Others say...

"InDesign CS3"
David Blatner is the best resource I know for InDesign questions. This is a great reference to find answers fast.



"Poorly edited"
This book is more annoying than helpful. Even though my version was not the first printing, it is filled with annoying errors and is poorly organized for a new user.

"Decent book, terrible binding"
I can't say I enjoyed this book because all it did was confirm my suspicions that InDesign was still very seriously limited in many regards. Nevertheless, it is quite thorough in its description of all the application's various features as well as those features' various--often times baffling-- caveats and limitations. If I had one complaint about the content it would be that it jumps around a lot, making frequent references to sections the reader hasn't gotten to yet, but it's not that distracting.

What bothered me most was the cheapo binding which isn't really strong enough for a tome of this size. I've had it for less than a week and have subjected it to no substantial abuse beyond simply reading it normally and the spine is already cracking apart, allowing pages to sluff off and rejoin the ground that bore them. It seems like Peachpit gets cheaper and cheaper every year, yet their prices never falter.

"Just what I need"
In my early days of learning software (1991) I would always try to learn by doing. Most times, I stumbled enough to learn how a program works. That has changed. Today's software packages are filled with toolbars, ribbons, icons, and countless menu items that allow the user to accomplish more than she can imagine.

I have always wanted to learn a page layout/graphics program. After dabbling in Microsoft Publisher, I knew there had to be more. Enter InDesign - a program that provides the tools to produce professional results. All I need to do is learn how it works.

Real World InDesign CS3 is the book I need. With little experience, I have to learn from the beginning, yet not be treated like a third grader in art class. This book is very well written, extremely easy to follow, and, with the layout designed for finding topics quickly, allows the reader to discover the how and why of a task. I am now on my way to understanding this "I can produce most anything" software package. Scaling. leading, kerning - all new terms for me - are now in my vocabulary. This is a big book filled with relevant information about InDesign. Each chapter has a beginning and ending, unlike some books where the author just writes in a technical tone.

If you're like me - new to InDesign - get this book. If you're beyond beginner, get this book. It satisfies all manner of users.

"Required Reading for any professional InDesign user"
I not only recommend this book to all my InDesign students but my own copy is always near at hand for quick reference on the more obscure topics. David and Olav cover everything, from how to open a panel to how to set up an XML workflow. Hundreds of clear illustrations present examples of what's being discussed, making it very easy to understand.

I'm a fan of their humor, too. Here's one example, from the chapter on variables; specifically the Last Page Number variable ("Page X of Y"):

----
Page X of Y. Ever wonder why so many financial and legal documents
use a page numbering scheme that tells you how many pages
there are in the document? For some documents, the simple knowledge
that *there is an end* is required to maintain one's sanity.
----

These little delights are found throughout the book.

Chapter headings (many subtopics under each head) are Workspace, Page Layout, Text, Type, Drawing, Where Text Meets Graphics, Importing and Exporting, Long Documents, Transforming, Color, Printing, Scripting, and XML.