Category Archives: Software Review

InDesign CC 2018 adds borders to shading

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I’ve waited a long time to write this: InDesign CC 2018 adds borders to shading! This is one I’ve been pushing for over the past decade or so. I was excited when they added paragraph shading. I never could understand why the borders weren’t added at the same time. Regardless, the InDesign team added them for this update. Finally, we have a good sidebar solution for ePUBs This has always been a major hassle in ePUB design. Sidebars simply don’t work … Continue reading →

Does InDesign finally have a strong competitor?

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I’ve always disliked QuarkXPress. Even when it was king of the hill, I was using PageMaker and InDesign 1.0. But there’s no denying that it was King—until it shot itself in the foot. It treated it’s customers very poorly, and its upgrade policies were ridiculously expensive. When InDesign came out with unlimited redoes, OpenType support, no need for a separate frame tool, and dozens of other major features, Quark was left behind, very rapidly. Is InDesign the … Continue reading →

Some concerns before installing CC (2015)

Skilled Workman Posted on by

InDesign Secrets has an important posting today. There are some concerns with the new update. Minor stuff. It uninstalls all earlier versions by default That can be fixed by unchecking Remove old versions in the Advanced Options in the CC app install dialog. Mac users must be running 10.9 or 10.10 It may not even update with the older OSes.

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Don’t toss your Pages 09! It’s needed to open RTF files

Skilled Workman Posted on by

One of the more irritating things about Mavericks is how some capabilities have been lost in the transition to newness. I do like the new free versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. I like them a whole lot more than Office, for sure. But some puzzling things have appeared. The one which affects me the most is the inability of the new Pages to open RTF files. This doesn’t sound too bad, but many of the word.docs … Continue reading →

Adobe Digital Editions 2.0 is not bad

Skilled Workman Posted on by

As I often do, I found out this morning that I have been recommending false information. I’ve alway hated Adobe Digital Editions, Adobe’s free ebook reader. It trashed the type and the images. I always recommended deleting it and not allowing it on your computer. This morning I discover that the 2.0 version is a great improvement. Of course, it’s been out since Sept 2012 & I never noticed I’m surprised that I haven’t heard of it. Has … Continue reading →

Kindle Export Plug-in for InDesign CS6 Released!

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I probably shouldn’t have put an exclamation mark on the title for I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I’m still wading through the documentation. But I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. The CS6 plug-in Here’s a quote from their Web page from which you can download the plug-in. Kindle Plugin for Adobe InDesign® (Beta) is officially supported by Amazon to convert files to the Kindle format. We recommend you use Kindle … Continue reading →

Review: iBooks Author, the hope fades

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I spent much of last weekend designing a book in iBooks Author. It was a horrendous experience. But then the application wasn’t designed for my use. A book design tool for amateurs giving away free books First of all, I must mention that the process of dialing back from InDesign to less than Pages is a huge leap backwards. Like Liz Castro, I was excited about the possibilities suggested by the hype. She found ten reasons why … Continue reading →