrow keys. Just hold it down after you have the number of rectangles you want, and your rectangles turn to squares.
Did you hit the arrow keys way too many times and now you have about 100 rectangles across the page? Don't worry, the left arrow key and down arrow key can remove those. Hit these keys as many times as you need to control your rectangle growth.
And to top this feature off with a cherry, you can do this while placing multiple images. Let's say you have four images queued up in your cursor (command+D, select four images, click ok). Start drawing out a frame, hit the right and up arrow keys once each as you are drawing the frame, and suddenly you have four perfectly spaced, equal in size frames. Let go of the mouse button when your frames are the size you want, and InDesign places your four images into your four frames. Ta-da!
But wait, there's more!
Let's say you already have your perfect shape on the page, you just need more of them. You may already know that you can hold down the control and option/alt keys as you click and drag on the shape to create one duplicate. But with the new Super Step and Repeat, you can control+alt click your object, and then while holding down the mouse button, let go of the control and alt keys, move your hand over to the arrow keys and hit the up or right arrow keys to make multiple duplicates of that shape. Moving around your duplicated objects with the mouse (before letting go of the mouse), redistributes the spacing between your duplicated shapes. Used this way, the Super Step and Repeat doesn't change the size of your shape at all, it only changes the spacing between your copies.
In fact you can have one shape at the top left of your page, then control+alt click and drag to make the second shape, then, all while holding down the mouse button, move that second shape to the bottom right of your page, and then use the arrow keys to fill your page up with a beautiful grid of shapes.
Okay, if you haven't already opened up your InDesign CS5 to try this, you probably are dying to now. So I won't keep you. Have fun exploring the fabulous possibilities of this new capability in InDesign.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Finding That Special Character
Ever spent time looking for an É, ©, ❏, or ™symbol? Well, here's a short list of where you can find these special characters, and others just like them.
If you are using InDesign (CS 3, 4, or 5, either Mac or PC), you are in luck. The Glyphs palette can save you from fruitlessly searching for an operating system character map. Click Type, then go down to Glyphs. A palette will pop up that shows you all the special characters for your font. It can even sort the characters by category to narrow your search so you can find what you need quickly and easily.
Of course, on a Mac, if you can remember your keyboard shortcuts, (Option +g = ©) you don't have to use a palette at all. But there are a lot of special characters out there, and I know that I don't want to spend my time memorizing all available keystrokes. However, a quick Internet search has always revealed a needed keystroke of a character that is going to be used multiple times in a document. The PC has keyboard strokes for characters. I don't think that they can be called shortcuts, but they are available. (see the PC info below)
Both Mac and PC operating systems also have solutions to finding that esoteric character.
On a Mac, in Finder, click on Edit then go down to Special Characters. A window will open that has characters by categories, and a search feature. Plus, by double clicking the desired character, it will appear where ever you left your cursor.
On a PC, click Start, go to Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, then Character Map. (If you plan on using the Character Map frequently, you should think about putting a shortcut on your desktop!) A window comes up with your characters ready to be copied and pasted into your text. At the bottom of the window, there's a line of type that shows what the keyboard strokes are for a highlighted character, but I prefer the copy-and-paste option.
Options abound! (Especially in the Mac keyboard shortcuts!) So now you can wow all your friends and acquaintances with how quickly you can type even the most tricky or foreign characters no matter which operating system you are on.
If you are using InDesign (CS 3, 4, or 5, either Mac or PC), you are in luck. The Glyphs palette can save you from fruitlessly searching for an operating system character map. Click Type, then go down to Glyphs. A palette will pop up that shows you all the special characters for your font. It can even sort the characters by category to narrow your search so you can find what you need quickly and easily.
Of course, on a Mac, if you can remember your keyboard shortcuts, (Option +g = ©) you don't have to use a palette at all. But there are a lot of special characters out there, and I know that I don't want to spend my time memorizing all available keystrokes. However, a quick Internet search has always revealed a needed keystroke of a character that is going to be used multiple times in a document. The PC has keyboard strokes for characters. I don't think that they can be called shortcuts, but they are available. (see the PC info below)
Both Mac and PC operating systems also have solutions to finding that esoteric character.
On a Mac, in Finder, click on Edit then go down to Special Characters. A window will open that has characters by categories, and a search feature. Plus, by double clicking the desired character, it will appear where ever you left your cursor.
On a PC, click Start, go to Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, then Character Map. (If you plan on using the Character Map frequently, you should think about putting a shortcut on your desktop!) A window comes up with your characters ready to be copied and pasted into your text. At the bottom of the window, there's a line of type that shows what the keyboard strokes are for a highlighted character, but I prefer the copy-and-paste option.
Options abound! (Especially in the Mac keyboard shortcuts!) So now you can wow all your friends and acquaintances with how quickly you can type even the most tricky or foreign characters no matter which operating system you are on.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Printing Tip of the Week
Here's a quick tip for InDesign users out there. We think that everyone should know what their InDesign preferences are set to when it comes to the "Appearance of Black." We recommend the following three settings: On Screen should be set to "Display All Blacks Accurately," Printing / Exporting should be set to "Output All Blacks Accurately," and the Overprinting of Black at 100% should in most cases be clicked on.
In CS 5, 4, and 3, on the Mac, these settings can be found by launching InDesign and before opening any document, click on the word "InDesign" (to the left of "File"), go down the menu to "Preferences" and then go down that menu to "Appearance of Black." A pop-up menu with the three options on it should appear.
In CS 5, 4, and 3 on the PC, these settings can be found by launching InDesign and before opening any document, click on "Edit" (to the right of "File"), go down the menu to "Preferences" and then go down that menu to "Appearance of Black." A pop-up menu with the three options on it should appear.
Our preferred settings are recommendations only. The most important thing is to know how these preferences are set, so when they need to be customized for that special project, you'll know how to manipulate your appearance of black in InDesign.
If you have any questions, please email us, info@lorrainepress.com
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