Here's what I think about Adobe and InDesign Spell Check

[mazdaspeed]

I doin't think Adobe appreciates why Spell Check is important to designers. I think it's likely there is an assumption that documents are to be accurately spelled in their manuscript forms. While there is truth to that fact, it misses the point of why spell checking is important to designers.

Designers work long hours on a document. So long, in fact, that we often begin to nod off. This results in inadvertent mouse or keyboard clicks. Hence, the need for Spell Check. Need I say more?

[mazdaspeed]

The point being, Spell Check within InDesign is counterintuitive and slow (if not outright crashing the whole application). It goes years without ever being improved. Proper appreciation might bring proper attention.

[Steve Werner]

Another good reason for spell checking for designers is that you usually don't have anyone else who can proofread what you type. Many people really haven't learned spelling or punctuation well, and this can help a lot. It's not perfect but it's very helpful.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I don't think anyone, even the sniffiest "words ain't mah thang" designer would disagree that spell checking is absolutely essential in document development.

I've never had any particular problem with InDesign's, even on long or complex documents. It may be a tad slower than ones in optimized word processors, but I've never had a second thought about its speed or usability. It has more features and options than, say, Word, but it also works with much more complex document structures than Word's 1-layer, 1-mode docs.