Chicago InDesign User Group

Meeting Summary

Creative Suite 4 Roll-Out Special Event
Tue, Oct 28th, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Gene Siskel Film Center

Event Details

Chicago Oct. 28th 2008 InDesign User Group Meeting at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

The luxurious setting was a perfect spot for the 88 attendees to watch Adam Pratt and Lisa Niday present highlights of Bridge, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. After a warm introduction by Jim Maivald (Chapter Representative) Adam dug into the products. Recognizing that the design landscape is shifting with more need to produce content that may end up on different sized screens and media, CS4 looks at the process from a holistic point of view. There’s lots of nitty-gritty for each sector, easier adjustments, rotate view for smarter cloning or painting, scale graphics without distorting the content, and paint or manipulate 3d models all in Photoshop. Adam touched on all, emphasizing how easy and streamlined the new interface works.

Certainly the largest reaction was for Illustrator’s multiple artboards—a welcome feature that gives the designer flexibility to combine multiple sized objects within a single document. Both Illustrator and Photoshop have tweaked the workflow to keep the designer focused on the creative process. Illustrator’s gradients can now be controlled directly on the screen choosing colors, changing the stops and never touching a panel or a dialog. Did I mention transparency in gradients? Illustrator adds that as well.

After a short break for popcorn and refreshments, Lisa Niday went full throttle into InDesign CS4. Within 45 minutes we got an excellent glimpse into a stellar upgrade. Smart guides sounds so simple, yet are simply elegant. Select a group of files to place, and the place gun is smart enough to know the dimensions of each graphic and create a perfectly sized frame. If there’s a need to align the elements, smart guides will pop up and let you know when the spacing is spot on. With more publications going regional or for specific markets, conditional text in InDesign will be very useful. Combine that with the ability to add and subtract pages automatically, and the combo can’t be beat.

Service providers will enjoy the new Live Preflight option. The new preflight tool allows the user to customize their setting and pickup errors as they work. No need to wait until the end of the job to get a surprise. Errors are flagged and if your unsure of the fix InDesign CS4 offers some advice as well. As Lisa said, work until the light is green to ensure a perfect file for output.

InDesign CS4 offers some fantastic ways to get your content on the web or into Flash. The improved interactive tools make creating buttons with basic programming easy. There’s a new transitions panel for adding fades etc. All the interactive features work when exporting to either Acrobat or Flash SWF. It is an easy solution to get work to your clients, or have an immediate web presence. If your preference is moving your publications to Flash,InDesign now exports to XFL. That file can be directly opened in Flash and all the pages are magically converted to movie clips with the type still editable. Fantastic.

Because this was a special event, there was a raffle for CS 4 Design Premium.

Thank You

Special Thanks to Adam Pratt and Lisa Niday for delivering a super presentation!

Upcoming Industry Events

Adobe MAX: Explore the future of design and development!
November 16-19, 2008
San Francisco, California, USA

MAX is Adobe's annual event for forward-thinking designers, developers, and decision-makers. Join thousands of other Adobe users and experts for three unforgettable days of education, inspiration, and community.

Event highlights:
-Unique opportunities to connect with thousands of peers
-Over 200 sessions organized into three tracks
-50 intensive skills labs on Adobe products and solutions

Focus on designers
New this year is a dedicated Design track. If you plan to design websites, create rich interactive content, or use print and web together more effectively, join us to expand your skills and be inspired.

To register now or get more information, go to www.adobe.com/max.