InDesign 2026
Fundamentals Training Course
On this 3-day beginner to intermediate class you will complete a series of real world publishing projects including letters and articles, an advertisement, a magazine cover, a map, a travel brochure and more.
Our instructors will lead you step-by-step through each project, teaching the correct workflow, how to master each tool and useful shortcuts to speed up your production.
What's Included
- Certificate of Course Completion
- Training Manual
- FREE Class Repeat (valid for 6 months)
3 Days
$900.00
Live face-to-face instructor
No minimum class size - all classes guaranteed to run!
No prior experience of InDesign is needed. Training available on Mac and PC.
View our full range of Adobe InDesign training courses.
Detailed Course Outline
Learn the basics of viewing & navigating the InDesign interface and the fundamentals of working with text and frames.
- Lecture: Raster versus Vector in layout workfl ows
- Lecture: Handling placed media and linked assets
- Lecture: Artificial Intelligence features currently available
- Creating & managing new docs, presets, workspaces
- Interface essentials and key panels
- Anatomy of frames, placeholder text, & Properties panel
Combine formatted text and images into cohesive layouts using modern InDesign workflows.
- Creating professional-looking text quickly
- How frames and images interact and update dynamically
- Working with swatches & color extraction to build themes
- Exporting clean, presentation-ready documents efficiently
Understand image formats, resolution, and quality management inside InDesign.
- Common image formats used in layout projects
- Resizing, cropping, and positioning images correctly
- Using the Properties panel for image control
- Understanding fitting options and best practices
Learn core layout techniques used in real-world publishing projects.
- Typography fundamentals in InDesign and Adobe Fonts
- Creating and managing text columns
- Styling pull quotes, captions, and credits
- Creative typography techniques without breaking structure
Master page management and document structure.
- Pages versus Parent Pages and their modern usage
- Navigating and customizing the Pages panel
- Working with facing-page spreads
- Creating automatic page numbers
- Working with layer effects and object effects
Prepare documents for delivery, archiving, and collaboration.
- Export options available in InDesign
- Creating professional PDF exports
- Templates, IDML workflows, and backward compatibility
- Packaging projects for transfer or long-term storage
Create and manage graphic elements directly inside InDesign.
- InDesign versus Illustrator for vector artwork
- Creating and editing basic shapes
- Combining shapes with effects
- Buttons, lower thirds, and custom layout elements
Build reusable design systems using styles and custom framing.
- Custom frame and shape creation
- Advanced typographic features such as fractions and contextual alternates
- Paragraph, Character, and Object Styles as workflow foundations
- Improving layout precision and alignment
Manage detailed vector artwork inside layout documents.
- Working with layered vector maps and diagrams
- Feathering edges and soft selections
- Expanding and contracting selections
- Foundations of Select Subject and masking workflows
Design multi-sided documents with consistency.
- Business cards, postcards, and folded layouts
- Generated content features inside InDesign
- Styling titles with blend and overlay techniques
- Borrowing and adapting stock design elements
- Reliable sources for free and licensed assets
Plan and build multi-panel documents with consistent branding.
- Project planning for brochures and fold-outs
- Color themes using CMYK and Spot Color strategies
- Creating simple brand elements and logos
- Working panel by panel using shared styles
- Managing linked vector updates efficiently
Advanced multi-panel layouts with automation and metadata.
- Drop caps and advanced paragraph styling
- Text blurbs and next-style workflowsBatch image handling techniques
- Working with slugs for internal and external use
- Embedding authoring and copyright metadata
Control color accurately across print and digital projects.
- Primary color modes used in design workflows
- Color considerations for different file formats
- Creating custom swatches, patterns, and gradients
- Importing and exporting color presets
Refine alignment and structure for professional layouts.
- Creating polished text and titles
- Advanced paragraph alignment and grid usage
- Managing complex multi-column layouts
- Working with Text Wrap and layered artwork
Design complex publications with fl owing content.
- Creating and saving layout templates
- Managing layered content across long documents
- Inline imagery and anchored objects
- Handling linked content and troubleshooting updates
Maintain consistency using styles and metadata.
- Using metadata for batch workflows
- Understanding Object Styles and their advantages
- Creating Object Styles from existing objects
- Applying and editing Object Styles
- Static versus Dynamic Captions
- Managing caption updates and metadata changes
Speed up production using grouping and batch edits.
- Working with grouped artwork
- Troubleshooting loaded cursor behavior
- Editing grouped content from Parents to Pages
- Managing layer priority and targeting
Learn about some of the AI using Adobe services and how it impacts working with InDesign.
- Features considered AI in InDesign
- Working with Adobe Firefly and Adobe Express
- Adobe Firefly to InDesign
- Useful AI workflows
- Future features requests in InDesign
Our outlines are a guide to the content covered in a typical class. We may change or alter the course topics to meet the objectives of a particular class.
