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1 [LET’S START WITH A BLANK PAGE]
So that we’re all on the same page, literally, create a new blank 8.5×11″ page in InDesign by choosing New>Document from the File menu or by pressing Command-N (PC: Ctrl-N) on the keyboard. Uncheck Facing Pages and make your margins .5″ all the way around. Click OK.

2 [CREATE A TEXT FRAME WITH THE TYPE TOOL]
Select the Type tool (T) from the Toolbox and use it to drag out a new text frame on the page. Make it as close to 5×7″ as you can when you’re dragging it out. Of course it’s difficult to be precise when you’re dragging, so switch to the Selection tool, which should automatically select your frame as an object, and then key in the exact 5×7″ measurements in the Width and Height fields in the Control panel.

3 [ADJUST THE INSET; KEY IN YOUR HEADLINE]
We’re going to add a border to our frame a little later and I don’t want that border to actually touch the text in our frame, so before we get started putting text in the frame, let’s set an inset.

Choose Text Frame Options from the Object menu. Set the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right Inset Spacing to .25″. If the little chain icon is enabled, setting one measurement makes all measurements the same. Click OK. Now that you’re back to your text frame, double-click on it with the Selection tool to switch to the Type tool and key in your headline.

4 [CENTER HEADLINE; BRING UP THE TABS RULER]
When you keyed in your headline in Step 3, chances are it was left aligned. So before we go any further, go ahead and insert a couple of new paragraphs (press the Return [PC: Enter] key twice) after the headline. Now select the headline and click the Align Center icon in the Paragraph Formatting controls in the Control panel. Once your headline is centered, adjust the font and size aspects to your taste. Now put your cursor on the last new blank paragraph that you created after your headline and bring up the Tabs ruler from the Type menu.

5 [SET A RIGHT TAB WITH LEADER DOTS]
We’re going to create a list with leader dots. When most people do this, they usually go about it the hard way. But here’s the easy way: Click the Right-Justified Tab (third one from the left) and then click on the ruler near the right indent to add a tab stop. While the tab stop is still selected, go ahead and key in a period in the Leader field.

6 [TEST IT BY KEYING IN A SAMPLE LIST]
Now you can key in your sample list. On the left side, which is where your cursor should be, key in the item name, then press the Tab key on your keyboard, and your cursor should jump over to the right tab that we set. Now when you key in your price/time/place, etc., it will be right justified at the tab stop and there will be leader dots from the item name to the item description that you just keyed in. Just press Return (PC: Enter) to create the next paragraph and your tab stop will be carried down automatically.

7 [KEY IN PARAGRAPH TEXT]
Now that you’ve created your list, it’s time to create some paragraph text with indents below the list. First, let’s create a standard paragraph of text and then we’ll add a second paragraph that we’re going to indent in the next step. You can close the tab ruler at this point.

8 [ADJUST THE INDENTS ON THE CONTROL PANEL]
For the second paragraph of text, let’s indent it on both sides using the Indent controls (circled) in the Paragraph Formatting section of the Control panel. Set both the Left Indent and Right Indent to 0.25″.

9 [ADJUST THE FIRST LINE INDENT]
Many times when I receive Word documents that I need to place into InDesign, the sender has taken the time to tab in the first line of each paragraph. If you use Indents especially in your Paragraph Styles, this becomes a very unnecessary step. Instead of tabbing in the first line of each paragraph, just set a First Line Left Indent in the Control panel. I’ve set mine to 0.25″.

10 [USE “PROPORTIONAL PLACE”]
Now it’s time to place an image to dress things up a bit. In InDesign CS4, there’s a wonderful new feature I call “Proportional Place.” This means you can use the File>Place command, choose your image, and click-and-drag the image onto the page in the exact size you want. InDesign will constrain the proportions of the frame to the image you’re placing. Using this method, place an image over the right side of the first paragraph of body text.

11 [WRAP YOUR TEXT]
Of course, the image is now covering part of your text and this is where Text Wrap comes in (Window>Text Wrap). With the image still selected, click the second icon, Wrap around Bounding Box, and your text should automatically wrap around your photo. Now you can adjust how close the text will appear around the sides of your image by adjusting the Offset measurements (as shown). If you like, you can use negative measurements to bring the text closer.

12 [PLACE AN IRREGULARLY SHAPED GRAPHIC]
Wrapping text around a square or rectangle is easy; however, wrapping text around an irregularly shaped object requires a few more steps. An irregular object can be a vector graphic such as an Illustrator or EPS logo or a Photoshop file where you’ve removed the background. In this example, we’re using a photograph where I removed the sky and saved it as a layered PSD file. I also added a third paragraph to the document.

