Description:
InDesign v1.5 is an integrated, full-featured publishing package well suited for luscious single-page documents such as flyers, brochures, or posters. The ability to import native files from sister applications like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator (among dozens of other import types), and export to print, PDF, and HTML formats makes it an attractively comprehensive package. But it falls short for long form documents like manuals and books. Version 1.5 includes numerous fixes and enhancements. A major under-the-hood improvement is the official support of MacOS 9. Since OS 9 is a bridge to the anticipated OS X, this update paves the way for an OS X native version. Some important and more obvious features were added as well: text on a curved path, built-in trapping, vertical justification, a free-transformation tool, precise numerical transformation options, and a pencil and erase tool for creating and editing paths, to name a few. Adobe spent several years developing InDesign, incorporating the best features from its own application, PageMaker, and those of the competition (namely, Quark). In fact, InDesign is built to go head-to-head with the firmly entrenched Quark, something PageMaker could never quite pull off. Toward that end, InDesign boasts many Quark-like features, including an easy way to toggle many of the keyboard shortcuts into Quark shortcuts. This goes a long way toward easing the transition for an experienced operator, and a quick transition means less downtime and faster turnaround for projects. In a further effort to ease the learning curve, every word from the manuals is included in the software's online help, in addition to a list of keyboard shortcuts and tips. However, there are still some missing features for what is supposed to be a comprehensive application. Notably, InDesign has no facility for creating a table of contents or an index. This is a critical flaw for any designer working on a large, multipage document such as a book or manual. For lovers of Adobe software, the ray of hope is InDesign's flexible plug-in architecture. There is bound to be a third-party developer who will fill this feature gap, if Adobe doesn't get to it first. While it falls short for long form documents like manuals and books, InDesign is quickly becoming the tool of choice for shorter documents. It's control over text kerning and path-based text is wonderful, and its integration with Photoshop and Illustrator makes it an important part of a powerful software trilogy. --Mike Caputo
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