Chapter 1. What InDesign Can Do for You

IN THIS CHAPTER

  • Learning what InDesign can do

  • Understanding global and local control

  • Identifying InDesign terminology

InDesign CS4 is the sixth version of Adobe's flagship publishing tool, a product that came into its own with the third version (CS, which stands for Creative Suite). Widely regarded as the best layout tool today, InDesign CS4 continues to benefit from continued investment by its makers at Adobe Systems.

Every new version of InDesign has brought significant new capabilities to your fingertips, and CS4 is no different. This new version introduces several key additions that make it easier to produce flexible documents, such as the ability to export files for use in Flash multimedia projects, as well as enhanced capabilities for its conditional text feature that lets a document have different versions of, say, a chapter heading or copyright line. Catalog publishers, for example, will love these additions.

Adobe has also improved lots of features — some big, some small — to both simplify the product's use and to enhance its capabilities. For example, the new "smart guides" feature makes it much easier to align, resize, rotate, and place objects precisely when you're using the mouse. The Links panel has been redesigned to better match how Adobe Bridge works, as well as make it easier to substitute FPO (for position only) files quickly. And InDesign now alerts you as you're working if your document has any issues that may affect final output ...

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