Create Professional Layouts for Print and Digital Publishing

Adobe InDesign is the industry-standard software for creating professional page layouts for brochures, magazines, reports, flyers and digital publications.

In this practical three-day training, participants learn how to create structured documents, work with typography, organise layouts using styles and pages, and combine text and graphics efficiently.

Participants will also discover modern InDesign workflows such as Parent Pages (formerly Master Pages), content-aware fitting, auto-size text frames and Creative Cloud Libraries, enabling faster and more professional document design.

Through hands-on exercises, participants develop the skills needed to create clean and professional layouts for print and digital output.

Duration

3 days.

Course Outline

Day 1 – InDesign Fundamentals and Document Setup

Getting Started with InDesign

• Understanding the InDesign workspace
• Tools, panels and the Properties panel
• Customising the workspace
• Navigating documents and pages
• Working with zoom and view options

Creating and Setting Up Documents

• Creating a new document
• Page sizes, margins and bleed
• Working with multiple pages
• Using grids and guides
• Understanding page layout structure

Working with Parent Pages

• Understanding Parent Pages (formerly Master Pages)
• Applying Parent Pages to document pages
• Creating repeating elements such as headers, footers and page numbers
• Overriding Parent Page elements

Working with Frames and Objects

• Creating text frames and graphic frames
• Placing images
• Frame fitting options
• Content-aware fit
• Aligning and transforming objects

Practical Exercises

• Creating a brochure layout
• Working with guides and grids

Day 2 – Typography, Styles and Layout Design

Working with Text

• Importing and placing text
• Threading text frames
• Flowing text across multiple pages
• Working with columns
• Auto-size text frames

Typography Fundamentals

• Fonts and type families
• Leading, kerning and tracking
• Paragraph alignment
• Creating drop caps
• Tabs and paragraph rules

Working with Styles

• Paragraph styles
• Character styles
• Object styles
• Table and cell styles
• Updating styles globally
• Loading styles from other documents

Working with Colours

• Understanding colour modes (RGB and CMYK)
• Creating colour swatches
• Using spot colours
• Applying gradients
• Managing colour groups

Practical Exercises

• Designing a multi-page document
• Applying typography styles

Day 3 – Tables, Graphics and Export

Working with Graphics

• Placing and managing images
• Linking and updating graphics
• Image resolution and quality
• Managing linked files

Working with Tables

• Creating tables
• Converting text into tables
• Formatting tables
• Creating header rows
• Using table and cell styles

Managing Layouts Efficiently

• Working with layers
• Organising complex documents
• Using Creative Cloud Libraries
• Reusing design assets

Preparing Documents for Output

• Preflight and document checking
• Preparing files for print
• Exporting to PDF
• Interactive PDF basics
• Exporting assets for digital publishing

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Create professional page layouts
• Work efficiently with text and images
• Apply typography and styles
• Manage multi-page documents
• Create tables and structured layouts
• Export documents for print and digital publishing

Audience

This course is designed for:

• Graphic design beginners
• Marketing and communication professionals
• Office users creating reports or brochures
• Designers working with layout and publishing
• Anyone interested in creating professional documents

Prerequisites

Participants should have:

• Basic knowledge of Windows or macOS
• General computer skills

No prior knowledge of InDesign is required.