InDesign CS5 Do you like it and why?

[Tech]

So how many of you like CS5 version? More importantly are new features actually useful and improve workflow? I can see why designers like new page and gap tool but has anyone received weird layouts designed using these new features that actually created prepress problems?

The page tool isn't really new to Adobe though. Illy got it first. Even then, Quark had something similar in v6. I don't think I seen anyone fully utilize multiple size documents correctly so far...there is always the fear of losing a ton of precious work in a single document that will freak out any designer. Anyone seen this feature use correctly and error free?

It just seems to me a lot of the new features are minor and even the big ones were intended to improve designing workflow but nothing for downstream prepress/production.

 

[MC_JerryD]

Why I like CS5

Why I like CS5

As a creative and production artist in a prepress department I really like CS5. It does cater more to the designer side though. Some new features in Indesign that I use in the prepress environement is:
• Multiple page size - for assembling anything that need a short panel fold such as on a brochure. It even creates the fold marks when you export the PDF with crop marks and bleeds.
• Background Task - can export a a high-res PDF for Prinergy and low-res PDF for the client at the same time.
• Layers Panel - more like Illustrator so easier to work on complex files.
• Live Distribute - a great feature for creating scatter proofs with images. We work on a lot of artbooks and this feature has cut down the time to 1/3 of how we use to do it when we created randoms on our scans and digital capture outputs.
• Live Caption - to me goes hand-in-hand with Live Distribute in creating randoms. Now I can label automatically the photos with the name and any other information such as size placed or DPI.

Also I am now starting to get into Flash and CS5 Indesign makes it easy to create interactive documents and export as either a FLV or SWF file.

On Photoshop the new main feature we use is the Content Aware feature. By far the most impressive upgrade for Photoshop. I use it for adding bleed to images and general image editing. Definitely saves me a lot of time then just using the Cloning and Healing brush tools.

I also have seen more clients going to CS5 now than last year to CS4. A lot are going from CS3 to CS5. Might be because no one could afford it last year.

JerryD'

 

[almaink]

CS3 broke my Rampage FPO PDF workflow, and it wasn't fixed in CS4 or CS5. WTF Adobe decided to strip PDF OPI comments so I can't use a PDF FPO anymore is anyones guess. Perhaps they got mad that small shops were using Indy to impose plates? Yes I can use an eps FPO but why do I have to? I've yet to get an explanation on this, in fact I've been told I'm wrong they have changed nothing.
If they didn't change anything why does it work in CS and CS2 but not in CS3,4 or 5? BTW I still hate the way the pallets work. If I want more than one open at a time I gotta tare it off. To much bloat in these new applications. Why make it easy for designers? All that does is add complexity to files and makes preflight that much harder to do. Between Adobe dumping the ANS program, the high cost of todays software, and the economy, it's a wonder any print shop still survives today...

 

[Tech]

IMHO, the worst features from CS3-CS5 are the bloated interactive and web functions. I understand Adobe wants a big piece of the web and automation in publishing but how many out there are actually using these functions? Is there actually demand or they just pushing their own agenda? So far, I have only seen/hear Adobe certified people singing the "goodness" of these functions, I have yet to meet a real life designer/art director that understands any of it enough to even use it. Web developers hates these apps that chunk out working but sloppy codes. I get the bad feeling Adobe is following Quark in the same footsteps here and not taking any giant leap forward.

Frankly, CS3 is sufficient for daily workflow. CS4 was a big UI change I didn't care for it much. CS5 has very nice features that aids designers but this makes me wonder what else can they add in CS6? From production perspective, nothing has improved greatly since CS3, hence "sufficient". The improvements are mostly in design features for upstream workflow in CS4-CS5. Are we hitting a bottleneck soon like Quark?

 

[Shawn]

I never really saw a reason behind the interactive features, or at least I haven't yet. Maybe in the future it'll make more sense for interactive publishing when everyone has an iPad or Kindle.

We've really gotten a lot of use out of the multiple page size feature for fixing short folds and creating spines for book covers. The changes to the layers panel have been helpful for some of the more complicated documents.

I've gotten feedback from two different catalog customers who switched and both saw huge gains. The first customer saved a lot of time with the live caption features. We helped her tie her database into Bridge and then she used the live captioning to auto-place the description info.

The second literally saved hours each catalog by using the grid tools. Their basic layout was very box orientated and they were always tweaking the exact column and row sizes to get the best crop for various elements, so the gridify tools were perfect for them.

