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Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign

Overview

What is Adobe InDesign?

Adobe InDesign supports creating digital and print documents such as flyers, stationary, posters, and other types of media, with rich graphics, images, and more. Adobe InDesign is available standalone or as part of the Adobe Creative Suite collection of media…

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Recent Reviews

The industry standard

9 out of 10
November 25, 2021
Incentivized
InDesign is the gold standard as far as desktop composition software goes for publishers. We (and our vendors) use the product to create …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Monthly Plan

$31.49

On Premise
per month

Annual Plan, Prepaid

$239.88 ($19.99)

On Premise
per year (per month)

Annual Plan, Paid Monthly

$251.88 ($20.99)

On Premise
per year (per month)

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is Adobe InDesign?

Adobe InDesign Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Adobe InDesign supports creating digital and print documents such as flyers, stationary, posters, and other types of media, with rich graphics, images, and more. Adobe InDesign is available standalone or as part of the Adobe Creative Suite collection of media management and creation products.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.

The most common users of Adobe InDesign are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(702)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 95)
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Janeil Harricharan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Adobe InDesign is used to format various print layouts, mostly in the desktop publishing space. The software supports detailed design, more than Microsoft Word. I believe it excels over Canva due to the precise nature of things can be tweaked, such as font spacing and layering.

The software has recently been used to create and tweak interactive fixed-layout eBooks, in which Adobe InDesign has the tools to embed media (video, audio, etc) for iTunes. As far as I can tell, this is the only software that supports this type of design.
  • Page overview and layout
  • Media implementation to eBooks
  • In-depth control of elements in layout
  • Preflight review feature to spot errors
  • Not naturally a WYSIWYG display (this is an option, and doesn't always work as intended)
  • Moving images and photos around while holding an additional key
  • Layers or objects are not easily clickable behind other objects.
  • Adobe InDesign does require some fair system resources to work smoothly
Adobe InDesign is very well suited to image-heavy publications, such as children's books, cookbooks and coffee table books. It gives you almost complete control how to arrange these elements, and to be able to tweak them with precision.

The software is an absolute necessity if one is developing interactive eBooks, especially for the Apple iTunes store. Unless coded by hand, I am not aware of any other tools to handle this.

