Adobe InDesign CS6 Tutorial

Adobe InDesign CS6 is a page-layout software that takes print publishing and page design beyond
current boundaries. InDesign is a desktop publishing program that incorporates illustration
capabilities into its interface. It also allows for cross platform interaction with Illustrator, Photoshop,
and Acrobat.
NOTE: This tutorial is fairly comprehensive in that it discusses the most common aspects of
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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1. Getting Started

Page 3

2. Setting up the Document

Page 3

3. Toolbox

Page 4

4. Organizing the Document

Page 8

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Page 9

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Page 9

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Page 10

7. Inserting/Formatting Text

Page 11

8. Type Menu

Page 11

9. Using Colors

Page 12

10. Working With Objects (Images, Graphics, and Elements)

Page 13

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Page 14

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Page 15

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Page 15

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16. Saving

Page 16

17. Exporting To PDF

Page 17

18. New Features in CS6

Page 18

1 . G E TT I NG S TA RT ED
Begin by opening Adobe InDesign CS6.
On a PC, click Start > Programs > Adobe > InDesign CS6, or click on the InDesign short cut
on the desktop.
On a Mac, click Macintosh HD > Applications > Adobe InDesign CS6, or click the InDesign
icon in the Dock. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Navigation to InDesign CS6 on a Mac.

2 . S ETTI NG U P THE DO C U M ENT

Setting up your document correctly from the start will make your job much easier as you work through
your project. This will require some advanced planning.
1. To create a new document, click File > New > Document. This will open the Document
Setup dialog box. Here you will be able to set up the correct page size, margins, and
page columns for your document. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Opening a new document in InDesign.

2. S E TTI NG U P T HE DO C U M ENT C O NT.

Options include, but are not limited to:
Number of Pages
Type a value for the total number of pages for this document.
Facing Pages
Select this option to make left and right pages face each other in a double-page spread.
Deselect this option to let each page stand alone, such as when you plan to print on both sides of
a sheet of paper or want objects to bleed in the binding.
Master Text Frame
Select this option to create a text frame the size of the area within the margin guides,
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Page Size
Choose a page size from the menu, or type values for Width and Height. Page size
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There are presets for common sizes such as letter, legal, and tabloid.
Orientation
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the dimensions you enter in Page Size. When Height is the larger value, the portrait icon
is selected. When Width is the larger value, the landscape icon is selected. Clicking the
deselected icon switches the Height and Width values.
NOTE: The default unit of measurement in InDesign is pica (p0). If you type a value into
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automatically convert it.
Bleed
After clicking More Options, the bleed area is used to align objects that you want to
extend all the way to the trim line of your printed document.
Slug
After clicking More Options, the slug area is used for instructions to the printer, sign-off
forms, or other information related to your document. The slug area is discarded when
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2. When you have entered all of your document settings, click OK.
NOTE: If you incorrectly enter information in the Document Setup dialog box, or if you need to
adjust any of this information while you are working, you can make changes at any time by clicking File > Document Setup.

3 . TO O L B OX
If you used Adobe Photoshop or Adobe InDesign before you should be familiar with the
toolbox in InDesign CS6 as it shares some of the tools from these applications. If you are a novice user
of Adobe products you should keep in mind that you might not need to use all the tools. In this tutorial,
only the basic tools will be discussed in depth.

3 . TOO L B OX C O NT.
Figure 3. Tools in InDesign.

Some tools in the toolbox have additional tools linked to them. These tools have small black triangles
in the right-hand corner. To view the additional tools click and hold down on any tool that has a black
triangle in the corner. (Figure 4)

Figure 4. Extra Tools in InDesign.

3 . TO O LB OX C O NT.
Selection Tools

Selection tool lets you

select entire objects.

Direct Selection tool lets

you select points on a path
or contents within a frame.

Page tool lets you create

multiple page sizes within
a document.

Gap tool lets you adjust

the space between objects.

DRAWING AND TYPE TOOLS

Pen tool lets you draw

straight and curved paths.

Add Anchor Point tool lets

you add anchor points to
a path.

Delete Anchor Point tool

lets you remove anchor
points from a path.

Convert Direction Point

tool lets you convert corner
points and smooth points.

Type tool lets you create

text frames and select text.

Type on a Path tool lets

you create and edit type
on paths.

Pencil tool lets you draw

a freeform path.

Smooth tool lets you remove excess angles from

a path.

3 . TOO L B OX C O NT.
DRAWING AND TYPE TOOLS CONT.

Erase tool lets you delete

points on a path.

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line segment.

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you create a square or
rectangle placeholder.

Ellipse Frame tool lets

you create a circle or oval
placeholder.

