How to Create Documents with InDesign

Step Two:

Inserting Contet

Step One:

Creating Pages

To Create a Page:

File

New Document (CTRL + N)

Input formatting options

Create

1. Option One:Place Files into Document

With your cursor, click and select the File tab in the upper left hand corner of the screen.
Scroll down thirteen words/phrases from the top to Place[1].
Select Place, as depicted in Photo Two.
Find your desired file to insert via the File window that pops up on your screen, and open in InDesign.
The file(s) will be loaded onto your cursor within InDesign after selecting Open from the File window.
Double click on any page number to place your text within your InDesign pages.
Your content will appear on the page.

2. Option Two: Create a text box

With your cursor, select the T icon six icons down from the top on the far left bar of the InDesign screen (also accessible via T key).
Click the T icon – the Text icon. Your cursor is now loaded to create a text box.
Move your cursor over to an InDesign page.
Click and drag your cursor on an InDesign page until a blue box appears.
Stop holding the mouse when you’ve drawn your box.
To resize or move your text box, click on the box with the selection tool[2] – the first icon located at the far left tool bar on your InDesign screen. It is a black filled cursor.
With the selection tool, click any edge of the text box and hold down the mouse. Drag your box to your desired dimension.

Now that we have discussed the options for inserting text, we will discuss the process for centering objects on InDesign pages and the process for inputting images.

Centering Text:

To make your text boxes and content centered, use your cursor to click and select your content.
Drag your content around the InDesign page until pink lines appear as shown in Photo Three. A vertical and horizontal line will appear. These lines will alert you of where your content is in relation to a four-sectioned grid within an InDesign page.

Adding more text:

If you want to alter your text, double click on your text using your cursor.

A toolbar will appear at the top of the InDesign home screen with text manipulation options akin to those featured in Microsoft Word.

Once a cursor is blinking, start typing to add text.
Inputting & Centering Images:

Option One: Place Files into InDesign, A through G are the same directions for inputting images onto your pages.

Centering Text is the same set of directions for centering images.

[1] also accessible via V + ESCAPE keys

[2] also accessible via CTRL + D keys

To input a design, word, object, or format onto all of your InDesign pages without altering individual pages, select the Pages tab on the far right corner of the InDesign home screen with your cursor.
A small box will open on the upper right corner of your screen displaying an overview of all your InDesign pages.
In this box, the second visual of two blank white pages is labeled A-Master.
Click on the Master page visual and two blank white pages will open on your InDesign screen
These two blank pages are the Master Pages. Whatever you do to them you do to the rest of your pages. There is a left and a right master page. The left master page correlates to all of your left sided pages. The right master page correlates to all of your right sided pages.
To alter the left sided pages, double-click with your cursor on the left sided master page. When it is highlighted gray, the master page is selected. This same process applies for your right sided pages.
To insert a text box, file, or image in the master pages see the previous Inserting Content section above.
If you do not want to have a master page template affect all of your pages, you can click and drag on the blank page icon labeled “None” above the master pages icon in the “Pages” window.
Once you click and select the “None” page icon, drag and drop it onto your desired page. This will eradicate any master page formatting on the page you click and drag the “none” page onto.
To delete anything in your InDesign pages, use your cursor with the selection tool to click and select an object. Once the object is selected, press the Delete key.

Step Three:

Using the Master Pages

Creating Documents with InDesign

Below is an overview on how to make a document within Adobe InDesign. This document contains three sections: Creating Pages, Inserting Content, and Using the Master Pages. Each section is headed by a brief summary of the section content followed by a short bulleted list of the main key names and actions covered. At the end of this document, a link is provided with a video tutorial of all the content covered.

While in Abode InDesign, click and select the upper left hand File tab with your cursor.
Click and select the option New Document[1] with your cursor within the File tab.
A window labeled New Document will pop up in the center of the screen. Within the New Document window, you will be asked to choose formatting options. The formatting options are labeled: Document Preset; Intent; Number of Pages; Start Page; Page Size; Columns; Margins; Bleed and Slug. All of these featured are shown on Photo One.
We will now go over each section within the New Document window.

Document Preset:
Click and select the Default option in the first drop down menu.
Intent:
Click and select your desired formatting for print, web, or digital publishing for your document in the second drop down menu.
Number of Pages/Start Page:
Type in the number of pages you wish your document to have. Type in the page number you want your document to start on within Start Page via the text boxes labeled Number of Pages and Start Page.
Leave the Primary Text Frame button unselected if you wish to create your own text boxes and to have no preset pages formats. Otherwise, select the Primary Text Frame to establish a text frame on the InDesign pages.
Page Size:
Click on the third drop down menu in the New Document box labeled Page Size. Click and select the style of your pages.
Width & Height:
Type in with numbers the width and height dimensions to dictate the area of your pages. To input width and height in inches, put a quotation mark after the last digit. InDesign will convert it automatically to its measurements.
Orientation:
Two icons are provided for page orientation. The left icon correlates to a vertical or portrait orientation. The right icon correlates to a horizontal or landscape orientation. Click and select either icon to choose your page orientation.
Columns:
Type in with numbers, the number of columns you want featured on each page.
Gutter[2]:
Type in with numbers your desired width for your gutter. Put a quotation mark after the final digit to signify inches. InDesign will convert it automatically.
Margins:
Type in with numbers your desired margin dimensions.
By clicking the link icon in the middle of the text boxes, you can make your dimensions symmetrical or asymmetrical
When the link is selected, changing one dimension will affect all dimensions
When the link is unselected, each dimension is independent of one another and you can customize your margins
Bleed & Slug[3]:
To alter bleed and slug dimensions, click and select the icon to the left of the words Bleed and Slug. Text boxes will appear.
Within the text boxes, type in with numbers the dimensions for your bleed and slug
You can make all dimensions the same for both bleed and slug by clicking on the link icon to the far right of the text boxes
Making the bleed dimensions congruent will not necessitate the slug dimensions to be congruent
Preview:
To get a sneak peak at your document pages, click and select the box next to the word Preview in the lower left hand corner of your New Document window.

Click and select the OK button at lower right hand corner of the New Document window to publish your booklet.

Now that you have gone through all the New Document window options for your page formats, we will cover how to add or delete pages within InDesign.

To add more pages, select Pages on the far right hand corner of the InDesign home screen with your cursor.

A small window will appear on the top right hand corner of your screen,
At the bottom of this window, locate the middle of three icons. This icon is a page with the bottom corner turned up.
Click and select the page icon to add one page to your existing document. Pages will be added in after your preexisting pages. Click and select the page icon again to add another page.

To delete pages, select Pages on the far right hand corner of the InDesign home screen with your cursor.

A small window will appear on the top right hand corner of your screen,
At the bottom of this window, locate the right-side of three icons. This icon is a trash can.
Click and select the pages you wish to delete in the Pages window until they are highlighted gray. Then select the trash icon to delete them.

[1] also accessible via CTRL + N keys

[2] “The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines.” (http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/pagelayout/g/gutter.htm)

[3] “…bleed (the parts of text or objects that extend past the page boundary to account for slight inaccuracy when trimming) or slug area (an area outside the page and bleed that contains printer instructions or job sign-off information).” (https://forums.adobe.com/thread/329596\)

To Insert Content:

OPTION ONE

File

Place

Select File(s)

Click onto InDesign page with loaded cursor

OPTION TWO

Select T (text tool)

Click and draw text box on page
Double click text box to type

Master Pages:

Pages tab

Pages window

A – Master template

Add new or delete pages off Pages tab via icons in lower bar of pages