Meeting Summary: Span/Split and HTML tagging with a side of Table of Contents, Please!

Wed, Nov 2nd, 2011 at 6:30 PM

International Academy of Design and Technology

Event Details

Our November 2nd InDesign User Group Meeting, with special guest speaker Dwayne Leach, proved to be a great hit with members. We had over 40 people in attendance at the International Academy of Design & Technology. Our meeting began with general announcements, which included a plug for the CSS for Designers class in Orlando. There was also some discussion on continuing to have our meeting remain free to attend. Shelley Manes brought in some wonderful sweet and salty snacks to enjoy.

Our very own Dwayne Leach, a production artist at the corporate offices of Marriott Vacation Club International, began his presentation introducing the differences between a book (INDB) and a document (INDD) in InDesign. Leach explained it best by describing the book as a container for many documents. He continued on to explain that if changes are made to the documents they can automatically be updated in the book. Books contain multiple INDD documents, which comprise of pages and chapters of a book. INDB files are used for compiling documents into a larger book, as well as publishing and printing the final copy. They are often helpful for saving computer resources while editing, since the computer does not have to load all of the INDD file contents while creating the book. In addition, styles (paragraph, character and object styles) can be pushed through a book document by using the book as a bridge and by asking it to synchronize.

Leach wrapped up his presentation by answering questions and talking a little more in-depth about the Table of Contents. One important note he pointed out was that, when creating the Table of Contents, InDesign does not look on Master Pages for information.

One user group member wanted to know about a good index plug-in. Leach recommends Virginia System's Sonar Bookends InDex and InDex Pro (http://www.virginiasystems.com/). The basic version is $195 per license, and the pro version is $395. He said he has not used it personally; but, as far as he could tell, it gets the best reviews.

Another asked, how can you sort paragraphs alphabetically? The answer: use one of the scripts that ships with InDesign! First you can sort paragraphs by first letter. Go to Window > Utilities > Scripts. Burrow down into the folders Application > Samples > AppleScript. Highlight the text you want sorted, and then double-click the script "SortParagraphs.applescript".

One final question was, "For what do you use the "Run-In" check box in the Table of Contents dialogue box?" The answer: "Run-In" creates a continuous paragraph of contents entries (as opposed to placing a paragraph marker at the end of each entry). Leach has used it in magazines (usually the numbers have varying colors to serve as separators between the entries). Apparently, it's also popular in academic journals.

The meeting ended around 8:30 and we finished the meeting with our typical raffle.

Thank you

-Many thanks to:
Dwayne Leach
Jorge Diaz and the International Academy of Design & Technology
Shelley Manes For bringing a few sweet and salty snacks
Lynda.com
Adobe Press: www.adobepress.com
Total Training: www.totaltraining.com
Adobe Systems: www.adobe.com
O'Reilly Media: www.oreilly.com
Peachpit Press: www.peachpit.com/index.asp

Thanks as always to our location and communication sponsors:
Tampa Business Journal
Create Magazine
Ad2 Tampa Bay & the AAF Tampa Bay
Creative Tampa Bay
Tampa Tribune Business Section
Weekly Planet
Sarah Schweiger Creative Design Services
St. Pete Times
AIGA
The Tampa Graphic Design Meetup.com Group

for underwriting these meetings to help us keep them free and open to all!

Job Opportunities

Masonite is looking for a freelance production artist.

If you are interested, please send your resume to art director Cynthia Bentley-DeNight, (813) 739-3016.

Upcoming Industry Events

CSS for Designers
December 8, 2011

How long have you been thinking about taking the step from print to web? You may know a lot about Photoshop, paragraph styles in InDesign, or the steps it takes to get that transparency to print. So why not put that knowledge to use on the web? This seminar is for those of us who want to get that first CSS based site out there, need to speak intelligently with those who already know CSS, or who simply want to design better web sites knowing how they are put together. Taught from a print designers perspective, this CSS seminar will show you the step-by-step process of taking your web designs to the browser with HTML and CSS. Using a proven teaching method, you will learn the ins and outs of CSS, have a working knowledge of CSS by days end, and the confidence to turn that design into a web site for the world to see.

LOCATION:

University of Phoenix Maitland Campus Building
2290 Lucien Way
Suite 400
Maitland, FL 32751

For more info go to: www.mogo-media.com/seminars

IDUG members can get a free pass to this seminar! See the member benefits page for details.

Comments from attendees

Great session! My first meeting but it won't be my last - Thanks! --M. Tussey

Really informative and helpful to a beginner. --C. Scargle

Great detailed presentation. Love the in-depth "meat and potatoes" topics. Thanks and looking forward to the next one! --M. Feickert

Dwayne always teaches me something new. Table of contents with Leader Styles will save me mucho time. --D. Challenger

I find it very helpful. Love the tips. --K. Lopez

I am so into InDesign -- I can't stand it. The program I use every day and I don't know why I haven't discovered this group before today! --F. Fox

Next Meeting

We are currently planning our next meeting. If you would be interested in presenting at a meeting in 2012, email me at tampa@indesignusergroup.com.


Sarah Schweiger
Chapter Representative
Tampa InDesign User Group
tampa@indesignusergroup.com

Photos from this Meeting

See the photos