It is a powerful toolset, and can take on most anything publishing related that you throw at it. I personally have found that it doesn't do too well with reflowable eBooks (like for Kindle Amazon), but it retains that capability.
Allie (Allison) Egerer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Adobe InDesign is currently being used in our company to create and/or receive design files for our clients' direct mail needs, this mostly includes forms and envelopes. We also use it to create the copy decks for the direct mail we send out. The software is only used by our Marketing and Lettershop departments. The reason we choose Adobe InDesign over other products is because of it's complexity and because of its standardization in the industry. As far as complexity goes, we have found that other products just don't seem to compare when it comes to the amount of things the tool itself can do. We use it for aspects such as mail merge, layering, shared libraries, master pages, and much more. When it comes to standardization in the industry, you really aren't going to find a more standard product used for design than an Adobe product. It makes it much easier to work in a agency setting, like we do, when you use the same products as your clients.
  • Layering - When comparing to products like Microsoft Word, the layering becomes a big plus for Adobe InDesign. Layering allows you to turn "on" and "off" certain aspects of your document, such as if you wanted to show what a direct mail piece looks like with just the art work showing and then again with sample data showing by just the click of a button.
  • Master Pages - Again, when comparing to Microsoft Word, master pages in Adobe InDesign takes "styling" just a little bit further. It makes it much easier to create certain multiple styles that you can easily apply (or not apply) to various pages. Such as if you wanted the page number and company to show on certain pages, and not on others.
  • Cloud Libraries - This is a GREAT feature for companies who have multiple employees working in the software. When one employee adds an element to a Cloud Library, every other employee has access to it as well. This doesn't just pertain to images, like you would think - you can add things like styles, whole paragraphs (such as boiler plates), fonts, brand colors, and more. The great part is, you also don't have to be working in an online browser in order to access them.
  • Crashes - It is almost understandable because of how large the software is, but we have had issues with the product crashing randomly, more so than others software we use.
  • Incompatible Versions - Recently we have had some issues with opening files from other organizations and getting a message stating that their document was made with a "newer version" than ours and that it's incompatible - even though we don't have any pending updates to our software. It can be confusing because now that the Creative Cloud version exists, it seems like there should no longer be error issues for "newer" versions (such as InDesign 5.1, or InDesign 6.1, like there used to be - now it's just InDesign CC going forward with no newer versions.) So this error message, in theory, shouldn't be happening.
  • Complicated - Again, it is understandable because of how complex of a tool this is, but this is not a tool you are going to be fully able to train a coworker on in a week. In fact most people who have used it for years still probably only use about 10-20% of the tools features. This type of software, unlike Microsoft Word, is usually only used by people who work in field of design/creative, so you wouldn't expect every employee to be able to use it.
Adobe InDesign would be well suited for scenarios such as created very intricate documents, such as ones that are utilizing many different views or layers. It would also be well suited for creating very large documents such as creating manuals or books for print. A scenario where Adobe InDesign would be less appropriate would be for creating a logo or a graphic. It also might be less appropriate for something such as a simple company document like an offer letter, or a fax, not that it couldn't be used but it would be similar to using a scientific calculator to add 2+2, it's just too complex of a tool to be used for something as simple as that.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Adobe InDesign for a number of design jobs, including brochures, booklets, programmes, catalogues etc, for internal and external use.
  • Able to design down to minute details
  • Cross platform use with other Adobe products is great
  • Adobe support centre and online communities are great for if/when you get stuck
  • I have found a few bugs in recent years
  • Broken image links are the bane of my life when working on other people's files
We always use Adobe InDesign for creating brochures, as you can control very specific details of your design which other platforms can't. It has some really useful tools to help save time with duplication, numbering, master pages etc.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have used Adobe InDesign for the past 3 years at our organization primarily in the Marketing Department. It has been a tremendous help in creating and publishing professional flyers and/or digital handouts to provide to potential customers with targeted hyperlinks and application images. We do not see any other program currently offered with such sophistication as Adobe InDesign.
  • Hyperlinking text/images when exporting to PDF
  • Ultra precise object placement and control
  • Digital Publishing of documents to the Adobe cloud
  • Ability to copy multiple items in a clipboard and view and paste individual items repetitively
  • Object selection and object transformation could be easily switched between
  • Helpful tooltips when first beginning could save lots of time
Adobe InDesign is critical for any marketing department looking to make cutting edge professional documents showcasing your companies offerings or abilities. Unlike Photoshop which is mainly for image creation and editing, InDesign works to publish the final document which can be sent or shared electronically. The endless customization with InDesign makes any idea a reality given the knowledge of the program.
Ruchika Save | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Adobe InDesign is a perfect pick for designing and publishing layouts. I almost use this software daily in my work to present ideas in a creative manner and. It is best suited for organizing content and used to make most print and digital stuff. Integrates seamlessly with Adobe creative suite.
  • Creates perfectly balanced layout
  • Precise image placement and manipulation
  • Software provides collaboration tools to streamline content creation while working with team
  • Great for creating eBooks, magazines, and other print material
  • It would be great to have a few wizards to help beginners set up a document properly
  • For beginners, it can take a considerable amount of time to understand the layout concept
  • The software is expensive
  • There can be glitches at times
While working on print materials like eBooks, Magazines, etc. I found the software compatible. It is not good for creating standalone graphics, and often a bit cumbersome if you are just looking to do a single page layout. Also, not suited for retouching or editing a photo.
Linda Galota | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Adobe InDesign is the perfect choice for the design and visual organisation of information and content. For my work, I used Adobe InDesign to collect, brainstorm, and present ideas to be perfectly suited to the communication style of the brand. Adobe InDesign allowed me to quickly and effectively organise content in a great way.
  • Visually organise content
  • Create perfectly balanced layout
  • Effectively producing content
  • Simplify tools
  • Make the work area more intuitive
  • Provide cues to improve the final result of the project
Adobe InDesign is perfectly suited to organise, visualise and prepare well-polished visual content produced with balance, good layout, and structure. Yet, it can sometimes be a little too complicated to prepare scratches or for simply "getting the idea" of something because it can take a little bit more time to have everything well fixed.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use this program everyday in all of our creative branding projects. It helps us produce high quality work to express the brands we work with.
  • Easy interface for working on design.
  • Meshes seamlessly with other Adobe products
  • Constantly updating with improvements
  • Sometimes font issues are a little wonky - not sure why.
  • Could they make it so you could do image editing within the program?
