MACA 2150 - Advanced Digital Layout

Credit Hours: 4.00

Objectives:
Produce simple and complex documents using Adobe InDesign.
Demonstrate how to change application defaults.
Navigate through an electronic document.
Use the tools needed to place, create and modify graphics, images and text in an electronic document.

Outcome 2: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to identify problems, approach them systematically, and explore solutions.

Objectives:
Employ the use of spot color (Pantone) or CMYK (4 color process).
Employ the use of a network and a server.
Demonstrate how to change application defaults.
Navigate through an electronic document.
Use the tools needed to place, create and modify graphics, images and text in an electronic document.

Outcome 3: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to create composite images electronically.

Objectives:
Demonstrate the basics of electronic image assembly.
Produce B/W and /or color images.
Electronically output composite images using B/W and color printers.
Employ the use of spot color (Pantone) or CMYK (4 color process).

1. Introduction
   1. The electronic mechanical
   2. InDesign and the InDesign environment
   3. Design: considering type and graphic elements
   4. Type fonts
   5. Typographic measurement
   6. Use of space
   7. Images
2. Working with files
   1. Creating a new InDesign document
   2. Modifying the document setup
   3. Save options
3. Tools, menus, and palettes
   1. The tool palette
   2. The menu bars
   3. Other palettes
4. Navigating InDesign
   1. Zooming in and out
   2. Scrolling
   3. Resizing the window
   4. Frequently used shortcuts
5. Guides, margins, and rulers
   1. Viewing, adjusting and removing guides
   2. Setting margins, columns and gutters
   3. Understanding the rulers
6. Creating simple objects
   1. Creating lines and shapes
   2. Modifying shapes and content types
7. Creating complex shapes
   1. The pen tools
   2. Anchor points and segments
   3. Closed and open paths
   4. Working with curves
   5. Merging shapes
8. Positioning elements
   1. Duplicating and moving elements
   2. Stacking order
   3. Alignments
9. Manipulating elements
   1. Modify dialog boxes vs. the measurement palette
   2. Skew, scale, rotate, flip, and move elements
   3. Applying transformations to elements
10. Entering, editing, and importing text
    1. Selecting text
    2. Using cut/copy/delete/place and pasting of text
    3. Navigating through text blocks
    4. Overset text icon
    5. Linking text boxes
11. Working with colors and frames
    1. Frames and background colors
    2. Using the swatches, color palettes
    3. Defining colors
    4. Blends
    5. Frames
12. Paragraph formatting
    1. Paragraph styles
    2. Rules and paragraph leading
    3. Setting tabs
13. Creating text on a path
    1. Text on circles
    2. Controlling the position of type on paths
14. Character formatting
    1. Character styles
    2. Edit existing styles
15. Images
    1. Placing images
    2. Copy/cut and paste images
    3. Scaling placed images
    4. Modifying image frames
    5. Cropping pictures
    6. Locating an image within a document
    7. Updating
16. Master pages
    1. Creating elements on master pages
    2. Headers and footers
    3. Modifying master page items on document pages
17. Working with text
    1. Spell check/dictionaries
    2. Hyphenation and justification
    3. Using find/change
    4. Double spaces after periods
    5. Hyphens, en- and em-dashes
    6. Smart quotes
    7. Rags, widows and orphans
    8. Story palette
    9. Glyphs palette
18. Printing and packaging
    1. Page setup dialog box
    2. Printing your document
    3. Getting a document ready for a service provider
    4. Preflighting, packaging your document
    5. PDFs
    6. Separations
19. Structuring your layouts.
    1. Grids
    2. Using custom grids and templates
    3. Kerning and tracking
20. Working with shapes
    1. Complex merging
    2. Advanced pen tool techniques
21. Complex text elements
    1. Converting text to paths
    2. Putting type inside of graphics
    3. Text on paths
22. Text and graphics together
    1. Coloring text and text boxes
    2. Text wraps
    3. Alternative to automatic runarounds
    4. InDesign clipping paths
    5. Adjusting hyphenation and justification of text wraps
23. Advanced styles
    1. Heirarchy
    2. Appending styles from another document
    3. Styles and workflow
    4. Creating object styles
24. Working with long documents
    1. The importance of consistency
    2. Books
25. Managing output
    1. Pre-sets
    2. Tiling
    3. Halftones and duotones
    4. Using the PPD manager
    5. Postscript and InDesign
    6. Creating an output request form
    7. Imposition
    8. Output tips
    9. Separations