Show hidden characters in InDesign

What's hiding in your InDesign document? Show Hidden Characters can tell you. Hidden characters are your spaces, your tabs, your carriage returns, elements that you type but can not actually see. Turning on Show Hidden Characters can assist you when editing and formatting text in InDesign as you can see exactly how it was typed and how you can change and improve it. 

How to import text from Word to Adobe InDesign

You've finally completed that newsletter in Word. But oh no! It was supposed to be created with InDesign? Don't worry! Importing text from other programs to InDesign is much simpler than you think. Let's learn how.

How to ensure you don't lose images you have imported into your project

So, you're just getting to grips with Adobe Illustrator and InDesign and you're placing images into your projects. It's going well - but when you revisit your projects, some images have disappeared! It's a disaster!

This post will explain why Illustrator and InDesign sometimes loses images and will show you how to avoid this in future. Let's go!

How to add a page curl to your image

Part of my job is to make promotional images for the Library's homepage. This week I was asked to make an image to promote the Library's Annual Plan for 2014. I wanted this image to entice audiences to read the report and thought a page curl could do that. 

Get custom shapes from Photoshop to Illustrator

This is something I don't understand. Why hasn't Adobe added custom shapes to Illustrator? However, there's good news. If you have access to Illustrator AND Photoshop, you can add the custom shape vectors to your Illustrator project.

 Let's do it.

What I learnt in Word today after using it for over 8 years

I've been very lucky in my professional life of having the opportunity for further training; and I'm so grateful for this. There's nothing quite like leaving a room with knowledge you hadn't when you entered. This week I took part in a Microsoft Word course. At first I was sceptical that I would take anything away from the class but I was proved wrong. I actually learned a couple of tricks which should make my life a lot easier when working in Word. And yours too!

Extracting images from PowerPoint to use in your creative projects

Today a colleague sent me a PowerPoint document asking me to use it as part of my project in Illustrator. At first I tried opening this document in Illustrator without success.
Then I attempted dragging and dropping the image from PowerPoint to task bar to Illustrator but to my dispear this was not working.

How to add Pinterest pins to your site

If you're a creative and are not familiar with Pinterest, you may be missing out on a very helpful tool. Pinterest allows you to browse images and then "pin" them to "boards". Essentially, you can bookmark your favourite images and keep them in one place. This can be extremely useful when researching and finding inspiration for projects.

How to have a header only on the first page in Word

Here is another issue I had to look up twice!

So, you've created your document in Word are are finishing everything off. You add your header but then decide it looks too crowded against the text. Maybe adding a header to only the first page will look really well. But uh oh...!

I've seen posts on the internet with people been driven mad about how they are unable to have a header only on the first page of their document. Like many of the tips and tutorials on this Blog, it's very easy to do once you know how!

Every colour I pick in Illustrator is grey!

Here is another little annoying problem I came across whilst in work designing in Illustrator. Every colour I picked came out a shade of grey! However, fear not! The solution is simple and you won't have to write any angry letters to Adobe!

How to Extract Multiple Artboards into Single Files

After a summer of blogging and searching for my first job, I finally secured one in August! Hoorah! What's more, is that it actually involves multimedia and design which I could not be happier about. Unfortunately, at the end of July, I started experiencing some technical difficulties with my Blog. I was saving drafts of posts and then was unable to access them again. It was very frustrating and after many visits to Blogger's community help page, I received no answers to my problem.

After a month at my first job, I've encountered multiple instances where I've reached out to Google for help. I've actually found myself Googling the same thing twice in some circumstances just like the issue below. So; it made sense to document the solutions to my problems and hopefully assist others while doing so. This is what the following posts will deal with: everyday solutions I've discovered as a result of my work as a designer.

Technical Difficulties

Unfortunately, I have run into technical difficulties creating new posts on my Blog resulting in an absence of new posts.

Please visit again for updates.

How to Generate a QR Code (the square black and white barcode thingys!)

There's much debate whether QR codes (Quick Response Codes) are the next big thing or just a  marketing fad. However, if you're like me, I think they're pretty neat!

Getting Started with Windows Live Movie Maker

The first video editing suite I ever used was Windows Movie Maker on my Vista laptop. I stumbled upon the application rather than a burning desire to become the next _____________ (insert the name of your favourite Director here) but I had my fun! I created a couple of videos starring my friends and was pleased with the results.

Adding a Twitter Widget to Your Website

This is my Twitter Widget. This particular feed only shows tweets I have tweeted or re-tweeted.

Combating Creative Blocks: The Creative Process

Stuck for your next idea? Don't know how to begin this project? This post lays out how I was taught to brainstorm ideas in college.

I commenced my course entitled "Creative Multimedia" in September. We learned a number of disciplines including Photoshop, Illustrator, web design, animation and video. The classes initially composed of getting used to the interface of the programs and beginner tutorials. I was wondering just how "creative" the course would be, but found this out at Christmas when our first projects were due.

Do I really need Dreamweaver?

So there I was, in college learning to hand code using Dreamweaver. The prompts Dreamweaver gave were very comforting when starting off. It really does reassure you to see you're in the right ballpark with what you're typing. Therefore, I assumed I needed Dreamweaver for when I left college as I had not coded with any other software. This was an unpleasant thought due to the sheer expense of Adobe's products.

Photoshop Tutorual: How to add a reflection to your photo and create the illusion of a surface

Here's a really neat trick especially when displaying products. Apple do it a lot with their devices and it looks great when executed well.

Meet, Ctrl-Z, Your New Best Friend!

Before I started my Graduate Diploma in Multimedia, I was not too comfortable, willing or interested in keyboard shortcuts. However, after being faced with the timely task of inputting reams of data into an SQL database, Ctrl-C (copy) and Ctrl-V (paste) became very useful. For similar tasks keyboard shortcuts really do cut down the time spent inputting data compared to the traditional right-click route.

The One Thing You Should Know in Photoshop

I'm Melanie Simpson, a multimedia designer and web developer. The first thing I do when editing photos in Photoshop is apply a Levels Adjustment Layer. This creates a huge difference to the look of your photos and is very easy to do. In this post I'll show you the correct way to apply the Levels adjustment layer, and how to manually adjust the levels so that you get the perfect result.