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keress
Participating Frequently
July 28, 2023
Question

How long to learn InDesign for an experienced web designer/writer/book-designer?

  • July 28, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 2139 views

I've been doing web design, mostly with WordPress, for 20 years.  I've professionally produced over 200 websites. I'm expert with HTML and CSS.  I'm also a writer/editor, well-versed in Chicago Manual of Style.  Recently, I've edited/designed over a dozen print-on-demand books and eBooks, some which look better than their big-editing-house first editions. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Goatwalking-Wildland-Living-Peaceable-Kingdom-ebook/dp/B09C932M5D/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&asin=B09C932M5D&revisionId=c6dbc024&format=1&depth=1

 

I can write .epub documents from scratch, coding all the HTML and CSS myself.  I'm also a Photoshop artist.  I'm using MSWord as the desktop publisher.  How much of a learning curve will it be to pick up InDesign?  I'm not convinced it would help me add much value to the work I'm already doing with MSWord.  I've used that since the first version, 40 years ago. (I put myself through my last year of college as a word processor.  Before that, all there were, were typewriters. Anybody ever heard of Vydek?)

 

It's invaluable that the author and I can go back and forth editing the book.  That wouldn't be possible in InDesign.  While I'm at it, I'm formatting it to look like a perfectly professional-looking book.  

Who can convince me that it will be worthwhile to put in that to-be-determined learning curve with InDesign?  This is morphing into a self-publishing service purely by word-of-mouth.  I'm researching how best to grow it.  

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    5 replies

    barbara_a7746676
    Community Expert
    barbara_a7746676Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 1, 2023

    Word is a word processor; InDesign is a page layout application. You have ultimate control over design and layout with InDesign. 

    You have a great background and experience with other applications, but there will still be a learning curve with InDesign.

    When I want someone to review an InDesign document, I send them a PDF of the file. As Robert mentioned, InCopy is another option.

    K
    keressAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    August 1, 2023

    Thanks for the response.

    Have you ever used MSWord to prepare a manuscript?  It is a great deal more than a simple word processor.  As I've said, I've replicated first editions done by major publishers.  The only difference is that I did a much better job creating headers naming the subchapters we were in, than the first editor. 

    Having to resort to pdf's is what I'm afraid of.  It will mean having to do the actual work of a word processor, transferring all their changes, bit by bit to the main document. I'll have flashbacks to my old day-job as a word processor for law firms.  What a torment.  I hope InCopy will be a reasonable alternative.  My clients are mostly IT-phobic seniors.  If there's a learning curve to InCopy all may be lost.  

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    August 1, 2023

    I'm afraid there would be quite a steep one... 

     

    Like others said - it's always best to have WORD document "finished" and ready to use - and only do minor typos. 

     

    But... then it also depends on the contents - if it's just text - then not all is lost - as long as authors know how to use Styles and WILL use them instead of local formatting. 

     

      Randy Hagan
      Community Expert
      Randy HaganCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 31, 2023

      When somebody asks me how long it will take to learn a given program, I generally respond that it comes down to three basic factors:

       

      1. Do you have a use case for it? In short, do you have a need to use it? My most challenging students are the ones who want to just "learn the computer." From what you explain in your post here, it sounds like the work you do really doesn't offer a valid use case, unless you've decided you see business in producing prepress materials for book print production, and haven't shared that with us. It does have hooks to produce electronic book materials, but from what you describe you have a superior toolkit and expertise than anything InDesign can offer you for those tasks. InDesign is, despite the name, not a per se design tool. It's a production tool. If you're a lousy print designer, all it will allow you to do is produce more lousy design faster. Which gets to ...

       

      2. Are you motivated to learn it? Only you can answer that question fully, but it sounds like that you're wondering if you need to master InDesign too? For the work you're currently doing, I'd say no. Again, it sounds like you have a fully developed toolkit to do your current work. If this fulfills your inner desire to learn something new associated with your current business, that'd be cool and I might say yes. But if you feel this is a burden or obligation just because other folks use this to do different work than you're doing now because you may put it to use someday, not so much. And finally ...

