Here’s a quick tutorial to hit the ground running and learn how to use InDesign for your assignment or project. is it possible to learn InDesign basics in 7 minutes? You betcha!
Let’s open InDesign. We will do the basics only, so no styles or anything to fancy. You will be learning keyboard shortcuts today to help you speed up your workflow. The command key is for the Mac, and the control key is for the PC.
Setting up Your Display Performance
Before we get started in InDesign, the default settings on your InDesign to speed things up for viewing is Typical Display. It means your images that are placed in the file will look pixelated. If you want to see the non-pixelation, change the setting from View > Display Performance to High-Quality Display.
Time to Create Your Document
First, let’s create a new document, keyboard shortcut, Command N for a Mac, or Control N for a PC. We will save this file, Command S for a Mac, or Control S for a PC. We will name the Indesign file as sample, and we will keep it as an InDesign file. I know this will sound weird, but please close this file and re-open it. Command W to close on a Mac or Control W for a PC. Now, re-open the sample InDesign file, Command O for the Mac or Control O for the PC. You have learned the first four things you will typically do when working with InDesign.
Adding Text
To add text to your file, we need to draw a text box with the type tool, which looks like the letter T. I will start at the top margin and click and drag a text box. With the text cursor blinking inside the newly created text box, go ahead and add some type. We can change the font by highlighting the text. If you double-click, one word will be selected. Triple-click selects the whole line. Use either the control panel at the top or in the character panel (Command T for a Mac / Control T for a PC). Need a Title or a Sub-Head? Click on enter or return to start a new paragraph. I will use this part as my title and hit enter or return on my keyboard. Select the title, and colour it from the Swatches panel. If you double-click, one word will be selected. Triple-click selects the whole line.
Let’s add more text to this document. I am going to Select All the text here (Command A for a Mac, Control A for a PC.) Copy it, Command C or Control C, and Paste It, Command V for a Mac, Control V for a PC. We will create a few paragraphs. In the control panel with the Type Tool selected, you will see Character and paragraph formatting. Switch between the two to see two different options from type justification to adding bullets and numbers.
Placing Images and Artwork in your File
Do you want to place an image in your document? With images, get in the good habit to draw a picture box. A picture box will have an ‘X’ through the rectangle. Click and drag a picture box where you want the image to be. Time to get a photo for our picture box. Ensure the picture frame is still selected. You will know if there are blue square boxes around your picture box; if not, grab the black arrow tool (selection tool) to select it. Command D for a Mac or Control D for a PC to place an image. Locate the image that you want, select it and click on open.
Resizing the Artwork in the Picture Box
If you want to, you can resize the box’s appearance and use the direct selection tool (the white arrow in the toolbox). Remember to hold the shift key and grab it by the corner to resize the image proportionately. If the image moves around, place the mouse inside the image to get the hand to move back in place. Or, if you want, you can go to Object > Fitting and choose any of the formatting fittings for the image. Either method works.
Throw Me a Beat….Time to Rap? Nope, the other Wrap!
To wrap text around the picture, make sure the box is selected only, and in the control panel, two icons from fx are the text wrap. To see more options, click on Window > Text Wrap to open the main menu panel. Play around with the wrap options. I do use the offset to give it more breathing room around the image.
Adding More Pages
Are you running out of space on page 1? Click on the pages panel, and you should see page 1’s thumbnail. At the bottom of the panel is a plus sign (+); click on this once to get one more page. If you want to duplicate page one, select page one and drag the page to the plus sign. Or use the drop-down menu in the Pages panel or right-click to see the options to duplicate a spread.
Table Time!
If you need to create a table, you could go back to Microsoft Excel to create a table or create a table in InDesign. In the Main menu, under Table > Create Table. It’s as simple as that—type in how many rows and columns that you will need. I am going to with four x four with no header or footer. A table icon will appear and click anywhere on your page that you want the Table to be placed. Will your table look a bit off? I will grab the Type tool (T), highlight the first row, then set my mouse on the line between the two rows to resize the row. If you see the double arrow in black, you can go ahead and resize that row’s height, as shown. Or at the far top-right hand corner, (nope), is the height dimensions. Enter a size here. Mine is set to half an inch. To select multiple rows, place your type tool in the cell and drag it to the right. It will be black and the go-ahead to enter the size too. I will enter the size right here.
Go ahead and add some type. We can change the font by highlighting the text. If you double-click, one word will be selected. Triple-click selects the whole line. Use either the control panel at the top or in the character panel (Command T for a Mac / Control T for a PC). To format a row type, select the whole row and centre the type, use the control panel options, align center and justified center.
Colour Me?
If you want to colour your row, select the row, and choose a colour from the swatches panel. The type is black and is too dark against my coloured background. So, I will select my text and change it to a different colour to read it. If you double-click, one word will be chosen. Triple-click selects the whole line. I will change this to be white.
Let’s choose another row. Another way to highlight a row is the same Type tool, and this time, place the type tool a tad inside the row or column, as shown here. An arrow pointing right or down will show. Click once to highlight that row or column. What happens that whole row or column gets selected. I will choose the third row and colour this blue again from the swatches panel but change the opacity or tint a bit to give us a lighter colour. Click off it to see the changes. Change the type in the row if necessary. To format a row type, select the whole row and centre the type, use the control panel options, align center and justified center.
To insert another row or column in your table, either select a row or column. Right-click will give you different options such as inserting, deleting, merging or splitting rows or columns. Enter the number that you want and if you want it before or after or left or right.
Save Your Work
Let’s save this again—Command S for a Mac or Control S for a PC. Please keep it on the computer.
Need a PDF for Approval?
Email a PDF? Go to File > Export or Command E for a Mac, Control E for a PC for email purposes. Please keep the same file name, or rename it to something relevant. Choose your file format and click on Save. Does the InDesign file have hyperlinks? If so, make sure there is a check-mark for hyperlinks? Go through the options, and when ready, click on Export.
Yes, there are many other cool things in InDesign that we haven’t touched on, but this will get you started for the time being.