Polygon Frame tool lets

you create a multi-sided
shape placeholder.

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create a square or rectangle.

Ellipse tool lets you create a circle or oval.

Polygon tool lets you create

multi-sided shape.

Scale tool lets you resize

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point.

Shear tool lets you skew

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point.

TRANSFORMATION TOOLS

Free Transform tool lets

you rotate, scale, or shear
an object.

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point.

3 . TO O LB OX C O NT.
MODIFICATION AND NAVIGATION TOOLS

Eyedropper tool lets you

sample color or type attributes.

Measure tool measures

the distance between two
points.

Gradient Swatch tool

lets you insert and adjust
gradients

Gradient Feather tool lets

you fade an object into the
background.

Scissors tool cuts paths

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Hand tool moves the page

view within the document
window.

Zoom tool adjusts the

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document window.

Note tool lets you add comments.

4 . O RG ANIZ I NG T HE DO C U M ENT
Working in InDesign can sometimes call for mathematical precision in the layout of the document. This
section provides tips on how you can use the available 5XOHUV, Guides, and &ROXPQ6SHFLFDWLRQV to make
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Using the Zoom ToolLQFRQMXQFWLRQZLWKWKH*XLGHVDQG5XOHUVLVKHOSIXOEHFDXVHLWDOORZV\RXWRIRFXV
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possible.You can access the Zoom Tool by selecting it from the Tool Box (Fig. 3)
The following sections within this tutorial explain:
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4. O RG ANIZI NG T HE DO C U M ENT C O NT.

COLUMN SPECIFICATIONS
To insert columns into your document click /D\RXW > Margins and Columns.
1. Enter the number of columns you would like in the Number of ColumnsWH[WHOG)LJ
2. Enter the space (in inches) that you would like in between your columns in the GutterWH[WHOG
3. Make sure the chain image is linked and not broken if you would like InDesign to automatically
make all the settings the same throughout the rest of your document.

Figure 5. Margins and Columns

RULERS
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images in your document. The rulers measure in inches,
starting at 0, and run horizontally and vertically from
the top left corner of your document.
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to get rid of them, go to View > +LGH5XOHUV. Clicking and
dragging on the box where the horizontal and vertical
rulers meet adjusts the placement of the ruler.
NOTE: The rulers must be shown in order to draw
Guides, which are described in the next section.

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4. ORG ANI ZING THE DO C U M ENT C O NT.

GUIDES
Guides are temporary horizontal and vertical lines that you can set up within your document to produce
page layout with mathematical precision. They are not actually drawn into your document; they exist only
on-screen to help you with your layout. Guides are useful because they help keep all parts of the
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order to insert Guides.
Inserting Guides
To insert a Guide, place your pointer on the Horizontal (or Vertical) ruler at the top of your document.
Click and drag down onto the document where you would like your guide to be.You should notice a
dotted line that correlates with the movement of your pointer. Measure the distance you are pulling
your Guide down at by using the Vertical (Horizontal) ruler on the left of your document. The Guide will
appear as a thin aqua line. If you do not like where you placed your Guide, you can move it to another
part of the document by clicking and dragging it, or, you can remove it completely by dragging it off of the
document.
Snap to Guides
Snapping to a Guide is like magnetizing it. If you drag an image or element near a Guide (within a
fraction of an inch), the image or element will lock into place with the Guide. To turn snapping on or off,
click View > Grids and Guides > Snap to Guides (Fig. 7).
Hiding Guides
If you would like to view your document without the aid of the Guides, you can hide them temporarily
by going to View > Grids and Guides > Hide Guides (Fig. 8).

Figure 7. Snap to Guides

Figure 8. Hide Guides

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INS ERTI NG AN D F O RM AT T I NG T EXT

Now that you have a basic understanding of setting up a document and using the Tool Box, you can begin
inserting text. Using the Text Tool (T) (Fig. 3), click onto your page to enable the text cursor. Dont be
discouraged if the cursor does not line up exactly where you want to place your text you can move
and format your text later. Begin typing your content. Once you have your raw text on the page you can
begin manipulating it to your liking.
Change from the Text Tool to the Pointer Tool and click over your text.You will notice that your text
has been placed into a box of sorts. This is called an Element. Many objects and all of your text must
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Microsoft Word document.
Using the Pointer Tool, you can move the Element of text around to anywhere you like on the page.
Using the grippers on the corners of the Element, you can adjust the width and length of the Element.
If you do not specify a length for the Element, it will expand according to the length of your text,
however, if you adjust the length of the Element to be smaller than your text, your text will not be visible.
A red tab below the Element indicates that there is more content within the Element that is not visible
(Fig. 9).

