February 5, 2008
We welcomed special guest Noha Edell, Business Development Manager for Cross Media Publishing at Adobe, who is also the Adobe host of the east-coast chapters of the InDesign User Group.
EXPORTING AN INDESIGN DOCUMENT TO THE WEB
On the surface exporting InDesign to the web may seem daunting. In an effort to reduce these perceptions (they are just perceptions — with the right people in place, repurposing InDesign for the web is very doable), Brian Reyman and Erica Gamet each played a part in the process (with Jeff Gamet making a cameo as ‘the boss’).
Erica, the designer, was assigned the task of repurposing her content to the web. She enlisted the help of her web developer, Brian. Brian and Erica each had a projector to display their files, and were able to both entertain and instruct.
The presentation focused on:
- Understanding how to prepare InDesign and export files for use on the web.
- Demonstrating the workflow between the designer and web developer, focusing on roles and responsibilities.
In the end, designer Erica, with web-developer Brian’s help, was able to turn her InDesign newsletter into several web pages — and had the pieces to quickly convert similar future newsletters.
PRODUCTIVITY KILLERS
Erica showed the group some “productivity killers,” or “things to do when the boss isn’t looking.”
Some of these items included plug-ins that allow you to play Tetris or control iTunes, both directly from within InDesign. Next, she showed a website from Pantone, Inc. called “Colorstrology” that shows a person’s “birth color” based on their birthday.
Next, she showed some Easter Eggs in InDesign CS3, which include butterflies in the welcome screen and an alien in the Print dialog box. She also demoed a couple of custom stroke styles that can be created: Xmas lights, footprints, puppy tracks, and happy faces.
Erica showed a site with a Flash illustration that contains 25 design terms. If the user can find all 25 terms within the allotted timeframe, the user will win a printed version of the illustration. Lastly, she showed the video called “Make My Logo Bigger Cream” that pokes fun at the misconceptions of what we do as designers.
This is just a small selection of really fun diversions. Please email Erica if you want the list of URLs, etc. from this presentation.
COMMENTS FROM ATTENDEES
“I thought everything was great. The web design was right on. I thought it was paced really well.”
“Liked the presentation going back and forth between web and print.”
“I liked the role play. Appreciated the preparation by both Erica & Brian.”
Photos From This Meeting
Photos are available from this user group meeting.
• See the photos
