Seattle InDesign User Group Home Meeting Summary Archive

Meeting Summary

Managing Long Documents: Bringing an end to the never ending story.
Tue, Sep 8th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Adobe University
Event Details

User Group Challenge
We love hearing your ideas and your unique perspective! Our challenge for the next meeting: Send us your 'Long Document' Tips & Tricks that weren't covered in September's presentation. Do you have a favorite technique that saves you time or headaches? How about an alternative use for InDesign's TOC, Indexing, or Cross-reference functionality?

All submissions will be rewarded with an extra raffle ticket, and those that we share at the next meeting will earn a total of five extra raffle tickets. Submit your tip (PDFs or screen shots to help illustrate would also be beneficial) via email to seattle.idug@gmail.com by Thursday, November 5, 2009.

Colin Fleming: Long Document Architecture

• When working with long documents, it's most efficient to use consistent, controlled architecture
• Recommend keeping template separate, and always update and synchronize to template
• Combine files using a 'book' file (.indb)
  • To make rogue files conform to styles set up for book, load Master Pages > replace master with appropriate file (new in CS4). Load Object Styles, Paragraph & Character Styles from same 'blueprint' document. Delete incorrect styles and replace with correct ones.
  • Can also use book file to synchronize styles among multiple 'short' docs
  • Set your style source in book – the file which all other files will be synchronized to
• Footnotes – to add, Type > Insert Footnote. (Footnotes will renumber if text order is rearranged.)
• Using anchored objects ensures objects will flow with text
  • SHIFT + Open when placing object: opens Import Options dialog
  • New in CS4: automatic autoflow – in Preferences > Type, turn on 'Smart Text Reflow'
• Cross-references ('see page x') – new in CS4. Select text. In Hyperlink panel, click on text to be linked, define document and specific paragraph style, will show options from that file. Can also define Appearance
• New in CS4: GREP (General Regular Expressions Print) styles: can contextually change specific text to a certain style
• TOC (Table of Contents): choose which paragraph styles will be included in TOC (text using that style will be in TOC)
• Index – entries will also be links in the pdf
• Preflight Book- quick glance at which files have errors

Steve Laskevitch: Text Variables

• What data do you want to automatically populate? e.g. output date, saved date, first or last entry on a page, any text you define, etc.
• Type > Text Variables > Insert Variable
• Caution: no wrapping of text – must fit in one line
• Can apply styles to text variables

Thank you

Thank you Howard Heflin for sharing your photos of the meeting!

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 10 and we'll focus on InDesign's role in Cross-Application and Cross-Media. We already have volunteers for Photography and Check-in (thank you!), but still need a volunteer to capture the notes. If you're interested in earning yourself FIVE extra raffle tickets, please email us at: seattle.idug@gmail.com

Photos From This Meeting
Photos are available from this user group meeting.
See the photos