This Week in InDesign Articles, Number 49

David Blatner

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Everything seems to slow down in December, with the holidays, the snow, and such. But this month is booming! A dozen new blog posts (including some incredible finds), a new podcast, and a bazillion (almost) articles to link to. Better start crackin’…

• Measuring with the Gap Tool: Cari Jansen found this awesome tip by Tim Gouder, showing how you can use the Gap tool to measure gaps between objects (or between objects and the page edge).
• What to Do If Transparency Leads to CMYK: This is an evergreen topic — what happens when bright, saturated colors get muted.
• Letterpressed InDesign icons: I’m so envious… I want one of these posters!
• Choosing the Best Fold for Your Next Print Job: Trish Witkowski strikes again with this wonderful overview of paper folding.
• Free QuarkXPress to InDesign CS5 Conversion Guide: Whether you’re a recent convert from QuarkXPress, or just interested in learning more about InDesign, this 60-page interactive PDF (best viewed in Acrobat) should come in handy! (This has been updated for CS5, but is similar to the CS4 version.)
• New Version of Adobe FrameMaker: I know it’s terrible for me to admit, but I had just about forgotten that FrameMaker was still around.
• Free Creative Suite 5 Superguide: Colin Smith and a cast of thousands helped put together this guide to CS5 features. If you’re thinking about upgrading, or just wanting to know what’s in those other programs, check it out.
• IceFields 5.3: This awesome application lets you handle halftones offline (both AM and FM “stochastic”), and is great for duotones, quadtones, and building separate fifth colors. Good stuff.
• For newspapers, the future is now: For those interested in newspapers, and interesting read.
• Wordalizer: Marc Autret has updated his FAQ page for his amazing Wordalizer script.
• Mike McHugh’s Top 10 Typography Tips: I’m offended! No, not really. But it’s good stuff you should know.
• Upgrading to CS5? Check out Adobe’s upgrade eligibility tool.
• Okay, this has zero percent to do with InDesign. But come on… it’s Lego letterpress!

Okay, one more thing… in case you hadn’t seen the most recent joke going around, which made me chuckle… “So this SEO expert walks into a bar, grill, pub, public house, Irish bar, bartender, drinks, beer, wine, liquor.”

Happy InDesigning!