Interview with Russell Viers, Publishing Pro
Q&A with Russell Viers, who is presenting at the The InDesign + Long Documents Summit for CreativePro
Russell Viers
With over 40 years as a publishing professional, and 25 years as dynamic speaker and trainer, Russell Viers has seen and done it all. So, we’re thrilled to have him speaking at our upcoming online event, The InDesign + Long Documents Summit, being held online on April 5, 2024. We thought it would be fun to get to know him better with some Q&A.
What’s so different about a “long document” vs. a shorter one? (Besides more pages?)
There are several key differences between a long document and a shorter one. And it’s all relative. A long document to one person might be just another 64-page catalog to another. The most basic answer is that, to produce long documents with as little time wasted as possible, a wider knowledge of the software is required.
To dig a little deeper, one of the most obvious issues is amplification of manual work. To manually change certain words throughout a document to bold, per the customer’s request, can take a couple of minutes on a two-page flier. On 500-page proposal that can turn into lost hours. When building long documents, it’s important to have a toolbox full of ways to automatically get the job done versus manually pushing through to make changes, edits, etc. So knowing InDesign’s vast automation functionality is key.
Another big difference is how documents and page items are more interrelated. A simple example would be a Table of Contents. Not knowing that InDesign can automatically make a Table of Contents can not only waste time, but also change the way you set up a document. Running headers, numbered figures, cross references, jump pages, and unique formatting are all simple examples of where a long document is more than just a bunch of single pages, but more of a larger entity that takes on a new life as the complexity of the customers’ demands grow.
I’ll also throw “time” on that list. Export a PDF of a two-page document and you hardly notice. Export a 500-page proposal and you go grab a cup of coffee. I often use two (or more) computers at the same time for these types of projects. There are functions we do in the normal creation and production of documents that can take enough time that having the ability to continue working on a second machine while the other is just showing a progress bar for 15 minutes. It’s also important to build all of that into your schedule. Not just your design and production time, but all aspects can take longer, including proofing.
What’s the biggest mistake designers often make when building long documents?
Diving right in and getting busy “making progress.” Before I ever start a new InDesign document for a project, I spend some time thinking about my plan, taking some notes, figuring out how I’m going to build and manage this large set of documents, then start with the small stuff. I also test a lot of things before implementation to make sure they will work according to plan.
Sometimes I stand in front of a dry-erase board and plan my styles and my based on/next style hierarchy, color usage, and naming, parent page hierarchy, layers, text variables, document breaks, and more.
A good example of where I’ve seen people dive in too soon is a yearbook. They feel the need to make progress, so the team starts building portrait pages in the fall. “Yay, we have x number of pages built,” they might say. But then new students arrive and leave throughout the year, so those pages are constantly being changed and rearranged. But if they knew how to use InDesign’s Data Merge feature, they could wait until the very end and build an accurate portrait page section in minutes, one time, and be done.
Favorite feature in InDesign that you wouldn’t want to live without?
Probably the Book. It’s not perfect, and I would love to see features added. But without it, I just couldn’t create and manage the size documents I do in the time it takes me. The ability to break a long document into smaller, more manageable documents, yet develop them as if they were a single document is huge. I even use the book on small projects if I have multiple people working as a team, have weird color needs, and so on. It’s just a massively powerful tool for long document creators.
Best suggestion or tip for anyone new to working with long documents and about to tackle their first project?
Never stop learning. When confronted with a task that you think will take a long time doing it the way you plan to, say to yourself, “there has to be a better way.” Then go figure out that better way. And then remember that better way, by keeping good notes.
Throughout my career there have been many occasions where I said to myself, “Why didn’t I learn that years ago?” Followed by the “joy” of thinking how many hours, days and weeks of my life were wasted doing it the old way. Live and learn.
And remember that just because you’ve always done something a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s the best way. I really push myself to not form too many habitual ways of building documents. Instead, I try to look at each project with fresh eyes and develop a plan that is specific to the circumstances. Just because you did something a certain way on a previous catalog—even it worked well—doesn’t mean it’s right for this catalog. Perhaps the input has changed, or there is a new feature to make things easier, etc. Don’t get in a rut.
What are you most excited to share in your upcoming session?
The Book and some built-in automation will be fun to show. I could spend hours on the book, alone, but we’ll also play with some ways we can automate our work and let InDesign do the heavy lifting for us.
This article was last modified on March 13, 2024
This article was first published on February 14, 2024
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
