April, 2020 | CreativePro Network

Learning After Effects

This article appeared in Issue 132 of InDesign Magazine. How to create attention-grabbing content with After Effects and InDesign As humans, we’re hardwired to notice objects in motion. Things that move instantly become interesting to us. Eons ago this trait helped our early ancestors avoid danger and stay alive. Today, designers are using motion graphics to promote […]

Using InDesign and XML to Visualize the COVID-19 Data

The COVID-19 Pandemic is something that has touched us all in one way or another and as I write this, there’s no end in sight. During this challenging time, I find myself reading news articles every morning trying to decipher the do’s and don’ts of day-to-day activity as it seemed to change by the hour. […]

Weird Little Variable Font Character Style Problem

Here’s a wacky little InDesign issue that just popped up… possibly a bug, but definitely something that needs to be considered when making character styles for variable fonts. I made a paragraph style, using a variable font. Then I selected one word and applied a custom variable font style setting (adjusting it’s width, thickness, and […]

CreativePro Video: Enhance Charts & Graphs in Illustrator

In this week’s CreativePro video, Jason Hoppe shows off a couple of ways to add a bit of pop to Illustrator’s charts and graphs. He demos creating a bar graph with stair-step angles and shading, then shows how to add some depth to a pie chart. This clip comes from Jason’s “Charts and Graphs” session […]

How to Plan for Proper Lead Times in Your Printing Process

As a designer, business owner or consumer, when you’re hiring a commercial printer, the question invariably comes up: How long will it take to get the job done? It’s smart to build a fair amount of lead time into your project timeline. Lead time, in printing terms, is how much time it will take for […]

InDesign How-to Video: Set Up a Book Cover

In this week’s InDesignSecrets video, Laurie Ruhlin demonstrates how easy it is to create a wraparound book cover in InDesign. Using separate pages for the front, back, and spine makes for easy adjustments if the spine width needs to change. Check out new tutorials every other Tuesday on our InDesign Secrets YouTube channel, then join […]

Tracking Down the Sample Buttons And Forms Library

This new panel/library chimera in InDesign CS4 is a wily beast. Lucky for us that it’s easily cornered and tamed.

Differentiating Devious Doppelgänger Words

A while back, I wrote “Lethal Lookalike Words and How to Spot Them.” In it, I clarified several of English’s many tricky words that sound alike and look so similar, they’re easy to confuse and spell wrong. But there are countless other linguistic twins and triplets, so I thought I’d tackle a few more. Let’s […]

InDesigner: San Francisco Bay Brand

This article appeared in Issue 132 of InDesign Magazine. How consistent design and efficient processes make for a successful product packaging workflow In the competitive world of retail packaging, many companies update their product branding over time to ensure that they stay refreshed, relevant, and innovative. However, when San Francisco Bay Brand, a natural fish food manufacturer with […]