Adobe InDesign Templates | InDesignTemplate.com

Why Reinvent the Wheel? 5 Advantages to using Indesign Templates

Jeff — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:05:04 +0000

Besides being an extremely time-consuming process, graphic designing involves substantial costs and great efforts without any guarantee that the end product would be what you had in mind. This is why more and more people are using pre-built templates, designed by experts using the latest InDesign software. There are many advantages in using InDesign templates among which five stand out prominently:

1. Reduce Costs

You could hire a publishing firm or a freelance graphic designer to create brochures from scratch at a hefty fee or you could purchase an InDesign template at a fraction of the cost and customize the template yourself in minutes. It goes without saying that the cost involved in purchasing ready-made designs is much lower than what it would involve to have one specially designed by a professional agency.

2. Save Time

If you need a brochure or flyer, it can take weeks from hiring the right firm or graphic designer to completing the design. It takes time, trial-and-error runs and a number of frustrating attempts to communicate your idea clearly enough before you hit the “right” design. With InDesign templates, all you need to prepare is the text that you will incorporate in the design of the flyers. Our templates feature a highly organized layout for easy customization. All the donkey work’s already been done by us so you spend the minimum time necessary to complete your brochure from its “almost there’ state. Our templates are finished design files that include high-resolution stock photos and illustrations.

3. Enhance Productivity

InDesign Templates can enhance productivity, allowing members of your team to focus on the content without the need to change the formatted layout. Because you don’t need to start from scratch you are free to unleash your creativity to the maximum. As many templates allow you to move around, replace and change almost every component, you can have a unique brochure or flyer in no time, with a few clicks of the mouse.

4. Source of Inspiration

You might have heard “Real designers don’t use templates” or, “Templates are a substitute for real design” but every graphic designer will at some stage suffer from creative block. We’ve all stared at blank pieces of paper or blank screens at least one time in our lives. A template can be a great starting point to get the creative juices flowing. They can give you ideas and start you on the road to laying out your own original masterpiece. There are many ways to personalize templates without sacrificing the benefits of speed, variety, and consistency.

5. You know what the finished product will look like

Eliminate the uncertainty associated with starting the design process from scratch. With InDesign templates, you can see what the final design will look like right from the outset. With InDesign templates, you can simply select the most suitable template and customize the content to suit your needs, from simple one-page flyers to complex, multi-columned, and multi-article magazine layouts. This is an amazing feat considering that the former process might take weeks to capture and translate into reality what you had in your imagination; and even then, it might not look exactly as you would have wanted it to be.

How do Indesign Templates Work?

Jeff — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:53:34 +0000

First of all, what is an Indesign Template? An InDesign template is a file that contains standing elements for use in each issue. InDesign templates help save time because you do no have to place these elements every time you create a new issue. Templates also help keep the publication’s style consistent. Note, InDesign templates only work in InDesign. In general, any program that offers a template feature uses a proprietary file type that can’t be parsed by other programs. To edit Indesign templates, you must have indesign software.

1. Select the template you need

No matter which industry your business is in, IndesignTemplate.com have high-quality and professional-looking template for you. Browse by Category or Type.

2. Purchase your templates

All you need to do is to click the “Purchase” button next to the template you want. After purchasing, you will be sent an email with a download link.

3. Download your templates

After receiving the email, you’ll be able to download your templates immediately without having to create an account. You can download your templates as many times as you like.

4, Customize the design to make it your own

The files are fully editable as if you designed them from scratch. So go ahead, make as many changes as you like – add or replace pictures, change colors, grayscale, move, scale and crop graphic elements, change the fonts and replace the filler text with your own copy. There’s no limit – be as creative as you like.

Inside InDesign go to file > open. In the dialog select your template file, but choose “open original” in the lower left hand corner. To edit a template, create a new file from the template, make the changes and save the file as a template. If you give it the same name and save it in the same location, InDesign will ask if you want to replace the original template or not before you can save it. If you are creating a replacement or updated template, click Yes.

5. Print it yourself or send it out

When you’re finished customizing your InDesign template, print your template on your own color printer or send the files to a commercial printer. Indesigntemplates are designed to deliver professional, high-quality color output, so they look great no matter where you have them printed.

