May 29 2009 • 7:33 AM
InDesignSecrets Podcast 103
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The transcript of this podcast will be posted soon.
- News: Upcoming Seminars and Webinars, InCopy CS4 Hands-On Guide
- Report from the Creative Suite Developer’s Summit, complete with interviews with some of your favorite InDesign plug-in developers!
- Moving pages from one layout to another: tips and tricks
- Obscure InDesign Feature of the Week: Line End
News and special offers from our sponsors:
>> myMacMac is the developer of a really neat InDesign plug-in called InDemand (see the Quicktime demo). InDemand adds an automation panel to the Mac (only) versions of InDesign CS2, CS3, or CS4 with all sorts of useful buttons and functions, such as a Repeater Grid and a Clipboard Filter. Great solution for many types of projects that require tedious formatting and arranging like catalogs and electronics ads. Use the coupon code CPN1141670880 for a 10% InDesignSecrets discount, valid until July 20, 2009.
>> In-Tools has a special deal for InDesignSecrets fans: $20 off the price for either one of their InDesign plug-in bundles, InBook or InSefer, if you purchase from this special page on their site. The InBook Plug-in Pack is a suite of plug-ins that turn InDesign into an advanced automated pagination system for laying out books.The InSefer suite of plug-ins does the same for Hebrew publications. We talked about a few of the InBook plug-ins in the podcast, but the full list is here.
>> Adobe Systems continues to show their support for InDesign users via their sponsorship of the InDesignSecrets podcast and videocast, so thanks, Adobe! They’re trying to get the word out about how much time you can save if you move to the latest version of the Creative Suite, CS4. To see the Pfeiffer report we talked about in the podcast which documents the time savings (“CS4 Productivity for Design Professionals”), you can download the PDF here: http://tr.im/cs4time. It’s interesting reading!
>> In-Tools has a special deal for InDesignSecrets fans: $20 off the price for either one of their InDesign plug-in bundles, InBook or InSefer, if you purchase from this special page on their site. The InBook Plug-in Pack is a suite of plug-ins that turn InDesign into an advanced automated pagination system for laying out books.The InSefer suite of plug-ins does the same for Hebrew publications. We talked about a few of the InBook plug-ins in the podcast, but the full list is here.
>> Adobe Systems continues to show their support for InDesign users via their sponsorship of the InDesignSecrets podcast and videocast, so thanks, Adobe! They’re trying to get the word out about how much time you can save if you move to the latest version of the Creative Suite, CS4. To see the Pfeiffer report we talked about in the podcast which documents the time savings (“CS4 Productivity for Design Professionals”), you can download the PDF here: http://tr.im/cs4time. It’s interesting reading!
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InDesign Seminar Tour in San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles (DB); and Boston, Minneapolis, and Chicago (AMC). Use AMCTIME09 coupon code for 15% off registration.
InCopy CS4 Hands-on Guide (blog post with links)
Andreas Pfeiffer report on CS4 productivity gains
Check out the recorded sessions from the 2009 Creative Suite Developer’s Summit
Interviewed in the podcast: Mark Niemann-Ross (Adobe); Paul Chada (Recosoft); Lawrence Horwitz (Teacup Software); and Kris Coppietiers (Rorohiko)
DesignGeek story on the Adobe App Store
InCopy CS4 Hands-on Guide (blog post with links)
Andreas Pfeiffer report on CS4 productivity gains
Check out the recorded sessions from the 2009 Creative Suite Developer’s Summit
Interviewed in the podcast: Mark Niemann-Ross (Adobe); Paul Chada (Recosoft); Lawrence Horwitz (Teacup Software); and Kris Coppietiers (Rorohiko)
DesignGeek story on the Adobe App Store
Great podcast, really enjoyed this one.
Good to hear from the developers of the plugins too. Very neat.