I use it daily for all work I do at my agency. It is a reliable program that is very user-friendly. Logo work is probably better done in Illustrator & image editing better in Photoshop.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
There are two designers within our organization and both of us use Adobe InDesign on a daily basis. As I have worked with this software since its inception (switching over from QuarkXPress), I have enjoyed the continual upgrades to to user friendliness, efficiency and capabilities. I primarily use it for non-digital marketing outputs, but it does have the ability to make PDF documents interactive and output for the web.
  • Page Layout - everything from single brochures to multi-page books
  • Integrate seamlessly with the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite
  • Intuitive, user-friendly modules and workflow
  • Adobe continues to have an issue with not making controls apple to apples across all of its primary products (InDesign - Photoshop - Illustrator). Would be great if someday all actions within each software could be found in the same place.
It is still primarily a 'printed pieces' page layout tool. However, I have also used it to create wireframes for web design and have even exported PDF files with interactive features.
Trish Lofton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Adobe InDesign is used for most of the marketing pieces developed for our university. InDesign is the standard software for any type of printing project. It helps that everyone uses the same design program. Files are easily shared which helps during material updates. The new updates provide several extremely useful tools to save time on projects.
  • InDesign is great for creating projects like eBooks, digital magazines, and other online documents. You can add in features like audio, video, slideshows, and animations.
  • If you are working with a team, the software provides several collaboration tools to streamline content creation.
  • If a project calls for image descriptions, the alternative texts are an easy way to meet the needs of visually impaired readers.
  • If you are a new user, it can take a considerable amount of time to understand the layout concepts and terminology. This is especially true if you are just beginning to learn how to design any type of document.
  • For functionality, it would be great to have a few wizards to help beginners set up a document properly. This could be based on they type of project (print media, online, eBooks, etc.).
InDesign is perfect for print and digital publications! You can set up master pages with just a few clicks of the mouse. The new font search is extremely helpful if you have long list of typefaces. It is no longer necessary to scroll through the list. The updated version features several new HTML enhancements.
Maria Clara Daly | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
InDesign is our go-to program for any sort of print design. When I began at this agency a number of years ago, Quark was still the standard being used for print design and I made a huge push to bring us entirely into the Adobe creative suite. Particularly as we're already using the likes of Photoshop for photo editing, Illustrator for vector graphics, it just makes sense to utilize a program that works seamlessly with its sister programs. Many print shops also are starting to refuse to accept Quark files for printing so, getting with the times was critical both for our workflows as well as ability to deliver on projects.
  • Merges seamlessly with other Adobe products.
  • Robust and versatile in ability to create character and paragraph styles which helps with overall document changes if needed.
  • Great ability to render images at high or lower resolution while working on projects which helps dramatically with load speeds for larger publications.
  • Font activation and preview can sometimes be a bit fussy depending what you're using for font management.
  • So many new features are regularly rolled out (not a negative) that I find myself often having to ask Google where to find one of my libraries or settings when a new iteration is rolled out. Consider this a semi-negative.
InDesign is not great for creating standalone graphics, and often a bit cumbersome if you're just looking to do a single page layout, but absolutely critical for anything that's being laid out for 2 pages or more. Can handle spot colors, pantone, RGB and CMYK swatches making it perfect for most any project being printed in any number of ways, or even simply something to be exported to a digital and interactive PDF as the hyperlink embed ability makes some really robust digital output.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Adobe InDesign is used to work with our longer courses and documents. It is easier to work with and has far fewer hiccups than Microsoft Word. I really enjoy using libraries for easy access to fonts, logos, and colors of the brand. Adobe InDesign saves time due to its ease of use.
  • Design layout
  • Shortcuts
  • Libraries
  • Synchronization with the rest of the Adobe family
Adobe InDesign is well suited for long-form documents and less suited for single-page documents with intricate details.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Adobe InDesign to create print and digital communications for multiple audiences. With Adobe InDesign, I can prepare, share, and distribute polished and visually compelling marketing and communication materials.
  • Customization - With Adobe InDesign, as well as many other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite, I can fully customize my workspaces and save different workspaces. This makes it easy to navigate through my project and have the panels and tools I need easily accessible and configured based on my project needs.
  • Styles - Adobe InDesign has character styles, object styles, and tables styles. This speeds up my workflows and allows me to easily apply the same format across multiple elements. This is super helpful, especially when working with length documents.
  • File compatibility - I can easily export my files into so many different file types.
  • The Book feature - This feature is really helpful when creating books or very long documents with multiple sections.
  • Although, you can export Adobe InDesign documents into many file formats like pdf or jpeg. I do wish I could export Adobe InDesign files to PowerPoint or video. Adobe InDesign now has a lot of interactive elements. It would be nice to create an interactive or dynamic digital piece in [Adobe] InDesign and then export it to video. Adobe InDesign really has great master page options, it would be great to design presentations or templates using Adobe InDesign and export [them] to google slides, keynote, and Microsoft PowerPoint.
  • Price - Adobe InDesign is expensive. They do offer subscription-based plans through the Adobe Creative Cloud, but you also get a cancellation fee, if you cancel your plan before the 12-month term is up.
  • The trial period - Adobe used to offer a 30 day trial period. Now there is only a 7-day trial. That is really not a long enough time to evaluate a robust and feature-dense application like Adobe InDesign.
Adobe InDesign is ideal for page layout and graphic design. It is not an ideal tool for retouching or editing a photo. For that, I would recommend Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom. You can create some vector shapes and graphics within Adobe InDesign. However, Adobe Illustrator is really the go-to tool for creating vector graphics.
John La Belle | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Indesign is being used in our graphic design company for the final layout of print publications including books, brochures, business cards, wedding invitation packages, flyers, stationery packages, posters, signage and most other artwork for printing and specialties.
  • Powerful tools for handling large amounts of text, with full control over white space, kerning, justification, leading and all other aspects of typesetting.
  • Combining text with graphics from other applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDRAW! and other graphic programs.
  • Powerful Prepress controls for pre-flighting your print publication, handling overprints and trapping, and doing both Pantone spot color as well as 4 color process separations.
  • The only thing I don't like about InDesign is the CS Live Adobe Community Help interface. It's highly buggy and difficult to search. It's usually much easier to just do a Google search for a solution or feature you cant find, rather than try to use the Community interface.
InDesign is especially well designed for use in the Graphic Design, Printing and Advertising industries.
November 25, 2021

