Meeting Summary: We’re Back!

Wed, Jun 22nd, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Ryerson University - Heidelberg Building

Event Details

Thank you to all of the members that were able to come out to Wednesday’s meeting. There were many new faces to be seen at the meeting and we hope to see them at the next event as well. Refreshments were supplied through a generous sponsorship by Carbon Computing (www.carbonation.com).

The meeting began with introductions of the three new InDesign User Group representatives; Natalia Gilewicz; Andrea Hillo; and Matthew Potter. Natalia Gilewicz is an Assistant Professor at Ryerson University, an Associate Editor at Graphic Arts Magazine and has been involved with the InDesign User Group for a long time. Andrea Hillo is a freelance graphic artist originally from Toronto but currently resides in Halliburton. Matthew potter is a consultant for Eliquo as well as a freelance graphic artist.

After the announcements and introductions were concluded, Matthew began to discuss the new features that can be found in CS5 and CS5.5. Some of the highlights of the meeting were:

The Gap Tool
- A simple way to adjust the width and height between columns.
- Recognizes familiar widths between columns to make adjustments quicker and easier than ever before.

The Auto Fit Check Box
- If a box size changes, the content will automatically adjust to fit the new size.
- Content will only be enlarged when it no longer properly fits the size of the box.

Corner Tools
- Individual corner values can now be adjusted, rounded, edited and manipulated.

Span Columns
- Any selected text within a column can now span across multiple columns using the Span Columns option in paragraph styles.
- No need for separate boxes for author name, title, pull quotes, etc. They can all be adjusted using span columns and nested style sheets.

Photo Meta Data and Caption Options
- Meta Data found within the image can now be used to create captions for the object.
- The caption is completely adjustable in style, alignment and content.
- When live caption is selected, the caption will notice changes in the Meta Data and will inform the user to refresh the caption and image.

Multipage Dimensions
- InDesign now has the ability to have multiple page dimensions in one document. This can be used for gatefolds or any desired different page dimension.
- Page numbers can be adjusted when required.

Presentation Preview Mode
- This mode blacks out everything except the spread.
- It looks and acts like a PDF.

Background Tasks Palette
- It is possible now to work on the same file, or other files when exporting a document.
- Be cautious when editing the same file, as errors in export can be made.

Exporting Paragraph styles to CSS
- No longer has to be done manually.
- Tags can be applied before exporting for ease of use.

Document Structure
- Allows the user to make a simple XML structure to be used when exporting for ePublications.
- Items can be dragged in or the structure can be automatically constructed.

Articles
- Similar to Document Structure but allows more customization when creating the XML structure for the document.
- Parts of text can be selected instead of the entire text box.
- Sections of the structure may be named.

Tracking Changes
- Must be within the text box when selecting this feature.
- This feature tracks all changes with in the text box and allows them to be rejected, accepted or changed even after the document has been saved and closed.

Animation Palette
- This can be used to create a more interactive PDF.
- Animations should be used in subtle appealing ways.

Digital Publishing tools
- It is now possible to design content specifically for tablet PCs.
- Books should be used to simplify the process of creating the document. Furthermore naming conventions and proper folders must be used for the document to be created and exported properly.
- Both horizontal and vertical versions of each layout/page must be created.
- A downside of this tool is that due to restrictions from Apple text must be saved as an image, making zooming difficult.
- Publishing of the document can be done through Apple for free or for a fee depending on if the document well be charged for.

After Matthew finished his overview of the new features within InDesign a draw was held for members that were present at the completion of the meeting. Congratulations to all the winners!

1. Wanda won a t-shirt
2. Sammy and Nicholas won copies of InDesign Magazine
3. Phillis took home Markzware’s Quark to InDesign File Conversion Service
4. Mary Ann (or as Natalia likes to say Masy Ann) was the big winner for the night taking home the full Creative Suite!

For further information and tutorials on CS5 and CS5.5 make sure to take advantage of Adobe’s helpful support and tutorials (http://www.adobe.com/support/indesign/gettingstarted/index.html)

Thank you to everyone for coming out! Please feel free to contact us with feedback and ideas! Special thanks to Stephen and Carol for helping with setup and to Anna for the summary writeup.

Andrea, Matthew, and Natalia
Chapter Representatives
Toronto InDesign User Group
toronto@indesignusergroup.com

Photos from this Meeting

See the photos