InDesign is the best layout application out there right now. Bar none! But is it perfect? No!
Sometimes you can run into problems that can really leave you scratching your head. I know one of these problems was discussed in great detail on the Layers Forum a while back – stubborn swatches that won’t delete from the Swatches palette. The best answer was to simply export the layout as a InDesign Interchange document (File > Export), choose InDesign Interchange (inx) as the Format and Save. Then open the Interchange document in InDesign CS2 and you can delete the pesky swatch with no problem. Easy!
I ran into an interesting problem with an 8½ X 11″ Quark layout for a book when I opened it in InDesign. The pages in the Quark layout had not been prepared properly by the artist, so I tried to correct it in InDesign. For some unexplained reason, my “fixes” made the height of the pasteboard humongous – over 48″ tall. Very strange! My first thought was to Export the layout to Interchange format and then open this “cleansed” layout in InDesign. Sure enough, it worked, the Pasteboard was back to normal. So whenever you run into an unexplained problem, give it a shot. Try Exporting the problem away.
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.
Author: jeff witchel
Jeff Witchel graduated from Pratt Institute in 1973 with a B.F.A. (Cum Laude) in Advertising Design and Visual Communications. He has been an award-winning advertising art director, writer, designer, illustrator, and TV producer ever since.
Before starting his own advertising agency in New Jersey, Jeff built his career at top New York ad agencies such as Young & Rubicam, Grey Advertising, and Wells, Rich, Greene. Over the years, he has created award-winning work for many clients including AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Jell-O Pudding, The Plaza Hotel, and Pfizer. His many prestigious awards include N.Y. Art Directors Club Gold Award, One Show Gold Award, N.J. Art Directors Club Award, multiple Andy Awards, Graphis Annual, numerous readership awards, plus an Emmy Award nomination.
Jeff is a self-taught computer artist with over 19 years of experience. His initial introduction to the computer was with PageMaker, but he switched to Quark 1.0 when it was first introduced in 1987. Having arrived on the desktop publishing scene so early, Jeff became the “go to” guy for answers when others started getting into computer graphics.
As an Adobe Certified Expert, he’s provided online support for Adobe and is now an Adobe Certified Training Provider for both Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe InDesign CS2. Jeff is one of just a handful of Adobe Certified Instructors in the New York metropolitan area. He also is a Quark Certified Expert in QuarkXPress 6 as well as a master of Adobe Photoshop and related applications. He counts among his training clients ad agencies, design studios, magazines, illustrators, and photographers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
