Handpicked Software

Total Training for Adobe InDesign CS2, like all of the Total Training programs for Adobe Creative Suite 2, is designed as a comprehensive course of study. Whether you’re new to InDesign, a Quark convert, or a veteran user wanting to polish your skills or get quickly up to speed with all of the new features, Total Training for Adobe InDesign CS2 is the fastest, easiest, and most cost-effective way to hone your skills.

Presented by Steve Holmes, Total Training for Adobe InDesign CS2, is a crash course in InDesign. Steve is the Creative Director of Energi Design, recipient of two Webby Awards for his work on the Words At Play site designed for Adobe, and a frequent presenter at international design conferences. He’s also the host of several other Total Training programs, including Total Training Presents: Adobe Creative Suite 2 - From Design to Delivery.

I’ve written at length about Deke McClelland’s “edutaining” presentation style in my previous reviews of Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS2, and Total Training’s Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 Unleashed. Steve Holmes has a different style. Relaxed and confident, he’s all business, getting right to the point and maintaining a brisk pace. You may prefer one style over the other. Personally, having watched several Total Training programs, I’m grateful for the variety. Both Deke and Steve do an outstanding job of teaching the finer points of the applications they present, and both are thoroughly expert in their subjects.

The program includes two DVDs with 38 lessons (including a bonus lesson) and a total runtime of 16 hours and 34 minutes. The first part, “Design, Typography, and Layout,” introduces you to InDesign with a 35 minute “Quick Start Tour of Adobe InDesign CS2.” You’ll learn your way around the program as you create an invitation to a museum opening (before the program is over, you’ll also create a menu, a brochure, an interactive PDF, and a poster). The other lessons in Part 1 cover essential topics, such as how to set up optimal preferences, work with documents, use the new Adobe Bridge file browser, work with layouts and type, and import vector graphics and Photoshop files. You’ll also learn about new features, like InDesign snippets and object styles.

Part two, “Production Magic & Streamlined Output,” covers advanced topics like working with tables, using the Story Editor and InCopy, working with folios and libraries, creating books, and getting ready for print.

Finally, when you register with Total Training you’ll receive an unlock code to access the bonus lesson, “Poster Design Magic.” You’ll look over Steve’s shoulder as he walks you through a complete design project, creating a finished poster from (almost) scratch and dropping tips, tricks, and shortcuts along the way. Included in the poster design is a free bonus font from Mucca Design.

You can read the complete course outline here and view a sample tutorial here.

The interface for Total Training for Adobe InDesign CS2, like the other programs in this series, is a pleasure to use—polished, responsive, and easy to navigate. A help movie gives you a tour of the interface, but you probably won’t need it. Lesson and Topic menus let you go right to the information you want, and you can view a Table of Contents for the entire DVD. The program remembers your place when you quit, so you can pick up where you left off. You can add bookmarks to help you remember lessons you want to revisit. The player does suck up a lot of CPU, a distraction if you leave it open in the background when you switch to something else. The only hitch I encountered was lack of support for the full screen function, but you should be able to download a patch for this very soon.

If you aren’t familiar with Total Training, order their free sampler CD containing over two hours of video training or view some sample tutorials from their lineup of programs.

Bottom Line: Total Training for InDesign CS2 is a crash course in InDesign. There’s no easier or faster way to quickly master essential InDesign skills.
From: Total Training
Price: $249.99
Platform: Macintosh and Windows