The InDesign Conference 2025

If you use InDesign every day, you know that small improvements can make a big difference. This session takes an honest, practical look at the newest features, focusing on the ones that are most useful in real-world production work.

We’ll walk through what’s new, and why it matters. Along the way, we’ll also revisit a few recent updates you may have missed that are worth a second look.

Key takeaways:

• Which new AI features are worth using (and which aren’t yet!)
• How cloud docs and collaborative, online story editing can supercharge your workflow
• What you need to know when converting PDF files
• Math typesetting and more

Whether you're designing a sleek brochure, a polished magazine, or a complex catalog, this session will give you the page-parenting skills needed to manage even the most complex documents with confidence. We’ll demystify the Primary Text Frame, show you how to manage automated page and section numbering, and explore the Page Tool and Adjust Layout for resizing pages. This session will level up your workflow so you can finally feel in control of every page.

You’ll learn how to:

• Insert, rearrange, and delete pages like a pro, without breaking your document
• Understand single pages vs. spreads, when and why to use each effectively
• Build reliable based-on parent/child relationships
• Maximize your page flexibility for repurposing your documents

Images and graphics are essential to great layouts. In this session, you’ll learn how to manage them with confidence. We’ll cover the best ways to manage assets, choose appropriate file formats, and understand the impact of resolution and color space on your final output. You’ll learn how to update, replace, or relink images efficiently and reliably. From logos and product shots to stock images and graphics, this session gives you the tools to keep your graphics sharp, consistent, and production-ready.

Topics include:

• File types, resolution, and color space
• Links panel and Creative Cloud Libraries
• Frame-fitting options and best layout practices
• AI-powered Generative Expand, Text-to-Image, and Masks 
• Transparency settings

Tired of copy-paste chaos? Do you spend hours cleaning up other people’s text styling messes? Discover smarter ways to bring text into InDesign with high-quality results and less frustration. This session covers the full workflow—from prepping Word files to flowing content into InDesign using style mapping, to essential cleanup steps that prevent formatting headaches.

Learn how to identify and fix common issues in source documents, take advantage of InDesign’s style-based automation, and set up repeatable processes that save time and keep your layouts consistent. If you’ve ever spent more time fixing formatting than designing, this session is for you.

Topics include:

• Prep source files in Word before import
• Scripts and tools to help you fix text messes fast
• Eliminate local overrides and inconsistent formatting
• Flow long-form text efficiently with automated cleanup
• Build a repeatable import workflow that saves time every time

You may be using paragraph and character styles, but are you using them right? And are you formatting your documents as efficiently as you could? This session dives into the full range of InDesign’s powerful styles features—taking basic paragraph, character, and object styles to the next level. You’ll learn how to use styles not just for speed and consistency, but also for accessibility, ensuring your documents are readable and well-structured across platforms. Say goodbye to repetitive formatting and hello to smarter workflows that deliver professional, accessible results every time.

What you’ll learn:

• Combining styles with conditional text
• GREP Styles, drop caps, nested styles, and line styles
• Ensuring your styles are built correctly for accessibility and digital output

If you love bold type, layered images, and design that makes noise—you’re in the right place. In this project-based session, you’ll get your hands on the tools and tricks that make posters pop. You’ll explore techniques like blend modes, custom text wraps, transparency, and type effects that go beyond the basics—while learning how InDesign handles images under the hood.

This session is all about playing, pushing boundaries, and turning up the volume on your visual style. Whether you want your poster to shout, sing, or sizzle, you’ll leave with fresh design techniques and a layout that’s ready to hang.

You’ll learn how to:

• Make the most of image effects and blend modes
• How to make your text pop like never before
• Create clipping masks, silhouettes, and custom text wraps

Bad breaks, awkward gaps, lonely lines—every layout contains a few typographic crimes. In this session, you’ll learn how to spot and fix the most common offenders, from hyphenation horrors to runaway widows and orphans. We’ll explore best practices for justification, spacing, and alignment, plus powerful scripts and subtle type effects that take your typography from sloppy to stunning.

