Any warnings against producing my magazines in Illustrator?

[Chris P. Bacon]

Apart from the lack of the grid system (which I abandoned, I am going to paint my layout in Illustrator) what can InDesign in terms of magazine production, that Illustrator can't?

[SJRiegel]

That's just the display preview you are seeing. Under the hood, the files are still vector. 

For better viewing, try changing Display Performance to High

[Chris P. Bacon]

Ah, indeed.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Can you show few example pages? 

And what EXACTLY are you doing to the background graphics when you need to fit text ? 

From the example above it looks like you can just resize background for the text - and it's just one color shape?

So, as long as you are not creating background from scratch every time that you need to fit few extra words - simple resizing of the rectangle with linked background would be pretty straightforward...

[Chris P. Bacon]

I told in this thread many times repeatedly what I want to do....

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Unfortunately you can't have everything together - you either have better vector graphics = Illustrator - or better text = InDesign - now you need to decide what is more important and then accept drawbacks.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Text, graphics, images, composition, blend modes....

It doesn't matter what I want to do, the point is that I want to be able to fit text to changing graphics and graphics to changing text, while seeing both.

I am looking for a workflow to achieve that, and I need live type in InDesign in the end to be able to make us of all InDesign features.

[rob day]

I must create it in Illustrator, because that's where the graphics are created.

Then use Illustrator for page layout. What is the point is moving back to InDesign?

[Chris P. Bacon]

To make use of the InDesign text features that are only available in InDesign, in the end, and to be able to send it for printing from InDesign for the same reason - to make use of the InDesign features that are only available in InDesign.

[rob day]

Which feature do you need? Your text seems pretty simple.

and to be able to send it for printing from InDesign for the same reason

You can setup facing artboards in Illustrator an save as PDF/X-4, which is all you would need for print delivery.

[Chris P. Bacon]

It's not really "which features do you need?" because we don't only talk of today and the features of today.

The idea is:

first making use of all Illustrator features, then making use of all InDesign features, and THEN sending it to print.

Thanks for the advice, but I will print from InDesign - due to the logic I mentioned above.

It's like whatever the features.

The point is to not lock myself out from any features of the 2 software, and that requires that I have live type in the end product, in InDesign..

because the workflow is not like you decide what you want to do, it's more like you play around with all features to see what you can do.

[Chris P. Bacon]

For example if I don't have live type in InDesign, I cannot use text blend modes, etc etc

[rob day]

but I will print from InDesign

Are you doing the printing in house? A commercial printer would normally want a PDF, even if you deliver an InDesign package they’re not likely printing from InDesign—they would make a press ready PDF for output.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Sorry,

what I meant is that I want to create my Print PDF from InDesign, making use of InDesign features.

[chrisg11235813]

I think, the intent is to (potentially) use, a table of contents, chapters, page numbering, etc.

Maybe make global changes at a later date.

I might have misunderstood though.

[Chris P. Bacon]

If I don't do all blending in Illustrator, that is if I do the text blending separately in InDesign, I would not get the full spectrum of blending possibilites, and that's bad, and that outweighs the few InDesign text capabilities that are only in InDesign. 

So I will finish the whole magazine in Illustrator, and the only reason to port it to InDesign after will be to detect ink limit issues and such, so it will come with baked in text, no further text manipulation in InDesign. Only the print benefits.

This is an isseu with the blend modes, and nothing will solve this, must finish the product in Illustrator.  And for this very modular layout that I am doing, blend modes will be very important, so that I dont have to see so many sharp edges in the composition, but try to fuse the elements together. 

[chrisg11235813]

Regarding "ink limits", they will most likely will be handled by your print provider.

It seems as though each page/spread will be a piece of artwork in its own right, in that case, illustrator would be the path to take.

sorry for sending you down the print/publishing rabit hole 🙂

[rob day]

and the only reason to port it to InDesign after will be to detect ink limit issues

Again it’s highly unlikely the final press separation output will be from InDesign or Illustrator, it will be a PDF. AcrobatPro can detect Ink Limits in the final PDF

[Chris P. Bacon]

Ah, good to know that.

[Chris P. Bacon]

And, I am still not done.

Because.... of.... interactive ebooks, damn it.

If I finish the whole thing in Illustrator, meaning no live text in InDesign, how can release an interactive E-Book of the publication?

Interactive PDF is dead for now, but i mean HTML5 based interactive ebooks?

Does Illustrator support export into HTML5 based interactive ebook format?

And this is at least the same important as full blending possibilities between all layers.

By adding lots of interactivity extras into the ebook I can ask the same price for the digital version as for the printed version.

[Chris P. Bacon]

To make use of all InDesign features.

[Gusgsm]

Hi,

It's not really a question of what each programme "can / cannot do". It's a "could do if there were no other way (but I'd rather not ) / usual workflow for thousands of professionals in the industry". Some of us could be absolutelly clueless, but almost all of us? I think the explanation must be somewhere else.

The main issue is text-related, dealing with pages and flow of texts. InDesign is way better and easier to work with in this.

As long as you give PDF files to the printer , you can design a magazine even with Photoshop, if you feel like it, but it'd be some kind of an achademic exercise or show-off operation just for the sake of it.

A real magazine (for instance a weekly thing of one hundred pages or more) with Illustrator? Please, kill me. I am sufferings just by thinking about it.

Best regards

[Chris P. Bacon]

If I move over all frames frame by frame after I am done with it in Illustrator, into InDesign, then it's like if it was created in InDesign.

So far as I know, there is no option to move all frames over at once so that the frames will be separate in InDesign too.

The graphics part of it must be created in Illustrator, because InDesign doesn't have the tools like brushes and graphics effects to work with.

[Gusgsm]

If you feel more at ease sketching with Illustrator, it's your take (not that InDesign is sooo different to do that, anyway), You could even sketch by hand in paper (not joking).

Afterwards you can place those sketches in a layer at the bottom, make them 50% oppacity and block the layer. So you can redraw and make the good (native) InDesign elements above and discard the layer. I have done that many times with pieces of PDF from our archives. It's a fast way to preview where you want to get at in complex designs.

One tiny detail worth mentioning is that choosing a difficult (uncommon) way of working implies not only extra effort while doing the work but a severe reduction of viable solutions when you have to redo something; a change in the project, a detail that does not work as desired, whatever... it will happen. And when it happens the selection of a suboptimal tool for the job will bite you.

That said, learning the basis of InDesign and how to feel at ease with the day to day workflow is priceless. You'll save yourself hours of work. Really. Illustrator is a beautiful programme, but when it comes to assemble different pieces, InDesign is the mothership that runs in circles around Illustrator and Photoshop. Because it was designed precisely for this.

Has it been mentioned that the way InDesign deals with color and inks is better (much easier) as well?

[Chris P. Bacon]

But InDesign doesn't have brushes, 3D simulation, masks, and all the graphics and paintings tools that I need for a "painted" layout, that I want to accomplish.

I only do the layout in Illustrator, I do not create illustrations or paintings, but I want a free-hand painted graphical layout.

But some advanced layouts can be a piece of art in themselves.

[Chris P. Bacon]

I will have to create the whole mag in Illustrator, and after it's finished I will need to move it over to InDesign frame by frame, and do the blending in InDesign.

Like that I it will be like the whole thing was created in InDesign, and I can use the options that are only available in InDesign, and import it afterewards to PDF from InDesign.

So that I will get a "live" document in InDesign in the end.

Because I need live frames and live text anyway to create my ebook versions with interactive HTML5 from indesign.

But if anyone knows better, the thread is open.