Toronto InDesign User Group

Meeting Summary

Event Details

The Toronto Chapter InDesign User Group Meeting held on July 21st, 2008 was a fantastic evening, filled with valuable information and great networking.

The meeting started with Jason and Sebastian making some exciting announcements. In addition to a great volunteer opportunity for a great cause, here are some of the other key announcements:

Sebastian announced that Loop Enterprise Inc. will sponsor the next few meetings. This means we will be able to offer some nicer refreshments and make the meetings even better. This is a wonderful thing for the group. As you know, the entire user group is run through volunteer work, and we rely on the generosity of companies like Loop Enterprise to help with the expenses so that we can continue to make the user group free to its members.

Sebastian also introduced Acrobat.com. (This could be the next topic along with workflow.) Acrobat.com can be used for hosting high-resolution PDFs (free) for review and comments. In addition, Sebastian mentioned ConnectNow for video meetings (free). Sebastian mentioned that Adobe is moving towards hosted applications for beginners to start using products.

After the announcements, Casey D'Andrea, Professional Services Technologist at Loop Enterprise Inc., stunned everyone present with his knowledge of really great keyboard shortcuts and hidden gems found within InDesign. There was no doubt that everyone present took away a lot of useful, time-saving tidbits that will help them in their everyday InDesign production! While there are too many shortcuts to list here, Casey has spent a great deal of effort to put together a fantastic document that highlights his many great finds. A copy of this document can be obtained by going to www.loop.ca/indesign-shortcuts.html.

Links to the direct downloads of ZIP versions of the shortcuts are as follows:
Mac: www.box.net/shared/dxah43b0sh (contains PDF, INDD, Shortcut File)
Windows: www.box.net/shared/ra500z5qxi (contains PDF and INDD)

Casey has also launched a website for his shortcut file. You can check out the shortcut section there for downloading the Mac and now Windows version as well at www.indesign1200.com/blog.

During the break, there were some great networking opportunities, and we were very fortunate to have some guests with us from Adobe, as well as other international companies.

Near the end of the evening, Casey wrapped up by discussing the power of scripts in InDesign. If you have not yet begun looking into this, it may be very worth your while! One great place to start for free scripts is www.danrodney.com (thanks Casey for that tip too!).

The meeting ended with some draws for great prizes. One lucky attendee won an iPod, courtesy of Loop Enterprise Inc., and another lucky attendee won a book designed and published by one of our very own members (all done in InDesign of course). Congratulations once again to Susan for such an amazing book and amazing feat!

Thank You

Once again, a huge heartfelt thanks to the people at Loop Enterprise for their ongoing support of our group. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Upcoming Industry Events

Creative Suite 4
As you may have heard, Adobe will be announcing Adobe Creative Suite 4 on September 23.

As an InDesign User Group member, you are invited to view the live webcast on that day at www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant.

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.

Comments from the evaluation sheets

"Thanks to Loop for sponsoring AND for the files!"

"Nice Presentation"

"Very useful topic. Very good presentation, I learned some really useful short cuts. I will be using them in my day to day use of InDesign."

"Very knowledgeable presenter, learned a lot."

"Everything was explained very well. Casey is a very good at presenting! I really enjoyed the interaction with the rest of the group."

"Excellent and time saving tips. Great presentation"

"Casey was very informative"

"Great! Really enjoyed it. Now I am inspired"

"Informative and very helpful"

"Casey is a great presenter. Thanks for taking the time to share your shortcuts"

"Excellent presenter -- excellent shortcuts! Exactly what I was looking for. Worth the drive from Cambridge!!"

Next Meeting

Be sure to watch out for the next meeting, which will be coming up shortly. I don’t want to give anything away, but I can say that you will NOT want to miss it!

All the best,

Jason

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