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Adobe InDesign

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Adobe InDesign
Developer(s)Adobe Systems
Stable release
CS4 (6.0.4) / September 21, 2009 (2009-09-21)
Operating systemMac OS X, Microsoft Windows
TypeDesktop publishing
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.adobe.com/products/indesign

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing (DTP) software application produced by Adobe Systems. It can be used to create things such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines and books.

Designers and graphics production artists are the principal users, creating and laying out periodical publications, posters, and print media. Longer documents are often still designed with Adobe's FrameMaker (manuals, technical documents, etc.) or with QuarkXPress (books, catalogs, etc.).[citation needed] Using a relational database, the Adobe InCopy word processor uses the same formatting engine as InDesign.

InDesign is a direct competitor to QuarkXPress.

History

In 2002, InDesign was the first Mac OS X-native desktop publishing (DTP) software. In version 3 (InDesign CS) it received a boost in distribution by being bundled with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat in the Creative Suite.

InDesign exports documents in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) and has multilingual support. It was the first DTP application to support Unicode for text processing, advanced typography with OpenType fonts, advanced transparency features, layout styles, optical margin alignment, and cross-platform scripting using JavaScript.

Later versions of the software introduced new file formats. To support the new features, especially typographic, introduced with InDesign CS, both the program and its document format are not backward-compatible. Instead, InDesign CS2 has the backward-compatible .inx format, an XML-based document representation. InDesign CS versions updated with the 3.1 April 2005 update can read InDesign CS2-saved files exported to the .inx format. The InDesign Interchange format does not support versions earlier than InDesign CS.

Adobe developed InDesign CS3 (and Creative Suite 3) as universal binary software compatible with native Intel and PowerPC Mac machines in 2007, two years after the announced 2005 schedule. Inconveniencing Intel-Mac early-adopters, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen announced that "Adobe will be first with a complete line of universal applications."[1] The CS2 Mac version had code tightly integrated to the PPC architecture, and not natively compatible with the Intel processors in Apple's new machines, so porting the products to another platform was more difficult than had been anticipated. Adobe developed the CS3 application integrating Macromedia products (2005), rather than recompiling CS2 and simultaneously developing CS3.

According to analysts, CS4, released in 2008, seems not to be selling well.[2]

InDesign and Leopard

InDesign CS3 had a serious compatibility issue with Leopard (Mac OS X v10.5), as Adobe states: "InDesign CS3 may unexpectedly quit when using the Place, Save, Save As or Export commands using either the OS or Adobe dialog boxes. Unfortunately, there are no workarounds for these known issues." [3]

However, Apple's OS X 10.5.4 update addressed this problem.[4]

In forums this workaround has been reported to work. This and other workarounds, along with the solution of upgrading to 10.5.4, are documented in this Adobe Knowledgebase article.

There was also an issue which would cause InDesign and/or Adobe Illustrator to fail to respond to Hide, or Unhide commands. This could prevent users from completing work without forcing the application to quit. This issue was resolved in the OS X 10.5.6 update.[5]

More recently, an issue which caused clipping paths applied in placed EPS files on mounted AFP volumes to fail when printing or exporting to PDF from InDesign CS4. This issue has been addressed in the Mac OS X 10.5.7 update.[6]

Currently, there are no known issues specifically affecting InDesign when working on the current version of Leopard, 10.5.7.

Server version

File:Adobe InDesign CS3 server icon.png
InDesign CS3 Server icon

In October 2005, Adobe released "InDesign Server CS2", a modified version of InDesign (without user interface) for Windows and Macintosh server platforms. It does not provide any editing client; rather it is for use by developers in creating client-server solutions with the InDesign plug-in technology.[7] In March 2007 Adobe officially announced Adobe InDesign CS3 Server as part of the Adobe InDesign family.

Versions

InDesign CS3 icon
  • InDesign 1.0 (codenamed K2): August 31, 1999.
  • InDesign 1.5 (codenamed Sherpa): April 2001.
  • InDesign 2.0 (codenamed Annapurna): January 2002 (just days before QuarkXPress 5). First version to support Mac OS X and native transparencies & drop shadows.
  • InDesign CS (codenamed Dragontail) and InDesign CS PageMaker Edition (3.0): October 2003.
  • InDesign CS2 (4.0) (codenamed Firedrake): shipped in May 2005.
  • InDesign Server (codenamed Bishop): released October 2005
  • InDesign CS3 (5.0) (codenamed Cobalt): April 2007. First Universal binary versions to natively support Intel-based Macs, Regular expression, Table styles, new interface
  • InDesign CS3 Server (codenamed Xenon): released May 2007
  • InDesign CS4 (6.0) (codenamed Basil): Introduced September 23, shipped in October 2008.
  • InDesign CS4 Server (codenamed Thyme)

Internationalization and localization

Language availability

Adobe InDesign CS4 is available in the following languages: Arabic (Middle Eastern version), Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, French (Canadian), German, Greek, Hebrew (Middle Eastern version), Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian.[8]

Adobe InDesign CS4, Middle Eastern and North African versions are available from WinSoft.[9]

Specific features for Arabic (also Persian) and Hebrew languages

The Middle Eastern/Hebrew and the Middle Eastern/Arabic versions are specifically developed for Arabic and Hebrew languages.

