InDesign is a desktop publishing software application for creating flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, and books. Projects created using InDesign can be shared in both digital and print formats. InDesign is used by graphic designers, artists, publishers, and marketing professionals. InDesign can also publish content suitable for tablet devices in conjunction with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Graphic designers and production artists are the principal users, creating and laying out periodical publications, posters, and print media.
The History of Adobe InDesign
InDesign is the successor to Adobe PageMaker, which was acquired by Adobe with the purchase of Aldus in late 1994. The first version of InDesign was released on August 31, 1999. The program began development long before this, with a different company known as Aldus that was based in Seattle and created desktop publishing software. Aldus developed some of the first graphics and desktop publishing programs available for personal computers that were running early versions of the Windows and Mac operating systems. These included applications such as Superpaint and PageMaker. The first version of PageMaker was released by Aldus July 1985 and it provided a simplified graphical user interface that fit the Macintosh point-and-click user experience. PageMaker became popular for early desktop publishing use as a result. At the company's height in 1990, PageMaker 4.0 hit the market and was considered advanced for its time, although it was starting to see competition from Quark, Inc., a smaller startup based in Denver who produced the electronic publishing software application QuarkXPress.
In 1994, Adobe purchased Aldus and acquired most of their software apps, with the most notable being PageMaker. In the years prior to the Adobe–Aldus acquisition, PageMaker had been losing significant market share to QuarkXPress. Quark had many more features and eventually pushed PageMaker out of the professional desktop publishing market. In 2000, Adobe released the first version of InDesign with the intent to replace PageMaker and offer an application that was more competitive with QuarkXPress. With the dawn of Mac OS X, Adobe also had the first-mover advantage by offering InDesign as the first desktop publishing program native for OS X, as QuarkXPress was only available on earlier versions of the Mac OS at that time. Adobe eventually bundled InDesign with Photoshop and Illustrator, and then added additional tools to deliver the Creative Suite. As many designers already used Photoshop and Illustrator, offering InDesign as part of these other applications caused it to be adopted more quickly. Within 10 years of its launch Adobe InDesign had displaced QuarkXPress as the preeminent desktop publishing tool.
How is InDesign Used
InDesign is used to create things such as:
-
Flyers and brochures
-
Magazines and newspapers
-
Posters and business cards
-
Postcards and stickers
-
Comics and books
It may be used in conjunction with other applications that are part of the Adobe Creative Cloud including Illustrator and Photoshop, or it can be used on its own. Images and illustrations are usually not created within InDesign, rather layouts using text, images, and drawings that often are built in other programs are assembled into a layout using InDesign.
What Does Adobe InDesign Do?
InDesign provides the tools necessary to design pages and create visual layouts that can be used for both print and digital media. InDesign provides users a simplified way to create professional pages which can be published and distributed in print or online. InDesign is especially useful for documents containing multiple pages, layouts that combine text and images, and those containing significant amounts of text.
Why Use InDesign?
InDesign has become the industry standard for desktop publishing for several reasons:
-
Ease of Use: Intuitive tools and a user-friendly interface make it accessible for beginners and professionals alike.
-
Versatility: Suitable for both print and digital media, InDesign is perfect for marketing campaigns, editorial projects, and more.
-
Professional Results: Advanced features ensure that every project looks polished and ready for publication.
Adobe InDesign stands as a cornerstone of the graphic design and publishing world. Its history of innovation, coupled with its powerful features, makes it an indispensable tool for anyone looking to create professional-quality layouts. As the industry standard for desktop publishing, it remains a vital resource for professionals and aspiring designers alike.