Adobe InDesign CS PageMaker Edition ver. 3.0.1

by Mac Carter

OVERVIEW: InDesign now appears to be THE page layout application for graphic design professionals as well as amateur designers. It provides full integration with Adobe's other applications and the familiar Adobe interface. The PageMaker Plugin package makes it easy to migrate into the InDesign. This latest update to 3.0x for CS is not retro-save enabled, but the results and the experience are outstanding.

MIN. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: PowerPC G3, G4 or G5; OS 10.2 or later; 128 MB RAM and 350 MB avail. hard-disk space; CD-ROM drive; 256 colors @ 1024X768 video; QuickTime 6x or later.

MY BACKGROUND: I'm a longtime Adobe PageMaker user, but I'm not a professional graphics designer. I simply need a good quality, easy-to-use graphics design program for producing seminar manuals for our leadership programs. PageMaker wasn't that easy to use and it had some quirky traits, but I knew how to use it and it worked for our needs. So, when Adobe officially announced they would not upgrade PageMaker to OS X and released InDesign as its replacement, I thought I was in for a big challenge. However, despite the fact that InDesign is a much more sophisticated design program, learning to use it has turned out much easier than I expected.

FIRST IMPRESSION: InDesign CS is clearly a professional application, but with some guidance and patience, longtime PageMaker users or even advanced AppleWorks users can enjoy creating impressive results. It's easy to convert PageMaker documents and relatively easy to learn overall. Although InDesign is a huge application with big system requirements, it has zippy performance.

LIKES: InDesign 3 represents a big improvement over InDesign 2 in features and reliability. The previous version introduced most of the key features that make this program a powerful publishing tool: the word-processor-like table editor, the Photoshop-level transparency features, and highly sophisticated typographic control. Version 3 brings enhancements to many of these features and several sensational new ones, such as nested styles and a much more efficient console for accessing text and object attributes.

I like the Story Editor -- it provides real control over text styles and text management. The Nested Styles feature is also impressive - it's easy to manage paragraph text layout style. InDesign 3 also now incorporates transparency, blend modes and a far superior PDF export to any competitor's product. I especially liked the Pre-Flight feature that identifies any issues that might prevent a clean transition to a pdf file.

For those who miss the days of PageMaker, the Plugin pack features things like data merge, template browsing and a build booklet feature. Translating a large PageMaker file with lot's of text styles and graphics happened very smoothly. And the addition of collapsible control palettes allows the user to clear the screen while working. The palettes are available on demand with a simple click. Interestingly, the PageMaker tool bar didn't really add much to my learning curve - I just didn't seem to need it and that says a lot.

If you are a dedicated Adobe product user, you have to like the easy integration with all of the other Creative Suite components (Illustrator, Photoshop, GoLive, and Acrobat). The ability to edit other CS items on the fly from within InDesign 3 is a huge time saver. Overall, the continuity and cohesiveness with all of Adobe's products is outstanding.

DISLIKES: Although the new interface is a bit complex and challenging to learn, this is clearly a very capable, well designed and functional program. The only real downside to InDesign 3 is that you cannot legacy save documents as an older version like you can in Illustrator and Photoshop. Also, although importing QuarkXpress docs can be done, it is not 100% accurate in terms of text spacing, sizing and style.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PRODUCT? If you are an upgrading graphics professional who has moved to OSX, Adobe CS competes very nicely with QuarkXpress 6.1. However, if you are purchasing for the first time and use a nice new Mac G5, then you'll love the entire Adobe CS package and, in particular, InDesign to save time and produce excellent results online, on paper and in print. In addition, QuarkXpress comes in priced at nearly $1,000.00 compared to Adobe InDesign CS at just $699.00.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm not sure I will ever learn the full range of this program's enormous capabilities, but that's OK… I was able to quickly and rather easily get up to speed and produce a very satisfying outcome, and that's what counts. The ease of use and zippy performance surprised me. This program is a good example of Adobe's dedication to producing high quality products.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT
For more information, visit: www.adobe.com

September 2004 Home | From the Editor | President's Spotlight | The Wiz | Mac 911
Review: In Design | Review: Missing Sync | Review: OmniWeb | Review: Phone Valet
WhatMUG Discounts | Library