Q&A with Steve Laskevitch: Rocket Scientist, InDesign Guru, Pizza Snob

Steve Laskevitch has been at the forefront of InDesign training for decades. He founded Luminous Works Training in 2003, led the first ever InDesign User Group in Seattle, and created the Course & Compendium series for Rocky Nook books.

He’s also speaking at The InDesign Conference 2025, which takes place December 9–12 online, with a session on matching RGB and CMYK colors across diverse media.

We thought it would be fun to get to know him better with some Q&A.

You started out teaching physics—so how did we get here, talking about InDesign, Photoshop, and color management instead of quantum mechanics?

All my physics profs were artists and/or musicians and they inspired me to flex both sides of the brain. Back then, just before Photoshop was released, I tinkered with digital imaging and tried writing image editing code—Photoshop turned out better (surprise!) and got me hooked. Also as an undergrad, I ran a couple student groups and made posters and flyers for them. I befriended the senior graphic designer on campus who taught me some things about type and design. I realized I loved those, too. So, I chose graphics over gravity and publishing over particles. But I’ll still talk about quantum mechanics with anyone who will let me.

You’ve taught in just about every setting imaginable, from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms to online courses. After all that, there must be a moment that still makes you laugh or one that reminds you why you love teaching. Can you share a story that stands out?

There are many! But one from when I taught college physics sill makes me laugh. I had a physical education major in one class. He was smart, fit, and full of fun, so we hatched a plan for a surprise demo. One day, the topic was friction and how we couldn’t walk without it. When I turned to write on the board, still talking, he leapt onto a lab table and began moon walking a la Michael Jackson. I pretended to not hear the gasps and laughter. Just before I turned around, he gymnastically landed back in his seat. I’m glad we rehearsed it, because I would have hated to miss those moves!

We’ve heard you say that designers can use RGB for everything, including print. Is that really true?

Pretty much! My session will get into how and why, but I do use CMYK values for just a couple things: pure black and sometimes other swatches that get applied to text or thin strokes (so they’ll only ever use two, maybe three inks at most if printed). There’s spot color work, too, which I enjoy when I get to do a project that utilizes specific inks (letterpress & silkscreen pieces, for example). But all photos and most graphics are RGB all the way in my print publishing work.

What’s the most important thing you hope attendees will take away from your InDesign Conference session, The Taming of the Hue: RGB and CMYK?

Two things: what profiles are and the difference between assigning them and converting to them. Any advice about settings and process takes a back seat to that. By understanding profiles, even knotty color management puzzles can be solved.

One more personal question: You’re known as an aficionado of New Haven-style pizza. What makes it so different from others?

The perfect pizza has a delicious crust, not one you want to discard. Anyone can buy good toppings, but only a great pizzaiolo makes a crust worth craving. The perfect crust is thin enough to not compete with the toppings, it has crunch (even at its thinnest parts), chew in the thicker bits, and wonderful char and bubbles from the extreme heat of a good pizza oven. 

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