Tim Cole's InDesign BackChannel

Mutiple Place is a great feature that arrived in InDesign CS3. It enables you to import multiple files at one time, loading them all into your Place cursor, and enabling you to move through all the loaded files with the arrow keys in order to select the next file to be placed.

One feature request I often get from users is for InDesign to display the name of the incoming file, not just a thumbnail of the file content.

Suppose you're laying out an ad with a bunch of product photos--like tires, for example. A thumbnail image isn't likely to tell you which tire is which if you're not a veteran of the tire trade who's able to determine model numbers from looking tread patterns. Being able to view an image's file name, rather than the thumbnail could be very useful in those situations.

The good news is that there's a way to do exactly that in InDesign CS3. The trick is to have your Links Panel open when you place the files.

When you load your Place cursor with one or more files, the file names instantly appear at the top of list of links in your Links Panel (if you're scrolled to the bottom of a long list of links, you'd need to manually scroll back up to the top of the list to see these items). The item currently visible in the cursor is indicated by the letters LP where the page number would for a linked file that's already been placed. As you navigate through the files loaded in the Place cursor with your arrow keys, the LP indicator moves to the appropriate file in the list of links. This tells you the name of the file you're about to place, or lets you know you need to keep looking for the file that you need next.

 

 

 

Posted by Tim Cole at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

People seeking Adobe re-certification on InDesign raised some red flags regarding some of the certification test content. Adobe looked into the certification tests and agreed that the latest test had some problems. The InDesign test has now been reviewed, corrected, and re-written. The distribution of the new test raises a handful of questions that I'll address here:

1. What happens if a user took the previous re-certification exam - are they still certified?
   If an individual previously took and passed the InDesign certification or recertification exam, that certification is valid. If an individual failed the original InDesign certification or recertification exams, Adobe will give them a voucher to take the revised exams for free. Stay tuned for information on how to receive a voucher to re-take the exam.
2. I was told earlier that the prep-guide for the new re-certification exam was posted on Feb 20 - is the prep guide currently on the site the most recent guide that corresponds to the changes in the new re-cert exam?
   Yes, we made revisions to the prep guide and have posted that on our certification Web site.
3. What about localized versions of the updated re-cert exam -- when will those be available?
   We're working right now with company that writes and distributes the exams, and have not yet come to agreement on how and when revised, localized versions will be produced and distributed.
4. Can you quickly summarize the changes to the re-certification exam?
   Of the original 47 questions we removed 16. Of the remaining 31 questions, we revised many, and totally rewrote others.
5. Do you plan to make changes to the ID CS3 ACE exam (the certification exam - not the re-cert exam)
   Yes. The revised exam should be available shortly.
6. Do you plan to make any changes to the re-certification exams for the other design applications?
   No announcements have been made about other exams. They will be evaluated on a product by product basis.
   

Posted by Tim Cole at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)