The industry standard

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
InDesign is the gold standard as far as desktop composition software goes for publishers. We (and our vendors) use the product to create page layouts for the vast majority of book projects.
  • Incredibly deep feature set.
  • Flexible UI.
  • Fast.
  • Good design/UX.
  • Expensive.
  • Not intuitive for beginners.
InDesign may not be the best choice for a small publisher or an organization with very simple needs for creating published print materials, but we use it for everything from marketing flyers (before 2020, of course), and about 90% of new book projects. It may not maximally be useful for teams with a low volume of products or who are not creating full books, magazines, newspapers, etc., as it might not be a good value for the price.
November 24, 2021

The best we found!

Kelsie Hamilton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We create a book (about 200 pages) for our Board Members twice a year. The product that we used to create for our board was very simple, not exciting, and was created by combining a bunch of PDFs. It really wasn't a very innovative product. So, we started to think about how to "spice" up our product, for readability (particularly on digital devices), and for engagement by our board. We've used it for the last two years now.
  • Tutorials.
  • Visual.
  • Customizable.
  • Usability.
  • Functionality.
  • Consistency.
It is well suited when you have a staff member that can be dedicated to learning the process. It's not necessarily the easiest to just "pick up" and run with it. My team member was able to really dig in and learn how to use it, and then train myself afterward.
November 23, 2021

