15 Great Resources for Learning Adobe InDesign

Alright vector lovers, let’s turn on multiple-pages ‘eh! Adobe Illustrator is great, it’s my favorite program actually, but even with the new Artboards feature in CS4 it just doesn’t compare to InDesign for creating multi-page documents. If you’ve been meaning to get started with InDesign, but have put it off for whatever reason, well now is the time to get stared!

This article rounds up a bunch of great resources on learning Adobe InDesign, which will get users started and keep intermediate users growing. And for any of you advanced InDesign users out there, or professional InDesign craftsmen, drop us a line because we’re looking to add more InDesign resources to Vectortuts+. Now let’s review these InDesign resources!

Blogs and Sites

1. InDesign Secrets

This site is loaded with great features. They have a videocast on InDesign. There are loads of great quick tips, articles, and tutorials from multiple authors. The content is diverse and updated regularly. InDesign Secrets is a must see resource for learning InDesign.

2. Layers Magazine

If you’re not familiar with Layers Magazine, well then you should be. Aside from there actual magazine, they have loads of high-quality video and text based tutorials on lots of Adobe products. Check out their section on InDesign Tutorials.

3. Instant InDesign

This website is meant to accompany the book “Instant InDesign,” which focuses exclusively on the art of template design and production. However, there are loads of resources here for you to use, even if you haven’t purchased the book. There are quality video posts and articles on a broad range of InDesign subjects, like layout, merging data, automation, and various design tools.

4. The InDesigner

Michael Murphy, who wrote such books as “Adobe InDesign CS4 Styles: How to Create Better, Faster Text and Layouts,” runs this site. The blog is updated regularly with high quality posts, and while not as regularly posted, he has a videocast as well.

Here’s a quote from .Net Magazine, “Michael Murphy is a veteran art director with an encyclopedic knowledge of Adobe’s InDesign, and his vidcasts are aimed at users who want to find easier, faster or more productive ways of getting the job done.”

5. InDesign Magazine

Most of the resources listed in this article are web based, but the fact that there is a magazine dedicated to InDesign is something those looking to learn this program, and stay up to date with it, should know. They do have weekly tips online though. And you can sign up for a free issue of the magazine as well.

6. Tips & Techniques

This is a blog run by Keith Gilbert, who is a software trainer and consultant specializing in the graphic design market. The blog covers design production tips, techniques and news, also InDesign is the most covered topic on the site. There are some great posts and tips for InDesign users on this blog.

7. Scratch Disk

This blog is run by The North American Technical Resources team, which is a small group of Application Engineers who sell and support Adobe’s professional desktop applications. They post regularly on news and often technical issues they discover, along with workable solutions. InDesign is often covered in their posts.

8. Tim Cole’s InDesign BackChannel

This blog’s main focus is on InDesign. It’s not updated often, but the content that is there is high quality and worth your time to check out.

9. Adobe InDesign Support

Adobe’s official support channel for InDesign. Loads of resources at your fingertips here. Get access to official Adobe articles, access the help, and find even more great InDesign blogs, forums, and community sites here.

10. Adobe TV InDesign Videos

There are some great instructional videos here produced by Adobe for InDesign users, as well as other Adobe products. Aside from this great site, there are certainly other places you can look for InDesign video. Check out Vimeo and YouTube for free content, or jump over to Lynda.com for some great premium video training.

11. InDesign Docs

This blog, which is updated regularly, has loads of informative posts on InDesign. It’s run by a passionate InDesign expert Bob Bringhurst. He a lead InDesign and InCopy writer and posts about updates to InDesign help as well as loads of tips on this blog.

Tutorials and Resources

12. 30 Tutorials That Will Teach You InDesign

There are a whole lot of tutorials here to get started with InDesign. They are a bit randomly organized though. You could also try searching some tutorial directories, like Pixel2Life as well.

13. Seneca Design – Indesign Resources

There are a lot of resources here. It’s very well organized. You can grab some handouts, tips, and links to a whole lot of InDesign resources.

14. The InDesign Guy

The is a resource page from Robert Levine, a certified InDesign expert with lots of experience teaching this program. There are links to tutorials he’s written, as well as others. He’s just one of the many professionals that would be awesome to work with on Vectortuts+. Everyone cross your fingers.

15. Answers to Reader Questions on InDesign

Aside from tutorials, it’s great when blog owners answer reader questions that come up directly. This blog post does just that. While it’s just one reader’s question, this often is something that many users would like to know. A whole lot of InDesign concerns are alleviated in one swoop here as Lauren Marie lists a bunch of shortcuts for working with InDesign and links to beginning articles she’s written on InDesign. Also, part of the theme of this post is the process of switching from Quark over to InDesign.

We’re Looking for Advanced InDesign Users and Pros to Make Tutorials for Vectortuts+

We’ve become known for creating high-quality Adobe Illustrator tutorials here on Vectortuts+, which is great, and the Tuts+ network as a whole covers a good section of Adobe software. We have a few beginner InDesign tutorials, but would like to offer our readers more here on that subject. We’re especially interested in covering InDesign tools that work well with vector graphics, as that is the focus of this site.

If you’re a professional or advanced user of of InDesign and have a penchant for producing tutorials, or have a good idea for a tut, contact us and pitch an idea. We’re looking to add more InDesign content and possibly even add another writer to the team, if we find someone who is the right fit. I look forward to meeting some great InDesign artists.

If you as a reader have a subject on InDesign, or something related, like page layout, and would like to see it covered here on the site, then let us know in the comments below. Also, if you know of any other great InDesign resources, your favorite tutorial online, or anything else that is related, feel free to leave a link below.

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