You’ll learn how to:

• Spot and fix common type issues
• Eliminate widows, orphans, and bad breaks
• Improve spacing, alignment, and justification
• Use scripts for faster cleanup
• Apply subtle effects to polish your type

Perhaps you’ve already used GREP to remove double spaces or format phone numbers. Now it’s time to do more—a lot more. This session dives into smart, practical ways to use GREP to clean up messy copy, enforce formatting rules, and fix the stuff that always slips through the cracks. Whether you're wrangling text from Word, formatting product data, or polishing long documents, you’ll learn how to write custom expressions that solve problems you didn’t know GREP could fix.

We’ll walk through a collection of real-world examples—from styling inline headings and fixing punctuation to auto-formatting reference numbers, prices, and disclaimers. You’ll leave with repeatable solutions, inspiration for your own expressions, and a new appreciation for what GREP can do for you.

Key takeaways:

• Identify text patterns in your workflow that are perfect for GREP
• Write your own expressions using grouping, lookarounds, and wildcards
• Apply formatting automatically with GREP Styles
• Combine multiple expressions into efficient, repeatable cleanup passes
• Build a personalized GREP toolkit to handle the messiest copy with ease

Designers and editors rarely work alone, and managing feedback from multiple collaborators can be a chaotic mess without the right workflow. This session reveals how to streamline editorial production using InDesign alongside tools like InCopy, Google Docs, Share for Review, and PDF markup. You’ll learn how to set up cloud-synced folders with services like Dropbox or Google Drive to keep everyone in sync without endless email attachments or file version confusion. Discover how to link content from Word or Google Docs with live updates using plug-ins, and see how collaborative reviews via Share for Review or PDF commenting can simplify approvals. Whether your team is across the office or across the globe, you’ll leave with workflow tips that are fast, flexible, and team-friendly.

Key tools covered:

• Cloud-based file syncing with Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive
• InCopy for real-time editing within InDesign layouts
• DocsFlow and WordsFlow for linking live Word and Google Docs content
• Share for Review to gather feedback directly inside InDesign
• PDF reviews for traditional and hybrid workflows

InDesign tables can do far more than display data—they can bring structure, clarity, and visual impact to even the most complex layouts. This session dives into efficient, design-driven workflows for working with tables, whether you're importing data from Excel, converting structured text, or building editorial content with a grid-based foundation.

You’ll learn how to speed up formatting with table and cell styles, enhance readability with smart use of strokes, fills, and alignment, and push beyond the default look with creative techniques like graphic cells and anchored objects. 

Key takeaways:

• Import and convert structured content into well-formatted tables
• Use table and cell styles to streamline updates and ensure consistency
• Explore the pros and cons of linking tables to external spreadsheets
• Enhance layouts with anchored objects and graphic cells
• Explore shortcuts, scripts, and creative layout techniques for efficient table production

Take your workflow further with automation tools that do the heavy lifting. In this session, you’ll explore essential InDesign scripts, plug-ins, and add-ons that streamline everything from layout cleanup to production tasks. You’ll also get a peek at how AI can help generate or customize scripts—no coding experience required. Whether you're automating routine steps or building your own time-saving tools, this session will show you how to make InDesign work harder so you don’t have to.

Topics include:

• Core scripts every InDesign user needs
• Where to find hundreds of InDesign scripts
• Keeping your script collection organized and easy to use
• Creating your own scripts with AI

Create a range of customized web graphics, generated from a spreadsheet—all from InDesign! Did you know that you can composite, style and export custom graphics using data you get from a spreadsheet? Join us in this unique session where we’ll explore using InDesign as our graphic production powerhouse to create customized graphics in fraction of the time you'd spend in other apps.