Love my InDesign

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use InDesign on the daily when working on catalogs, decks, sale sheets. It's a great tool when you have to lay out multiple pages including spreads when submitting artwork over to our printer. Easy to work with and love the overall layout when you have to manage pages, assets, and a plus when adding hyperlinks to objects.
  • Layout
  • Spread
  • Fast
  • Easy to setup
  • There are times when fonts and linked images go missing or need to be relinked even if root files were not moved.
  • There can be glitches at times.
  • Speed over quality. Would love the software to work faster with multiple files open.
When working on booklets, multiple-page files, I highly recommend using InDesign. Illustrator is capable but there are limitations that InDesign makes it much easier to use. Especially when having to layout and export in a spreadsheet style. Overall file handling is very easy with InDesign when handing files over. The interface is clean and you can even block off all objects off the canvas so it doesn't clutter the overall space
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Adobe InDesign here at Berlin Grey Design Studio whenever we have projects that revolve around print. Though not all are used for it it's great for working on projects like brochures or booklets – wherever pages are required. I personally enjoy using it over all of the Adobe Creative Suite softwares so I will use it for things like flyers and business cards too.
  • Working with multiple pages.
  • This goes for all Adobe Creative Suite: The default keyboard shortcuts should all be the same for essentials!
Adobe InDesign is best suited for print-related projects with pages, such as a brochure. It's not appropriate for doing vector work like scalable illustrations – that's where you'd jump into Adobe Illustrator.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I'm a graphic designer of our design department. We are currently using [Adobe] InDesign for creating catalog, brochures, and sellsheets of our company's products. Every year our company will make new product catalog and new sellsheets, we are following the same template, which [Adobe] InDesign helps a lot with, so we just apply the master page and fill it in with new content, it makes our catalog style consist and also makes our lives easier.
  • master pages helps apply the same layout
  • character style
  • paragraph style
  • the linked text frame sometimes bugs me
  • maybe [Adobe] InDesign can automatically read a folder called "links" as AI does
  • besides, all good
I really love the way [Adobe] InDesign allows us the apply and change the template briefly. When we are doing catalogs, it saves us a lot of time to play with the layout. Also, the character style and paragraph style help a lot, instead of changing the font type and size all the time, we just need to click on the style name.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Used in the marketing department to build high-level marketing packages for properties listed for sale. We use a combination of software to produce the components of the package and finish it in [Adobe] InDesign. The control of text elements and images is key to the finished product and there is no other product on the market that makes our work easy and possible.
  • Full control over text elements - size and fit
  • Precise image placement and manipulation
  • Exact design layouts and template creation
  • The heads-up spell check feature would be nice
  • Formatted tables for font/size
  • Auto-save or easier access to save options
Any scenario where a high-level, high-quality production is required. Being able to integrate multiple images/image formats and clean text and text elements. We handled most projects with the same professional finishes and standards, but when a big deal comes through, it's comforting to know that we can take it up a couple notches with [Adobe] InDesign.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a digital marketing firm with government agencies as a key sector, compliance with Section 508 of the ADA and WCAG is critical when producing documents. [Adobe] InDesign allows us to produce documents compliant for low vision users, without limiting aesthetics the same way that other programs do. In addition, its built in features allow maintaining multiple clients effortless.
  • Professional-level document design
  • WCAG compliance, particularly for screen readers
  • Branding and asset organization
  • Complex data must be handled in a different program
  • Table design & remediation is too complicated
  • Program competency is easy, but mastery is difficult
[Adobe] InDesign is excellent for complex, long-length documents that must appear professional and incorporate various aspects of publishing. It can easily handle complex typography, gridded content, templates, accessibility concerns, and more. However, it is a complicated program to master and best used by designers, so content that needs to be edited frequently by non-designers would not be suggested for this program.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use in-Design as : 1) A user (an architect and educator) 2) An educator 3) A project manager for junior architects My experience is different in the 3 ways. As a user, I use it for layouts of design projects, design portfolios and research submissions. It helps me achieve a clean look for the project I am working on. I also use it as a thinking tool. However, with students and junior architects I guide, I find it more useful as the last stop before printing out a project.
  • Creating a layout for projects, reports, research publications, portfolios..
  • Numbering pages and creating a streamlined/consistent look for pages (intermediate to advanced)
  • Filling out a template prepared by an expert, even as a beginner
  • Ordering the pages with dragging is a bit counter-intuitive
  • The "Links" section needs improvement - it might be very beneficial to have the links displayed (and saved) in the "links" sections for dragging and reusing without having to re-insert
  • I think the relinking option works well - Would it be possible to the automatic relink to work even if file was renamed? A prompt will be [shown] to the user to help them approve or disapprove of this action.
