Working with Text Frames in InDesign

By Claire Blinman

InDesign contains powerful text layout capabilities to enhance the appearance of your documents and offer maximum flexibility for layout design. In an InDesign document, text is contained in a text frame. Text frames can be applied to individual pages within a document, or to a master page to provide a uniform appearance and provide better text control.

To create a text frame, select the text tool and click and drag a text frame within a page. When you release the mouse button, a text insertion point will appear. You may also click on the in port or out port of an existing text frame and drag a new frame. You may also place an existing text file using the Place command. Finally, you may simply select the text tool, click inside an empty frame and start entering text. Any of these actions will create a new text frame.

You can constrain the size and shape of a text frame using the click-and-drag technique. Holding down the Shift key while you click and drag a text frame will produce a square text frame.

You may move or resize a text frame once it's been created. To move a text frame, simply select it and drag it to a new location. To resize a text frame, choose the text tool. Click on a frame handle and drag it to the appropriate size. If you hold down the Ctrl key while you're resizing, InDesign will recompose the text inside the frame while you're resizing it.

If you use the selection tool to resize a frame and hold down the Ctrl key, InDesign will scale the text inside the frame. This is helpful when you have limited layout space.

If you load a text frame with more text than the frame can display, the text frame's out port will be activated and will display a red plus sign, which indicates the presence of unseen text below the text frame's bottom margin. You can resize the text frame to show the hidden text, or you can connect or thread a new text frame to your existing one.

To thread text, select the frame's out port using the selection tool. This will change your cursor to a loaded text icon. Using the text icon, click and drag a new text frame. Your loaded text will be placed in your new text frame. Any changes you make to the first text frame, such as adding or deleting text or changing text attributes, will flow into the connected text frame. You can connect many text frames together within an InDesign document.

You may want to check out Quark to Indesign plug in here.

Photoshop CS4 in Development - But is it Worth It

By Matthew Murchie

Well, apparently someone let the cat out of the bag and the word got out. Adobe Photoshop CS4 stonehenge is in development and this can be verified by checking out the bit torrent sites only to see people are actually downloading it. Photoshop CS4 however does not use the same serial numbers Photoshop CS3 and therefore people may find that loading Photoshop CS4 Stonehenge a little tricky.

Apparently, thus far, Photoshop CS4 does not hold a great deal of changes from its older CS3 brother and perhaps right now, its only claim to fame might be that it only contains Vista compatibility fixes. Some other interesting changes that Adobe will be bring to the table is that they will be creating Photoshop CS4 to have 64bit support for Windows and 32bit support for the MAC's.

One thing to note here is that anyone that is not running 4 GBs of RAM or more and is not dealing with large collections of high-res images will not notice any speed different with the 64bit version. One way to test this is to load up your Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 BETA software and see if you notice any different. Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 has 64bit support for both MAC and PC. In the grand scheme of things, the only individuals that will utilize this sort of power will be photography professionals that use Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

As for when is Adobe going to release the Adobe Photoshop CS4? Well if we assume that history does repeat itself, then we should see the CS4 on sale between October 2008 & April 2009. Adobe's history when it came to any Photoshop CS versions was to have a new release every 18 to 24 months.

The bottom line here I think is that so far Adobe has not shown us really any BIG improvements with the new Photoshop CS4 unless you are a professional with huge collections of high-res images and therefore will not be work the extra money to upgrade for Photoshop CS3 to Photoshop CS4.

You may want to check out Quark to Indesign plug in here.

Learn Photoshop - Adobe CS4

By David Martin Peters

I came across an in-depth article that details a lot of information regarding Adobe CS4, mostly things about Photoshop CS4, Bridge CS4 and the launch date of the latest version of Adobe's Creative Suite.

To begin with, the launch of CS4 is estimated to be around the time of Adobe Max, which takes place November 16th-19th. Adobe Creative Suite product cycles are 18 months and since Adobe CS3 was released on April 16th, 2007 Adobe Max would mean 19 months since the last product release. Below are some features that may or may not be included in Adobe CS4.

