Posts by Mike Rankin

I guess it all started in 1987, when I traded in my Sears word processor for a Mac 512k. Twenty-one years and many thousands of pages later, MacWrite and MacPaint on the 512k have evolved into the Creative Suite 3 on a MacBookPro, but it's never stopped being fun. I’ve worked in publishing since 1995, mostly making grade 6-12 educational products for history, science, mathematics, and world languages disciplines. I've also worked as an illustrator, drawing for anatomy books, spent a few years as Prepress Specialist using Kodak Prinergy, and as a Software Trainer, training folks in InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I also underwent Six Sigma Black Belt training in business process improvement. Currently I work for a large educational publisher, doing application development (translation: more XML than you can shake a stick at). I am DTP pack rat, treasuring a lot of stuff that most sane people would consider trash. I proudly display a complete Illustrator 88 package on my desk, along with my set of Photoshop 2.5 floppies, and my InDesign 1.0 CD. I've written about InDesign for InDesign Magazine and extensively (some would say obsessively) on my blog, Publicious.net

InDesign FX on Tour

September 1 2011 • 9:20 AM

InDesign FX is going on tour to Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee!

Secrets of the Control Panel Revealed

August 31 2011 • 2:01 PM

The Control panel is teeming with hidden shortcuts to other panels, preferences, and dialog boxes. Here’s not one, but seven maps, to reveal them all.

License Plate FX

August 24 2011 • 12:12 AM

Learn how to build a cool custom license plate with InDesign FX and pick up some key tips to use with all FX as you go.

New Lynda.com Video Series: InDesign FX

August 8 2011 • 2:40 PM

Check out these new videos from InDesignSecrets contributor (and now lynda.com author) Mike Rankin!

Creating Instant Charts With Chartwell

July 27 2011 • 5:54 AM

You can create charts and graphs on the fly from live text with the ingenious font Chartwell.

Why is the Effects Panel Grayed Out?

May 24 2011 • 8:26 AM

Have you ever tried to apply effects to a text frame, but the whole Effects panel was grayed out? Here’s why.

Water FX

April 24 2011 • 6:42 PM

Water, water everywhere. Three-quarters of the planet is covered with it. Sixty percent of you is water. And with the help of a blending mode, you can add a drop or two of H2O to your designs.

InDesign CS 5.5 Announced: New Features, Subscription Pricing

April 10 2011 • 9:06 PM

Creative Suite 5.5 is a solid incremental upgrade with some great features, but it may not be for everyone.

How to Draw Concentric Shapes

March 16 2011 • 5:47 AM

Ever want to draw a series of concentric shapes? It may not be obvious how to do it, but really they’re just a few clicks away.

Option-Dragging Back to Default Formatting

February 28 2011 • 10:06 PM

Did you ever try option-dragging an object to make a copy of it using the Direct Selection tool? If so, you may have witnessed this weird phenomenon.