After several years of working interior book design, I still wonder why Adobe makes their InDesign software so complex. I know that the idea may be to provide a rich palette of tools and options, but it's still a bit intimidating. I've worked with Photoshop before, so I know how much Adobe loves "tools" and "layers." I think part of the difficulty is that we get so used to the flatter, simpler systems in Microsoft's document management software. It's really like going from amateur to pro with …
Book Design
Word vs. InDesign for Document Revisions
Word vs. InDesign After I ran into a misunderstanding for a multi-authored book revision between making changes to content and dealing with formatting, I realized again how Microsoft Word-centric most writers and subject matter experts are, and that I need to take extra time to educate in order to avoid client anxiety and create the best input for me in doing a redesign. Client Expectations I’ve been tweaking the content, design, and index of the annual new edition of Ocular Anatomy and …
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Benefits of a Publishing Team
I've been book shepherding (more than just editing) for several years now, and I'd like to focus on one aspect of helping individual authors navigate through the publishing process: the importance of using a team, and not just one person. Yep, I can do it all (well, almost), but having me carry out all the production tasks for a book is not necessarily in the author's, and therefore, the reader's best interest. Definitely more money for me if I do everything, but there are drawbacks to …
Book Design: Principles vs. Tools
As I'm gaining more experience in interior book design and one of its software tools, InDesign, I am struck by the focus people have on the niftiness of the tool over curiosity about the actual knowledge (principles) of book design. Book design (typesetting back in the days before desktop publishing software) has a multi-hundred-year history of its own, where best practices developed over time to create readable text on printed paper. I am determined not to get stuck in worship of the tool …