13 [WRAP TEXT AROUND IRREGULAR SHAPE]
Now go back to the Text Wrap panel and choose the third option, which wraps around an object shape. But you’ll see that it still looks like all it did was wrap around the bounding box. This is where you have to choose the right Contour Options: For a transparent PSD file, use the Alpha Channel option; and for an Illustrator or EPS file, choose the Detect Edges option.

14 [ADD A FRAME BORDER]
Now to put the finishing touch on this design, we’ll add a nice border to our frame. Select the Frame with the Selection tool and then choose the weight and style of border that you want from the Control panel (we chose 4 pt, and Thick – Thin).

ALL IMAGES BY TERRY WHITE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Click here to watch Part 1 of this tutorial.

After you are finished, click here to watch Part 2 of this tutorial.

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1 [FIRST, WE’LL NEED A NEW DOCUMENT]
You can certainly use one of your existing documents for this, but if you’re going to follow along, you might want to go ahead and create a new document. Choose New>Document from the File menu. One page should be fine.

2 [CREATE A LARGE TEXT FRAME]
In this example, we’re going to lay the foundation for a model release form that will vary depending on whether the model is an adult or a minor. So create a large text frame using the Rectangle Frame tool (F).

3 [KEY IN TEXT FOR YOUR FIRST CONDITION]
Choose the Type tool (T), and at this point you can key in all of your text that will be a part of your first condition. For this example, we’re going to key in the bulk of the text for the release form as if it were for an adult model.

4 [OPEN THE CONDITIONAL TEXT PANEL]
Conditional text is a new feature in InDesign CS4, and it has its own panel. You can open it a couple of ways: you can simply choose it from the Window>Type & Tables menu or you can select the built-in Book workspace from the drop-down menu at the right side of the Application Bar.

5 [CREATE A NEW CONDITION]
You can set up as many conditions as you need. Think of conditions as layers for your text within a text frame. So our first condition will be for models 18 and over. This will be the language in the agreement that states that the model is at least 18 years old and doesn’t need parental consent to sign. Click the New Condition icon at the bottom of the Conditional Text panel. Name your condition in the resulting dialog and click OK.

6 [APPLY YOUR NEW CONDITION TO YOUR TEXT]
With your new condition created, the next thing you need to do is apply it to all of your text that matches that condition. Don’t worry about the text that you want to remain the same for all versions of the document, as it automatically defaults to Unconditional. You only need to apply the condition to the text that you want to show and hide. So in this example, we’ll highlight “I’m of full age” and then click the Over 18 condition to apply it. We’ll also repeat this with “Model’s Signature.” You should see a wavy blue line under any text you applied the condition to.

7 [HIDE YOUR FIRST CONDITION]
After you’ve highlighted each instance of your first condition and applied it in the Conditional Text panel, you’re ready to key in the text for your second condition. However, it would be much less confusing if the first condition’s text wasn’t showing. So click the Eye icon in front of your first condition to hide all the text matching that condition. This will also help you find anything you may have missed.

8 [KEY IN THE TEXT FOR YOUR SECOND CONDITION]
Now that you’ve hidden the text for your first condition, it’s time to key in the text that will be used for your second condition. In this case where it originally said, “I am of full age,” we’re going to key in the text “I’m under the age of 18 and therefore my parent or legal guardian will sign.” We’ll also type “Parent’s Signature” where “Model’s Signature” originally appeared.

9 [CREATE YOUR SECOND CONDITION]
Now that your text is in place for your second condition, let’s create it. Go to the Conditional Text panel, click the New Condition icon, name your second condition (in this case “Under 18”), and click OK.

10 [APPLY THE SECOND CONDITION TO YOUR TEXT]
Just like you did in Step 6, you’re now going to apply your second condition (Under 18) to the new text. Using the Type tool (T), highlight each instance of text matching your second condition, and then click your second condition in the Conditional Text panel to apply it. You should see a red wavy line this time. (Note: When you’re creating a new condition, you can change how it’s going to be highlighted in your document by changing the settings in the Indicators section of the New Condition dialog. Or you can double-click an existing condition in the Conditional Text panel to change those options.)

11 [SHOW AND HIDE YOUR CONDITIONS TO TEST]
At this point you have an InDesign document working with Conditional Text. You can show and hide either condition to allow for printing and exporting. You can use this technique for a variety of situations, not the least being price lists. The beauty here is that your text will automatically rewrap based on which condition is showing.

