Adobe InDesign CC - Advanced Tips & Tricks

If you need to add footnotes to a document on a page-by-page basis, InDesign can help. Here's how.

Draw a text frame, and the caption automatically appears. Magic? No – it's 'text variables'.

For example: you have a block of text that runs across several different colours in the background. This video shows you how to slice up the text (including slicing letters into sections, if you like) so that you can colour each section just the way you want.

In Adobe Photoshop, Blending Modes are used to create an interaction between two layers in an image. In InDesign, you can create an interaction between two objects on a page. They're incredible.

Easily take control of your Swatches panel. Regardless of how many colours you have in there, colour groups can help to create order from chaos.

A simple and accurate way to convert any InDesign document into an MS Word document – that usually looks exactly the same.

How to merge a mailing list with an InDesign document so that every name gets its own personalised page.

This example takes a block of four raffle tickets on an InDesign page and adds a number to each one, then makes a PDF based on the total range of numbers being added. The result is a PDF where each ticket gets the correct number – in this case, from 1 to 400!

A GREP is a powerful search technique that uses code to look for a range of terms, simultaneously, and then applies a format (or a text change) to all of them. This video shows you how to use them.

Taking the GREP search further – how do you create your own codes? It's easier that you think.

This video shows you how to draw a grid of frames and then place a different image into each one – simultaneously.

In this video I draw a grid of squares, then combine them into being multiple windows into a single object – so that a single image can appear within the entire sequence.

A drawn grid of square text frames, which are automatically linked – opening up several doors of opportunity that would otherwise be just about impossible to achieve!

This video shows you how to add new, or change existing, keyboard shortcuts. InDesign will tell you if the shortcut you propose is already assigned, and if so to what. In that case you can either come up with something different...or use it anyway! It also shows how to hide menu items that you rarely use.

This video covers the three ways of importing a large block of copy – manual, semi-automatic and automatic. Then it shows you how to create text frames on master pages and flow the copy into the result – which automatically generates as many pages as are required for the whole thing. Then it shows you how to insert different layouts into the mix, and include them in the text flow.

A quick and easy way to make a multi-line heading align just that little bit better.

How to overcome 'page shuffle' to create fold-outs in books, and how to use the Pages tool to adjust individual page sizes within the same document.

When you place a PSD (PhotoShop Document) image into an InDesign layout, you then have the option of turning the visibility of its layers on and off. This video shows you how.

If you have a bold heading and want to wake it up a bit, why not place an image inside it? Doing this can be a great addition to your layout's design. It's easy and amazingly effective.

There are loads of scripts available in InDesign which can be triggered by double-clicking on them. Some of them are really useful and will save you a whole lot of time.

When you automatically convert an entire layout – images, text, colours, special effects, whatever – into XML code, the result is...a snippet. It's a much smaller file size than if you saved it as an InDesign document, so it's a great format for archiving or email. 

These are what put the correct page number at the end of 'continued on page...' and 'continued from page...', even if you change the layout afterwards.

How to change a block of 'tabbed text' into a table, and how to start to formatting the text inside it.

This video completes the table appearance by changing the weight and colour of the internal and external cell boundaries and cell fills.

This video shows you how to save the different paragraph styles used inside table cells.

How to save 'cell styles', which in turn relate to the paragraph styles created in the previous video.

Saving a new table style based on the cell styles already created, and then importing new data without losing any of the formatting.

A very useful editorial technique allowing you to see additions and deletions to any text in the document, and approve the changes – or not.

Type can be added to any drawn path in InDesign. You can even flow type from one path to another.

If you're working on a long document and need to place a number of hi-res CMYK images into it, you may find that InDesign begins to slow down...and down...and down! So, the closer you get to your deadline, the slower the app becomes. Awful. This is an easy way to deal with it, so no matter how many images you're dealing with, InDesign never slows you down at all.