Adobe Photoshop CS4: Codename: Adobe Stonehenge CS4 Extended. Stonehenge is the splash screen. 1. The User-Interface is similar to CS3 however there are some minor polishes that complete the look. 2. Support for "Extensions" is listed under the "Window" menu 3. The extension manager is in every CS4 application 3. "Kuler" which is an Intranet color pallet collaboration tool for sharing color swatches with others on your team. 4. Support for Flash (more on this later)

Adobe Panel Configurator 1.0 (Alpha Version): 1. Allows you to create your own Photoshop toolboxes. 2. You can choose from over 860+ commands, tools and application features and from there create your own toolboxes that work in any CS4 application 3. Supports Actions and Scripts 4. Drag and drop text fields into toolboxes 5. Support for SWF and Quicktime video files in toolboxes 6. You can export the toolbar file and re-open it in any CS4 application.

CS4 Suite New Features: 1. Flash SWF support across all applications 2. You can play SWF files in any app 3. A tool is being developed for creating flash content without any coding experience

Adobe Bridge CS4:

1. New User-Interface
2. Sidebar and search tool location similar to Mac OS Leopard
3. Navigation in folders similar to Windows Vista Explorer
4. Labels and star ratings are easier to access.
5. Filtered searches are now much faster even across thousands of images
6. List View in Bridge
7. Auto Photo Downloader to download photos from your camera is now easier and better than Bridge CS3
8. Improved slideshows using your spacebar
9. From Slideshow, press "r" and Adobe Camera Raw opens automatically.
10. Review Mode: (full screen review of photos) a. Just like a full screen version of Apple coverflow b. Loopt tool built in c. The ability to open all, review, and drop photos out of view that you don't want and others stay full screen d. When leaving review mode the photos you kept are now selected in bridge. Ones you dropped are still there but not selected. e. You now have the ability to create photo-collections from within review mode

11. Collections are just like Playlists in iTunes. You have the ability to group photos. The location where photos are stored is not changed.
12. More sharing options a. Upload directly to FTP within Bridge b. Web gallery templates are easy and use the same templates available in Lightroom 2 c. Ability to create flash galleries with a few clicks and upload instantly d. Uses the Opera engine to render galleries within Bridge e. Photoshop Web Gallery is going away and being replaced by Bridge Web Gallery
13. Bridge CS4 Menus (in order left to right) File - Edit - View - Sttacks - Label - Tools - Window - Help

Adobe CS4 Applications are exactly the same as CS3 but the text in the icons is black instead of white.

You may want to check out Quark to Indesign plug in here.

Photoshop CS4 Or Photoshop CS64?

By Matthew Murchie

Well actually, Photoshop CS4 will be a Photoshop 64-bit version of photo-editing software but only for Windows and not for the Mac OS X platform. Adobe is not trying to play favorites here, but rather it's trying to respect Apples change they made in 2007 to their programming. Windows has been supporting 64-bit version of software since the creation of XP, but it has been moving quiet slowly as most software and hardware support 32-bit.

So what can you expect from the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS4? Well if you are talking about shear speed and not effects or interface improvements, the average user will not notice much at all. There will be some minor performance enhancements based on Adobe's preliminary testing of about 10%. This number is based on what the average user may use Photoshop CS4 to do, such as opening a 10meg RAW picture and do some image manipulation. Now, if you are opening a large 3.2 gigapixel image and editing it, you will notice that Photoshop will outperform its 32-bit counterpart 10 times over. But let's be honest, how many of us really do that! Now I don't want to get ahead of myself and lead you to believe that Photoshop CS4 isn't worth it. I have already alluded to that in my previous article Photoshop CS4 is in development, but is it worth it? In this article I am only focusing on what Photoshop CS4 has to offer in the 64-bit version in comparison to the 32-bit version and what affect it will have on you.

One of the things that Photoshop excels in is creating one picture from multiple images, whether it is a panorama or a multi-layered image. Anybody who knows this software knows that it can ask a lot from your computer. If you want to boost up speed and don't want to, or can't run the 64-bit version, consider increasing your memory. By minimum standards, with the 32-bit version, you should consider running with no less that 4 gig's of RAM. Most HDR, panoramic or multi-layer images will run much smoother given the extra increase in memory. Furthermore, this will also increase Photoshop's ability to track your history of changes.