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TYPE AND PA RAG RA P H M ENU

A common way to format and manipulate your text is to use the Type Menu at the top of the screen.
InDesign CS6 adds all the advanced features, as well as access to the Paragraph menu. When the Type
Tool is selected, the Control Pallette should appear at the top of the screen. If it is not, click Window >
Control. At the extreme left hand side of the pallette are the two buttons that let you switch back and
forth between Type and Paragraph controls.

Figure 10. Type Pallette

Figure 11. Paragraph Pallette

11

US I NG C O L O RS
InDesign includes thousands of color options as well as the ability to mix and create your own colors.
After opening a new document, the Colors Palette window should appear on the right-hand side of the
screen. If it is not there, click Window > Color.
InDesign includes 10 default color options within the Swatches Palette (Fig.12). These colors are selected
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computer or TV screen. Use CMYK colors for print documents.)
To mix custom colors, open the Color Pallette. Depending on the color mode, youre using, it will
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the Swatches Palette, click Add to Swatches.You can also remove colors from the Swatches Palette by
clicking and dragging.
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mixture. For example, in Figure 12, pure Cyan in CMYK mode is listed as C=100 M=0 Y=0 K=0. One can
easily change this to something more descriptive by double-clicking the swatch and simply renaming it.

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Figure 12. Default Swatches Pallette

Figure 14. CMYK color pallette set to black

12

WO R K I N G W I T H O B J E C T S
Now that you have learned how to insert and edit text Elements, you need to understand how to work
with other kinds of objects within your document. Nearly every InDesign document will contain text,
and/or graphics. Using the three together takes thorough knowledge of InDesigns capabilities.
For the purposes of this tutorial, it is important to understand the kind of objects to which this tutorial
refers:
Text (Element)$EORFNRIWH[WZLWKLQDGHQHGWH[WER[GLVFXVVHGLQDSUHYLRXVVHFWLRQ
Image$SLFWXUHOHZLWKRQHRIWKHIROORZLQJH[WHQVLRQVMSJJLIWLISFWEPSDLSGIRUSQJ
created in another program such as MS Excel or Photoshop.
Graphic - Vector illustration created directly in InDesign using the provided pen or other path
tools.
The following sections offer an in depth explanation of how to insert and adjust Images, Graphics, and
Elements within your document.
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LINKS
InDesign is primarily a linking device; it can create simple graphics, but its strength lies in the way it
assembles disparate elements into a cohesive document. As a general rule, when inserting images into
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the same folder as your InDesign document, and link them into the document (discussed in the next
section).You can view the source location of the images that are linked into your document, as well as
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pallette, go to Window > /LQNV (Fig.16).

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13

WO R K I N G W I T H O B J E C T S C O N T.
PLACING IMAGES
Place is the function used to insert an image into your document. It is comparable to Microsoft Words
Insert Picture from File function. When you Place something into your document, it is linked to the
document from its current location (as previously mentioned). Therefore, it is recommended that you store
all of your content for your document in the same location.
To Place an image into your document do the following:
1. Make sure the Pointer Tool is selected. (If the Text Tool is selected when placing an image, the image
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to format and reposition.)
2. Go to File > Place.
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OK (Fig. 17).
4.Your cursor will change into a small grey picture box that represents your unplaced image. Find
the approximate location where you want to drop the image and click the mouse once.
Once you have Placed the object, switch to the Pointer Tool to move the object to the precise location
where you want it. If you want to resize your image, single-click on your image, click the Free Transform
Tool (E) and you can resize it using the grippers little black squares - that surround the image. Click and
drag a gripper inward or outward to expand or shrink you image as desired. If you would like to maintain
the original proportions of the image when you resize it, hold down the Shift key as you perform the
resizing action.

Figure 17. Place dialogue box

14

WO R K I N G W I T H O B J E C T S C O N T.
ENABLING TEXT WRAP
If you have a large block of text and would like to insert
an image in close proximity without the text or image
overlapping, you can use a function called Text Wrap
(which is used frequently in Microsoft Word.) Using the
Pointer Tool, click on the image and go to Window >
Text Wrap. There are several visual options that display
the different kinds of Text Wraps (Fig. 18). The numerical
settings at the bottom of the window denote how much
buffer space should be maintained between the image
and the text.
Figure 18.Text Wrap pallette

