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.

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in a post below, i’ve told you how you can import excel tables in indesign.

now i’d like to complete that post with a detailed explanation on how to import excel graphics in indesign, as this operation is a little more complex and requires more intermediate steps.

what you have to do is this:

1. create an adobe pdf file from the excel file and then importing the pdf file into indesign. (you’ll need to use adobe pdfmaker or adobe acrobat distiller to create the pdf file)

2. you can copy pie charts or other excel charts and paste them into indesign, but the quality may not be great.

3. instead, try pasting the chart directly into adobe illustrator.

clean it up a little and make any appropriate changes (such as converting rgb colors to cmyk), and then save the file in illustrator format.

4. then, place the native illustrator file into your indesign document.

and… this is it! you have a beautifull excel graphic in your indesign layout!

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don’t retype! save those fingers only for necessary tasks. instead, take advantage of the excel import filter.

you can import microsoft excel files into adobe indesign documents. (and it even doesn’t matter whether you’re using the same platformâ??windows or mac osâ??on which the excel file was created).

you can import an excel table into indesign as tabbed data or as an indesign table:
1. open your indesign document.
2. choose file > place, and navigate to the excel file.
3. select which cells to import:

• to import the entire worksheet, leave the cell range field blank.
• to import a range of cells, enter them in the cell range field using a column. for example, to import cells b2 to f17, enter b2:f17.
• if your client has named the range, enter its name or choose the range from the cell range pop-up menu.

4. choose whether the text should be tabbed or come in as a table.

i recommend importing the text as an unformulated table and using the great formatting features in indesign to create the look you want.

5. click place.
and that’s it! you saved an enormous amount of time.

note that:
the filter brings in text only, no graphics.

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so… here’ a month work (a part of it anyway). i started the “tip of the day” suite on the 7th of march with some cool (i think ) tips and tricks for how to use adobe’s photoshop and indesign. cathegorised under “tip of the day”.

this is a “gathering” of all the tips posted during march. structured on tips for photoshop and indesign.

tips for photoshop:

1. hide the palletes . a tip on how to use the tab key in photoshop.
2. lines with any tool. a tip on how to draw a strait line using any paint tool in photoshop.
3. break movies into jpegs. a tip inspired by mikey, about how to automatically create jpegs from movies.
4. eyedropper in photoshop. a tip for how to more easilly define a color for background.
5. actions play actions in photoshop. a cool tip for saving time in photoshop.
6. smart crop. a tip to crop your image without losing any data.
7. trick fill for layers. how to trick the fill layer command in photoshop.
8. straighten leanned objects . … i think this one is clear

and here’s the indesign tips and trics:

1. rulers in indesign. a tip for how to drag both vertical and horizontal rulers at once.
2. copy drop shadow faster. how to faster copy the drop shadow settings faster.
3. using bridge in indesign. save time in indesign using bridge.
4. smarter text wrap. how to define a text wrap without having to redefine it eache time you change the image to wrap to.
5. indesign scripts. where to find scripts to automate your work in indesign.
6. indesign leading like quarkxpress. customize your indesign leading to work like in quarkxpress.

and… this is it. i hope this is usefull.
please leave a comment if you need a specifically tip, or… just to link to me

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here’s one for those quarkxpress nostalgics: indesign leading CAN work like in quarkXPress!

we all know that, by default, when you want to change the leading of a paragraph, you must highlight all the characters, from the first through the return character at the end.

and… when you’re used to simply clicking an insertion point anywhere in the paragraph, that’s a lot of work. (and i know i hate useless work! ).

to avoid this difficulty, you have to change leading to a paragraph attribute by going to type preferences (Ctrl + K).
In the options list, one is not checked: apply leading to entire paragraph.
When you check that box, you can apply leading to a paragraph with one click.

isn’t that nice?? yes it is

Note that Adobe does not reconstruct its palettes to put the leading field with the paragraph attributes. it’s still to be found with the character attributes on the control palette.

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have you been working nights automating your work in indesign? well…

you probably didnâ??t realize that but…. adobe includes prewritten indesign scripts. that’s because none install automatically in the scripts folder (which you can find in the presets folder, inside the adobe indesign application folder).

however, if you bought the creative suite, 21 indesign scripts are waiting for you on the resources and extras disk 1, thatâ??s part of the installer pack. Look for them in Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CS2\Presets\Scripts.

you can add one or more of these to indesignâ??s scripts folder, by manually dragging them in. if you bought the standalone version of indesign cs2, those same 21 scripts are in the adobe scripts folder.

you can also find indesign scripts on this page

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have you found yourself in situations that you should redefine a text wrap each time you want to replace the graphic used for the text wrap in indesign?

lucky for us, there’s an easier way!
When you assign a text wrap to an imported graphic, be sure to first select the graphic with the selection (black arrow) tool.

this applies the text wrap to the frame, not the frameâ??s contents, which makes it easier to delete the graphic or replace it with a new graphic without deleting any text wrap in indesign.

so… stop loosing designer precious time

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sick of all that leaving the layout window in indesign just to open other adobe elements?
if this is the case… then i’ve got good news:

you can save time if you’ll use bridge/browse in indesign!
i’m talking about that icon in the control palette that looks like a folder and magnifying glass: this one!

that you can find here:

it launches adobe bridge (or switches to it, if bridge is already running).
to do that, just hold down the ctrl key when you click. bridge appears and fills the screen.
or hold down both ctrl + alt +click bridge and it will open a new window for you automatically.

note that you can also find this feature using the menu, too: File > Browse. and… also note that as far as i know this is a cs2 option only…

and we have an invitation to webcast of the official launch!
Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen and COO Shantanu Narayen personally gave it to us .

to participate, you just have to bookmark this page.

see you there!

so you just have a hard time straightening an object in the composition… here’s a tip:

to repair a crooked image, use the measure tool [U] to draw a line along what should be a horizontal or vertical line (the edge of the image, a door frame, across the eyes of a person in a portrait, etc.), and then choose image » rotate canvas » arbitrary…;

the correct angle and direction will appear, just hit OK.

keep in mind that you can also use the crop tool [C] to rotate and crop an image in one step. select the crop tool [C] and draw a rectangular region. use the crop handle to scale the marquee, and drag outside the marquee to rotate it; hit enter to crop the image.

see?