       

      3. How much time and effort will you devote to learning, and using it? There are two ways to define "time to learn." One is how many hours you can devote to mastering the basics and building proficiency. The other is the overall timespan you'll allow yourself to reach that proficiency. If you're willing to devote 12-16 hours in straight education to learn the tools within the program, another 8-12 hours to develop skills in long document production and then execute a couple of sample print book production jobs from beginning to end to put those skills to use in a real-world simulation (I know that's basically a contradiction in terms, but I hope you understand the underlying point), you could probably be passably proficient in a busy couple of weeks. But if you're going to devote a couple of hours today, and come back to it in a month or two, where half of that learning dissipates because you're doing other things to make your living, it could take practically forever. You could shortcut that timeline by taking in-person classes or online training, but again, that means devoting more effort to accomplishing the process.

       

      If you can answer these three questions, honestly, you'll have a good handle on exactly how long it will take you to learn InDesign for your needs. And a far better estimate than any of us could offer without knowing your specific needs, motivation and dedication to the task.

       

      Hope this helps,

       

      Randy

        K
        keressAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        July 31, 2023

        I have people coming to me, asking me to get their books ready for print-on-demand and Kindle.  It's growing.  I've produced about a dozen titles.  I need to know if I'm doing a subpar job for them using MSWord.  The link I supplied above shows a book I re-created that looks fairly identical to the Penguin (I think it was) first edition.  Perhaps, that's just my ignorance.  My clients were pleased and recommended me to others.  I'm trying to figure out if I'll regret not cutting in InDesign to produce these books.  That it will make some difference in how well these efforts turn out and survive.  I'm serving basically a market of boomers with memoirs or works they wrote in the past they don't want to see go out-of-print. They're paying a respectable amount for my time.  There are plenty of times when MSWord behaves stupidly and I have to tame the beast to work properly.  Would I be more efficient in In Design?  Able to work faster?  Less stressed-out?  I'm trying to discern if there would be practical value to the expense in time and money to make that switch.

        What's coming together is a body of aging peace and civil rights activists who are actively trying to preserve their own legacy by way of print-on-demand and eBooks.  This niche is coming to me.  How best do I serve it?

         

        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Legend
        July 31, 2023

        Everything depends on the quality of the source material - or rather how much changes and how often will be required. 

         

        If you'll have to constantly make serious changes - you'll either need to buy InCopy for the author(s) - and they'll have to learn how to use it - or WordsFlow plugin. 

         

        If you are able to tame the WORD beast - InDesign can be much more stressful as you would need to learn a new program that works quite differently.

         

        Peter Spier
        Community Expert
        Peter SpierCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        July 31, 2023

        There is a lot more typographic control and sophisitcation in InDesign than in Word, and worlds more layout control, but you might not need it if your focus is screen rather than print. I'm a print guy, but my understanding is that manyof the e-book formats don't look the same on screen, and that it's highly dependent on the reader software.

        As far as collaboration with the author, I've done both large and small projects that have gone through a good deal of revision (and I frequently act as editor as well as designer) using InDesign and an exported PDF. Some authors will use PDF markups, some just send me a new Word file with changes.

          L
          Community Expert
          LaubenderCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          July 31, 2023

          @keress said: "Who can convince me that it will be worthwhile to put in that to-be-determined learning curve with InDesign?"

           

          Hm. I think the question is more what you do expect from InDesign what Word cannot do.

          What are your expectations?

           

          If you are looking for a workflow *.docx > InDesign > *.docx you should inspect the options you'll get with the InDesign plugIn WordsFlow. Of course, this comes with extra costs, but you could test WordsFlow as a free-trial.

          http://emsoftware.com/products/wordsflow/

           

          Regards,
          Uwe Laubender
          ( Adobe Community Expert )

          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Legend
          July 28, 2023

          If you want to work on layout design part - and let author focus on the text content - then InDesign and InCopy combo should do the trick. 

           

          K
          keressAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          July 29, 2023

          Part of my job is to be the editor of the content before/while preparing the manuscript for print.  Are you saying InCopy is a tool that will allow us to do the same kind of back-and-forth we can do in MSWord comments?  

          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Legend
          July 29, 2023

          Not sure how can you work in WORD on the same document at the same time - but with InCopy, you can export only text part of the InDesign document so the other person can edit this text part - without interfering with the graphics / layout part of the document. 

           

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