InDesign is a key part of the arsenal of every graphic designer. It seems to have won out as the designers preferred page layout tool. However, increasingly, InDesign is also being used by general computer users within corporations keen to save money by producing some of their corporate literature in-house. So how do you train your admin staff to use a precision design tool like InDesign?
When providing training courses for general users of InDesign, one has to do more than just explain the use of the tools and commands. As well as learning how to use program, delegates need to be given an insight into some of the basic techniques and principles of page layout, typography, colour specification and image manipulation.
InDesign is a precision tool, allowing the user to very accurately specify the attributes of all elements on the page and the relationship between them. Most general users will remain unaware of this precision unless it is pointed out to them. During training, they should learn the use of ruler guides, grids and baseline grids and basically how to make elements align correctly and print in the right place on the page.
The terminology which InDesign uses often looks back to the pre-electronic typographic age and is often a mystery to the general computer user. InDesign training should clarify these terms, perhaps by offering trainees some background facts and, wherever possible, by showing the similarity with parallel features in more familiar software. For example, we might compare what InDesign calls "leading" with what Microsoft Word calls line spacing in.
Because InDesign offers so much flexibility in transforming imported images, your average user often gets carried away and ends up scaling images up or down by huge factors. It needs to be explained that scaling up or down by more than 10% or so is undesirable since this can cause artefacts to appear in the printed image.
Another frequent cause of confusion is the colour terminology used in InDesign. The general user will need to be taught three main things hers. Firstly, the difference between the CMYK and RGB colour spaces. Secondly, how a colour print job will be separated into four different plates. And, thirdly, the difference between a spot and a process colour.
InDesign is created with high quality output in mind. New users, regardless of their background must learn how to pre-flight a document, fix any errors and then package the print job and/or produce a high- resolution PDF file.
When providing training courses for general users of InDesign, one has to do more than just explain the use of the tools and commands. As well as learning how to use program, delegates need to be given an insight into some of the basic techniques and principles of page layout, typography, colour specification and image manipulation.
InDesign is a precision tool, allowing the user to very accurately specify the attributes of all elements on the page and the relationship between them. Most general users will remain unaware of this precision unless it is pointed out to them. During training, they should learn the use of ruler guides, grids and baseline grids and basically how to make elements align correctly and print in the right place on the page.
The terminology which InDesign uses often looks back to the pre-electronic typographic age and is often a mystery to the general computer user. InDesign training should clarify these terms, perhaps by offering trainees some background facts and, wherever possible, by showing the similarity with parallel features in more familiar software. For example, we might compare what InDesign calls "leading" with what Microsoft Word calls line spacing in.
Because InDesign offers so much flexibility in transforming imported images, your average user often gets carried away and ends up scaling images up or down by huge factors. It needs to be explained that scaling up or down by more than 10% or so is undesirable since this can cause artefacts to appear in the printed image.
Another frequent cause of confusion is the colour terminology used in InDesign. The general user will need to be taught three main things hers. Firstly, the difference between the CMYK and RGB colour spaces. Secondly, how a colour print job will be separated into four different plates. And, thirdly, the difference between a spot and a process colour.
InDesign is created with high quality output in mind. New users, regardless of their background must learn how to pre-flight a document, fix any errors and then package the print job and/or produce a high- resolution PDF file.
About the Author:
The writer of this article is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, a UK IT training company offering Adobe InDesign training courses at their central London training centre.
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