What you’ll learn:

• How InDesign generates web images from your layout
• Importing XML or CSV data
• Assigning dynamic elements in your layout
• Importing graphic files based on data

Can’t tell Unicode from a unicorn? Think Stylistic Sets are a Philadelphia soul group? This session is for you. It’s about finding those elusive glyphs, getting the most out of Adobe Fonts, understanding those obscure OpenType features, as well as knowing when and why to use specialist fonts like Variable or Color Fonts. You’ll even learn how to create beautifully styled fractions using OpenType’s automatic fraction feature (and what to do when OpenType fails you).

Key takeaways:

• Learn the untapped potential of OpenType and Variable fonts
• Exploring glyphs, pi fonts, and Unicode
• Add an elegant flair to your type through swashes, ligatures, and style sets

Glitches, gotchas, and gremlins—every InDesign user hits a wall now and then. Fonts go rogue. Documents crash. Overset text hides where you least expect it. And just when everything looks fine, your file slows to a crawl or refuses to export. Sound familiar?

This session is all about what to do when things go wrong. You’ll learn how to spot common (and sneaky) issues, understand what’s really happening under the hood, and get practical strategies for fixing problems fast—without derailing your deadline. You’ll leave with a smarter, calmer approach to production troubleshooting.

Topics include:

• Key troubleshooting techniques from the pros
• The first steps to take when InDesign begins crashing
• Understanding and managing InDesign’s preferences files
• Tools that can dig you out of the deepest hole
• Intelligent file building to ensure problems are kept to a minimum.

Tired of dragging, nudging, and manually arranging objects on your page? In this session, you’ll discover how to design with structure and intention using InDesign’s powerful—but often overlooked—advanced layout features. From intelligent multi-column text frames to responsive object styles, precise alignment tools to flexible frame options, you’ll learn how to create layouts that stay clean and consistent, even as projects grow and evolve. Whether you’re building a single-page flyer or a multi-page publication, this session will show you how to work smarter by letting InDesign handle the heavy lifting of layout.

Learn how to:

• Control layout structure with text and image frame options, object styles, and anchored object settings
• Improve layout consistency using guides, snapping, text wrap, the Align panel, and the Gap tool
• Troubleshoot layout issues using grids, frame edges, and hidden character views

Supercharge your InDesign workflow and discover the magic of Data Merge. Learn to prepare your data like a pro by setting up your spreadsheet and InDesign file for seamless merging. Whether you’re building simple name tags from a spreadsheet or a catalog from a database, this session will give you the tools and tricks to make it fast, flexible, and professional.

What you’ll learn:

• Single vs. multiple record layouts: Know when and how to use each option effectively
• Customize and target marketing by personalizing content for multiple recipients in seconds
• Important data scripts that let you merge into tables, reflowable stories, separated PDF files, and more
• What to use when Data Merge isn’t enough and you need a third-party data tool

Want your print designs to shine—literally? This session explores the world of high-impact print embellishments, from metallic foils and embossing to spot colors, textured coatings, specialty folds, die-cuts, and extended gamut inks. You’ll discover what’s possible beyond CMYK and learn how to plan your files for success.

This session shares the how-to for creating print-ready layouts that bring your most creative ideas to life. Whether you’re designing packaging, invitations, or premium marketing materials, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of how to design with embellishment in mind—and how to get the results you envision.

Understand the most popular print embellishment options and what they add to your design.

Topics include:

• Learn how to plan your layout so your embellishments translate accurately to print
• See how swatches, layers, and bump plates factor into high-end production workflows
• Avoid common setup issues that cause delays or disappointments
• Get prepress-approved tips for communicating your vision to the printer

Whether your long document is dozens of pages or thousands, you can make it flow faster and easier if you understand the fundamentals of multi-file publications. In this project-based session, we’ll explore InDesign’s long-document features, such as the Books panel, table of contents, indexes, bookmarks, file syncing, and more. With guided instruction and shared files, you’ll learn new ways to streamline production, reduce repetitive work, and create documents that are easy to update and maintain.

