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InDesign: the "go-to" page layout software
January 24, 2020

InDesign: the "go-to" page layout software

Paul Hughes | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Adobe InDesign

InDesign is used in our Art Department, consisting of 8 Pre Press / Graphic Design personnel. It's primarily used to set up text and images to be exported as high-resolution pdf files. InDesign is used in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Magazine layout. InDesign is extremely stable; you can link text from page to page in any order. You can have a story start on page 3, continue on page 8, and continue again on page 27. If you make edits to the text, it will reflow throughout the magazine/book.
  • It's perfect for creating comic books with various sizes and shapes of picture boxes, word bubbles, and so on.
  • Problems can occur when adding drop shadows to text. Sometimes the shadow can produce an undesirable effect on graphic elements below. The solution is to use Adobe Illustrator for drop shadows.
  • InDesign has a number of special effects that can be better done using Adobe Illustrator and importing into InDesign. Though if you do not have Illustrator, there is a lot you can do in InDesign.
  • InDesign is great for large page count projects. Those projects can be exported as a multi-page pdf file and placed into pagination software, then exported to printing plates. The faster and more reliable the final file, the quicker the turnaround is.
The two big guns in page layout software are InDesign and Quark Express. At one time, Quark was the go-to software. A majority of Pre Press shops employed Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Quark Express. Over the years, though, InDesign has surpassed Quark.
Adobe usually returns support calls within the hour. Also, the web-based help is well laid out and informative.

Do you think Adobe InDesign delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Adobe InDesign's feature set?

Yes

Did Adobe InDesign live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Adobe InDesign go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Adobe InDesign again?

Yes

I use InDesign to create comic books and instructional books with lots of graphics and diagrams (not at my present place of employment). If you are creating projects with large amounts of pages, InDesign is the tool to use. One of its main strengths is stability. If you have a file that is 500 pages with linked text and graphics, it will not bog down.