In the many months I’ve been blogging away here on Mrs. Bankrupt, I’ve never touched on this topic. Techie sites don’t usually trip my trigger. I’m not a software person, nor a whiz at such things. Frankly, in years past if the truth be told, I was one of those who clung to my old Royal Standard typewriter, when technology was moving at lightening speeds ahead of me. I didn’t care for what seemed eons to my budding computer geek children.
I liked the click clack of the keys and imagined all the Pulitzers that were written by such lovely devices. I could close my eyes and breathe in harmony as the return slammed triumphantly with authors across the globe. Another ancient product I’ve clung to throughout the decades has been my pen and moleskin. For those of you who don’t know what that is, you’re missing out on the pocket journal poets and authors scrawled the greatest works of literature on. Yes, I’m proudly (and perhaps defiantly) reluctant to move forward into technology’s world.
I did obviously succumb to the computer world, now finding Explorer and Word to be more efficient, but not as sublime as my beloved typewriter and moleskin. I’m rarely free from a computer and often, without Spell-check’s mind numbing effects discover I’ve lost sadly much of my abilities to spell words I formerly knew. I don’t know in pondering if I’ll ever get over the nostalgia of days gone by. Not only am missing my clacking keyboard, I’m also dumber.
This week though, I did find something that helped ease my transition. Some of you reading this might be budding computer geeks, or be as I was completely unaware of the wonders of certain software. Let me share with you two lovely finds I’ve made this week you may enjoy if you fall into either of those groups.
In the course of my economic plan to move into freelance writing, I took on a project to write brochures for a client. As a writer, I was excited. Give me a topic and an hour and you’ll have an article. Even when I’m the most brain dead I can still create verbal spam that most folks seem to actually (gasp) pay for. Lest you have any ideas in your head about writing for a living, it’s a process not a linear point on a map. When you first start, you’ve got to write for peanuts and be glad for the peanuts- because now on a global market, we writers compete with hut dwelling folks in Pakistan who’ll write a 5K e-book for a buck.
I was thrilled, therefore to get a large (and well paying) project. There was only one downside- I had to create my own brochures to go with said written content. As one who has used MS Publisher for this sort of task, I wasn’t daunted by the idea of creating brochures on another format. How difficult could Adobe’s InDesign be anyway? That wasn’t my choice, but the client’s- who laid out very specific guidelines about what and how said items were to be delivered.
Not being one to give up when food-on-the- table -money was evident, I threw myself into learning this process. InDesign, for those unenlightened is considered by graphic artists to be one of the premier tools to create… well, graphic material- visuals and such that we are bombarded with but seldom think or care how they were created.
Things to know for the non-geeks in the event of an emergency “I’ve got to use InDesign” moment:
- InDesign is challenging. There’s a 300 page book on this topic (and it’s the Dummy version) floating around. I shudder to think how volumous the tech guides are.
- Adobe uses a foreign language for their software. Try inserting a picture. You’ll spend a half hour looking for the missing “insert” button. There isn’t one, by the way. There also isn’t much of what I’m used to, screens that don’t let you copy and paste, others that do. Changing the color on font was a stroke of blind luck that nearly resulted in a full fledged keg party at my house.
- InDesign, however is worth every moment of initial frustration. The quality far surpasses what MS Publisher aspires to.
- If you must learn InDesign via crash course like myself, lean on my colleagues at Ehow for initial assistance. Fairly basic articles can be found on a quick search of the site.
- Google your truly stupid questions. You’ll be surprised how many other InDesign morons such as myself exist on the planet who’ve asked the same asinine queries. Some kind techie out there took the time to rescue them and as a secondary measure of heroics rescued me.
- Learn to swear like a sailor. You’ll need it for your first few hours with InDesign. Keep also away from sharp objects and warn the kids to steer clear of you. It takes concentration to become insane.
- Go to Amazon, and read the first few pages of “InDesign for Dummies” for free, it’s enough in the preview to give you the very basics. There are also many YouTube tutorials online that can guide you through some amazing designing tips.
- Layers are the process all the graphic junk is deposited on a page. It’s a simple concept really- once you get the hang of it. And boy, does it produce a plethora of options. Layer a hideous color on one item, make it translucent and add a soft edge and you’ll feel like you’ve created the Mona Lisa.
- Don’t fear screwing up. One universal you can count on is the beloved “undo” key. No one but you needs to know you’ve made 4K small green boxes that don’t belong on the document. Undo=safety net.
If you’ve got to create a document like a brochure and are hopelessly unfamiliar with InDesign- buy a template or get one free online. After searching, I can tell you a fabulous site, fun for the total geek and a life saver for the hopeless InDesign infant. Graphic River is a site where templates are CHEAP- cheap as in a few bucks. Buy a template for max $5 and spruce it up to be your own. I stripped these down to the margins, because setting up the page was the hardest part and then parceled out the graphics on different templates for my projects. Buying their products with the simple license will do you fine. Their commercial license is hefty and unnecessary unless you’re reselling the image or the graphics. Use it for work or a single client and you’re good to go.
You can save big bucks if you’ve got a project to do graphically and are struggling with MS Publisher’s quality by downloading a FREE trial version of Adobe’s InDesign. It’s good for 30 days of insane creativity.
To summarize, after you’ve pulled your hair out, sworn a lot and worn your brain ragged, you will find Adobe’s InDesign to be worth every frustrating moment. Don’t succumb to the overly priced garbage out there for templates- use Graphic River. Techies who like buying virtual wallpaper, bits of graphics and other items will be thrilled with $1 prices on such items. I found one site in my searching that charged $200 for templates, other’s that charged $29-$59 for items of far less quality than the shareware created by Graphic artists on Graphic River. One artist even responded quickly to an email query I had- kudos to Graphic River’s talented folks who sell their stuff for prices we all can afford. Try out InDesign for free and you’ll really love the challenge and the creative energy that flows once you’ve sank your teeth (but not your cash) into it. One more note, you’ll need a zip drive to open the files from Graphic River, use the free version of WinZip to round out the savings!