12 [CREATE MORE CONDITIONS AND APPLY THEM]
Now that you know how to create conditions and apply them, it’s time to make it a little more interesting. Let’s say it’s a paid shoot versus a trade. Either of those conditions could apply to either of the previous two conditions. So it could be an over 18 model doing a trade or an under 18 model doing paid work, or vice versa. Create two new conditions revolving around the first line that talks about pay.

13 [USE CONDITIONAL TEXT SETS]
When you have two or more conditions that could be used together, then it’s time to break out conditional text sets. A conditional text set is a group of conditions that can be turned on all at once. Choose Show Options from the Conditional Text panel flyout menu. Then turn on the conditions that will apply to your new set. Example: Paid and Over 18. Then from the Set drop-down menu, choose Create New Set. Now you’ll have a set to choose that will automatically turn on those two conditions and turn off the others. You can make as many sets as you need.

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Luckily, the Adobe engineers felt the same way and introduced Adobe Bridge with Creative Suite 2 as well as with the individual point products such as InDesign CS2. Bridge is a standalone application that doesn’t require another CS2 application to run. You can use Bridge to browse all kinds of files, not just the ones that Photoshop can handle. So it’s like having the old File Browser detached from Photoshop and being able to use it for all CS2 applications.

An image placement palette
Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with InDesign. The answer is, “A lot!” I use Bridge with InDesign all the time. InDesign and Bridge are almost as tightly integrated as Photoshop and Bridge: probably more integrated than the other CS2 apps. You can use Bridge as an image browser for the images and content you’re going to place into your InDesign layouts.
Not only can you browse the content, you can actually drag the content from Bridge directly into your InDesign layouts. This might seem unnatural at first, and I can understand why. You probably want to keep the Bridge window open at full size and your InDesign document at the full size of your display. So, unless you have multiple displays attached to your computer, how on earth are you going to easily drag from Bridge into InDesign? Believe it or not, there’s a very cool way to do this! Simply put Bridge in Compact mode. You can do this by either clicking the Switch to Compact Mode button in the upper-right corner of the Bridge window or by hitting Command-Return (PC: Control-Enter) on the keyboard. Once Bridge is in Compact mode, it will float on top of all other apps by default, thus turning it into an image placement palette for InDesign.

Once you have it floating above your InDesign document, you can either drag images onto your InDesign page and have InDesign build the frames for you, or you can create your frames first and then drag from Bridge directly to your frames. InDesign will create a link to your image wherever it’s located on your drive or removable media. Once the image is in the frame, you can use InDesign’s various image fitting commands to size the image down to fit the frame as you like.

Okay, that’s pretty neat, but what else can you do?
Bridge acts as the serving plate for InDesign CS2 templates. You may not have noticed that InDesign CS2 ships with a variety of professionally designed templates in various categories. The easiest way to get to the top-secret location of the bundled templates is to launch InDesign and on the Welcome Screen, click the button that says New from Template.

Now, if you’re like most InDesign users, you’ve probably unchecked the Show This Dialog at Startup checkbox and closed the Welcome Screen, never to see it again. If that’s the case, simply go to the Help menu and choose Welcome Screen, then click the New from Template button. This will automatically launch Bridge if it’s not already open, or take you to Bridge and the top-secret folder containing all the templates that ship with InDesign CS2.

The templates are organized as collections and folders actually containing the templates. Double-clicking on either one will take you to the folder containing the templates of the category you selected. At first glance, you’ll see the thumbnails for each template. While that’s cool, you’ll probably want to know what the inside pages look like. Here comes some more of that InDesign/Bridge integration that I mentioned earlier. When you click on a template, you can page through it right in Bridge’s Preview panel. This way, you can decide if the template is appropriate for you or not. Unfortunately, this feature only works with InDesign templates and not actual InDesign documents. However, even with InDesign documents, you’ll be able to see the thumbnail of the first page right in the Bridge window.

Taking stock
Lastly, Bridge includes a stock photography service called Adobe Stock Photos. Although I love taking my own pictures, there are times when it’s easier to find an image that someone else has already shot, rather than going to shoot it myself. When you go to Adobe Stock Photos in the Favorites panel of Bridge and do a search, you can download low-res comps. You can drag these downloaded comps right into your InDesign layouts so your client can see the photo before you actually purchase it.

That’s cool, but what happens when your client decides to go with the image you used? No problem. Simply bring up InDesign’s Links palette, select the link for the stock photo image, and choose Purchase This Image from the palette’s flyout menu. This will take you back to Bridge and to Adobe Stock Photos so you can get the prices and purchase the royalty-free image.

1 CREATE A MULTIPLE-PAGE DOCUMENT
One of the main things we’ll want people to be able to do is turn the pages of our document on the Web. So for this we’ll need a multiple-page document. You can either work with an existing document or create a new one (from the File menu, choose New> Document, create at least two pages (we used five in our example), and accept the defaults.

