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Adobe InDesign CS Syllabus and Assignment Sheet

Estimated Completion: 30 hours

Text: Exploring InDesign CS

Cost: 33.00 - Search to see if you can find this book used

ISBN: 1-4018-7390-1

It is recommended that you purchase additional text/reference books on each subject to further enhance your knowledge and meet your individual learning style.  An Amazon store has been setup with recommended books to continue your studies.

The Contents of the CD

Before you begin, create a new folder on drive O:\ called indesign.  Copy the Lesson Files folders (Chapter 01-Chapter 13) from the CD to the O:\indesign folder.  Save all of your work to the appropriate sub folder in the indesign.

Note: If you need a brush up on file management, review the file management handout.

When you copy files from a CD they will be marked as "Read Only".  This means that you cannot make changes to the file.  You can turn off the read only attributes in Windows Explorer or My Computer.  In either of those applications, right click the folder that contains read only files (this would be the Lesson Files folder) and select Properties.  Uncheck the Read-only attribute and click Apply. At the Confirm Attribute Changes dialog box select Apply changes to this folder, subfolder and files and click OK.  

Extras

Your instructor provides extensive additional resources for Web design.  You should familiarize yourself with and bookmark the following sites:

1. Lecture notes are available at: http://www.robinsblog.com - This site is updated several times per week.  Students should check this site daily for important class announcements and updates.
2. Web design and graphics tutorials are available at: http://www.tinkertech.net. - Spend some time getting familiar with this site, it is a collection of topics discussed in class over the last several years.

Backing up Your Student Files

You should periodically back up your student files to CD.  Instructions for creating a data CD are here (Word document format).

General Notes

Access InDesign in the classroom by clicking Start > All Programs > Web Design > Adobe InDesign CS.

When working in InDesign you should increase the resolution on your monitor to 1024 x 768.  To do this, right click the desktop and select Properties.  In the Display Properties click the settings tab and drag the screen area tab to the right until it reads 1024 x 768.

Complete all assignments in the Exploring InDesign CS including the Exploring On Your Own exercises at the end of each chapter. 

Chapter Notes

Chapter 1

Page 4 - You must create a new document before you can see the margins, trims, rulers, etc.  Click File > New > Document > Ok to create a new, blank document.

Page 8  #1 - If you open the New Document dialog box and the margin settings have a "p" in the middle of the number then the unit of measurement is set to Picas.  You will need to change the unit of measurement to inches.  Cancel out of the new document dialog box and select Edit > Preferences > Units and Increments and set both the Horizontal and Vertical Ruler settings to inches.  Click OK.  Once you have changed the unit of measurement you can follow the steps in step #1 to create a new document.  Note: If you move to a different workstation in the lab you will have to change the unit of measurement again.

Page 9 #4 - After you draw the rectangle if you "click somewhere else on your document" Rectangle Options box will appear.  Before you can deselect an object in InDesign you must switch to the Selection Tool by clicking the icon or pressing the letter V on your keyboard (as directed on page 10 #5).

Page 11 - Keyboard Shortcuts - You may find this InDesign Shortcuts - InDesign - PDF  file helpful.  The original Macintosh shortcut sheet was found @ http://homepage.mac.com/markam/indesigntips.indd.

Page 14 #3 - When you are creating a design you may want to use temporary text as you're developing the layout of the page.  In page layout we frequently use Lorem Ipsum text as placeholder text in our designs.  This allows you to create a design without having the written content.  You can learn more about and generate Lorem Ipsum text @ http://www.lipsum.com/.

Chapter 2 Notes

You may find some of these online typography resources useful:

Anatomy of a letter

Typography 1st

Typography Lesson

Typography @ About.com

The Elements of Typographic Style is an excellent book on typography.

Page 37 - Helvetica is not available on a PC by default. Arial is typically used on a PC instead of Helvetica. Also on page 37 the description to the right of figure 2-8 is reversed.  Serif fonts are displayed in the column to the left and sans serif are in the right column.

Submitting Your Work

Print the Exploring On Your Own exercise at the end of each chapter.  Attach this exercise to a cover page with your name, the date, the chapter #, and your instructor's name.