This Week in InDesign Articles, Number 123
Last week was “pi approximation day” (22/7) so I’ve been thinking a lot about estimates, approximations, or “ballpark figures.” I guess that’s why I’m comfortable with this series of articles being called “This Week in InDesign Articles.” Obviously it doesn’t truly come out weekly, and the articles aren’t all from a single week. It’s really more of a “more or less,” “give or take a little” kind of thing. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’re find some good stuff in here as you read through this… this week!
- Here’s a terrific set of tips for working with images in InDesign, including applying gradients to images.
- Jeff Witchel shows some good table tips in this short video.
- One of the great side effects from PePcon is this script called Swimmer by Rorohiko: “Replace Words By Images And Vice Versa.”
- Database publishing is in the air! Not only are a lot of people watching my Data Merge and Database Publishing title at lynda.com, but I’m starting to hear from a number of other companies offering database publishing tools. For example, check out Pagination (including their free multi-lingual calendar templates), and also this new tool called MySerializer.
- Longtime InDesign user Michael Brady pointed out this typography blog called opentype.info. Wonderful!
- Think Adobe’s new Ink and Slide pen and “ruler” (previously codenamed Mighty and Napoleon) are for you? Mordy Golding wrote a terrific piece on them, quickly followed by an even more in-depth write-up by Jeff Gamet. (I just got mine, and will be writing up my thoughts soon!)
- You know I’m biased about PePcon, but here’s what one attendee had to say about her experience there.
- Has anyone used this applescript app that exports InDesign documents as editable Photoshop layers?! Looks cool!
- DPS users: the good folks at tech4pub wrote up a piece on “Using a Path-based Sidecar.xml for Importing Articles“
- If you are an InDesign scripter or plug-in developer, you have to read Ole Kvern’s piece on “CC Extensions and the Third-Party InDesign Developer“
- The newest version of InDesign CC lets you create QR codes with Data Merge.
- This is a very important article by Claudia McCue about using RGB color vs. CMYK color!
- While DPS and some other high-profile tablet-publishing options are gaining traction, some folks are looking at open-source alternatives.
- Do you know about WordsFlow (em software’s plug-in that lets you do smart-linking of Word documents)? They’re about to release a new version of WordsFlow that lets you export Word documents from InDesign, too (and keep them linked) so that you can have an editor work on one of your stories.
- Have you seen this new book of photographs by Julieanne Kost called Window Seat? InDesign users will find it even more interesting because the whole thing was exported directly from InDesign CC 2014 as a fixed layout EPUB.
- On the topic of fixed layout epub (FLX), Tina Henderson weighs in on why she’s no longer fired up about DPS for books.
- This is a fun InDesign project: “Create a Post-Apocalyptic Movie Poster in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign“
- If you’re a CC subscriber, you just have to know about Adobe’s cool new Creative Cloud Market! (Note: Most of the vector art appears to be in SVG format, so you’d need to open it in Illustrator and export as .ai or pdf.)
Enjoy!
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Thanks David!
You’re right, I’m in the middle of a huge data merge project, creating a contact directory that’s sorted several different ways. I re-watched quite a bit of your lynda.com course while I was building it.
Also, thanks for the INDD -> PS layers heads up…we’ve just taken over an ongoing project that this is PERFECT for.
InDesign Secrets always makes me look good at work. ;)
Hi I’m trying to get the Swimmer.1.0.2 script to work but keep getting the following…
“ReferenceError: app.activeDocument.stories.everyItem().table.everyItem().cells.everyItem is not a function”
Has anyone else got this up and running?
Shane, it appears to be missing an “s” after “.table” — it should be plural, “tables”. Does that make it work?
just looked and it’s an .jsxbin so I can’t edit it, I’ve contacted the dev so hopefully I can get it working soon.
Big thanks to Kris for updating his script – new version now available here… https://www.rorohiko.com/downloads/Swimmer.1.0.3.zip
Had never heard of MySerializer before – have downloaded it and will try it out soon – good to see both a Mac and Windows version being released.
There is another variable data solution called fuga-tech that was mentioned in the comments of https://creativepro.com/data-merge-into-inline-anchored-objects-so-they-flow-in-a-story.php but haven’t used that service.
And also thank you for the name-drop in the auto-fitting video in the Lynda series “InDesign Insider Training: Data Merge and Database Publishing”! Had hoped the “square peg round hole” trick using GREP would make an appearance – I use that all the time when trying to fit long names onto customised gift cards.
Colin, I was considering the square-peg tip because it is truly awesome, but it takes a lot of setup to do right. (Even though it can save you even more time!)
For those who haven’t seen that data merge trick, Colin wrote it up here: https://colecandoo.com/2012/02/18/square-pegs-now-fit-into-round-holes/