2 SWITCH TO THE MASTER PAGE
We’d like to create navigation buttons so that users will be able to turn the pages of the document from within their Web browser. The best place to do this is on the Master Page. This way, you only have to create the buttons once. Bring up your Pages panel (Window>Pages) and switch to the A-Master page.

3 BRING UP THE SAMPLE BUTTONS LIBRARY
The way we create buttons in InDesign CS4 is a little different than we did in CS3, where we actually had a Button tool. In CS4, the Button tool is gone, but we don’t need it anyway. You can turn any frame into a button using the Buttons panel, and in CS4 we also now have a library of Sample Buttons. Bring up the Buttons panel (Window>Interactive>Buttons) then from the Buttons panel’s flyout menu, choose Sample Buttons. Scroll down to the buttons shaped like arrows.

4 CREATE YOUR BUTTONS
We need a Left Arrow button and a Right Arrow button. Pick your favorite ones from the library and drag them onto your A-Master page at the bottom of the page. Once they’re in place, close the Sample Buttons library. With one of the buttons selected, go back to the Buttons panel, and you’ll notice that the default action is already set for the arrow button to Go to Next Page and Go to Previous Page.

5 REMOVE BUTTONS YOU DON’T NEED
Now switch back to Page 1 in your Pages panel. You’ll notice that both Arrow buttons are there. Well we don’t need the Left Arrow on Page 1 because there’s no previous page. So let’s delete it. Hold down your Command-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Shift) keys and click on the Left Arrow button with the Selection tool. This unlocks it from the A-Master page so that now you can just delete it. Do the same thing on the last page for the Right Arrow button.

6 ADDING URLS
Since this document will be on the Web, we can take advantage of hyperlinks. Users will be able to click on your text and objects to navigate to other webpages or websites.

Return to the A-Master page in the Pages panel. Create a text frame in the lower-right corner of the page and type the name of the site you want to link to. This text will be for display purposes; it doesn’t have to be the actual site address.

7 CREATE A HYPERLINK
Highlight the text with the Type tool. Now bring up the Hyperlinks panel from the Window>Interactive menu, key in the actual URL for the site you want users to go to when they click this link, then press the Return (PC: Enter) key. Once you’ve entered your link, you can return to Page 1.

8 ADD PAGE TRANSITIONS
Both Flash and Adobe PDF support page transitions and now we can create those transitions right in InDesign CS4. Bring up the Page Transitions panel from the Window>Interactive menu. Choose your favorite Transition from the list and then use the flyout menu to apply it to all spreads.

Note: If you want to have a different transition for each page, you can set them individually, page by page.

9 EXPORT TO SWF
Now we’re ready to export to SWF. By exporting to SWF, we can take the work we’ve done in InDesign with all of our interactivity and go straight to a SWF file that can be placed on the Web—no additional knowledge of Flash is needed for this.

Choose File>Export and in the Export dialog, select SWF from the Format pop-up menu. Choose a location or folder and click Save.

10 SET YOUR SWF OPTIONS
At this point we’re pretty set. The defaults in the Export SWF dialog are good. The ones you may want to adjust are: Scale, if you’re trying to fit your SWF to a certain screen size; Range of pages if you don’t want all of your pages exported; and Image Compression if you have certain requirements. Make sure the View SWF after Exporting box is checked and click OK.

11 TEST IT
You’re now looking at your new SWF file in your default browser and you should be able to click your navigation buttons and hyperlinks. And there’s a hidden goodie…because Include Interactive Page Curl was checked by default in the Export SWF dialog, we can also turn our pages by peeling the actual corners of the pages back. How cool is that?

12 EXPORT TO XFL
We could stop here and be happy; however, if we want to do more with Flash, then we’ll need to export our InDesign document in a format that Flash can actually open. InDesign CS4 supports exporting to a new document type called XFL, which can be opened directly in Flash CS4. Choose File>Export, select Adobe Flash CS4 Pro (XFL) from the Format pop-up menu, and then click Save. You can accept the defaults on the next dialog as well and click OK.

13 ADD FLASH CS4 ANIMATION
Once the export is complete, you’ll be able to double-click on your XFL document to open it in Flash CS4 Professional. Each of your pages will appear as keyframes on the Timeline. Also each spread will appear in your Library as movie clips. At this point you’ll need to know how to use Flash to go further; however, you should now be able to animate your pages, add more interactive elements, and create full-blown interactive magazines, resumes, brochures, etc.—all starting with an InDesign CS4 document.

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