Tutorial #1:
Simple Type Exercise

This is a very easy exercise for a newcomer to InDesign and page layout. All projects end up in page layout. In our case, we are using InDesign. Many also use QuarkXPress (but that app is pretty dated. The only other option is when you are doing page layout for the Web where your final document will normally be done in Dreamweaver or GoLive.

Here you will create a very simple, one-sided document

You will be building a small document with a little bit of type. What you need to learn is how to pick a font, leading, and alignment. Then you will add some simple color. This one will be pretty much lockstep -- although you will have the normal choices to make.

Step One: Open InDesign and choose File>> New.

When the new document dialog box opens, set the page size at 2” wide by 5.5” tall. Use quarter inch margins and a single column.

Step Two: Choose your Type tool.

It is the fourth tool down in the default single column Toolbox (Or you can just type the letter T, which is the Shortcut for the tool. Click in the upper left corner of the margins and drag to the lower right corner to make a text box the same size as the margins. If the box isn't quite the right size, hold down the Command key (PC-Ctrl) and adjust the size of the frame by dragging the handles (those little squares at the corners and sides of the frame outline.

Step Three: Format the type for the first paragraph.

You want to choose a centered alignment in either the Paragraph palette or the Control palette.

Step Four: Pick a font

Choose any font you like and set it so that the line breaks match the sample above. Type the words: Do you >> know >> what >> you are >> doing? This little double arrow, >>, means you should place a soft return at these points (for this exercise). A soft return is a shift return -- hold down the shift key and type the Return/Enter key. This gives you a line break but does not start a new paragraph.

I used NuevoLithoPro at 15 point with 16 points of leading (pronounced ledding) in all caps. This is how it looked in the Character palette, but the Control palette across the top has the same controls..

Step Five: Hit the Return/Enter (in the QWERTY keyboard) after the question mark to start a new paragraph.

Make this new paragraph justified. Set the font you choose at approximately 14 pt over 14 pt (written 14/14 and pronounced 14 over 14). I used BrinarPro, set at 14/16 to get the look I wanted. You just need to leave room for one more line of type after this paragraph. Here is the copy:

Actually, I imagine that, at this point, the answer to the question is, “No!” However, you are actually doing digital publishing and setting type. That is a step in the right direction. That this is very easy and extremely boring for some of you cannot be helped. Go on to a harder exercise.

Hit the Return/Enter key to end the paragraph.

Step Six: Now change the font to something you like that is very bold and set it at 48/48 type.

As you can see, I used Abiquiu Fiesta set 60/51. Make sure you set the horizontal scaling to 10% (otherwise the words will seem to disappear because they will be too large to fit into the frame. Rather than a complex explanation here, just start at 48 pt type set to 10% wide.

Type in: YOU’RE DONE!

The resulting type will be very hard to read as you can see above. Now select those two words and the exclamation point. Then adjust point size of the type so it fits the empty space the best. If you make the type too large and it disappears, just click the size down until it reappears.

TIP: You can simply put the insertion point into the size field and use the up and down arrows to adjust the size. This works in all panel fields in IndEsign.

You can move the line of type up or down by adjustiung the leading in the same manner. Finally adjust the horizontal and vertical scaling (in the Control or Character palette) and make the type wide enough to fill the entire width on one line.

I had to make my type 21.5% wide and bump it up to 60 point type to make it fit without breaking into two lines

Step Seven: Color the last paragraph

Then select the entire last paragraph (YOU’RE DONE!) and click on a color in the Swatches palette to color the type (make a new one if you feel compelled).

Final step:Now you need to export this document as a PDF.

In the Export PDF dialog box, choose Printer’s Marks (you will not need the Color bar or the bleed, but that does not really matter for this exercise. The final result should look something like what you see to the left in Acrobat, but it will also have printers' marks outside the document. The printed image will be razor sharp (much better than what you see above right). You can download a PDF of the file above by clicking here.