Exporting to Grayscale with InDesign

Jeff — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:24:06 +0000

I’m sure there are many designers out there that are often asked to create a black and white or grayscale version PDF of an existing document. The difficult client on the other end of the phone is fussy and needs the document in grayscale pronto so they can also run the ad in the local newspaper. Before CS6, InDesign did not know what grayscale color is. A grayscale image is a duotone image that substitutes a color for black and another color for white or a negative space. You could import a grayscale image or document into CS1-CS5.5 but those older versions of InDesign don’t have the option of exporting or converting to grayscale. A number of clever hacks or work around is required in order to convert documents from color to grayscale such as creating a copy of the document, dropping in grayscale images, stripping out the colors and replace with tints of black, carefully balancing them as needed; or saving as color, exporting to Acrobat and converting there. But this can be a nightmare, especially if you have hundreds of pages to convert.

In earlier versions of InDesign, you could run the image through InDesign’s transparency flattener, set the image opacity to 99.9% in the transparency palette and output to a flattened format. Since the remaining .1% of the image not detectable, this allowed InDesign to convert the image to grayscale without sacrificing the quality of the image. However, simply stripping off the color information often yields results that are very low in contrast with poor quality imagery.

Another option is to create the document in InDesign then export the file to Photoshop to convert. In Photoshop, the user can save the document in a format that supports grayscale mode—a TIFF, JPEG, or PNG However, this involves the user to purchase a second piece of software.

InDesign users could also print to a grayscale printer but this often results less control and a substantial loss of quality. Other solutions include exporting the EPS and then distilling, using 3rd party software etc.… The list of work arounds is endless but they all take time or result in a loss of quality.

Designers and publishers really needed an efficient way to convert from color to grayscale when the client changes their mind. In CS6, you can preview a color layout in Gray scale on the screen, and then export to a gray scale PDF right from InDesign. All page items, irrespective of their original color space, are converted to grayscale while exporting to PDF. The digital publication remains full color, and you can avoid maintaining separate layouts for grayscale and color outputs. To convert to grayscale:

Select File > Export and select Adobe PDF (Print).
In the export options dialog box, click the Output tab.
Under Color Conversion, choose Convert To Destination.
Under Destination, choose a Dot Gain or Gray Gamma destination.

Editing photos and images in InDesign is easier and faster than working in Photoshop, and it offers more flexibility and freedom for experimentation and adjustment so the introduction of the grayscale feature in InDesign CS6 is a welcome addition.

Indesign – Tips and Tricks When Working with Objects

Jeff — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:05:04 +0000

Super Step & Repeat:

Alt-Shift/Option-Shift drag an object to make a copy. But before you release the mouse, press either right arrow or up arrow to make additional copies between the existing objects.

Frame Fitting:

To fit a frame to a graphic: Double-click a corner of the frame (or Cmd-Opt-C / Ctrl-Alt-C.) This also works with text frames.

Resizing Content in a Frame:

The set of shortcuts for fitting an image to a frame is also useful, and with it you can easily adapt content the way you want. To keep the frame the same size and fit the content proportionally, press Command + Option + Shift + E. (Note that if the image and frame have different proportions, then some white space will be left.)

To fill the frame proportionally, use Command + Option + Shift + C. (If the image and frame have different proportions, then the image will be resized and end up larger than the frame, being cropped the edges.)

To center the content in the frame, use Command + Shift + E. And if you want the image to stay the same and resize the frame instead, then fit the frame to the content with Command + Option + C.

Selecting Frames:

Selecting the top frame is easy, but if a lot of frames are overlapping or one is on top of the other, you can cycle through them by holding Command on Mac and Control on Windows and then clicking on the frames to select the lower one. Keep clicking to cycle through them if you have several frames.

Live Distribute:

Select multiple objects (frames or lines) that are in a row and then click a side handle of one of the outermost objects. Hold down the spacebar and drag the handle to increase/decrease space between objects vertically or horizontally. Or, drag a corner handle to distribute the space between objects diagonally.

Gridify:

To create a grid of objects, start drawing a new object and before you release the mouse, press the right arrow or up arrow to add rows and columns of objects. To increase/decrease space between them, press Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) right or up arrow while drawing. To finish, release the mouse.