Looking back to the 64-bit version, one other area that you will want to note is that all of your plugins will have to be 64-bit as well. This my put a sour taste in a few peoples mouths as you can not mix 32-bit and 64-bit processes. Furthermore, you might also need to purchase Vista as XP will not be supported.

Bottom line here is that Photoshop CS4 has brought about some very interesting upgrades from the CS3 version, however, if you are considering purchasing the 64-bit version, make sure you are dealing with many gigapixels and/or with extremely complex High-Res images.

You may want to check out Quark to Indesign plug in here.

Photoshop CS4 Released New Features

By Matthew Murchie

There will be not doubt that Photoshop CS4, codename Stonehenge, will have some amazing new features. Even though currently it is still in its beta phase, there has been some amazing features that have been released and what people can expect. I have already written about how it will have a 64-bit version, (Photoshop CS4 or Photoshop CS64) which will drastically speed up the processing of large images, but this article will discuss what you can expect in terms of features. One of the great aspects of Adobe is that they actually listen to their customers and the suggestions that they put forth. Weather it be on the Adobe Photoshop forums, blogs or emailed suggestions, they will generally take the top 100 most requested features and use that information to develop the next version. The one thing that you have to remember is that Adobe is in the business of making money, not software. Software is just their way to make the money. With that being said, Adobe will take those suggestions and create a few of their own and determine which will benefit them the most in terms of revenue. As far as I am concerned, that is a smart strategy, especially when you see this list of awesome new features in Photoshop CS4.

* Enhanced masking feature - Layer Mask Density option allows you to fade away the effect of a layer mask gradually revealing the parts that are hidden.
* Real-time filters with no color depth restrictions - Allows filters to use graphics card power in image processing instead of the CPU, which means all operations will be much faster.
* Liquid resize feature - Allows you to shrink or enlarge a photo disproportionally without stretching it.
* Enhanced Quick Selection tool - The Refine Edge dialog now has a new feature to deals much better with complex surfaces such as fur ensuring a more defined line between subject and background.
* and there much more...

You may want to check out Adobe Indesign CS4 here.

Top 5 New Features in Photoshop CS4

By Billy Gee

On the 23 September 2008 Adobe Systems announced the release of the highly anticipated latest version of Photoshop, Photoshop CS4.

Photoshop has long been the industry standard professional digital image manipulation program. It fact it would be hard to get a job as a graphic designer if you didn't have experience using Photoshop.

So let's explore the new features in Photoshop CS4 and then decide whether for $199 it's worth upgrading from CS3 to CS4. If you are still working on an older version of Photoshop such as CS2 or CS then I would definitely recommend upgrading.

This article is going to focus on the top 5 new features in Photoshop CS4.

1. Smoother panning and zooming and fluid canvas rotation
Working with bitmap images often involves editing pixel by pixel. The smoother zooming feature will give you much more control as you zoom in and out of your bitmaps. Plus the new rotation feature is very cool and is a huge improvement on the somewhat clumsy rotate image handles. I give these new features 9 out of 10.

2. New Adjustments Panel
This panel contains some of the most commonly used color and tone correction tools. Tools, which Photoshop users use every day such as Levels, Curves and Hue & Saturation are now all located on this single panel. Photoshop allows you to edit in a non-destructive mode using an Adjustments layer. Even though this feature is not new per se, this new Adjustment panel makes it easier to work with many of these stable Photoshop tools. I give this new feature 5 out of 10.

3. New Masks Panel
This is a very cool new feature. The new Masks Panel is really powerful and it gives you full control over both pixels and vector masks. You can adjust mask density and feathering, easily select noncontiguous objects, and much more.

You can still create layer masks in the old fashioned way but this new panel is much more powerful and will make learning masking easier for new users of Photoshop. I give this new feature 8 out of 10.

4. Content-Aware Scaling
This is my favorite new feature in Photoshop CS4. This new and revolutionary Content-Aware Scaling feature is used when re-sizing images. Users can select an area of an image that you do not want to lose when resizing and Photoshop will protect it, by removing other areas first.

Content-Aware Scaling automatically recognizes skin tones to keep people from being squeezed when you resize an image. So as you resize an image, people in the picture may move closer together or further apart, but they will remain properly proportioned whilst the background changes. I would have to give this feature a 10 out of 10.

