The folder with your job in it should always have: the .indd file, a folder named (exactly) Document fonts and a Links folder. As a rule, InDesign will activate fonts that are in this folder. It’s good practice to File->Package at the beginning and end of a job so you have the folder InDesign is looking for. (I’ve been doing this for a long time, fonts don’t even need to be activated in FontBook for this to work)

David gave us this tip; hope it works for you!

File->Place->click Show Import Options->click Apply Photoshop Clipping Path->OK

After that, it should be the default when you Place without using Show Import Options.

My best guess!

Select all (text frames)

Object->Fitting->Fit Frame to Content (use the default Keyboard Shortcut or make one)

Not sure how to do this for a complete document, but Object->Transform Again->Transform Sequence Again Individually works good too. (when you make it one of your keyboard shortcuts)

GREP help needed, I think!

MultiPageImport retains previous settings; make sure they are set correctly. This is my default setup:

Maybe your PDFs have irregular bounding boxes? You may need to adjust the Crop to: choice to Art or Crop, etc.

Placing a PDF won’t distort the image; View->Overprint Preview to get a more accurate preview.

Remember that InDesign is for layouts and Illustrator is for (you guessed it) illustrations. Focus on InDesign first.

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/tutorials.html
https://www.lynda.com – you may have free access through your public library’s website

A good exercise is to take a printed piece and try to recreate it in InDesign. One way is to place a PDF in a Layer, lock it, then make a new Layer on top and use it as a guide to create a new design.

It takes some time to learn both of these, so don’t expect to understand it all in a week.