Moving pages, like the master pages, to another document can trip you up if you don’t give your frames object styles and not to just change the basic object style. For instance I was working on a magazine that I didn’t set up and I had to split it up and I was going to move the pages I wanted to split to a new document. But the object styles were not set up and the text that was in 2 or columns, with text insets, wrap etc. just defaulted to the new document setting. It would be best if indesign retained the overrides in the object styles. Especially with a magazine, you could have 100’s of objects all doing different things and setting up styles for all the objects just isn’t practical and it’s time-consuming
Interesting about the CS4 and how it saves time. I have not upgraded to CS4 yet, and I don’t think I will be. Been on theindesigner.com yesterday and it is revealed there that Map Styles for brining in Word or RTF documents doesn’t work. I do a lot of mapping styles in my day to day job so for getting CS4 is a no-no until Adobe has fixed it and hopefully they can do it in an update. And if it’s not fixed by CS5 I may have to find alternative software. It’s just the way it is, I can’t work without it.
Eugene I gotta tell ya, the new way placed images come in (automatically fitting proportionally to whatever size frame drag out) by itself saves so much time, it’s crazy. When I have to work in CS3 it drives me batty now.
Very true Anne-Marie, I know when I have to go back into Cs2 every now and then it’s so hard to even get around the screen. I know CS4 has vast improvements and I can relate to going back to CS3.
I love the podcasts and blog. My coworker turned me onto them. But I have an issue with one small detail:
In the intro, you say you’re the “independent resource for all things InDesign.” Then at the end of your intro, you name Adobe as one of your sponsors. Are you really independent if Adobe is sponsoring you?
Please don’t take this post as an attack. I recognize that sponsorships are needed. This podcast and blog are a (very expensive) labor of love by two incredibly talented and knowledgeable people. I am NOT trying to challenge David and Anne-Marie’s devotion to this project nor their knowledge and mastery of InDesign, of which I am in awe. Nor am I suggesting David and Anne-Marie must pay all expenses associated with the podcast and blog in order to remain “independent.”
Unless you charged for the podcast (and I would gladly pay for it), sponsorships are a necessary evil.
There are different kinds of sponsorships. In my opinion, sponsorship by a company that makes plug-ins is completely unobjectionable and does not create a conflict. At the beginning of the show, you tell us that the podcast was sponsored by, say, Recosoft. Then you give a two- or three- minute plug for Recosoft. During those two or three minutes, nobody would expect you to give your unbiased and objective opinions about Recosoft. They are paying you, so you tell us what they want you to say, then you move on. This is a good thing.
But sponsorship by Adobe makes me cringe because the whole podcast is a discussion of InDesign. Are you still being objective? Or is the podcast now leaning toward an infomercial?
In the past, you two have always presented a critical and objective perspective on Adobe products. But now I’m wondering: is there anything critical you left unsaid because you don’t want to risk losing the sponsorship? For example, do you really love new features in CS4, or are you just being grateful and gracious?
Just my unsolicited two cents. And yes, I would pay a fee for the podcast if it meant getting rid of any bias toward Adobe.
@Robert: You bring up an excellent point. I appreciate your kind words on what we’re doing, and I think it is important that we clarify what we mean by being independent.
It reminds me of the time (years ago) Adobe hired me to travel around the U.S. doing “why I like InDesign” seminars. One guy was quite candid in his skepticism, saying that while he agreed with my assertion that InDesign was the better product, he felt I was only saying it because Adobe was paying me to.
Actually, I had been extremely (probably obnoxiously) clear with my contacts at Adobe that I insisted that I be able to say anything I want about the product while on stage. And you know what? They urged me to be honest! That was, in fact, what they were paying me for. They understood that the only value in having me do this was that I would be honest and that people would listen to me in a way that they wouldn’t listen to an Adobe employee.
I think people appreciate us because we are honest, we are candid, and we do point out InDesign’s foibles along with its benefits. When we took the sponsorship from Adobe for this program, we were equally as clear: “We get to say anything we want, and you (Adobe) get to support an independent voice that helps your customer.”
As for how I feel about CS4? I think it’s awesome. I meant what I said: I hate going back to CS3 because it’s missing so many great features — GREP Styles, the new Links panel, Live Preflight, and so on.