Discovering the InDesign Approach

Publishing programs, although similar in many ways, differ in their approach to the publishing task. One way to describe a program's approach to publishing is to talk about its metaphor, or the overall way that it handles publishing tasks . Some programs use a free-form metaphor, which means that the method used to assemble a document is based on assembling page elements as you would if they were placed on a pasteboard until ready for use (this is also called the pasteboard metaphor, although that's a less precise term because software using other metaphors can still include a pasteboard). Other programs approach page layout using a frame-based metaphor, in which frames (or boxes) hold both the page elements and the attributes that control the appearance of those elements. InDesign uses both the free-form metaphor and the frame-based metaphor.

The frame-based metaphor

Under a frame-based metaphor, you build pages by assembling a variety of frames that will contain your text and graphics. First, you set up the basic framework of the document ‚ the page size and orientation, margins, number of columns , and so on. You then fill that framework with text, pictures, and lines.

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These frames and lines need not be straight or square. With InDesign, you can create frames that are shaped by B ƒ zier curves. (In the 1970s, French engineer Pierre B ƒ zier created the mathematics that make these adjustable curves work.)

There are several reasons to use frames:

• To create a template for documents like newsletters and magazines that use the same basic elements for many articles. You create the frames and then add the text and graphics appropriate for each specific article ‚ modifying, adding, and deleting frames as necessary for each article.

• To get a sense of how you want your elements to be placed and sized before you start working with the actual elements. This is similar to creating a pencil sketch on paper before doing a formal layout.

• To ensure specific size and placement of elements up front ‚ in this case, you're often working with a template or guidelines that limit size and placement of elements. In many cases, you can copy an existing frame, because its size is one you're using in several locations of your layout. For structured or partly structured documents like newsletters and magazines, I find setting up my documents up front so elements are sized and placed correctly easier than resizing elements one at a time later.

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  Bear in mind that whether you start by creating frames in which you will later place graphics or text or you simply place the text and graphics directly on your page, you're using frames. In the case of direct placement of elements on the page, InDesign creates a frame automatically for each element. The difference is that the frame InDesign creates is based on the amount of text or the size of the graphic, rather than on your specific specifications. Of course, in either case, you can modify the frames and the elements within them.

The free-form metaphor

Under a free-form (pasteboard) metaphor, you draw the pages' content as if you're working on paper. Depending on how long you've been in this business, you may well remember having paste-up boards with strips of type, camera-ready line drawings, halftone pictures strewn about, sticking to pasteboard thanks to the wax on their backs. You would then assemble all those pieces until you got the combination that looked right to you. The free-form metaphor encourages an experimental approach, which is particularly well suited to one-of-a-kind documents such as ads, brochures , annual reports , and marketing materials.

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In a frame-based approach, you can certainly experiment by using the frames as placeholders for actual text and graphics. But visual thinkers like to work with actual objects, and that's why the free-form metaphor works much better for them. With InDesign, you pick the metaphor that works for your style, your current situation, and your mood. After all, both approaches can lead to the same design.