The main reasons to use parent pages are to ensure consistency throughout the publication and save time when producing the document. Consistency Maintaining consistency throughout a publication provides cohesiveness and builds reader confidence. Fonts, sizes, styles, colors, and positioning are the primary components that contribute to continuity. When considering what to use on InDesign parent pages (previously known as "master" pages), designers look for patterns that can be replicated. … [Read more...] about InDesign Parent Pages: Consistency and Efficiency
Software Tips
Manually Clone a WordPress Site in 5 Steps
It's easy to clone a WordPress site, once you understand a few basics. If you are a newbie to WordPress, using a plugin is the simplest way to do it. That’s how I started out. The first time I cloned a site, I tried to do it manually. Copying the files was simple and straightforward. But, the database mystified me. I had little knowledge of what it was and no idea how to replicate it, so I ended up using a plugin for the entire site migration (files and database). Gradually, as I researched, … [Read more...] about Manually Clone a WordPress Site in 5 Steps
A Guide to Incorporating Social Media with Your Website – part 2
Social Media Platforms - The Usual Suspects Incorporating social media on your website requires using many tools. We continue this series with the "usual suspects" of social media platforms, additional options, and recommended tools for creating content. Facebook Personal accountAll Facebook users must begin by creating a personal account. You can then establish pages for businesses and groups. The essence of Facebook is personal interaction, based initially on your friends, relatives, … [Read more...] about A Guide to Incorporating Social Media with Your Website – part 2
A Guide to Incorporating Social Media with Your Website – part 1
PART 1 - Social Media Overview Integrating social media into your website is an important way to widen your reach, deepen engagement with your audience, and build brand recognition. It’s a form of digital marketing that can be fun and fulfilling. When used with intelligent strategies, social media contributes to increased support, sales and donations. Tell Me a Story The essence of social media for me is telling stories and building community. My dad was a great storyteller. He loved … [Read more...] about A Guide to Incorporating Social Media with Your Website – part 1
Three Great Ways to Create Grids in InDesign
Why Should You Use a Grid? Grids are the underlying structure to an InDesign layout. They are the skeleton upon which you place the text and images. You can see the grid in InDesign, but it doesn't display in the printed piece. Effective grids organize and align the components, providing consistency and cohesiveness to the layout. Grids are used in the design world, for sure. They can also be found in all sorts of other arenas: maps, city planning, architecture, crossword puzzles, … [Read more...] about Three Great Ways to Create Grids in InDesign
Let’s Use Google Hangouts for Our Meeting!
In my last post, I shared my list of viable tools for videoconferencing. Several clients then requested that we use my preferred tool, Google Hangouts, for our future meetings! The only glitch was that they were unsure about how it worked. Voila! It became the perfect subject for a new blog post! If you don't already have a Google account, I highly recommend that you set one up. Google provides an entire suite of applications, which includes Hangouts, Gmail, YouTube, Drive, and Docs. As a … [Read more...] about Let’s Use Google Hangouts for Our Meeting!
Free Video Conferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Updated May 2020 Overview After I moved to Florida, I taught my graphic design class at Lasell College remotely for the first time. It took a lot of discussion, thought, and research into videoconferencing tools. During the previous year, I completed Lasell's professional development course on online teaching and got my certification. Teaching online doesn’t involve regular face-to-face interactions that adhere to a traditional schedule. Students can do the classwork on their own time, … [Read more...] about Free Video Conferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document
It's fairly common for a project to have many components, each one a different size. Maybe it's a branding project with a logo, letterhead, business card, envelope, poster, t-shirt, and brochure. Maybe it's a book jacket with 2 flaps, a spine, and back and front cover. One approach is to create a new InDesign document for every separate piece. I would certainly do that for multi-page files like brochures and books. For one-page items, though, you could use another approach: create different page … [Read more...] about Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document