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One of my first jobs was selling newspapers at sporting events. I would stand outside the arena for hours shouting to anyone who cared to listen. As the hours passed (and as my patience wore thin), my newspaper satchel got heavier and heavier. Finally I couldn’t take it. I was tired of breaking my back selling a product that most people didn’t want.
Over the past few years, many newspapers and magazines have come to this same realization. Print is dead (or hanging on by life support). Digital media is king. People no longer want to sort through pages of paper. They are tired of carrying around their bulky newspapers and magazines and would match rather have their content delivered to their tablet device. Even my own father, who is the most technologically illiterate person I know, now uses a tablet device.- 1. export to EPUB
A short time ago, Adobe introduced CS5 and with it came some great features. But the forward thinking people at Adobe realized that as media evolves at an astonishing rate, new features must be added to their existing programs. Not wanting to wait until the release of CS6, Adobe introduced InDesign CS5.5, which adds some great new features specifically targeting publishers who want to publish across multiple platforms.
Ease of Use
I hate change. I hate having to teach myself new things. But in this ever-evolving world of media, if you fail to change – you will be left behind. At first I was worried about the learning curve of some of the new features included CS5.5. However, I quickly realized that these features weren’t as complicated as I initially thought. InDesign CS 5.5 has some managed to make their improvements pretty user-friendly, once you get used to them.
With CS5.5, Adobe had three main goals in mind:
- Enable ANYONE to make an EPUB document. (In CS5, EPUB publication was possible, it was just confusing and required the user to jump through a lot of hoops. Now Adobe has simplified the process so that it is much more user-friendly.)
- Reduce the amount of time needed to make corrections to an EPUB.
- Enhance the richness of the text to make the best possible looking EPUB.
Depth of Options
EPUB is a lot like HTML. It’s all about a stream of content coming to your device. What you see is what you get. Because of this, Adobe wanted to enhance what they were doing to give you more control over your EPUB document.
EPUB is made up of particles, which appear in your EPUB document in the order you arrange them. In the past, rearranging their order if you needed to wasn’t all that easy. With InDesign CS5.5, the user can now rearrange the order of those particles by simply clicking/dragging.
- 2. export to EPUB options
Also new to this version of InDesign is the ability to create a “cover” for your EPUB document. Now you can create a separate file (JPG, PNG, etc) and then link that to the EPUB document when you export. (Note: you can also export with no cover or using a screen cap of the first page as the cover)
Adobe also enhanced your options when exporting. They’ve made it easier to include metadata in documents and have even included an EPUB validator which analyzes your document to make sure it is ready to be published.
A small but helpful feature unique to CS5.5 is the improvements they made to anchored objects. In previous versions, you had to have the text box selected and then insert your anchored object, but, in CS5.5, Adobe allows you to drop your anchored object directly into your document.
With the rise of digital readers, document orientation has become a big challenge for developers. As users “flip” (change the orientation) of the tablet/mobile device, the document should adjust accordingly. In CS5.5, Adobe simplified this process as well, making it even easier for the developer to create jaw-dropping EPUB files that look great in any orientation.
Performance
If you are looking for a page layout program, InDesign cannot (and refuses) to be beat. While I’m surprised Adobe still has not made InDesign 64 bit, it ran great on all my tests and performed just like I hoped.
I ran InDesign CS5.5 on an iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and had no trouble at all. The program ran flawlessly and far exceeded my expectations.
Value vs. Costs
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. InDesign CS 5.5 comes with an amazing array of fantastic features, but you will pay a hefty price. If you are simply wanting to make a family newsletter or layout a simple print project to go with your film – I suggest you look elsewhere. If you are a serious filmmaker and/or designer that wants to create professional layouts for digital or print devices to go along with their films or work, then InDesign is the gold standard. InDesign CS5.5 cements Adobe’s place as the preeminent design software company.
- 3. Move files without switching tools
Closing Comments
I loved the features Adobe rolled out in InDesign CS5. With InDesign CS5.5 they upped the bar even higher. If you just purchased CS5 and have no need to export to EPUB, I recommend waiting to upgrade. If EPUB is a feature you need, InDesign CS5.5 is the way to go. I highly recommend this product for those working in the design layout industry and for folks involved in cross-media franchises, like MFM’s own creative community, World of Depleted, which has already published the Day 419 and Family Retreat novella’s using CS5.5.
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