Tips & Techniques

Automatically place multiple images in a grid

2009-11-10T20:59:00.001-06:00

One of the nicest new features of InDesign CS4 is the ability to automatically place multiple images at once, arranged neatly in a grid of frames automatically created to your specifications. Here's how:1. With nothing selected on your page, choose File > Place, and select multiple images by...

Free Stock Photography

2009-11-06T11:18:00.001-06:00

Free is good. Here are a few thoughts on where to obtain free high-quality, high-resolution stock images and artwork.Freerange Stock is an advertising-supported site that encourages photographers to upload their content, and ad revenue is shared with the photographers.Flickr is the granddaddy of...

Transform Sequence Again Individually

2009-11-04T15:17:00.001-06:00

InDesign's Transform Again commands are very powerful. When you choose Object > Transform Again you'll see four options: Transform Again, Transform Again Individually, Transform Sequence Again, and Transform Sequence Again Individually. How these commands work is far from obvious, so I'll...

Sneak peek at future Adobe technology

2009-10-27T15:51:00.001-05:00

If you're curious what might be in store for a future version of Photoshop, or other Adobe products, here are three resources you should check out:1. My friend Rick sent me this link to a cool video on the Photoshop Facebook page. The video shows a preview of "PatchMatch: Content-Aware spot Healing...

How to identify a font in a PDF

2009-10-20T20:24:00.001-05:00

Have you ever received a PDF and wanted help identifying a font used in the file? If you have Acrobat 9 Professional, here's an easy way:1. Open the PDF, and choose Advanced > Print Production > Output Preview2. Select "Object Inspector" for the Preview.3. Click on the text you're wondering...

Use GREP find to truncate lines of text

2009-10-12T11:34:00.001-05:00

A student from one of my on-site InDesign training classes asked how to remove the end of each line of text in an InDesign-created directory listing, as shown in the example below. Each line of the directory consists of some text, a tab character, more text, and then a paragraph return.In her...

Photoshop brush size shortcuts

2009-10-06T11:14:00.001-05:00

A good shortcut to know for changing the brush size in Photoshop CS2-CS4 is to use the [ and ] (left and right square bracket) keys. Each time you press one of these keys, the current brush will decrease or increase in size. Add the shift key to change the hardness of the brush edge. This works...

How to tell if an image has been scaled in InDesign

2009-09-30T08:29:00.001-05:00

When you work with images in your layout, you need to be aware of the effective resolution of those images. The effective resolution is the resolution of the image after it has been scaled. You also need to know if you've unintentionally stretched the image non-proportionally. InDesign has five...

Two oldies but goodies

2009-09-23T21:40:00.001-05:00

I'd like to bring to your attention today two fantastic keyboard shortcuts in InDesign. These aren't new, but they're valuable time- and grief-savers.Shortcut #1: command-6 (Mac), ctrl-6 (Windows) This shortcut will highlight the first field of the Control Panel at the top of the screen. So if you...

Photoshop Masking plug-ins

2009-09-14T15:13:00.001-05:00

In my Photoshop Masking seminar last week I showed how to mask difficult subjects such as hair, fur and feathers. Doing this successfully requires you to evaluate your image and choose the best tool/approach for that particular image. One useful tool for certain masking situations is the Filter...

Resource for scientific stock photos

2009-09-07T16:44:00.001-05:00

There are myriad vendors of stock photography. But if you need images about scientific topics such as Medicine, Genetics, Pollution, Physics or Microscopy, browse the large image collection at the Science Photo Library. They sell both Royalty Free and Rights Managed images, and have a team of...

A few seminar spots remain!

2009-09-01T11:08:00.000-05:00

The response to the "Back to School Fall Seminar Series" has exceeded my expectations. There are over 50 people registered in each of the four half-day sessions! I have room for 60, so a few spots remain. Register today!The seminar series will be held in the Twin Cities next week. They are open to...

How to force a PDF to open at a particular view

2009-08-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how to set your Acrobat preferences so that all PDFs open at the magnification you want them to. Today's post is about how you as the creator of a PDF can specify the opening view of that particular PDF. I always like my PDFs to open in Fit Page view, so that the...

Sorting the Glyphs panel display

2009-08-18T14:40:00.001-05:00

InDesign's Glyphs panel (Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs) is indespensible for locating and inserting foreign-language characters, alternate characters, symbols and dingbats. Yesterday I noticed a strange thing about the display order of the Glyphs in the panel. The default sort order is...

LiveSurface Image Templates

2009-08-12T16:34:00.001-05:00

Here's a cool resource that I've been evaluating: The LiveSurface Image Template Library. These are not just stock photos. They're pre-masked, multi-layered high-res photos of billboards, stationary, packaging, vehicles, etc. that contain built-in 3D surfaces. What this means is that you can use...

Future versions of Creative Suite Intel-only

2009-08-12T15:48:00.001-05:00

Adobe posted a FAQ today on their Website titled Support for the PowerPC platform, in which they state that: "Adobe intends for future versions of the Creative Suite range of products to run on Intel based Macs with no support for their installation on PowerPC systems." This means that if you are a...

How to control the opening view in Acrobat

2009-08-07T14:14:00.001-05:00

Like me, you probably spend a great deal of time opening and viewing PDFs. You might as well make this as simple and painless as possible. You can easily set your preferences to make PDFs appear just they way you want them to, every time. Here's how:In Acrobat, choose Acrobat > Preferences...

Advice for designers during tough times

2009-08-03T13:28:00.001-05:00

The 2009 AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries 2009 is available now. In addition to the usual tables that summarize average salary ranges for designers, art directors, production artists and copywriters around the United States, this year's issue contains insightful commentary from top designers...

Easily delete text in InDesign/InCopy

2009-07-28T17:04:00.001-05:00

Bonnie wrote today and pointed out that on my InDesign CS4 keyboard shortcut reference guide, I've listed the same keyboard shortcut (command-delete) for both "Delete one word to the left" and "Delete one word to the right". Believe it or not Bonnie, this isn't a typo (though I'll admit it could be...

Fall Seminar Series

2009-07-23T10:58:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to announce the "Back to School Fall Seminar Series" that I'm holding in the Twin Cities on 9/9/2009 and 9/11/2009. This series of four low-cost half-day seminars is open to everyone who wants to do more with less, to be more productive, more efficient and more effective in Adobe...

Where to find Adobe PDF icons

2009-07-21T10:01:00.001-05:00

Julie wrote: Where in the world can I get an Adobe .pdf icon? I need to add the little icon to our website... There are so many variations on the web that I don't know which is official and which is not!I get asked this frequently, so thought I'd write about it here. The "official" Adobe pdf icons...

Font identification help

2009-07-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

Have you ever run across some text set in an interesting typeface, and wondered what font was used? Gone are the days of poring through font specimen books or endless font samples on web sites. Instead, try WhatTheFont.This free tool from Bitstream lets you upload a scan of a type sample, and then...

New web site

2009-07-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

I just spent the last few days hunkered down in my office wrestling with the intricacies of CSS while rebuilding the Gilbert Consulting web site. My previous web site used tables for layout and positioning. I decided to join the 21st century and bring my site up to modern standards with CSS....

Minneapolis InDesign User Group meeting

2009-07-08T09:00:00.001-05:00

I've scheduled the next meeting of the Minneapolis InDesign User Group for Tuesday evening, August 4, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD). The agenda is still being finalized, and will be posted on the IDUG web site soon. If you're in the Twin Cities area,...

How to format a Table of Contents

2009-07-01T08:05:00.001-05:00

I've written a feature article for the latest issue of InDesign Magazine (Issue 30) about how to format a Table of Contents (TOC). The seven-page article is about how to format many different types of TOC layouts. Even if you never work with TOCs, you will learn something new from the article about...