The InDesign Swatches panel includes four undeletable swatches: None, Black, Paper, and Registration. The purpose of the first three is obvious. You probably know not to use Registration for any object to appear on the printed page, but do you know why?

The Registration color prints on every ink plate. In CMYK, that means anything with Registration applied to it prints in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The result is usually not a nice rich black but rather the color of old mud. That’s why the Registration swatch should be reserved for registration marks and other information or structures that need to print on all plates (usually in the slug area), such as the client name, job number, and other specific information. The easiest way to include that information on the film is to set it in the slug area, in the Registration color swatch.

For image-intensive page layout in InDesign, selecting images visually is better than doing it by filename, and dragging and dropping is easier than File > Place. Rorohiko’s ImageLibraryLoader is a free script-based plug-in for Mac and Windows versions of InDesign CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4. It automatically builds a thumbnail library of images in a folder inside InDesign. That library is a floating panel from which you can drag entries and drop them into the layout without stepping out of InDesign. For more info and the download link, go to http://www.creativepro.com/article/free-all-just-what-youre-looking.

When you add an arrowhead to an open path, the arrowhead appears at either the start of the path or the end. However, you might want to change the placement of the arrowhead from one end of the path to the other. The quickest way to do so is to choose Object > Paths > Reverse Path. That will change the start of the path to the end and the end to the start. You can also click the Reverse Path icon in the Pathfinder panel.

Photoshop Express, the long-awaited free online image editor from Photoshop maker Adobe, was released.

If i was to present it, i would say it is like Ennio Morricone says: it has good points, bad points, and… ugly points.

the good: the attractive interface of photoshop express; useful retouching tools and well-done interface for using them; most operations relatively fast.
the bad: Photoshop Express doesn’t support photos from 12-megapixel or higher cameras; some unnattractive Terms of Service; no filtering or keywording; no printing options.
the ugly: weeeeeellll the ugly….is on vacation

so here’s webee’s conclusion: “me like” Photoshop Express and for some people who’s computer do not support Adobe Photoshop, it can be very usefull on fast photos editing shared online with friends and family.

and now, let’s hear from the one and only Ennio Morricone:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKlxyoPNaFI&feature=related[/video]

_________________
comment “Photoshop express”

some days ago i’ve wrote you a post on how to import excel charts in indesign and how to import excel tables in indesign.

now… i’m sure you find yourself quite used to getting the images and text supplied from customers are in MS word formats.
and inserting them within layouts with simple copy paste operation is quite a nasty job.

so, here’s how to simply import it to photoshop or indesign (with a trick that’s valid for both windows and mac os):
1. open the Word document containing the images you want to import to indesign or photoshop.
2. from the file menu, choose save as web page. this saves the text of the document as an htm file and the images as PNG and JPeG files in a folder, both with the name of the original document.
3. Inside the image folder you’ll find all of the document’s images at their original resolution (the png files), as well as smaller versions for previews (the jpeg files).
4. you can place these files directly into indesign or edit them in photoshop.

so this is it! it’s not a real ” image import”, but it saves time and it’s as simple as that!

_________________
comment “import images from word to indesign or photoshop”

do you struggle with pictures with useless names like P1010002.jpg?
indesign bridge can rename all your pictures at once in the blink of an eye using batch rename.

select in bridge the images you want to rename and choose tools > batch rename.

then use the fields in the middle to construct your new file name scheme, preview an example of your new file names at the bottom of the window, and press the rename button when you’re ready to proceed.

if you want to preserve the photos with the original name also, you just have to save the renamed images in another folder.

now you have all your pictures renamed, and you’re ready to get on with your work.

note that: you’ll obviously want to do this before you place the pictures in indesign so you don’t end up with lots of broken links. if you’ve done it correctly you’ve saved a lot of time!

_________________
comment “automate rename pictures using bridge in indesign”

have you had trouble chosing fonts for your site?
have you ever lived too see your site go like this?

here’s the fonts that are most safe to use are:
1. Arial / Helvetica
2. Times New Roman / Times
3. Courier New / Courier

other options that usually work cross-platform are:
1. Palatino
2. Garamond
3. Bookman
4. Avant Garde

fonts that work on Windows and MacOS but not Unix+X are:
1. Verdana
2. Georgia
3. Comic Sans MS
4. Trebuchet MS
5. Arial Black
6. Impact

_________________
comment “tip of the day: fonts used for sites”

have you tried this new thing?

unlike quarkXPress, indesign can link text frames when both frames contain text.
when you use this indesign tool, the stories in the text frames are merged into a single story.

and here’s the tipest of the tips:
if the text in the first text frame did not end with a carriage return (the enter key), indesign will run the text in the second frame into the last paragraph of the first text frame.

helpfull? need more?

_________________
comment “tip of the day: link text frames in indesign”

some time ago, i’ve written you a tip for text wrap in indesign.

i’m going to give you some more tips on working with indesign text wrap:

1. to wrap text around the shape of an imported graphic, save the clipping path in the application in which you created it, and then select apply photoshop clipping path in the image import options dialog box.
2. in indesign, text frames inside a group ignore any text wrap you’ve applied to the group
3. to prevent the text in a frame from wrapping around text wrap boundaries, use the selection tool to select the text frame, and choose object > text frame options. then select ignore text wrap, and then click ok.
4. it might be that you can’t get the text to wrap around an image.
   if this happens, make sure that the ignore text wrap option is not selected for the text frame that doesn’t wrap.
   you can also change preference settings to determine whether text is justified next to wrap objects, whether text wrap moves the text to the next available leading increment below wrap objects, and whether text wrap affects only the text beneath wrap objects. note that these set­tings apply to the entire document.

_________________
comment “tip of the day: text wrap tips in indesign”

so i’ve seen you’re quite interested in creating an indesign brochure. (at least google’s analytics) tells me that you’ve search it in order to get to me.

so, after you read how to create an indesign folding brochure, just see the options for folding an indesign brochure.

but before that, here’s how you should order the brochure pages in indesign:

1. first side should contain brochure’s pages (5-6-1. in this order!), like this:

enlarge indesign brochure face1

2. the verso of the brochure should contain pages (2-3-4. in this order!), like this:

enlarge indesign brochure verso

and now… here’s the options folding the brochure in indesign:

1. here is the clasic folding of an indesign brochure:

enlarge classic fold of indesign brochure

2. and the “fan” folding of a brochure in indesign:

enlarge fan fold of the indesign brochure

after all this is said… i only want to give you some visual tips for margins and bleeds of an indesign brochure:

enlarge tips for indesign brochure

if you need more help… just post a comment.

_________________
comment “tip of the day: options for folding an indesign brochure”