Adobe InDesign Core Skills: Level 1

Target Student
This course is appropriate for beginners and for anyone who is self taught on the basics of InDesign. Quite often even experienced users find they benefit from a Core Skills: Level 1 class to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. 

Prerequisites
Basic computer and file management skills are required for Core Skills level Adobe courses. Students should know how to - locate, copy and open files; create folders; arrange, re-size, minimize and maximize application windows; start and exit programs; manage use of multiple programs simultaneously; and switch between open programs.

Course Outline

Introducting the Workspace
Getting started
Looking at the workspace
Working with panels
Customizing the workspace
Navigating through a document
Using context menus
Using panel menus
Modifying interface preferences
Exploring on your own

Getting to Know InDesign
Getting started
Viewing guides
Preflighting as you work
Adding text
Working with styles
Working with graphics
Working with objects
Working with object styles
Viewing the document in Presentation mode
Exploring on your own

Setting up a Document and Working with Pages
Getting started
Creating and saving custom document settings
Creating a new document
Switching between open InDesign documents
Working with master pages
Applying master pages to document pages
Adding new document pages
Rearranging and deleting document pages
Changing the size of pages
Adding sections to change page numbering
Overriding master page items and placing text and graphics
Printing to the edge of the paper: using the bleed guides
Viewing the completed spread
Exploring on your own

Working with Objects
Getting started
Working with layers
Creating and modifying text frames
Creating and modifying graphics frames
Wrapping text around a graphic
Transforming and aligning objects
Selecting and modifying grouped objects
Drawing lines and modifying arrowheads
Finishing up
Exploring on your own

Flowing Text
Getting started
Flowing text into an existing frame
Flowing text manually
Applying paragraph styles to text
Adjusting columns
Adding a jump line page number
Exploring on your own

Editing Text
Getting started
Entering and importing text
Finding and changing text and formatting
Checking spelling
Exploring on your own

Working with Typography
Getting started
Adjusting vertical spacing
Working with fonts, type styles, and glyphs
Fine-tuning columns
Changing paragraph alignment
Creating a drop cap
Adjusting letter and word spacing
Adjusting line breaks
Exploring on your own

Getting Started
Managing color
Defining printing requirements
Creating colors
Applying colors
Exploring on your own

Working with Styles
Getting started
Creating and applying paragraph styles
Creating and applying character styles
Globally updating styles
Loading styles from another document
Exploring on your own

Printing and Exporting
Getting started
Previewing the page
Creating an Adobe PDF proof
Creating a Press-Ready PDF and saving a PDF preset
Packaging files
Exploring on your own