Text settings

InDesign Middle Eastern versions come with special settings for laying out Arabic or Hebrew text, such as:

  • Ability to use Arabic, Persian or Hindi digits
  • Use kashidas for letter spacing and full justification
  • Ligature option
  • Set vowels/diacritics positioning
  • Justify text in three possible ways to get the desired results (Standard, Arabic, Naskh)
  • Option to "Insert Special Character": three Hebrew characters (Geresh, Gershayim, Maqaf) and an Arabic one (Kashida)
  • Apply standard, Arabic or Hebrew styles for page, paragraph and footnote numbering

Bi-directional text flow

In InDesign Middle Eastern versions, the notion of right-to-left behaviour applies to several objects: Story, Paragraph, Character and Table. You can easily mix Right-to-Left and Left-to-Right Words, Paragraphs and Stories in a document.

  • InDesign CS4 Middle Eastern versions allow you to change in one click the direction of neutral characters (for ex.: ,/?, etc.) according to your keyboard language.

Table of contents

You can create a table of contents (TOC) for any document or book in InDesign Middle Eastern versions. InDesign Middle Eastern versions come with a set of Table of contents titles, one for each supported language. The TOC is also sorted according to the chosen language. InDesign CS4 Middle Eastern versions allow you to choose the language of your index title and cross-references by right clicking in the title field in the Generate Index window.

Indices

You can create a simple keyword index or a comprehensive, detailed guide to the information in your book. InDesign Middle Eastern versions let you set various Sort Options for your indices according to the language with which you are dealing.

Importing and exporting

InDesign Middle Eastern versions bring the capability of opening directly and converting QuarkXPress files, even using Arabic XT, Arabic Phonyx or Hebrew XPressWay fonts, retaining the layout and content. InDesign Middle Eastern versions come with more than 50 import/export filters enabling you to place many kinds of images and Roman texts: Microsoft Word 97-98-2000 Import filter and Text Import filter.

Reverse layout

InDesign Middle Eastern versions include a reverse layout feature to revert the layout of a document, when converting a Left to Right document (Roman) to a Right to Left one (Arabic or Hebrew) or vice versa. It is also helpful when creating a multilingual document.

The Middle Eastern versions are also available for Adobe Acrobat [10], Adobe Illustrator [11], Adobe Photoshop [12], Adobe InCopy [13] and Adobe Dreamweaver [14], for Adobe Creative Suite [15] (Design Standard, Design Premium, Web Premium).

Complex script rendering

InDesign supports Unicode character encoding and there is a special Middle East version supporting complex text layout for Arabic and Hebrew types of complex script. However, as of InDesign CS4, this capability is present, albeit not officially supported.

There is a Third Party Tool, "IndicPlus" from MetaDesign Solutions which adds capability to render Indic and other Complex Scripts with InDesign. This tool is available for CS2/CS3/CS4 versions of InDesign. http://metadesignsolutions.com/IndicPlus.html

References

  1. ^ San Francisco - Live Coverage of Steve Jobs Keynote 1:00PM EDT, June 6th, 2005,WWDC 2005 - Live Coverage of Keynote, The Mac Observer
  2. ^ Adobe suffering from poor product timing in tight marketBy John Letzing, MENAFN - MarketWatch.com - March 02, 2009
  3. ^ Adobe InDesign CS3 5.0.2 Update Read Me
  4. ^ Leopard 10.5.4 Fixes InDesign Nav Services GlitchesBy: Anne-Marie, June 30, 2008, InDesignSecrets
  5. ^ http://go.adobe.com/kb/ts_kb402895_en-us
  6. ^ http://go.adobe.com/kb/ts_kb408240_en-us
  7. ^ "Adobe InDesign Server CS2 Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). Adobe.com. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
  8. ^ http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/systemreqs/
  9. ^ Adobe InDesign - Design and produce professional page layouts, enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern Users
  10. ^ Adobe Acrobat Professional software - Communicate and collaborate with the essential PDF solution, enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern users Users
  11. ^ Adobe Illustrator - Explore new paths with the essential vector tool, enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern Users
  12. ^ Adobe Photoshop - See what's possible, enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern Users
  13. ^ Adobe InCopy - Collaborate in demanding editorial workflows, enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern Users
  14. ^ Adobe Dreamweaver - Develop websites and applications , enhanced features for Central and East European and Middle Eastern Users
  15. ^ Adobe Creative Suite 3, Design and Web Editions