I'm seeing more happy customers who are updating from earlier versions of CS like 2 or 3 than I am those coming from 4. It seems like the aggressive update cycle that Adobe is pushing is making people skip a version or 2, or 3 until they get enough compelling features to justify the cost.

Shawn

 

[prepressguru]

Most of the web features are for mocking up sites and are not meant to be final. I didn't understand the features myself until I started to learn the web workflow. A designer would use the normal design tools they are use to, to get the look and have a programmer take it over and make it work better behind the scenes.

p

 

[Tech]

Not if you speak with any Adobe staff. They are pitching InDesign to designers as "tools you already know how to use". They will have you believe you can create a compelling interactive iPad ezine using all the existing tools within CS5. The answer is of course, YES and NO.

The real problem is you can't convert print designers to web/interactive designers simply by giving them "tools they already know". The web authoring tools within InDy is also overly simplified. Adobe would have you believe not writing any codes is actually a great thing!

 

[leonardr]

CS3 broke my Rampage FPO PDF workflow, and it wasn't fixed in CS4 or CS5. WTF Adobe decided to strip PDF OPI comments so I can't use a PDF FPO anymore is anyones guess. Perhaps they got mad that small shops were using Indy to impose plates? Yes I can use an eps FPO but why do I have to? I've yet to get an explanation on this, in fact I've been told I'm wrong they have changed nothing.=

Because OPI is a deprecated feature of PDF. The modern solution for variable data solutions of this nature is PDF/X-5 and PDF/VT.

 

[pcmodem]

I find it interesting that InDesign doesn't have the ability to export a PDF/X-5 or PDF/VT but they pulled the ability for OPI comments. Adobe normally waits to pull a feature until a replacement has been added.

 

[almaink]

Nice for Adobe to decide to do that without telling us about it. Not everyone can afford a modern solution the way this economy is right now. And I never said a thing about variable data. We use OPI because it's faster to rip single pages instead of whole 40" forms. We also run a offset shop, not a digital press. Adobe seems to be taking lessons from Quark these days, and I just hope it doesn't end up the same as Quark did.

 

[pcmodem]

almaink,

I don't think it was right for Adobe to remove the feature without a heads up. But for your case there are other options available. Unfortunately you have to purchase an imposition software which will let you export a JDF file. Which is better than OPI.

 

[almaink]

Or use an eps FPO if and when I decide to use CS3, 4 or 5 for imposition. Just kills me they broke something that worked great for a long time for no real reason...

 

[Colorblind]

I just upgraded from CS4 to CS5 and I noticed that progress bar is gone when exporting as PDFX/1a. Also I got an "out of memory" error when saving as .ps (see attachment). That never happened to me before.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

You can show "background processes" if you want to follow export to print PDF.

 

[Huck Finn]

Thanks for the info

Thanks for the info

First time caller, long-time listener.

I've been using a combination of Illustrator/Photoshop/Quark in various print applications for years now (currently working PrePress), and I've had a difficult time seeing the merits of Indesign from a PrePress standpoint. This thread has given me more insight into what the program is good for, and what I can use it for in the future. Thanks for making better sense of a program I had pretty much shunned prior to this thread.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

I just upgraded from CS4 to CS5 and I noticed that progress bar is gone when exporting as PDFX/1a.

Colorblind, in addition to the tip from Lucas, there is also a subtle progress bar (see attached).


Best,

Stephen Marsh

 

[pmkprog]

Personally, I think that the whole suite could have stopped with CS3. The only thing since then that I really like is the addition of the cursor preview in Photoshop when you are cloning something. Otherwise anything new is either a pain in the butt to find or doesn't work the same.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

There is great cloning preview even in CS3, with reflecting, rotating and scaling if that was the only thing you liked.
I'll not even start to rant all the stuff I like, but it is as with other upgrades it takes time to learn to understand how useful some stuff is.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

One thing I am missing in Indesign (as I hear a tutorial talking of the benifits of keeping all the corporate material in one file) is the problem of colour management. It ought to be possible, to override output intent for pages, so that a spread can be left side coated and right uncoated…*
That way a PDFx4 could be exported and split to parts (since a PDFx4 can only have one output intent if I remember correct?) In Apogee we learn to think of jobs in parts with different settings for each, the problem is when the designer thinks they can put cover, spine and content in one document and don't realise they are actually going to have to split the document, not because of page size but for colour management reasons. Guess it's another log-on to wish list (oh and over riding colour management for pages should also be for art boards in illustrator )