Adobe InDesign - from Dissertation Layout to Poster Design (online training)

This course will explore the countless possibilities of layout documents with Adobe InDesign. It will teach you how to create attractive and functional layouts, such as thesis books, posters, resumés, presentations, figures, and more. You will be introduced to the program's workspace, and work with tailor-made exercises. At the end of the course, you will be equipped with the necessary knowledge to combine photos, illustrations, tables, and text with remarkable ease. Iliana has been working for a decade with Ph.D. students, so her knowledge of tricks, and tips, which also conflict with the Microsoft programs, will become handy. No previous knowledge of the program is needed. 

Learning objectives

This course aims to teach you the main functionality and power of Adobe InDesign. You will start navigating the different tools and functions to build a reliable workflow. You will learn how to format text, images/objects, and tables. You will understand the use of master pages (templates), paragraph & character styles, and how to use them to create complex layouts such as Ph.D. dissertations. Finally, you will hear about the differences between print (CMYK) and screen colors (RGB) and exporting different sorts of files (e.g., jpeg, png, tiff, pdf). You will learn to layout several kinds of files and design your templates.

Iliana's course provides a manual you can skim upfront, save time on the first session, and use afterward to refresh the theory. This allows the course sessions to focus in-depth on the tools, tips, and tricks to layout your long-text documents (e.g.thesis) or short-text documents (e.g., posters, cv, brochures, and figures). The assignments will make you confident to work on your design challenges at the end.

InDesign will become the more straightforward and prominent alternative for Adobe Illustrator to layout scientific artwork and design simple illustrations and figures. Remember that Adobe Illustrator is used for drawing detailed illustrations and vector graphics, while Adobe InDesign to layout documents, from single figures to thesis books. To draw detailed artwork & infographics, we advise you to follow the other course provided by Iliana (Adobe Illustrator - Scientific Artwork and Infographics with Adobe Illustrator.)

Instructional method

The course is split into four sessions. The first two sessions focus on a thesis book's layout and multiple-page documents. For the last two sessions, we will focus on different files such as a figure, a poster, a cv, or a brochure. All days will have theoretical and practical parts. The assignments are tailored-made to practice the tools and methods discussed, with the help and supervisor of Iliana. You will also get the chance to work with ongoing projects of your own and recreate templates given in the course or found online. Lastly, we will pay extra attention to the importance of print and screen colors, so you will never have to deal with unexpected results. The exercises and the manual of the course are given beforehand.

Important

To take the course you need a laptop with Adobe InDesign installed in English. Also, remember to have a mouse or a graphic tablet to work since the laptop's mousepad will make the work difficult. At last, since the course is online and the sessions interactive, a microphone and a camera are obligatory for participation. If you plan to miss parts of the course, don't hesitate to contact Iliana directly and ask about the possibilities. The training is online, but it is not an online tutorial.

Study load

In addition to the scheduled sessions, you should consider an extra study load of approximately 12 hours. This study load generally consists of homework assignments in preparation for the next session.

Reviews

You will get a good overview of the program's different possibilities with a professional's tips and tricks.

The methods we learn will be extremely handy for Ph.D. students who want to design an attractive poster or even their thesis.

What excites me most is that I can now literally create a dissertation and a poster, just as the title of the course promised.

You will be able to use InDesign to design your thesis within 4 mornings of teaching.

Teacher

Iliana Boshoven-Gkini (1981) has completed two masters in Landscape architecture, Floriculture, and garden design, in the Agricultural University of Athens and Wageningen University in the Netherlands. After completing her studies, she started working independently (2012) (AgileColor design studio | AgileColor.com) and focused, among others, on helping PhD students with their thesis books and scientific artwork. From 2015 she started teaching Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign and Infographics courses in Wageningen and Utrecht Universities and gave guest lectures/training to numerous other occasions in the Netherlands and Switzerland. From 2019 she is a certified teacher in the Netherlands (CRKBO, Centraal Register Kort Beroepsonderwijs). She lives in Koedijk Alkmaar with her husband and three children.

General Information

Target Group:	PhD's and Post-Docs
Group size:	8-15 participants
Course duration:	4 days from 10 am to 2 pm
Language:	English
Credit points:	1.1 ECTS
Self-study hours:	We recommend at least 12 hours of self-study and practice after the course
Name lecturer:	Iliana Boshoven-Gkini
Venue:	Online

Programme

This course starts with basic theory in Adobe InDesign and goes into depth practice of all the necessary tools to create stunning layouts. We will pay special attention to the creation of a PhD dissertation or book, poster/document layout and figure design. You will work on several exercises during these two days.

The first 2 days are focused on the dissertation design and multiple pages documents, while the second day we will create layouts such as posters, figures etc. In InDesign you can also design figures, workflows, illustrations and vector graphics which you will practice on the second day. Step by step exercises will be provided so that you feel comfortable with the tools and panels of the program.

The following topics will be covered:

Adobe InDesign Basics

• Work area
• View commands and Zoom
• Guides - Rulers

Tools & Panels

• Toolbox overview
• Selection tools
• Drawing tools
• Typing tools
• Transformation tools
• Modification and navigation tools
• Stroke and Fill
• Tool panels

Create & Edit Documents

Text and text frames

Tables 

Master pages

Objects - Graphics & Images

Table of contents

Documents Settings & Export

• Color
• Printing requirements

In practice

• Step-by-step import of word documents in InDesign

At the end of the course you will be equipped with the necessary knowledge to combine photos, illustrations, tables and text with a remarkable ease

Fee

Reduced fee: • PhD candidates of Wageningen University with an approved Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) who are registered at one of the WU graduate schools (EPS, PE&RC, VLAG, WASS, WIAS, WIMEK) • Postdocs of Wageningen University who are registered at one of the WU graduate schools	€ 150
University fee: All other PhD candidates / Wageningen University postdocs and staff	€ 300
External fee: All other participants	€ 600

Fee includes study and training material, coffee/tea and lunches.

Cancellation condition

You may cancel free of charge up to four weeks before the start of the course. After this date you will be charged the University fee. Unless:

• You can find someone to replace you in the course and supply the course coordinator with the name and contact information of your replacement.
  In this case you will only be charged a € 50,- cancellation fee.
• You (PhDs and postdocs of Wageningen University) have a valid reason to cancel (illness or death in the family 1st or 2nd degree).
  In this case you will be charged the reduced fee and your supervisor/PI must send a mail indicating the reason for cancellation.

Information

For more information please contact jos.smelik@wur.nl