I think InDesign is very suitable for creating reports while the design work is still being done. This means that everytime a design or picture is updated, you can see it updated real-time in InDesign. This allows multiple teams to work in parallel towards the deadline. The graphic design team/person will work to create a comprehensive layout. The design/report data team create the content. However, I think that depending on the situation, InDesign is not suitable for presentations that will be projected. There are other software out there that do this job faster (offline software such as Powerpoint, or online tools such as canva)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Adobe InDesign mainly for self promotional products such as marketing brochures and customer proposals. It is being used by the design team for jobs that need the finest control and execution from concept to print. It is the tool to use when the product needs to look exactly how you expect.
  • Character and object styles are essential. With these two features you can save hours of work going through multi-page documents and manually reformatting individual elements.
  • Powerful PDF generation. Not only can you generate consistently well laid out documents, but you can incorporate specific PDF features. For instance, you can create a table of contents with text links that go right to the page in the PDF.
  • The ability to pre-flight and package projects for print is such a relief. You don't need to manually hunt down fonts and resources to send to your printer, it can all be buttoned up and print ready.
  • There is a lot of overlap in the Adobe content creation apps. You can make a block of text in Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign. And while tools are generally similar, things can be a bit jarring when going from one package to another. It is understandable that they are different tools attacking different problems, but any steps that can be take to smooth the functionality would be appreciated.
  • Cost. With so much of the software world going open source, it can feel weird shelling out for a program. That being said, if your need is an InDesign problem, there is NO alternative and it is worth every penny
  • Learning curve. There is a tremendous amount of documentation and user guides out there. But the fact is, this program is a monster. If it is not your job to create professional documents, you will not have the time or motivation to master Adobe InDesign.
If you need this tool, there simply isn't any other program to recommend. And if you don't need it, it is a waste of time and money to invest in it. For this reason I don't know that I would recommend it to anybody. If somebody would need this tool to do their work, they would already have it.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Adobe InDesign is our go-to software application for designing and creating the layout of our printed product brochures and information booklets. It is used exclusively in the marketing department, but we also create printed material for our R&D department. There is no other software application available that allows this kind of speed and ease of use when it comes to layout tasks.
  • Creating multi-page printed documents, like brochures
  • Creating print-ready PDF of EPS files in the format that the printer requires
  • The InDesign files of newer versions are rarely compatible with older versions, which makes sharing work difficult. There is an option to export to a universal file, but this is an avoidable hassle.
  • Menu items and workspace layouts are sometimes changed with newer versions, which causes confusion and requires a learning period before you can work at full speed again.
Designing printed brochures, flyers and information booklets is where Adobe InDesign shines. It's not a tool to edit images, although you have some options that help you avoid having to open up Photoshop. The two applications work hand-in-hand, and I can't use InDesign without going to Photoshop every once in a while.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Adobe InDesign daily for all of our presentations. I use it when creating mood boards, as well as presentations for properties and plans, FF&E, etc. It is a great presentation tool, and super intuitive to use. It makes all of our presentations look seamless and professional.
  • Creating templates - so all pages read the same, and have the same margins, titles, etc.
  • Guides - ability to snap items to guides so that images and texts are laid out with equal spacing and setup as a beautiful presentation.
  • Packaging - pulling full presentations into a "package" so that all of your image links, fonts, settings are saved, and can easily share among team members.
  • Collaboration - it would be great if there was a way to have live collaboration between team members (similar to how microsoft word or google presentations can allow multiple users to modify a document in real time).
  • File sizes - sometimes file sizes are too large and it holds up the computer and takes a lot of time to save and share.
  • None - I think this is a great tool and use it daily.
Well Suited:
  • Presentations
  • Floor plans - color coding etc
  • Furniture Boards
  • Mood/Inspiration Boards
  • Brand Presentations
Less Appropriate:
  • Shared collaboration work - when multiple people need to access a file and work on it at the same time
  • Documents with a lot of text - better for images only
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I am currently the only user at my company using Adobe InDesign. I use it for graphic design, along with a few other Adobe products. InDesign is GREAT for use in graphic design. I use it to help create and edit books and covers etc. A great option to make your products look and seem very professional.
  • Book Creation/editing - you can create templates and follow these so every page appears just how you want it to, without concern of text not matching ideas
  • Cover design and editing - you can keep all your ideas cohesive along with your contents of your books.
  • DC version of InDesign keeps you up to date - easy to find tutorials for tools within system.
  • Cost is high, but for that cost, you get a great product
  • Some tools are difficult to use correctly without researching proper way to use them (not very intuitive sometimes)
Great option for creating books, multiple page documents, and things like calendars. Very easy to use most of the basic tools. Once you become more of an experienced user, many of the advanced tools make your life much more easy. Not very useful for one page documents - Adobe Illustrator is much more suited for these situations.
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