Updated: June 2015. Author Peter Kahrel updated this Short Cut to cover InDesign CC. Several examples have been added, and most examples are now analysed in more detail. Updated: August 2010. Author Peter Kahrel updated this Short Cut to cover InDesign CS5. Updated: November 2009. Author Peter Kahrel updated this Short Cut to address typos and reader comments. GREP (short for "General Regular-Expression Print") is a powerful tool that lets you use wildcards ("jokers") to search and replace text. InDesign's GREP implementation can be used for text and also for formatting codes, finding patterns in text as well as literal text. GREP moves beyond the restrictions that hampered earlier InDesign search features, but unfortunately it does have the reputation of being difficult to master. As with many things, it can be challenging to learn, but, fortunately, a lot can be done with surprisingly simple expressions. The aim of this Short Cut is to show how to create simple but powerful regular expressions.
The project-based lessons in this text show readers how to use Adobe Illustrator CS3 in real-life, everyday tasks. They give users a complete tour of the software.
Is this book for programmers? Written specifically for graphic designers and production artists already comfortable working with Adobe InDesign, this book teaches you how to automate publishing without learning a lot of scary code. XML simplifies the process of moving content in and out of your layouts and can speed up any print or Web assignment. Why should I care about XML? If you’re managing data-intensive layout projects, and you want to keep that data consistent, accurate, and up-to-date, then incorporating XML can help. You can also use XML to automate processes like importing text and large numbers of graphics into a layout, or repurposing content from one application to another. Do I need additional plug-ins or special software? You need only the powerful features built into InDesign CS2, CS3 or CS4 to use this book. How will I learn XML? This guide includes nine easy-to-follow projects with downloadable support files. With these hands-on tutorials, you will learn XML in context. By the final project, XML will no longer be a mystery, but a powerful tool you can use to support your company or clients. These real-world projects will teach you: l Business cards: Create a structured layout in InDesign and then import XML. Format text automatically and flow the text into multiple examples. l Product catalog: Learn how to import XML data into a structured layout using nested styles and cloned text. l Direct mail and variable data printing: Use XML and InDesign to create sophisticated direct mail pieces without costly plug-ins or third-party software. l Magazine and newspaper: Build and export magazine-style publications for online distribution. l Web: Transform XML into XHTML to incorporate directly into your Web pages, or use Cascading Style Sheets to instantly format your exported XML.
Author note: In Adobe InDesign CS6, the changes to InDesign's scripting DOM are absolutely minimal. Therefore, the information in this title is valid and up to date for CS6. Updated: August 2010. Author Peter Kahrel updated this Short Cut to cover InDesign CS5. InDesign provides a powerful setof tools for producing beautifuldocuments. While you can certainlydo all your work by hand throughInDesign's graphical interface, thereare many times when it's much easier towrite a script. Once you've automateda task, you can run it over the wholedocument, ensuring consistency, orjust when you need it, simplifying andspeeding your layout process. All ittakes is a bit of JavaScript knowledgeand a willingness to explore InDesign'sprogramming features.
Adobe InDesign is no longer the industry newcomer—it’s a full-fledged, sophisticated program, tightly integrated with the other Adobe industry leading graphics and Web programs. It’s the essential tool for anyone doing page layout and design. With the release of InDesign CS3—part of Adobe’s perfectly synchronized, tightly integrated Creative Suite 3 (which now includes Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, and Flash CS3 Professional in the Design Premium and Web Premium packages)—it takes its place in the design firmament! Real World Adobe InDesign CS3 offers industrial-strength and time-saving techniques for design professionals who need to start laying out, proofing, and printing pages with InDesign CS3, without missing a beat (or a deadline!) in their fast-paced production cycles. Design pros will find everything they need here to successfully master InDesign’s advanced page layout tools, manage color, snippets, and use the program more efficiently. They’ll also find complete coverage of essential features in InDesign CS3, including new gradient feather, directional feather, and bevel and emboss effects; improved transparency controls; improved long document support; expanded Find/Change; and an even more flexible and customizable user interface.
Click here for the complete DVD content that accompanies this title. Nothing speeds up learning like personal training from a skilled tutor. With Adobe InDesign CS3 One-on-One, you get the equivalent of private lessons with author Deke McClelland, a world-renowned expert on digital graphics and design. Deke offers you DVD video with more than two hours of professional instruction and advice to accompany the book's easy-to-follow text. The book itself includes 600 full-color images, diagrams, and screenshots to illustrate every key step. This highly popularly learning approach is quite simple: "read the book, watch the video, do the exercise". Each chapter has corresponding video lesson that demonstrates the techniques covered. The combination of text and video instruction is uniquely effective. You proceed at your own pace and work on relevant, real-world projects as you master fundamental and advanced concepts, theories, techniques, and best practices for making the most of InDesign. This comprehensive multimedia training solution teaches you how to: Create professional-looking documents with InDesign's powerful text and graphic tools Import text from a word processor, move and scale existing text frames, and check spelling Use the line, pen, and geometric shape tools to draw complex graphic objects Apply fill and stroke, specify process and spot colors, and design custom rules Use Adobe Bridge to organize and manage your digital assets Import and modify layered artwork from Photoshop and Illustrator Create inline graphics and anchored objects that move automatically with your text from one page to the next Create, edit, and link paragraph styles, complete with nested character styles Apply a sequence of style sheets to format an entire document in one operation Build object styles with embedded paragraph styles in order to format entire frames at a time Use master pages to automate repeating page features Automatically generate a table of contents Compose a fully interactive document -- with bookmarks, hyperlinks, buttons, sounds, and movies -- and export your creation to a PDF file that can be played on most computers Adobe InDesign CS3 One-on-One puts you on the fast track to becoming a real InDesign expert. Once you're finished, you'll use InDesign smarter, faster, more creatively, and more efficiently than you thought possible.
Mastering InDesign for Print Design and Production shows how experienced professionals with deadlines and billable hours use InDesign efficiently and effectively. Through the case studies and interviews, readers will find inspired to look beyond the over-emphasized basic features and into the depths of InDesign's utility for real-world print design. Most InDesign books are written for beginners, and experienced users are frustrated by them. When you already know how to make, fill, and thread a text box, the entire first half of most InDesign books is useless. But this one doesn't dwell on the basics. Mastering InDesign for Print Design and Production fulfills the promise of the Mastering series, to provide real-world skills to professionals and students. Like all Mastering books, this one includes: A "by pros for pros" approach: The author is an active professional working in the field of graphic arts, layout, and design, writing for professionals who want to improve their skills or learn new skills. Real-world examples: Running throughout the text are examples of how the various skills are applied in real scenarios, described throughout the book in the form of examples and case studies from the author's own design and consulting work, as well as interviews with other designers using InDesign on the job. Skill-based teaching and hands-on exercises Although the book has a comprehensive glossary, page one begins right away speaking to the core market—print professionals—in industry terms about industry challenges. This immediately lets experienced InDesign users know the book is about them. The approach is humorous, making the digestion and retention of complicated information easier for the reader through quips, anecdotes, and design- and print-geek humor. But at all times the book is true to its mission: Helping a professional do their job in InDesign without frustration, confusion, or aesthetic compromise.