GROUPING
Frequently, you will have many Images, Graphics, and Elements on the screen at once. It can be very benHFLDOWRFRQQHFWVHYHUDORIWKHVHWRJHWKHURQFHWKH\DUHSRVLWLRQHGFRUUHFWO\VRWKDW\RXFDQPRYHDOORI
them at once and maintain the relational distance between each of them. This function is called Grouping.
To Group two or more objects, do the following:
1. Select all of the objects that you want to Group together. This can be done in two ways (both using
the Pointer Tool):
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6WDUWLQJLQDQHPSW\VSDFHRQWKHSDJHFOLFNDQGKROGWKHPRXVHDQGGUDJLWRXWZDUGFUHDWLQJD
ghost box around all of the objects you want to select. When you release the mouse all of the
items within the box should be selected. (Fig. 19)
2. Click Object > Group (Fig. 20).
3. If you click over the newly grouped objects with the pointer tool you will notice that they are bound
together as one large object. The tip-off is that the bounding box connecting them, which was once
solid, has now become dashed, and the individual object outlines have disappeared. (Fig. 21).
4. To ungroup these objects, click on the grouped objects and hit Object > Ungroup.

Figure 19. All selected, not grouped

Figure 20. Object > Group

Figure 21. Grouped

15

WO R K I N G W I T H O B J E C T S C O N T.
LOCKING
Sometimes, you may have an object placed exactly where you
want it and you will want to avoid moving it by accident. (For
example, if you have a large image or graphic as a background
for the page, you may select it and move it accidentally if you
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it cannot be moved, adjusted, or altered in any way.

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Object > /RFN3RVLWLRQ (Fig. 22). Notice now that InDesign
restricts the object from being altered in any way. To unlock the
object(s), click Object > Unlock All on Spread (Fig. 23).
NOTE: As with Grouping, you can hold down the Shift key to
select multiple objects.

Figure 23. Object > Unlock

All on Spread

S AVI NG
Saving your document should be a habit when working in InDesign. Saving frequently lessens the risk of
losing the work you have been doing.

1. To save your InDesign document go to File >

Save As.
2. The Save As dialogue box will appear (Fig. 24).
3. Navigate to the place you would like your
document to be saved by using the
drop-down menu and navigation window.
4. Enter the name of your document in the Save As
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5. Click the Save button in the lower right corner
of the dialogue box.
6. Check to make sure that your document is
saved in the place you intended.

Figure 24. File > Save As

Figure 24. File > Save As

16

E XPO RTI NG TO P DF
WHAT IS A PDF?
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FRPPRQKDVVOHVRIPDWFKLQJDSSOLFDWLRQVIRQWVODUJHOHVL]HVDQGFURVVSODWIRUPFRPSDWLELOLW\0DF
WR3&$3')OHFRQWDLQVDOORIWKHHOHPHQWVUHTXLUHGWRYLHZDQGSULQWDGRFXPHQWWKDWPDWFKHVWKH
original design in all respects (type style and size, images, color, layout, etc.)
PDFs can be viewed and printed without access to the original application that created it. Viewing and
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$QRWKHUIHDWXUHRI3')OHVLVWKHLUFRPSDFWQDWXUH7KHVHOHVDUHFRPSUHVVHGLQPXOWLSOHZD\VWRUHQGHU
a document that is just a fraction of the size of the original document. This makes them very handy for
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8QOLNHWKHLURULJLQDWLQJGRFXPHQWV3')OHVDUHQRWIXOO\HGLWDEOHZLWKRXWVSHFLDOL]HGVRIWZDUH7KLVFDQEH
an
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NOTE: InDesign differs from most programs in the way it creates PDFs.
CREATING A PDF
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1. Save your document.
2. Go to File > Export > Adobe PDF.
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QRWWKHRULJLQDOGRFXPHQW1DPHWKHQHZOHZLWKRXWGHOHWLQJWKHSGIOHH[WHQVLRQDQGKLW
Save. A dialogue box will appear in which you can adjust settings from jpg quality to the particular
pages you want to include in the PDF (defaults to all). Make changes accordingly and hit OK.

Figure 25. File > Export > Adobe PDF

Figure 26. PDF dialogue box.

17

New Featu re s of I n Des ign C S 6

Turning on the New Features
Make sure to select the New in CS6 (Fig. 26) tab located in a dropdown box at the top right of the
application screen. When looking in the tabs located in the toolbar, the new changes will be highlighted in
blue or purple (Fig. 27).

Figure 26. Essentials tab > New in CS6

Figure 27. Window >Drop-down menu

highlight new features.

Liquid Layout Feature

This feature can be used to keep contents on one page the same in a different page when using an
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without having to rescale each page, click on the /D\RXW tab and turn on the /LTXLG/D\RXW feature. Once
this option has been selected, you are then presented with other options of how you want a certain page
or the entire document to be presented.

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Figure 29. Choose from the drop-down

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options.

18