Acrobat How-to: Enhancing Tutorials With Interactive Elements

A funny thing happens to students after class: They forget what they've learned. But adding interactivity can engage the reader. Try these simple methods.

McCue, Claudia. Creative Pro (2004). Articles>Education>Tutorials>Adobe Acrobat

Adobe FrameMaker 7.1: Fast Software for Long Documents

Producers of technical documentation have long sung the praises of Adobe FrameMaker, but other print designers may wonder what's the big deal. That may change with FrameMaker 7.1, which includes powerful QuarkXPress and PageMaker filters and whizzy conditional-text features.

Glinert, Susan. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Be Prepared: Fill the Gaps in Your Photoshop Know-How

It's next to impossible for one person to know the ins and outs of every single facet of Photoshop. With that in mind, we present three video tutorials to plug a variety of holes in your Photoshop knowledge.

Perkins, Chad. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

Better Than Ginzu Knives: InDesign's Pathfinder Commands  

Every avid chef has little gizmos and gadgets, designed for specific tasks, that find their way to the back of a drawer and are then forgotten. Like those special tools, the Pathfinder commands in InDesign are often forgotten or considered too sophisticated for non-artistic types. Yet they can slice and dice and combine paths in unique ways that add vastly to the repertoire of the InDesign chef. Added to InDesign's other ways to mix up text and graphics, Pathfinder can help you further push the creative edge.

Burns, Diane. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

The Care and Feeding of Freelancers

Freelancers can be bright, savvy, ornery, creative -- a thousand descriptions apply, but 'conformist' usually isn't one of them. Here are some tips for hiring and working with freelancers, and for keeping your employees happy at the same time.

Adams, Eric J. Creative Pro (2004). Careers>Freelance>Management

Color Management How-To: Understanding Computer Color

Learning how to match the color you see on screen with that in your printed output is critical information for any digital artist or photographer. But first you need to understand how color works both on computer display and on paper. Start with this chapter from 'Real World Color Management.'

Bunting, Fred, Bruce Fraser and Chris Murphy. Creative Pro (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress>Color

Commenting on PDF Comments

If your response to the question 'How do you use Acrobat comments?' is a mumbled 'No comment,' then listen up. Comments and annotations are some of the most powerful ways in which Acrobat can streamline your creative workflow. Here are some tips.

Dennis, Anita. Creative Pro (2003). Design>Document Design>Workflow>Adobe Acrobat

Controlling Line Breaks with the Hyphenation Penalty Slider

Adobe InDesign 2.0 introduced a new feature that you can use to fine tune the way lines break in any given paragraph. You'll find the hyphenation penalty slider in InDesign's hyphenation dialog box. This document is meant to serve as an introduction to this feature so that you'll understand exactly how it works and how you can use it to control the way your lines break within paragraphs.

Cole, Tim. Creative Pro (2003). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

The Creative Toolbox: Packing Up InDesign Layouts for GoLive Pages

With the Creative Suite, Adobe application integration has never been tighter, especially between InDesign CS and GoLive CS. See how you can turn an InDesign layout into a GoLive Web site in a few steps.

Penston, George. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Web Design>Software>Adobe GoLive

Creativeprose: Free Photography Podcasts

New photo-oriented podcasts pop up all the time, and you could listen to them all day every day and not get through everything. But this article points out a few of the better ones.

Stone, Terri. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Photography>Podcasting

Efficiency: It's Not Just for Production Monkeys

With a few free tools from software companies and other users, you can carve out more time for what you really love -- creativity.

Ashcroft, Sean. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

Fonts Can Make or Break PDFs

Acrobat's intelligent font substitution is a godsend for office documents, but it can be a nightmare in situations where font fidelity is important. If you're a graphic designer, then you need to know how to work with fonts in PDFs.

Perets, Shlomo. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Typography>Fonts>Adobe Acrobat

Fonts: They've Been Everywhere

Follow along as we travel from hot metal type to phototypesetting, to Type 1, to TrueType, to OpenType, then end the journey with a rousing rendition of a type-centric Johnny Cash song. Who knew the Man in Black was a font fan?

Romano, Frank J. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Typography

Getting Design Done

Here's how to apply the principles of a well-known productivity system to your creative process. The resulting creative habits can boost your design skills while they reduce stress and free your mind to tackle big problems.

Robinson, D. Keith. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Methods

Harnessing the Power of PNGs

Compared to GIF and JPEG, the PNG file format has a lot to offer: smaller file sizes, higher quality, and superb transparency. All you need are a few guidelines and techniques to expand your design toolbox.

Sawyer McFarland, Dave. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Standards

How Type is Being Used Today

The state of typography, in the United States and around the world, is reflected in the annual of the New York Type Directors Club.

Berry, John D. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Typography

Image Tricks That Make You Look Good  

Web graphics are more than just window-dressing. They function as navigational elements and provide informational design. Oh, and they need to look good, too. Learn how to add graphic zip to your Web pages by using these Dreamweaver techniques.

Berkowitz, Ivonne, Yanier Gonzalez and Janine Warner. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Dreamweaver

InDesign How-To: Adding Custom Sizes to the Page Menu

Of course making custom page sizes if nothing new. But here's a handy InDesign CS trick for adding those custom page sizes to your Page menu so you can call it up at anytime.

Cole, Tim. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Adobe InDesign

John Trevino's Layers of Meaning

Drawing on a period of instability and change in her personal life, artist John Trevino calls on Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to create a richly layer composition that evokes a transient state of being.

Trevino, John. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

Letterpress in the Digital Age

Stern and Faye combine fine letterpress printing and an eclectic sense of fun to produce traditional printing that could only be done today.

Berry, John D. Creative Pro. Design>Typography>Prepress>Printing

Lock Down that Layout!

Dreamweaver's Layers let you position images, text, movies and more with the same drag-and-drop ease print designers enjoy. Here's how to use them.

Blake, Geoff. Creative Pro (2006). Design>Web Design>Software>Dreamweaver

A New Face for Small Text

Mark van Bronkhorst's recent type family MVB Verdigris is easier on the eyes than many of the existing typefaces that are used for text at small sizes.

Berry, John D. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Typography>Fonts>Online

Opening Up About OpenType

Do you have questions about mixing font formats in one file, crossing platforms, automating old-style figures, the best apps for OpenType, and the fonts with the most bang for the buck?

Strizver, Ilene. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Typography>Standards

Paper Tips: Printing on Uncoated Stock

Uncoated paper has a soft finish and tactile quality not possible with most coated papers. But uncoated stock also interacts differently with ink than it coated cousins. Follow these tips to ensure the best results.

Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Paper

PDF Printing, Preflighting, and Prepress

PDF is becoming the de facto standard for not only viewing documents onscreen but also for printing them on paper. Acrobat 6 Professional includes better printing and prepress tools than ever before. PDF pundit Ted Padova shows you how they work.

Padova, Ted. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat