Indesign first steps - online catalog in PDF. Global font/color changes?

[BryanPS]

Hi there. I am beginer in InDesign. I need to create PDF product catalog. All my life I was creating PDFs catalogs in Photoshop but now I also have Indesign so I think It could be better way to create PDF catlog there.

I am sure InDesign has better tools to create project like PDF catalog than Photoshop, but I have few questions.

Catalog will has 60 pages so there will be lot of text and many photos. I wonder is there some functionality to make bulk changes on all pages for text color, margins, font name etc? About 50 pages will contain poducts presentation - it will be the same layout for every product. I simply looking for way to make quick changes when my customer gonna say "ok, but we need to change text size and color". Something like that is made in Adobe Xd. There is ASSETS toolbar so I can change font on all artboards by two clicks. Can I found somethink like this also in Adobe InDesign?

[Barb Binder]

Hi Bryan:

Margins, columns and page size are defined via master pages. Define primary text frames for maximum ease in layout changes.

Colors are defined in the Swatches panel. Editing the color definitions will update colors in use in the file.

Text formatting is best defined as paragraph and character styles. Use Based on to create child styles, so that updating the parent style will update the child styles.

None of this will be obvious to a new user. I recommend getting training before you tackle the project. In the long run, you will be very glad you moved this from Photoshop to InDesign.

~Barb

[BobLevine]

As cold as this may sound, this is not a project for a beginner, especially one with no training.

Either hire a professional or be prepare for a good deal of pain getting this done.

[rob day]

I simply looking for way to make quick changes when my customer gonna say "ok, but we need to change text size and color".

Both font size and font color are properties of Paragraph and Character styles. If all of the text is styled then those changes can be made globally by simply changing the style‘s color and font properties.

[Randy Hagan]

At this point, I'd suggest the most important factors are: How far out is your next deadline? And how often do you produce it?

The ideal scenario would be you have weeks or months before the next catalog, which gives you time to learn InDesign before you produce your next issue (with assistance) and that you produce the catalog often enough to warrant your investment in learning and using InDesign.

First steps are to either take a basic InDesign class, and advanced training on designing and using templates and developing long documentation skills. This will give you the ability to understand how to create your first catalog, and how to produce subsequent issues based on the work you put into your first issue.

Realize that you will be creating your next catalog, your first InDesign catalog, from scratch. With the exception of product photos themselves, virtually nothing will transfer over from your work in Photoshop. But the good news is, taking courses and understanding how to make long documents from templates in InDesign means even as you're learning how to do a catalog with InDesign, it will take far less time and effort than you're likely spending now with Photoshop. Barb Binder's answer steers you clearly toward what you need to learn with InDesign to produce your catalogs.

Bob's answer steers you in the right direction too. You don't want to do this alone. At least for the first issue. You should either hire one person to first train you then take you through your first deadline (an experienced technical trainer can teach you the program, then take you through your next deadline — there are plenty good ones out there, bad ones too unfortunately), or choose a separate training program (classroom and/or online) and hire an experienced InDesign production artist to help you create your templates and produce your first catalog. But you want to do both — in sequence — to honestly learn what it takes to produce a catalog and ensure the right groundwork is laid and your first catalog is produced.

Anything less is fraught with peril. Every bit you invest for this will be richly rewarded by how easy it will be to produce future issues.

After the first issue is produced, you'll have solid knowledge of what it takes to produce your catalog, and practiced skills to make it happen yourself. Plus, if you're prepared to make cold, ruthless business decisions, it'll give you the insight to determine whether it's worth the time and effort to do it yourself or contract if out for someone to do for you.

You can do this. But doing it smart will make your life a whole lot easier than winging it.

[yn]

Pretty much what's already been said.

Play with Master Pages under the Pages panel (Window/Pages or F12). The top portion is your Master Page area. Your default Master is named like "A-Master" and you can create additional masters as needed. You can setup the base design of your page here such as margins, columns, headers, footers, and maybe things like your page number. Maybe one section requires a unique footer or something. Make a new master set and move on. The lower portion of the window is your page spread thumbnails. You can add new pages to your document in this window and assign the master page format to whatever pages you choose.

Paragraph Styles and Character Styles (Type/Paragraph Styles or Type/Character Styles) are pretty cool once you are familiar with them. Basically, if you want a standard "Header 1" style, you can create that in the Paragraph Style panel, name it, and double-click it to open the properties panel of that style. There, you can change font face, color, size, spacing before/after, tabs, etc. As long as you assign this style to all your body text that you intend to act as a "header 1" any changes you later make to the style will apply globally to all text formatted by this style. If you are familiar with Microsoft Word's use of Styles (or even HTML styles), then you should pick this up well enough.

Character Styles work similarly, but apply to the character level instead of the paragraph block.

YouTube is a great friend too for quick references. Use any of the keywords these posters have noted and you should find hundreds of videos on each. There's something to be said about learning to sink or swim. Once you are forced to learn to swim, you don't really forget it Good luck with it.