Foreword: The InDesign Mission

In the foreword to Galen Gruman's original Adobe InDesign Bible, Adobe InDesign engineering manager Stacy Molitor talked about the InDesign mission in terms of its modern architecture and code base. Four years later, our direction for developing the product remains the same: Develop an application that is responsive to customers' needs, that is extensible for external developers, and that can serve as a foundation for future development. InDesign CS is all that and so much more. Today, the engineering magic that is InDesign translates into new opportunities of creativity, design, and innovation for the InDesign user .

Having said that, the test of a professional tool is how dependable is it when crunch time comes and the final product needs to be delivered to the client or print-service provider. InDesign delivers as a workhorse tool that won't let you down when minutes count. Usability, dependability , and innovation ‚ these are words that have driven the development mission of InDesign.

Now let's talk about what makes the latest release of InDesign so special. In response to customer requests to have InDesign let them work faster and smarter , Adobe has enhanced InDesign's operational ease and flexibility: Set up your workspace to maximize efficiency for different design tasks and then save those palette locations as named workspaces that you can switch to at any moment. Dock palettes in collapsible bays along the window edge, so critical tools are instantly available when you need them and out of the way when you don't.

For QuarkXPress users coming to InDesign for the first time: Welcome. Our goal is to make your transition as smooth as possible. InDesign CS opens QuarkXPress 3.3 ‚ 4 documents directly, so you can bring your valuable legacy documents with you. You can also select the QuarkXPress-compatible set of keyboard shortcuts, so InDesign will work with the shortcuts you're accustomed to using. Add these to InDesign's integration with your other Adobe tools: How much easier could we make it?

For print-service providers, we know you work in competitive businesses on the front lines of design. The success of your shop depends on having efficient workflows that consistently deliver what customers need no matter how much they're pushing the limits. InDesign is built to be a precise, reliable production workhorse that outputs pages beautifully, day in and day out. Every aspect of the printing interface incorporates the real-world knowledge and experience shared with us by thousands of printers worldwide. InDesign even exceeds your expectations with features like the Separations Preview and Transparency Flattener palettes, designed specifically to help print-service providers prevent costly mistakes before they appear on film or press.

For our PageMaker users, InDesign is packed with innovative features that top your wish list, including multiple undo/redo, outstanding typography controls, character styles, easy-to-edit drop shadows and other transparency effects, flexible table creation, editable gradients, custom corner styles, arrowheads, and direct export of Adobe PDF files. It's packed with familiar PageMaker features that are notably enhanced. Yes, InDesign has a story editor. Yes, InDesign generates tables of contents, indexes, and other elements of long documents. And yes, you'll even find your old friend, the Control palette.

No matter who you are or what part of the publishing industry you work in, InDesign CS is a solid choice. And you are not alone in this transition. Since the inception of InDesign 1.0 in 1999, there are thousands of service providers around the world supporting InDesign files. And every day, more and more publishers, large and small alike, are making the switch to an InDesign-based workflow. You can feel comfortable knowing that you are using a widely accepted tool from a company you can trust.

Best of all, Adobe InDesign integrates tightly with the applications you already use for your design work. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat files can be placed into your documents without any need to flatten, resave, or convert them. Talk about productivity and time savings. And now, InDesign is part of the larger Adobe Creative Suite, which brings the ultimate in integration and productivity to Adobe creative products. This Bible works for InDesign whether used by itself or within the Creative Suite.

Adobe has a long track record of listening to our customers and incorporating what you need into our software. As a professional design and layout application, we know Adobe InDesign demonstrates this commitment in every way. Each version has incorporated input from thousands worldwide, and each version has leapfrogged the competition with its innovation, power, and responsiveness ‚ whether to new operating systems or new design requirements. We hope you enjoy using InDesign CS.

B. Mark Hilton
Director, Product Managemen
Creative Professional Product
Adobe Systems, Inc.