InDesign CS3
review by Hu Filleul
no longer belong to BB&C because I found that too little content was being provided for the newsletter and editing it was not fun anymore. In addition, I had to find more time for other activities. I was told, however, that you did not have to be a member to write newsletter articles. I find that writing about what I am learning helps it to sink into the ever-aging brain cells.
I updated to InDesign from Aldus Pagemaker some years ago and have kept it updated through to the latest CS3 version. That update cost $199.00 US. The installation was limited in that I had to install it on my desktop system and not on a laptop. It had to recognize the former CS2 version on the system. There was a bit of a quirk in that, after the installation, you had to activate the program by entering the serial number of the disk. Usually you have to enter the serial number at the beginning of the installation.
Included with the installation disk was a separate disk containing Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop that covers all of the programs in Creative Suite 3—also available online. This is the best Adobe self-training aid I have come across and is probably a good sales gimmick. Mind you, after I became familiar with the first version of InDesign, I usually did not look at the tutorials. I decided, however, I would go over the new features advertised in CS3 and make some notes to remind me of what to expect. Basically, the rest of the article is made up of these notes. A useful feature of the training videos is the slider along the bottom, which you can use to rerun any bit you did not quite comprehend.
Using the Control Panel
Located across the top of the screen providing easy access, control features will change depending on the object you select. You also have ready access to Adobe Bridge or Adobe Stock Photos if these features are installed.
Working with Master Pages
New indicator dotted lines show what elements are on Master Pages and not on document pages. You may allow the user to override the Master Page settings on a document page or you can set the Master Pages to prevent user changes. Text Wrap can be set in a document page and it will automatically show up on the objects in Master Pages.
Customizing the Workspace
Four panels are docked on the right side of the screen similarly to CS2 but the new design is much friendlier to operate. You can control the panels from full size to a set of small icons. You also can drag the full size panel from the dock and set it on the page.
Using Keyboard Shortcuts
InDesign has an easy way to set up personalized Menu keyboard shortcuts. For years I have used a many of these such as Ctrl-s for Save and Ctrl-c for Copy in order to save the time it takes to find the screen control with a mouse. Menu items can be turned on or off and changed.
New InDesign Effects are color coded blue in the drop down menus. You can color code your shortcuts to your own preference.
Object Styles
You may set styles for objects the same way as you could set paragraph styles in earlier versions. For example, you can define a feathered gradient for an object and apply it to any other object. If you decide to change your object style, it is automatically applied to all other objects that have that style selected.
Selecting Objects
I found that selecting objects in CS3 now works much as it does in Photoshop. Clicking on an object with the white arrow creates the same looking handles as Photoshop. You can click on a corner point then crop or change the shape of the object. Clicking with the black arrow on a text frame, you get two larger handles, which are import, or out port handles. These handles are used for threading text frames together. There are many other features that add flexibility to the control of objects. I think I will use these features extensively but it is going to take a little practice.
Applying Feathering to Objects
For fading an object into the background, you can use feathering. CS3 has a number of new feathering styles such as feathering from the bottom or sides. You can also select a gradient effect or varying degrees of transparency. The feathering effects that have been considerably enhanced in CS3 and can be set as object styles allowing quick application of this effect.
Using Layers
When two or more objects are on top of one another on the page, you can control their position by using the layers panel. I found this good feature works as it does in Photoshop. It will be useful in complex graphic compositions.
Creating Bullets and Numbering
The Bullets and Numbering Icon greatly simplifies the job of making bulleted and/or numbered lists. A new feature is that you can add Character Styles to your bullets. You can apply numbers by paragraph and if you delete or add a paragraph the numbering is changed automatically. Either that or you can create a paragraph style with automatic numbering. More features available should be useful to those preparing large numbered lists in InDesign.
Conclusion
It is going to take time to evaluate properly the day-to-day usefulness of the new features in InDesign CS3 and I am not going to hurry that process. At an initial look, however, I believe that I have spent $200 for less software value and that this upgrade was worthwhile. I will at least look at the videos again.
