Essential Adobe InDesign Tools to Learn to Get Started

Using Adobe InDesign for the first time? For a complete beginner, the interface of Adobe InDesign can seem overwhelming and intimidating. However, you can start creating beautiful designs right away with the help of a few basic tools.

Adobe InDesign is one of the best and leading page design and layout toolsets that has been around for decades. It allows you to work across desktop as well as mobile devices to build amazing designs, preflight, and publish anything - from online documents to eBooks and printed books. One of the best features that make Adobe InDesign a popular choice among people is its ability to handle hundreds of high-resolution images in one long document without slowing down the process. 

If you are a beginner and have just enrolled in Adobe InDesign training in NYC, you will find the following tools extremely helpful in getting started. 

• The selection tools (Shortcut - V, Escape)

The selection tool is the top beginner tool that is activated by default when you open InDesign. It is available at the top of the tools panel. As you must have guessed already, it is used to select things. So when you want to scale or move items, this is your go-to tool. You can grab shapes, image frames, text frames to move them around, or maybe click or drag objects from corners to adjust their size.  

• Direct selection tool (shortcut - A)

This is the next tool on the list that is used to adjust the position of individual points. It is a white arrow you see below the selection tool on the tools panel. It is extremely helpful when you want to edit the anchor points of shapes or vector elements. When you click on the object using the direct selection tool, you will notice small white squares popping around the edges. When you click again on the white squares, you will be able to select the anchor points. Now you can use the arrow keys to adjust the shape.

• The type tool 

Since Adobe InDesign is a publishing tool, you will want to get to grips with creating text. The Type Tool allows you to put together your text-based designs in your documents. Select the tool and drag it onto the page to create a new text frame. You can convert any shape into a text frame by double-clicking the cursor. 

These are some of the beginner-friendly tools that will prove to be extremely helpful in getting familiar with the program during your training at an Adobe InDesign training school in New York.