Live Corner Effects:

Click the yellow square on the right side of any frame to activate Live Corners. Drag a yellow diamond to increase/decrease the corner effect. Opt/Alt-click the yellow diamond to cycle through the other corner styles. Opt/Alt-Shift-click to change just one corner.

Placing multiple images:?Choose File>Place. Select one or more images to place. Your cursor will show a thumbnail of the first image. Click on the page to place one image at a time.??Options:?-When the cursor is loaded with multiple images, press the left or right arrow key to cycle through the images. ?-Press Esc to delete an image without placing it.?-To place all the graphics in a grid of frames, Cmd+Shift-click (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift-click (PC) and drag to create the grid.?-To add rows or columns to the grid, press the right or up arrow key before you release the mouse.

Replacing one image with another:

Choose File> Place to select an image. Then Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) click on an existing image on the layout you’d like to replace with the new one.

New features of Adobe InDesign CS6

Phil — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:13:46 +0000

Adobe InDesign CS6 brings some exciting and dramatic new changes to the design tool, helping publishers and designers think differently about how they create content so they can be more efficient and effective. With new adaptive design tools, content repositories, and a large number of general improvements, InDesign has become a more versatile desktop publishing application that gives you pixel-perfect control over design and typography.

InDesign CS6 lets designers reuse content in different layouts from smartphone to billboard, and a lot more. Use Adaptive Design Tools to easily repurpose layouts to look great on a variety of pages sizes, orientations, or devices. As a staging area for typography, imagery, and graphical content, InDesign CS6 is of course tightly integrated with related Adobe programs such as Illustrator, Acrobat, Photoshop, and Flash Professional. Let’s take a tour of some of the new key new features of InDesign CS6.

Alternate Layout

With the constant onslaught of new web devices such as iPads, Androids and playbooks etc., all with different screen sizes, resolutions, and aspect ratios, the chore of repositioning content for different page sizes, keeping track of them and maintaining them can become a nightmare. Adobe has finally listened to those tired publishers and designers that struggle to produce layouts that work across multiple channels and devices on very tight deadlines.

Alternate Layout lets you create and design multiple versions of a layout for different devices and print needs, all within a single InDesign file. Where formerly a user might have created a different-sized variation of a layout in a separate document, these pages can now be effectively created and managed within the same document. CS6 has the ability to add groups of different-sized pages to an existing document. Leveraging the concept of sections, InDesign CS6 allows a primary set of layouts to be duplicated into an alternate set of layouts with a different page size under a grouping name. As a result, the Pages panel has been enhanced. It can now show you several versions of a document at once.

Liquid Layout

Liquid Layouts take the concept of Alternate Layouts a step further. It is intended to help reduce the amount of work it takes to reformat pages, or portions of pages, for different sizes and aspect ratios. Similar to the basic concept of Layout Adjustment in previous versions, Liquid Layouts in InDesign CS6 provide a more robust alternative to help automate the creation of layouts in multiple sizes. Page rules that dictate how page elements move and change as different page aspect ratio affect them can be established?at the master or individual page level to allow?for automatic scaling, re-centering, content fitting, and repagination. These page rules can be applied to automatically adapt content when you create an alternate layout with a different size or orientation in InDesign CS6. Liquid page rules make designing for multiple page sizes and orientations more efficient.

Content Collector

The Content Collector tool lets users capture content from one layout, page or document and use it in another. It is basically copy and paste on steroids as you get an unlimited number of clipboards! A pop up ‘conveyer’ that appears at the bottom of the screen allows the user to grab multiple pieces of content and repurpose throughout the same or separate documents. You can repurpose single or multiple pieces of content simply by dragging the content out of the conveyer whilst choosing to keep or remove them from the conveyer. By default, a placed item will be removed from the conveyor but there is the option to keep it in the conveyor so that it’s available for any document. The content collector is a fast way to replicate pieces of copy and graphics across multiple layouts and documents.

What’s great about the Content Collector tools is that you can collect multiple items at once and a number will be displayed to indicate the number of items. When you come to place them you can choose to place an individual item or all of them at once and InDesign will remember the relationship between all the elements making it very quick and easy to serialize a design. It’s very easy to see how this new addition could be instantly built into a designer’s workflow, making the tedious task of updating logos and folios across a whole magazine or publication, for example, an absolute breeze.

