Adobe Indesign CS3 Basics Tutorial

The following tutorial will be going over the basic features in Adobe Indesign CS3. This program provides users with the best software for desktop publishing layouts. The sheer customization of the page layouts that Adobe Indesign is able to produce makes it the world leader in its class. The new features that have been added into Adobe Indesign CS3 claim to enhance productivity. The most noticeable is the new customizable workspace. This workspace allows you to put the stuff you need the most right at your fingertips. Instead of behind a million tabs.

When you open up the new Adobe Indesign CS3 program, you will notice that the general layout of things is generally the same. As we mentioned before you may find some things located in different places. If you look at the top of the screen the information bar is usually at the bottom. You can move this wherever you please though. It is all at your convenience.

Now you can open up a new document by simply clicking on the File Menu and selecting New/Document.

You will now see a New Document screen. At this screen you will be able to make changes to the initial document that will help you layout its predefined structure. Most of the terms should be well known to an editor.

Now you will see a basic document screen on the page. It looks fairly simple, but you can do a lot from this point if you have the patience.

The first tool on our list is the Selection Tool, which allows you to select an object on the document screen. This is used an almost all the Adobe CS3 programs.

The Direct Selection Tool allows you to select a single path even when it is layered underneath something else. This makes it easy to navigate through previously made documents. The Position Tool works like the crop tool from Adobe Fireworks and Photoshop. You are able to use this to move objects or areas to your desire.

The Pen Tool allows you to write on the document as if you had a pen in your hand. The Add Anchor Point Tool allows you to add an anchor point to a path or segment of a path. The Delete Anchor Point Tool allows you to delete an anchor point from a path or segment. The Convert Direction Point Tool allows you to change anchor points of segments or paths to make a completely new shape. This usually comes out to make the path or segment into odd shapes.

The Type Tool allows you to select a font, font size, color, and other font specifications just as the other Adobe programs allow you to do. The Type on a Path Tool allows you to write on a predetermined path that you have previously made. Say if you had a wavy line you could actually use this feature to type on that line. It can be a very interesting feature.

The Pencil Tool allows you write as if you had a pencil of different colors and thicknesses. The Smooth Tool allows you to smooth out your pencil like movements to make different designs. The Erase Tool allows you to erase areas of the document.

The Line Tool allows you to make lines of different sizes and colors.

The Rectangle, Ellipse, and Polygon Frame Tools are used to make frames of objects that can be used in different ways. One of the ways that Adobe Indesign uses frames is to use for writing inside and placing other objects inside because nothing is supposed to be put inside of a frame such as a color or a background.

The Rectangle, Ellipse, and Polygon Tools are used to make shapes, but they are not frames.

The Button Tool helps to easily construct any type of button that you would like.

The Scissors Tool allows you to cut out sections of an object to be used in another section or place.

The Rotate Tool lets you rotate and object or frame to get a different viewing angle.

The Scale Tool lets you change the size of an object to your specifications. The Shear Tool lets you cut out the middle of an object and leave just the frame to be used to your specification.

The Gradient Swatch Tool allows you to easily add gradients to objects or text by dragging it over an area and that area will take on the gradient effect that is predefined. The Gradient Feather Tool allows you to do the same as the Gradient Swatch Tool except you can only do it by selecting an object or objects.

The Free Transform Tool is used to change the shape and look other features of an object.

The Note Tool allows you to write notes within your document.

The Eyedropper Tool allows you to take color from one part of an image and place it somewhere else. The Measure Tool allows you to measure objects of all shapes and sizes.

The Hand Tool allows you to move objects at your will.

The Zoom Tool allows you to zoom in on an object.

The Stroke allows you to select what type of strokes you want to make and what color they will be.

The Fill feature shows you what the fill option will be colored with.

The Formatting effects Text feature makes it so that formatting the document will affect the text and the way it looks.

The Formatting effects Container feature makes it so that formatting the document will affect the container that it is contained in.

The feature Apply Color lets you apply color to an area that you have selected. Apply Gradient lets you apply a gradient to an area that you have selected. Apply None tells the program to apply no color or gradient to this selected object.

Normal, Preview, Bleed, and Slug are different modes for printing. Normal mode shows everything that you have done on the screen as it stands. Preview mode hides several types of objects so only the content shows. Bleed and Slug mode both show these hidden objects without the text to see if they are formatted to your taste or if you want to print them out separately.

This tutorial has shown you some of the key features in Adobe Indesign CS3. I hope that you have learned some useful information that will enable to accomplish what you want with this program. If you are looking for how you can possibly learn about Adobe Indesign or any other Adobe product there are some really good tutorial software programs that teach very well. Most of them provide video tutorials that take you step by step through every feature and process of within each product in detail. The possibility of getting lost or losing focus is minimal because you are in control of the rate of speed that you learn. I personally recommend Total Training because of its great information and detail. They are also a partner of Adobe. Digital Media Studios also has a very good series of products that may be a better solution for some individuals. Remember that with time you can unlock the Adobe Guru in you!

InDesign CS2 Online Training from Total Training

Total Training provides customers with a Video Training Series that is promoted by a Partnership with Adobe Systems (Worldwide). You can't go wrong with the incredible series of DVD software that this company provides. Total Training provides a one of a kind offer to let you try all of their online products for 2 days with a special guest pass. You will be on your way to being an Adobe expert in no time!

If you would like something that is a bit more contemporary, why not settle down and read a good book. This Adobe Indesign CS3 is written by the Adobe Creative Team. It provides great information for learning the ins and outs of the program. If you have the mindset to read attentively, I personally recommend this book.