Wednesday, October 15, 2008

InDesign CS4's New features

Here is a listing of InDesign CS4's new features. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list, but it will definitely point out the newest features

Smart Guides/Spacing

Say goodbye to the align panel with smart guides. As you move frames around on the page, guides will temporarily pop up and help your frame snap to the right spot. If this annoys you, don't worry since you can always turn it off.

Spread Rotation

If you work on packaging, you will wonder how you ever worked without spread rotation. This alloys you to temporarily rotate a spread 90° and make changes. This will really save your neck.

Table editing in story editor

Overset text problems in tables are now fixed forever. Before CS4 it was impossible to edit the overset copy in a table, but now we finally can. As an added bonus, InCopy users will be able to track changes on tables too.

Redesigned Links Panel

The new links panel has been completely redesigned from the ground up with an almost ridiculous amount of information. You can now choose which information you want to see including effective resolution, thumbnails and status. The ability to sort the links by these traits is also incredibly useful.

Preflight Panel.

Preflight is finally fixed! This is hands down the most useful new feature. Preflight is now very customizable. You can set up warnings to stretched images, missing fonts, live area and much much more. The best part is that once you have a profile set up, ID is constantly checking it and will let you know if there is a problem and even offer how to fix it!

Flash Export

There are now two new different ways to get your ID layout on the web. The first option is the ability to export your pages as a swf. This lets you make a simple slide show of your work, or the ability to move between pages of a magazine. The second way is to export your layout as a XFL file which can be opened inside of Flash. This will allow a flash developer to add rich interactivity to your files and create a dynamic website.

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