5. Many enhancements
My final new feature is really just a whole bunch of cool improvements to existing features in Photoshop CS3. These include:

1. Improved color correction with re-engineered Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools
2. Improved auto-blending of images.
3. New preview feature on the Clone Tool.
4. Better raw image processing.
I give these new features a 7 out of 10.

So in conclusion, Photoshop CS4 introduces some very new and exciting features such as fluid canvas rotation and content-aware scaling, a few new panels such as Mask Panel and Adjustments panel which help to improve your workflow, and a whole bunch of enhancements to existing features.

Overall I would have to say that $199 investment to upgrade is a no-brainer. Enjoy!

You may want to check out Adobe Indesign CS4 here.

Learn Photoshop Now - An Overview of Adobe Photoshop CS4

By Dave Martin Peters

It appears that Adobe products are getting better and better. CS3 brought us new features such as non-destructive smart filters, quick selection, 3D compositing, enhanced RAW image processing and HDR support.

Adobe's new software, Creative Suite 4, is intended to meet special challenges such as effective collaborations between designers and developers, embracing new media, reinventing publishing and embracing the explosion of connected media. Chad Seigel, Group Manager for Creative Suite has been quoted as saying, "Adobe is trying to break barriers and integrate all products."

Changes to Photoshop CS4 include an improved interface with the entire application enclosed in the frame which means dual monitor users can have more than one application running. The workspace switcher is for swapping between applications such as Camera RAW 5 and Bridge.

Other welcome enhancements include zoom ratio which is less likely to show jagged or pixelated lines and also possesses a flicker free zoom. Now you can rotate the canvas without jagged lines and the brush size can be previewed directly on the document. Now when the tool is placed over the image it can be moved in size and you can preview it before you use it.

Another tool that has been improved is the Dodge/Burn tool, now when you're adjusting the shadows, midtones or highlights the tool won't impose on the other two. When adjusting the saturation on the sponge tool it won't move out of acceptable gamma.

Adjustment has a dedicated window with all the tools found in the area such as levels, curves, brightness & contrast and exposure. The preview window is in the tab instead of a new window that overlaps the image. This means your picture can be viewed in its entirety and as an added bonus tools such as curves can be adjusted directly on the image for localised amendments.

The icons have been simplified for well-organized use; now you can see what you need to use much faster than before.

The mask panel allows you to choose an area which can be manipulated and even inverted which is good for selective color images.

The mask panel allows you to select an area which can be manipulated and even inverted which is good for selective color images.

A feature I really like is content aware cropping. The feature works by first masking the areas you wish to retain in the picture. The image can then be resized and the parts that are protected won't be cropped into. The program will start to remove areas in between which is an amazing feature to see and use.

An improved blend layer mode has been added and is great for techniques such as focus stacking. The program adjusts the exposure and color automatically so there's no need to mess about first.

The images must be loaded in as layers and highlighted. Once you have done that click on Edit>Auto blend layers and the images will be composited together. The process can take some time so be patient.

It can also be useful to create HDR images if you prefer the ones without the ethereal effect that most systems produce.

Bryan Hughes, Photoshop Product Manager, is adamant that this isn't a HDR tool though, as it doesn't give a full high dynamic range in all areas so the familiar ethereal look of a HDR image is absent. He did add that if need be, it could be described as a clipped version of HDR.

The Extended version of Photoshop CS4 also features support for 3D. Two dimensional images can be changed to 3D by giving them x, y and z co-ordinates and these images can also be wrapped around imported 3D images. Photoshop CS4 also works in conjunction with Google 3D warehouse where you can import thousands of 3D images. Merging a 2D image onto a 3D image is simple as the only command you need use is the Merge button. The 2D layer acquires all the 3D attributes such as decay detail, color and reflections. The 3D image can be manipulated as well and you can also enjoy features such as creating cut-outs, adding detail or changing colors to the interior of the cut-out.

As an added bonus, a feature has been added for help with people who are colour blind. Colours in Photoshop CS4 can be adjusted for true colour blindness.

One feature missing in CS4 is the quick tools from the image window bar. When you've opened an image, right clicking on the header bar has brought up five options of duplicate, image size, canvas size, file info for metadata and page set up. I often used these, especially file info, and to find it's not there has added time to my workflow.

