Denver InDesign User Group Home Meeting Summary Archive

Meeting Summary

Denver IDUG: Extending InDesign and Using Effects
Tue, Jun 2nd, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Front Range Community College: Westminster Campus
Event Details

A. Meeting Business
Our auction was a great success, as usual. Our members, once again, bid on some great items...the big one being the FULL Creative Suite Design Premium! We raised over $600 this meeting. Thank you to all the bidders and for everyone's enthusiasm for the auction and the group. We realize times are tough and appreciate all that our members do to support the group in all the ways you do...thank you!

Our training on Interactive PDF went well. The best way to keep up-to-date on upcoming training is to check the group's website often: www.idugdenver.net. We might try to get a registration form online at some point in the future. Please email admin@idugdenver.net if you have ideas for upcoming training sessions.

We have a brand new food sponsor: Charles Holt and Melissa Ollila of Pebmac: Mac consultants extraordinaire. They provided us with some great snacks at the meeting. Special thank you to our other current sponsors Yellow Dog Printing and New Horizons.

Don't forget about all of your member benefits, such as a 2-year subscription to InDesign Magazine for only $39, and a 15% discount on Adobe Software at the Adobe Store! Member benefits can be found in the Member Area at www.indesignusergroup.com.

Have a meeting topic that you are dying to know about or would you like to do a presentation? Please send an e-mail to admin@idugdenver.net.

B. Presentation
1. Extending InDesign-Using Scripts and Plugins
Presenter: Brian Reyman

Presentation Summary:
Extending InDesign is about adding functionality, like adding dealer options to a car.

Plugins:
Protected
Ease of use
More features

Scripts:
Free
More accessible
Easy to create

Top places to look for free plugins and scripts:
Adobe Plugin list: www.adobe.com/products/plugins/indesign/?prom
InDesign Secrets: www.indesignsecrets.com/free
Adobe Exchange: www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange

**Be aware that plugins sometimes are required for file view if it was used to create the file.
Plugins - Pretty much install and they are ready to go.
Scripts - Open in InDesign via Window menu>Automation>Scripts
To install a script: Right-click the user drop down in the Script Panel. Then click to reveal in finder. Place script from your hard drive in to the window that was revealed in finder.
**You may be able to edit scripts with the Extended Script Toolkit that comes with InDesign. You can also write scripts with this tool.

Some good plugin and script suggestions (all free): most can be found in the previous list
Script: CalendarWizard
Allows you to setup a calendar layout automatically
Plugin: Tetris
You can play Tetris within your InDesign program
Script: NumberAdjuster
Will allow you to adjust numbers within a story or document
Plugin: MultiDo
Puts the undo and redo steps in the File menu so you can see them
Plugin: MultiPageImporter
Allows you to import multiple PDF or InDesign pages into a layout all at once. Has added functions like start page and object scaling. Better than the plugin that comes with InDesign
Script: SplitStory
Allows you to break the threading between two stories and split them into individual text frames

2. Transparency Effects Within InDesign
Presenter: Barb Binder of Rocky Mountain Training

Presentation Summary:
Colorizing a placed image:
Has to be a grayscale bitmap
Place the file in InDesign
Color background by using selection tool
Tint image by using direct selection tool and selecting a color

In the Effects panel for CS2 you only had blending mode and opacity as options. Now you have an expanded range of options. To get to the effects panel you can go to Window menu > Effects. To get additional effects that you can apply to objects in your layout, click the fx button at the bottom of the Effects panel or click the button in the tool bar. You can also access it via Objects menu > Effects.

A basic effect that has been said to be the most over used is the Drop Shadow. Those familiar with Photoshop will recognize how the drop shadow menu options work. It gives you a light source angle, size, and opacity. You can also add in some noise for realism.

Feather is another useful effect. There are a couple types of feathering:
Basic Feather:
Softens the edges on all sides
Directional Feather:
Lets you control the side of the object that is being feathered.
Gradient Feather:
Gives you a gradient stop so you can add multiple colors or shades of gray to you feather effect. There is also a Gradient Feather tool on the tool bar that will give you an interactive or visual experience when trying to use the Gradient Feather feature.

Thank you

Jonathan McGrew for taking the meeting notes on the spur of the moment
Julie Geary for being the greeter at each meeting
Charles Holt and Melissa Ollila Pebmac for the delicious food at the meeting
Dan Mulligan, Yellow Dog Printing, for the awesome banner
Dan Baron New Horizons for the training space
All of our members for making our little InDesign community great!

Upcoming Industry Events

New Lightroom & Photoshop User Group in Denver
Denver now has its own Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop User Group. Membership is free. Meetings are free. Giveaways and light snacks during the meetings are free. (Are you detecting the trend here?)

If you live in the Denver or Front Range community, this is a great opportunity to network with other photographers in the area and to learn more about Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography. All (beginner to advanced) are welcome!

Becoming a member of the group is free! Simply click the link below, create a free account with Adobe and join the group. Also, don't forget to RSVP for any meetings you'd like to attend -- it helps us plan to make sure we have enough room and snacks. www.dalpug.com

Comments from attendees

"Very good - learned a lot. Good overview of scripts and plug ins. Understand effects a little better."

"I enjoyed tonight’s meeting and learned a lot."

"Thanks for showing us plug-ins -- it opens up a whole new set of possibilities. Great presentation on effects. Thanks for the handout."

"Never really think about scripts -- good to know."

Next Meeting

The next meeting is set for Tuesday, August 4, 2009. Networking starts at 6 and the meeting starts at 6:30...Help Desk presentation from about 6:15-6:30. Check out www.idugdenver.net for the latest meeting information. Hope to see you all there!

Don't forget to bring a friend — you’ll get auction bucks and you'll be helping to grow our membership.