Adobe InDesign CS2
Creating a Publication: Process Overview
Before pointing and clicking your way through creating a new publication, it is important to have an idea of what you are creating and how you should create it. This document includes an overview of the steps in creating a publication.
- Brainstorm and Prepare
- Write the Articles in Microsoft Word
- Locate/Develop the Images
- Explore Layout Options
- Make Layout Decisions
- Sketch the Layout on Paper
- Pull Everything Together in InDesign
Brainstorm and Prepare
Gathering your ideas and determining the goal of your publication is an important step in the writing process. It acts as a blueprint for your publication. Things you should consider include:
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Audience
Who are you writing for? What is their knowledge of your subject matter? -
Purpose
Why are you developing this publication? Are you building awareness? Generating publicity? Sharing information? -
Tone of publication
What tone are you striving for? Casual? Conversational? Conservative? Inviting? -
Type of articles
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Length of articles
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Images
Will you be using line art? Photos? Do the photos impart information or do they merely enhance the page? How many will you include? Will they be full color or black and white? Are there size limitations?
Write the Articles in Microsoft Word
Use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word to write and edit articles or large blocks of text more efficiently. Make sure you complete the following steps before moving your text to InDesign:
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Write a draft
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Edit
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Spell check
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Confirm content
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Save as a Word document
Locate/Develop the Images
Images play an important role in any publication. You can incorporate images from a variety of sources:
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Microsoft Office Clip Art
Clip art can be copied from a Word document and pasted into your InDesign publication -
Image and Clip Art collections on CD
These can be purchased from various sources. -
Images and Clip Art on the Web
Before downloading images from the Web, check copyright restrictions carefully. -
Scanned photos
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Images you create
Graphics programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop can be used to create original images.
Explore Layout Options
Looking at finished examples helps you determine what layout you like best. Depending on the audience and purpose of your publication, you can use ideas from these layouts to make your publication look the way you want it to:
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Newsletters
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Magazines
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Newspapers
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Web pages
Make Layout Decisions
Creating the layout for your InDesign publication includes a variety of components, each of which contributes to the overall look. You have a number of choices to make for each layout option.
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Masthead
Where will the masthead be placed (e.g., top, side, or bottom of the first page)? -
Header and footer
What information will be included in the header and footer? Will each page contain the same headers and footers, or will odd pages differ from even pages? -
Layout grid
What size margins will be used? How many column guides will you create? Will they be evenly spaced? -
Graphic placement
Will graphics be placed above, below, beside or incorporated within your articles? How will text wrap around your graphics? -
Text styles
What font face, size, and alignment will be used for headlines? Subheadings? Body text? Captions?
Sketch the Layout on Paper
Before you start creating your publication in InDesign, it is helpful to sketch a rough draft on paper. This will serve as a reference when you are creating the layout in InDesign. Elements you may want to include in your document sketch include:
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Cover page
Sketch the location of your masthead and table of contents -
Inside pages
Sketch the location of headers and footers and the approximate location of articles and accompanying graphics -
Back page
If the back page will be used as a self mailer, sketch the elements related to that
Pull Everything Together in InDesign
Use InDesign to bring all the components of your publication together:
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Based on your sketch, establish a grid
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Place items identified as master items in your sketch on the master pages
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Make final adjustment to the layout