When you choose either of these tools, a new interface element called the Content Conveyor appears on the screen.

Align Tool

In addition to the enhanced text capabilities, the Align tool has also had a tweak allowing you to choose a key object to use as the anchor and then pick an alignment option. Although these may seem like tiny adjustments, and are footnotes on Adobe’s billing of the new features, it’s little things like this that, when combined, can make a more substantial difference to a daily workload. It also shows that Adobe has listened to designers and their grievances over little things that just don’t work.

Text Frames

Text frames can now be made to resize automatically to fit the content within them. The auto size tool lets you set a text frame to automatically resize itself based on the amount of text it has, dynamically moving frame edges to fit as you edit the contents. You can specify that the auto-sizing is restricted to Height Only, Width Only, or both. This function could prove useful on documents where live copy is written straight onto the page, and the layout isn’t set in stone, allowing the designer to set the parameters.

Primary Text Frames

Another powerful new feature for adapting layouts is the ability to designate a Primary Text Frame on each master page. So if you need to apply a different master page to document pages, InDesign can smartly and seamlessly flow the text through the new primary text frame. When you apply a different master page to your layout page, the story in the Primary Text Frame flows into the Primary Text Frame, following its shape and location from the new master page. And you no longer need to override a Primary Text Frame before adding text. This will eliminate a constant source of confusion for newcomers.

Corner Options

Corner Options allows you to manually adapt both the corner size and shape to Bevel, Inset, Inverse Rounded and Rounded. This can come in very handy when creating web mockups.

Linked Content

The Linked Content feature was introduced in CS5.5, but taken to a higher level in InDesign CS6. This feature allows you to have “parent” content that is linked to “child” content that can appear in several places in a single document, or spread across several documents. Linked Content establishes and manages a parent and child connection between these elements so that the original source content can be updated once, with the changes reflected in all locations.

PDF Forms Within InDesign

With CS6, it is possible to create interactive form fields directly within InDesign, making it possible to specify exactly how check boxes and signature fields will look before exporting to PDF.

Recently Used Fonts

Access fonts you use frequently. Recently used fonts appear at the top of the font list

Gray scale preview

You can preview a color layout in Gray scale on the screen, and then export to a gray scale PDF right from InDesign.

Split Window

The Split Window feature lets you see two different views of your layout at once.

InDesign CS6 features a host of incremental improvements that build on the solid foundations that were established by its predecessors.

Architecture Firm Trifold Brochure Template

Phil — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:49:25 +0000

Tri-fold brochure for architectural/professional services firm

Professional, structured design

Works with CS4, CS5 and up

This is an InDesign trifold brochure template for an architectural or other professional services firm. Simple to use, and looks great. Customize the colours, and insert your text and images. This template works with InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Public Relations Firm Flyer Template

Phil — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:49:14 +0000

Half page flyer template for a public relations/professional services firm

Simple, professional design

Works with CS4, CS5 and up

This is a half page InDesign flyer template for a public relations or professional services firm, which can be used for promotional purposes or otherwise. You can customize your image and colours, abut the layout is already done for you. This template works with InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Golf Tournament Flyer Template

Phil — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:49:24 +0000

Quarter page flyer template for a golf / sports tournament

Elegant and professional design

Works with CS4, CS5 and up

This is a quarter-page InDesign flyer template for a golf or sports tourament. Customize the colours, and insert your text and images. This template works with InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Nutritional and Health Trifold Brochure Template

Phil — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:49:14 +0000

Tri-fold brochure to promote health and nutrition

Fun, professional design

Works with CS4, CS5 and up

This is an InDesign trifold brochure template for general nutrition or health. Use this template to promote a healthier lifestyle, your company’s employee benefits, or any other health and wellness initiative. This is a professional yet fun design. Customize the colours, and insert your own text and images. This template works with InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Hair Salon Flyer Template

Phil — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:49:15 +0000

One page flyer template for a hair/beauty salon

Fun, fitting design

Works with CS4, CS5 and up

This is an InDesign flyer template for a hair or beauty salon. Advertise and promote your services through images, and provide your contact information. Customize the colours, and insert your text and images. This template works with InDesign CS4 and CS5.