Adobe InDesign is a platform popular amongst publications to create and edit graphic design work. To open a new file, click the blue new file button and adjust the dimensions once the pop-up screen opens. Picas are very small units that are common in this program. You can change this to another unit you are more familiar with using the drop-down menu
Once the document has opened, there will be many options to click around the sides of the screen. The most important is the left side, where the different tools are displayed.
The most important basic functions are:
- The black arrow is the selection tool, which acts as the normal cursor
- The white T is the text box tool, which creates textboxes. This is also the tool to use for text editing.
- The pen and pencil tools can be used to draw shapes. The pencil is used to draw freehand, while the pen is used to draw straighter lines
- The two rectangle tools are used to make rectangles in your file. The one with a cross through it creates transparent rectangles and the one that is shaded grey creates rectangles with opaque borders.
- The eyedropper tool allows you to pick up the color values/swatch of the item you are clicking on. You can use this color in other sections of your work.
- The hand tool allows you to navigate around your work, clicking and dragging will let you move around the file.