The QuarkXPress, InDesign,
and PageMaker Ideabooks

BY CHUCK GREEN
REVIEW BY PATTY PUTFARK

What? A flyer that actually flies? With The Ideabook series, not only can you create fliers in QuarkXPress, InDesign, or PageMaker in a snap, you can create a flier in the form of a paper airplane — ready to fly! With this book the work is already done for you. The Ideabook series contains ready-to-go templates. Use them straight off the included CD, or customize with your own images, fonts, and messages.

As a new face in this industry, I find myself inundated with mounds of information in all shapes and sizes. This continuous stream of information can be overwhelming and time consuming, so I keep a watchful eye for anything that will limit my learning curve. The Ideabook series poses as a personal assistant, by providing the reader with the groundwork for nearly every type of design project. Written by Chuck Green, this book and CD contain page after page of ideal layouts for everything from packaging and coupon advertisements to multimedia presentations.

The handy, pre-designed laid-out pages (prepages) allow the user to begin a project with all of the basics already in place. Prepages make the workflow less cumbersome, allowing more time for the designer to craft their project. The Ideabook series provides hundreds of foundations for standard forms and lets you do with them what you will. This publication also contains dozens of helpful hints for designers to assist with copyright information, choosing illustrations, managing fonts, finding photographers, and commercial printing.

Project-production goals actually seem attainable after reading chapter one, where the production process — beginning to end — is simplified in nine basic steps. Style, photography, creating a professional look, selecting typefaces, substituting fonts, and cutting costs are just a few of the numerous topics covered.

The included CD-ROM supplies an impressive collection of programspecific computer files — over 300 prepages to choose from. As an added bonus, there's a user-friendly, step-by-step guide for opening and editing the files in your chosen application (QuarkXPress, InDesign, or PageMaker). In fact, all of the required details for illustration and artwork placement, page dimensions, as well as size and configuration of fonts are included. There are no additional system requirements and no separate software programs required because the files are complete projects and documents.

From beginner to expert, The Ideabook series holds a vast range of useful tools and information for nearly everyone.

1 | PDF Version