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Notice: WE ARE CASHLESS! The Hollander MakeCentral Service Desk will no longer accept cash payments. We will continue to accept: Debit/Credit, SpartanCash or Check payments. Thank you for your understanding.
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Michigan State University Libraries
Publishing Services
366 W. Circle Dr.
East Lansing , MI 48824
United States

InDesign Resources

Instructional Videos:

The following videos were created to assist first-time or inexperienced users in creating InDesign documents to set up book files for printing. These links will redirect you to mediaspace.msu.edu.

Part 1 - New Document: This video shows you how to create a new InDesign document that is compatible with specifications in regards to the measurements of your book.

Part 2 - Selection Tool: This video demonstrates how to locate and use the selection tool. This tool can be used for a variety of tasks, including repositioning and resizing.

Part 3 - Type Tool: This video provides instruction on how to use the type tool to write and paste text into your document.

Part 4 - Shape Tool: This video shows you how to use the shape tool to create a multitude of shapes available for use within the program.

Part 5 - Line Tool: This video demonstrates the use of the line tool and how to manipulate it in different ways to fit your project.

Part 6 - Stroke: This video demonstrates how to use the stroke panel to apply thickness to objects other than text, such as text boxes, photos, and shapes.

Part 7 - Images: This video provides instruction on how to place images in your document.

Book Design Workshop Presentation:

Download the Book Design Workshop presentation with Adobe InDesign in PDF format. The presentation is divided into three parts: about our services, about general book design, and tools available for book design using Adobe InDesign. The first part covers basic details about our services: pricing, timing, file requirements, printing specifications, and copyright. The second part of the presentation discusses the basics of designing a book interior, what goes on a title and copyright page, and what not to do when designing a book. The final part provides an introduction to Adobe InDesign, the workspace, and useful tools for book design such as paragraph and character styles, generating a table of contents, and working with images.

Cover Template Generator:

If you are using InDesign to create your cover, we’ve written a script that will generate a cover template for you. If you’re unfamiliar with installing and using scripts into InDesign, here are the steps:

  • Download* the Cover Template.zip to your computer.
  • Unzip the file to access the "Cover Template.jsx" file. (Windows: Right Click on the Zip file and choose unzip. Mac: Double Click on the Zip file.)
  • Open InDesign
  • From the Menu Bar, Click Window --> Utilities --> Scripts to open the Scripts panel.
  • Right-click on the User folder in the Scripts Panel and select Reveal in Explorer (PC) or Reveal in Finder (Mac).
  • Drag the script you downloaded into the Scripts Panel folder.
  • Double-click the script in InDesign’s Script Panel to run it.
  • In the pop-up dialog box, type in the number of pages in your book along with the trim width and height.
  • The script will create the cover template in a new document for you.

* To download the file, "right-click" on the file's name InDesign Cover Template Generator (Zipped Javascript File - "Cover Template.zip") and select "Save..." or "Save as..."

Attachments
InDeisgn Workshop Presentation
InDesign Cover Template Generator (Zipped Javascript File - "Cover Template.zip")