Mastering InDesign CS3 for Print Design & Production

The book used by ITT Technical Institute to teach InDesign worldwide.

Mastering InDesign for Print Design and Production shows how expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­als with dead­lines and bill­able hours use InDesign effi­cient­ly and effec­tive­ly. Through the case stud­ies and inter­views, read­ers will find inspired to look beyond the over-emphasized basic fea­tures and into the depths of InDesign’s util­i­ty for real-world print design. 

Most InDesign books are writ­ten for begin­ners, and expe­ri­enced users are frus­trat­ed by them. When you already know how to make, fill, and thread a text box, the entire first half of most InDesign books is use­less. But this one does­n’t dwell on the basics. Mastering InDesign for Print Design and Production ful­fills the promise of the Mastering series, to pro­vide real-world skills to pro­fes­sion­als and stu­dents. Like all Mastering books, this one includes: 

  • A “by pros for pros” approach: The author is an active pro­fes­sion­al work­ing in the field of graph­ic arts, lay­out, and design, writ­ing for pro­fes­sion­als who want to improve their skills or learn new skills.
  • Real-world exam­ples: Running through­out the text are exam­ples of how the var­i­ous skills are applied in real sce­nar­ios, described through­out the book in the form of exam­ples and case stud­ies from the author’s own design and con­sult­ing work, as well as inter­views with oth­er design­ers using InDesign on the job. 
  • Skill-based teach­ing and hands-on exercises

The approach is humor­ous, mak­ing the diges­tion and reten­tion of com­pli­cat­ed infor­ma­tion eas­i­er for the read­er through quips, anec­dotes, and design- and print-geek humor. But at all times the book is true to its mis­sion: Helping a pro­fes­sion­al do her job in InDesign with­out frus­tra­tion, con­fu­sion, or aes­thet­ic compromise.

Although the book has a com­pre­hen­sive glos­sary, page one begins right away speak­ing to the core market–print professionals–in indus­try terms about indus­try chal­lenges. This imme­di­ate­ly lets expe­ri­enced InDesign users know the book is about them. The approach is humor­ous, mak­ing the diges­tion and reten­tion of com­pli­cat­ed infor­ma­tion eas­i­er for the read­er through quips, anec­dotes, and design- and print-geek humor. But at all times the book is true to its mis­sion: Helping a pro­fes­sion­al do their job in InDesign with­out frus­tra­tion, con­fu­sion, or aes­thet­ic compromise.

“One gets the sense that the author has real­ly spent time in the trench­es using these tools under dead­line, so he does­n’t waste your time. It also has humor and a nice per­son­al writ­ing style that makes it bear­able to actu­al­ly read, (which is gen­er­al­ly the excep­tion and not the norm in tech­ni­cal books). To me there’s noth­ing worse than a soft­ware book that bores … it is an insult to the read­er and thus the ulti­mate fail­ure of any soft­ware title. This book also prac­tices what it preach­es: the page design is ele­gant and adheres to the rules of good design espoused in the text. A gem.” – C. Harder

From the Back Cover

Take Control of Your Designs and Production Workflow Using InDesign 

Adobe’s InDesign gives you more cre­ative free­dom than you’ve ever expe­ri­enced in the world of pro­fes­sion­al lay­out and design. The prob­lem is that learn­ing how to work with this pow­er­ful soft­ware can be a dif­fi­cult and frus­trat­ing process. 

This com­pre­hen­sive book goes beyond the basics, clear­ly show­ing you how to effec­tive­ly use InDesign to meet your print­ing and pre­press needs. It guides you through the new fea­tures and func­tion­al­i­ty of InDesign CS3 and helps you devel­op sophis­ti­cat­ed solu­tions. With a sol­id focus on improv­ing your effi­cien­cy and cre­ative free­dom, this book pro­vides the expert guid­ance you need to mas­ter col­lab­o­ra­tion with­in work­groups; work effi­cient­ly with text, objects, and vari­able text; per­fect your print­ed out­put; har­ness the pow­er of InDesign trans­paren­cy and effects tools, and much more. 

Along with invalu­able hands-on lessons and a healthy dose of advice from his 20 years in graph­ic arts, pub­lish­ing, and print pro­duc­tion, author Pariah S. Burke also pro­vides you with numer­ous exam­ples and case stud­ies that will help you apply the skills you’ve learned to real-world situations. 

Coverage includes:

  • Setting up press-ready pages and spreads with bleed, slug, and live areas
  • Placing and fit­ting images rapid­ly and accurately
  • Working with attribute-level trans­paren­cy and new Photoshop-like effects for eye-popping results
  • Utilizing lay­ers, guides, grids, tem­plates, and libraries to speed the design process
  • Ensuring that image col­or set­tings and proof col­ors match
  • Maximizing pro­duc­tiv­i­ty through reusable set­tings and assets
  • Collaborating with edi­to­r­i­al through InCopy assignments
  • Collaborating with design peers through the Placed Pages Workflow
  • Utilizing dynam­ic text and variables
  • Handling com­mon draw­ing tasks with­out Illustrator® or Photoshop®
  • Learn How to Achieve Outstanding Design Results with InDesign CS3
  • Download Sample Files from Companion Web Site to Put Your Skills into Practice
  • Enhance Your Designs with Tables, Images, Objects, and More
  • Gain the Skills to Better Manage Color Creativity and Output
  • Find Answers to Your Complex Printing Challenges