You'll learn how to:

• Build and update a table of contents automatically
• Add dynamic content and page numbers with text variables
• Manage multi-part documents with the Book panel
• Manage multi-file versioning, syncing, and updating

Learn the secrets of the InDesign masters in this fast-paced, in-depth look at pro techniques that help you harness the power of this incredible tool. Russell Viers in an industry veteran with 25 years experience helping designers and publishers get efficient with InDesign, and has personally built publications over 20,000 pages in length. You can’t afford to miss this session!

Topics include:

• Managing multiple versions of the same file, for multilingual or multipurpose documents
• Managing team comment and review processes
• Control Photoshop, Illustrator, and PDF layers directly within InDesign
• Avoiding last-minute deadline panic by setting up your files right at the start

Yes, you can match color across diverse media—print and otherwise. In this practical and humorous session, we’ll take down some color myths and show you how to truly balance RGB and CMYK (and—gasp!—maybe even Lab) assets. We’ll also explore how you can maximize your colors while using a single document for both print and digital output.

Topics include:

• ”But they told me...”—overcoming myths and rumors about color workflows
• When are RGB and CMYK important—or dangerous—to use?
• Setting expectations: Why optimists and pessimists can both be wrong!

Collaboration doesn’t have to mean chaos. This session shows you how to streamline your team’s workflow using InDesign’s powerful integration with Creative Cloud. You’ll learn how to set up shared projects, work with InDesign’s Cloud Documents, and use shared CC Libraries to keep everyone aligned. You’ll also see how to maintain consistency with parent pages and templates for a more organized, brand-consistent workflow. Finally, we’ll cover how to gather and manage feedback efficiently using Share for Review—so your team stays focused on creativity, not file confusion.

Whether you’re collaborating with designers, editors, or stakeholders, you’ll walk away with practical techniques to improve consistency, reduce errors, and keep your projects moving smoothly from draft to delivery. 

Topics include:

• Keep everyone aligned with live asset updates and shared styles
• Create streamlined workflows
• Reduce errors
• Manage feedback efficiently

No matter how great your InDesign document, it doesn’t mean squat unless you can export or print it properly! Industry guru David Blatner is here to help. Whether you're designing for a commercial printer, preparing files for a client review, making PDFs, publishing online, or exporting graphics for social media, this session will help you prepare for that successful final step.

You’ll also pick up tips for understanding key output settings, and choosing correct formats for maintaining quality and ensuring accessibility. If you usually just pick a preset and run with it, you've only scratched the surface of InDesign's output capabilities! This session will show you just how much more you can do.

You’ll learn how to:

• Discover the full range of InDesign’s export options
• Compare print, PDF, EPUB, HTML, and image workflows
• Export PDFs the right way for press and digital use

Bring your layouts to life with interactivity, animation, and multimedia—far beyond what static PDFs can offer. In this session, you’ll explore InDesign’s most powerful interactive features. You’ll see how these elements work across different digital publishing formats, and how to choose the right one for your project.

This session will help you confidently design and deliver engaging digital experiences that match your content, your audience, and your creative vision—by exporting to EPUB, Publish Online, or HTML. Whether you're building a digital magazine, an interactive presentation, or a rich media brochure, this session will show you what’s possible, and how to make it happen.

What you’ll learn:

• MSOs (multi-state objects), the most important (and misunderstood) interactive feature
• Grouping animations for maximum flexibility and power
• Must-have scripts for making the most of the tools
• Incorporating video, audio, and more
• Avoid common pitfalls and prep your files for a smooth export

Want to make a PDF that does more than just sit there? In this project-based session, you’ll build a fully interactive PDF from start to finish using InDesign’s interactive tools. With step-by-step instruction and shared files, you’ll learn how to add functional elements like navigation buttons, hyperlinks, videos, and form fields—everything you need to create a digital document that’s polished, clickable, and ready to share or submit.

Whether you’re designing a digital form, presentation, or interactive brochure, this session will give you the skills to bring your static layouts to life.

You’ll learn how to:

• Add buttons for navigation and actions
• Create hyperlinks to URLs and internal pages
• Insert video into your document
• Build interactive form fields and checkboxes
• Export your file as an interactive PDF ready to share or submit