At the press release for Photoshop CS4 I was bursting with excitement when I saw the features it could do. The newest features such as the auto blend and content aware croping feature are astounding. I also enjoy using the localised adjustments on Lightroom 2 so it'll be really beneficial on Photoshop CS4.

Look at the noted upgrades box and see if you'll use all those extra features. Add to that the efficient zooming and 89 percent less drag on the mouse making it move across the screen faster.

Bear in mind that the list is for the Extended version which supports the 3D applications. If you don't need those then don't bother with Extended but as far as I'm concerned this new version is the best one yet.

You may want to check out Adobe Indesign CS4 here.

Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium - 5 Features You Don't Want to Miss

By Chris Finders

Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium includes all-new versions of many popular Adobe products, including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Acrobat Professional, and others. With Creative Suite 3 now available, we've decided to give readers a quick rundown of the most exciting new features that make this product a must-have for creative professionals worldwide.

Adobe InDesign CS3: Enjoy transparency and other fancy creative effects

The brand-new InDesign CS3 now sports Photoshop effects which you can effortlessly apply right within the InDesign software. For instance, you can now place an image in an InDesign frame, and apply a gradient feather. You can experiment with the image inside the frame until the gradient and the image look precisely as you want them.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended: New Quick Selection tools for ultra-precise and fast selection

Before Quick Selection tool came to be, creative professionals had to arduously outline a region for precise selection. With Quick Selection tool, you can loosely paint an area, and then easily and quickly shrink or enlarge the selection as needed. Tremendously useful, and a huge time-saver.

Illustrator CS3: Now with Live Color feature

Live Color is, without doubt, one of the most exciting new features in Illustrator CS3. With Live Color, you can now save cool color groups to Swatches, then preview changes live as you apply specific colors to your digital artwork. Illustrator also allows you to reduce the number of colors, or remap the colors in your artwork the smart way using the parameters you define. Very useful for testing alternative color schemes for corporate logos, or any other graphics.

Dreamweaver CS3: Take advantage of brand-new CSS layouts

Dreamweaver CS3 now includes several dozen solid, cross-browser compatible CSS layouts, including 1-, 2-, and 3-column structures. Both fixed width and "liquid" designs are readily available, complete with extensive documentation and comments to dramatically reduce the learning curve. This feature makes it easy to quickly get on top of new Web standards.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional: New Shared Reviews feature

The new Shared Reviews feature in Acrobat 8 Pro makes it easy to get faster feedback and approvals for document reviews. This feature lets all reviewers see the comments of others -- in real time. Comments are instantly retrieved from a remote server, a Microsoft SharePoint portal, or a network folder.

See more detail Adobe Indesign here.

Fantastic Tips For Using Indesign

By Paul Escobedo
Adobe makes amazing programs for all kinds of artists to allow them to enhance their creativity. Adobe InDesign is especially useful for those who need layered documents such as posters, magazines, and newspapers. Since many people have grown accustomed to Pagemaker or QuarkXPress 4.1, you might be looking for some InDesign tips to get you on your way.

The basics for this program are pretty easy to find and figure out, but what about those hidden features that you never though you could do? An example is being able to adjust the Bleed and Slug so that you don't need to make your pages larger than you want them to be. In the "New Document" box there's a selection for "More Options." When you click on that box you'll notice two added measurements available to you: Bleed and Slug. You'll be able to adjust these any way you want and then decide if they'll be part of your final print.

InDesign tips on how to make your formatting of images easier for you to work with involve measurements. It can be difficult to know the sizes of things like pictures and text when the program uses measurements you don't understand or normally use. InDesign actually lets you use the measurements you're most comfortable with. You won't even need to change your preferences. All that needs to be done is to include your unit of preference next to the number you put in and InDesign will continue with that format.

Tired of having all of the layers show through when you just want one? You can go through each and every one and turn it off, but having learned InDesign tips and tricks you'll know not to. Instead, select the one layer you want to show through and press either the option key on Macs or the ALT key on PCs and you've done it.

There are multiple versions of Adobe InDesign and depending which version you have these InDesign tips may not be compatible with your program. All versions will have these features but the necessary steps to do them may be different.

See more detail Adobe Indesign here.