Adobe InDesign CS5 Desktop Publishing Program and Adobe InCopy CS5
By Howard Berenbon
Adobe InDesign CS5 Desktop Publishing Program
If you are new to the publishing business, or a seasoned professional, you may know that several publishing programs are available to help you get those documents in the right format for publication. One of the very first programs offered in the early 1990s was Aldus PageMaker, which was acquired by Adobe in 1992 and eventually replaced by Adobe InDesign.
Our first review of PageMaker was in November 1997 and then we reviewed Adobe InDesign CS2 in November 2005. The program has improved by leaps and bounds since it was introduced in 1999. Today, InDesign is a full-featured desktop publishing program for both print media and interactive online publishing, including the latest Flash animation and PDF file technology.
A Little History
Aldus PageMaker was one of the first professional desktop publishing programs introduced in 1985 for the Macintosh, and then for the PC in late 1986. In 1992 Adobe acquired PageMaker and changed the name. The last version, PageMaker 7.0, was released in 2001. InDesign 1.0 released in 1999, was a completely new project independent of PageMaker. PageMaker and InDesign do have some similarities, but are very different programs.
Running InDesign CS5
When you run the program, two screens appear: your main menu with work area and a smaller screen in the foreground that lets you quickly open an existing file, or create a new one (Document, Book, or Library). If you need help, there are Community links with online access to InDesign Exchange, InDesign User Group, InDesign Partners and InDesign Plug-ins. You can also access the online help at Adobe.com by clicking the Resources button. There you’ll find lots of help in PDF format files, some video tutorials, plug-ins, templates, community access and more. One more button on the Welcome screen is new, and that’s to reach Adobe CS Live online services.
If you’re familiar with any of the Adobe CS4 or the new CS5 products, you’ll notice they look very similar. In fact, the InDesign CS5 main menu looks very much like Photoshop CS4 with some changes to the menu. At the very top you can select File, Edit, Layout, Type, Object, Table, View, Window and Help menus. To the right you have access to Adobe Bridge and the zoom, screen mode and arrange documents buttons. And on the left side of the screen is a movable vertical tool bar with access to all the text and graphics tools.
To start an existing document, click on the Open Document box to display your My Documents folder, or you can just create a new document from the File menu. On the left you'll see the floating tool bar, in the middle is the page you’re working with and at the top are the text and page controls. On the far right, the Essentials panels is displayed with access to Pages, Links, Stroke, Color and Swatches. To enter text, click on the T symbol, then drag open a text box in your document. You can add graphics and pages (objects) in several formats, including PDF, using the Place command. When you’re done with that perfect project, either for onscreen display with some great animation, or for printing production, you can save it as an InDesign document (.indd) or template, or save and export in various formats, including PDF, Flash, Digital and Dreamweaver.
What’s New and Improved in Adobe InDesign CS5
Interactive documents and presentations--New
Add interactivity, motion, sound, and video to documents and presentations, exporting directly to SWF for playback in the Adobe Flash® Player runtime.
Simplified object selection and editing--New
Perform repetitive layout tasks efficiently using new and enhanced tools and on-object controls.
Integration with Adobe CS Review*--New
Create and share reviews online while working in InDesign with Adobe CS Review, part of CS Live online services. See feedback in the context of your page layout.
Track Text Changes--New
Mark up text directly in InDesign, easily tracking copy revisions.
Redesigned Layers panel--New
Easily manage page items with a redesigned Layers panel that is more like the one in Adobe Photoshop® and Illustrator® software.
Export to Flash Professional--Enhanced
Export InDesign documents to Flash Professional to add sophisticated interactivity, animation, and navigation to complex layouts.
eBook creation--Enhanced
Create compelling eBooks in the EPUB format for the Apple iPad, Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble nook, mobile phones, and other devices.
Maintain the fidelity of your original file
Hand off page layouts from InDesign to Adobe Flash Professional with even greater fidelity. Add sophisticated interactivity to your documents without compromising on page design.
Multiple page sizes--New
Create pages with different sizes in a single document.
Paragraphs that span or split columns--New
Quickly create text that spans or splits into multiple columns in just a few steps.
Production enhancements--New
Find and drag images into page layouts from Adobe Mini Bridge without leaving InDesign. Document-installed fonts can help eliminate missing font issues.
Live Captions--New
Generate static or live captions automatically from image metadata.
Comparing Recent Versions
If you’re having trouble deciding whether to upgrade from an older version, click for the table comparing Adobe InDesign CS5 to CS4 and CS3 versions. It can help you decide.
Adobe InDesign CS5 is an industry standard professional desktop publishing program for print and online work, with some great improvements over last year’s model (CS4). It’s perfect for your traditional print media projects or multi-media online publishing.
Adobe InDesign CS5 sells for $670.99 and will run on any multimedia PC with Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 faster processor, Windows 7, Vista or XP, 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), 1.6 GB hard disk space 1,024 x 768 display resolution and a DVD-ROM drive. Also available for the Apple Macintosh for $694.99 with a Multicore Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6, 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), 2.6 GB hard disk space 1,024 x 768 display resolution and a DVD-ROM drive. For more information or to order, visit Amazon.com.
I also installed Adobe InCopy CS5 which integrates with Adobe InDesign to coordinate work between design and editorial staff. It includes build-in tools for designing, validating and publishing documents for print, online or mobile devices. Also supports animation, video and sound in layouts. InCopy CS5 sells for $249.00. The upgrade price is $89.
What’s New and Improved
Eyedropper tool--New
Pick up the style of one text selection and apply it to another for hassle-free formatting.
Track Changes enhancements--Enhanced
Accept or reject changes on a per-user basis for greater flexibility and editorial control.
Paragraphs that split columns--New
Quickly turn any text selection into multiple columns within an existing text frame.
All-new Layers panel--New
Hide or lock obscuring layout elements to easily access the text in a multilayered document.
Faster saving with multithreading--New
Take advantage of advanced multithreading technology to close documents and save changes to multiple stories faster.
Enhanced Links panel--Enhanced
Manage placed files in your InCopy documents and see metadata including keywords, headline, and description.
Paragraphs that span columns--New
Make single-column text span multiple columns — no dedicated text frame needed.
Adobe Mini Bridge--New
Browse hard-drive files and drag them into assigned frames — all from within InCopy.
Acrobat.com Buzzword support--New
Easily place copy written in Acrobat.com Buzzword® into editable InCopy text frames.
Document-installed fonts--New
When you open an InCopy story, InCopy CS5 automatically looks for an associated Document fonts folder, installs the folder's fonts temporarily for use in the story, and then uninstalls the fonts when you close the story. The appropriate font licenses are still required for any party opening, editing, or printing the story.
Click to return to Cyber News & Reviews Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended Review - August 2010
Software Companies Mentioned
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95110-2704
URL: www.adobe.com
800-833-6687
