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Last month, after years of updating and ignoring it in my Adobe applications folder, I decided to sit down and actually learn InDesign. I picked up the basics and, after making a few small documents, started a larger project, taking a book off of Project Gutenburg / Archive.org and seeing if I could re-set the raw text to match the original scans. It was a really educational and oddly satisfying project (the result is here, exported for web at 23mb, compared to the original scans here). Turns out I really enjoy the work - making consistent style changes across a large project, adjusting the text for proper flow, and using the huge range of options available through InDesign. At this point I'd like to learn more about the industry, if this is the kind of thing a designer would do on the side, or whether it is a specialized full time skill. What kind of work is common? Are there are any communities for people who like to do this sort of thing? I'm also curious whether anyone here has professional experience working with publishing companies as a book designer, typesetter, or some kind of publishing designer / editor, even if it's at the level of setting text for e-books. Oh a whim, I applied for a job as a publishing editor and actually had an interview despite having no portfolio or experience, so it does seem like a demand exists. Anyone have experience?
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Oct 8, 2016 11:49
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Yo, I've been doing InDesign stuff professionally for 10 years or so. I used to do typesetting/layout/editing for an academic journal. I enjoyed the heck out of it! I was lucky because it was a small publication and I got a lot of creative control. I got to create a whole new style guide when I started. It was extremely satisfying to hold each printed issue in my hands.  Typesetting, printing, and graphic design are actually the family business. Both my parents and grandparents are/were in that business so I started learning the ropes at a quite young age. As a result, I have also watched the industry decline over the past 25 years or so. Like most creative industries, outsourcing and overseas contract work are a bitch. Basic tasks are easy to have done cheaply by someone in another Anglophone country. The result has been that the sexier full-time jobs in this domain now require a much higher or more specialized skill set. There are also domestic full time jobs on the lower skill level where there is some demand, like doing design/prepress at local print and copy shops, but the work itself can be pretty mind numbing. Like, you use InDesign all day to lay out wedding programs or menus for local pizza places. If you are knowledgeable about web design AND type design, you have a much better chance of working on something interesting. A lot of print designers don't know HTML/CSS and vice versa. If you can sell a client a FULL design concept that works across media, you have a big advantage. Also, if you work at an unrelated job, try to find opportunities to use InDesign for stuff. For example, my job now was using MS Word templates for conference materials for some pretty fancy-schmancy client meetings. I volunteered to start doing them in InDesign as part of my job, and it's been a big improvement and added a new interesting fun component to my work. That stuff also helps add to your portfolio for future freelance prospects. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about this stuff more.
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Nov 11, 2016 23:34
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Jumping in so I don't forget this thread exists. I use InDesign every day at work and at night for my on projects. I'm a production designer for a book publisher and do a lot of the things you describe - defining styles, changing text flow, etc. Can be maddening as hell, but a fun kind of fiddly. Perhaps look for production design jobs in the book publishing industry? A lot of graphic designers don't want to do the work because it's not considered creative enough, but like most things, it's what you make it. (I also use InDesign for my own projects, which are a bit more free wheeling. I realised at some point that pretty much everything I was doing in Illustrator could be done directly in InD and I didn't have to keep updating links and stuff.)
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Nov 13, 2016 21:15
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This is a cool thread and I will follow along. I've been doing InDesign academically and professionally for about 4 years. Unfortunately for the last 3 I feel like my skills have actually lowered because I basically am that guy for our team, which means I generally just crank out the same types of stuff over and over. Personally, my field is in the social sciences. However having photoshop/indesign skills really increased my value during interviews.
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Dec 8, 2016 19:36
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InDesign is an exceptionally versatile program, it is essence a database program (like Excel, ewww, sorry Adobe) with a fantastic publishing and multimedia suite built on top. This is a great site to visit if you feel you're not pushing it if, as Industrial Meat Package says, your skills are falling off as you only use it for a few things: https://www.indesignsecrets.com Have fun with it, there's a lot under the hood that can save you a lot of time, even though many would regard some tricks it can pull off as 'quick and dirty.' I say if it works, it works. High-end pre press houses will not accept PDF files that try to reproduce some of the fun stuff you can get right in the office or on a home printer.
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Dec 19, 2016 13:10
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How do I (can I) package an indesign file to include fonts from TypeKit? My understanding is no. From: https://helpx.adobe.com/typekit/using/package-font-files.html quote:Packaging features, such as the “Package” found in Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator, are often used to send documents for print output. Fonts are usually included with a package to ensure that the document fonts are always available. Even though the type selected is free.
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Apr 11, 2017 17:04
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BastardAus posted:InDesign is an exceptionally versatile program, it is essence a database program (like Excel, ewww, sorry Adobe) with a fantastic publishing and multimedia suite built on top. Could you elaborate on this bit? I use InDesign only for its most superficial functions, but don't really have an idea about its underlying functionality.
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Apr 30, 2017 10:59
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Great Enoch posted:Could you elaborate on this bit? I use InDesign only for its most superficial functions, but don't really have an idea about its underlying functionality. It's like HTML and CSS if you understand that. When you're downsaving you use an IDML file... IDML = InDesign Markup Language. HTML = Hypertext Markup Language. So the actual meat of an InDesign file is just text. When it starts embedding photos for previews and such is when it bloats up and betrays the usually slim basis of a database program. The database part is the linking, book functions, integration with InCopy, etc... it's storing the file locations and the markup language is telling how to render it. It's a WYSIWYG editor... that's why I'm starting to fool around with Muse, it's the same ideas applied to web instead of print (The desktop/tablet/web interfaces is analogous to the alternate layouts in InDesign). Anyone feel free to correct, that's my understanding.
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May 1, 2017 17:11
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JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:How do I (can I) package an indesign file to include fonts from TypeKit? My understanding is no. I needed an IT guy to get fonts for me because of this. Some weird back-channel thing on the server or something is how he found them and unlocked them or whatever. I loving hate TypeKit.
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May 25, 2017 01:49
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I fell into InDesign publishing too. I got my first gig out of university writing technical documents. It was my job to write and edit reams of content, and then we'd pass it onto the design team who would get to work typesetting these 200+ page documents. Over time, I got access to the software myself and went through the entirety of the InDesign tutorials on Lynda.com. I realised I'm in the same boat as you - I'm a geek who loves optimising each style, working out the correct spacing, making sure the document is at maximum readability. I haven't touched InDesign for a few years now, but it's a great piece of kit. I definitely understand the Excel analogy. InDesign is the place you pull all of your work together from other applications, whether that's Photoshop, Excel (for tables), Word. If you're interested in working with InDesign more, I'd suggest you look at the world of technical writing and business proposals. You can actually get quite creative with these roles, too.
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Jun 15, 2017 14:11
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Convexed posted:I fell into InDesign publishing too. I got my first gig out of university writing technical documents. It was my job to write and edit reams of content, and then we'd pass it onto the design team who would get to work typesetting these 200+ page documents. I'd really like to learn about this. I work with InDesign a great deal and I have some experience with highly technical subject matter (corporate law and securities regulation), and I wouldn't mind expanding my editorial skill set. Can you recommend some introductions to the nature of technical writing?
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Jun 15, 2017 14:35
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