Has anyone worked with Adobe InDesign?

[CBHagman]

I've been job hunting in the area of editing/proofreading/writing, and as I scan the job boards, I look to see what particular skills are required. The other day I placed my resume with an organization that arranges temp, contract, and direct-hire jobs, and the staffer reported that they couldn't find enough people with InDesign skills.

So I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience with InDesign. Where did you get your training? Are there other training recommendations you could make?

Editors, writers, nonprofit employees, and all others are invited to weigh in. Thank you!

CBH

[ghostsofgiants]

1. I've used it briefly. No training.

Shouldn't be hard to self-teach, really. Probably google some tutorials for it or something and you should be fine.

[Omphaloskepsis]

2. InDesign is geared toward page layout. It is a creative thing.

Editing/proofreading/writing... That doesn't mesh with what someone who uses InDesign would do. Unless they just want you to edit text inside a InDesign document. And that isn't hard. Perhaps she was saying what they need, and not what they think you should be doing.

And I learned InDesign from tutorials on the internet. It is better than QuarkXPress®. A user that goes by the handle "Lerkfish" around here rocks at InDesign. Might want to send him a PM.

[CBHagman]

3. Yeah, I saw a few tutorials online.

I've done most of my Microsoft Office training via online free tutorials (well, that and my favorite university, the School of Hard Knocks).

Thanks for affirming that these tutorials are of use.

[grace0418]

9. The editors at my company have to be reasonably proficient in InDesign

and the various key commands, etc. If you are completely unfamiliar with it, those little palettes will make absolutely no sense to you even if all you need to do is edit text. I've been working with Adobe products for so long now I forget how completely foreign it all was to me when I first opened a program. I couldn't even figure out how to create a new document, forget finding the text tool. LOL!

[NV Whino]

4. Yes, I use InDesign

It's supposedly the new, improved PageMaker. (Although it's hardly new any more.) Most things about it are great. The printing interface needs some work. But aside from that, it's pretty easy to use. Go to your local book store and get a book. I bet they have InDesign for Dumbies (or is it Dummies?). They have those books for everything else.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Not since 2.0

And that was only for a little while.

I found it a virtual copy of PageMaker (which I never liked), though I didn't get to test what were then heralded as its advantages over QuarkXPress — "seamless integration" with Photoshop and Illustrator. But then, I never noticed any "seams" between Quark and Photoshop. :shrug:

I like Quark much better — but then, I used it every day for 5 1/2 years.

(The word on the street back then was the only reason InDesign got legs — indeed, perhaps the reason it was created — was because of Quark's stubbornness in upgrading.)

[Omphaloskepsis]

6. It took years for it to run without classic on OS X.

That killed Quark. InDesign is better anyway.

[kedrys]

7. Worked with it and taught it

It's far better than Quark XPress. Download a demo and pick up a copy of the Adobe Classroom In A Book, and you'll be in good shape.

Have fun!

[grace0418]

8. InDesign is pretty great. In terms of editing, if you know QuarkXPress enough

to get around a page and do whatever editing is necessary, you can probably get your way around InDesign. The key commands are different and some of the features are different (mostly better) but you can familiarize yourself with it pretty quickly. Any tutorials you might find are geared towards actually designing using the program, but basic getting-to-know-you tutorials might be fine.

[bigwillq]

10. We have InDesign

I work at a newspaper....it's not too bad. We basically had one training session and then they sent us out with the wolves. A learn as you go type a job my company.

No other training sessions in the near future for us I don't think.

It's pretty easy to pick up and the more you do it the better you get at it.

[CBHagman]

11. Thanks, everyone.

I was considering signing up for an intensive workshop, but perhaps self-instruction is better.