SOS!!! need indesign help urgently

[Miss Perfect]

I've just been called in to pinch-hit for a campus newspaper layout editor. The deadline for the paper is tomorrow and it's about half done. It's been 3 years since I last touched Indesign, it was an earlier version, and even then I didn't get much practice. CS3 looks kind of alien to me.

If you're around and can help out, please give a shout so I don't feel so alone!
:confused:

[Optimusdinkus]

Get the pod cast of Michael Murphy the indesigner, watch all the episodes, and repeat what he has to offer, and that is the best advice I can give.

[tZ]

I'd have to ask the reason for talking the job if you knew you were incapable of completing it?

This book is excellent and it can be read in about six or so hours:

http://www.friendsofed.com/book.html?isbn=1590597915

[garricks]

You're gonna need one of these:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a249/garricks/GDF/coffee-pot.jpg

There must be someone else on campus that has some familiarity with Indy... :confused:

[Craig B]

Well, people can also help if you have any specific questions as well. Let us know.

[budafist]

Fire away if you have any specific questions.

[Miss Perfect]

Thanks for answering my cry, and my apologies for leaving you hanging while I figured things out.

Some of you sound concerned. Don't worry, I'm not totally incompetent. Though it was a while ago, I did learn Indesign, and I am a desktop publisher at heart (albeit underdeveloped). I managed to make quite a bit of headway before I had to leave at 9. (It's a good thing I don't have Indesign at home or I could have played around all night...) And I didn't actually accept the job -- I just agreed to do what I could with no commitment while they tried to reach the real layout person. Also, it's not such a huge newspaper -- full size but only about 16 pages. And the "deadline" is somewhat flexible.

So anyway, right now I just have one pressing question, two minor ones, and one in-between:
**1**. I'm having difficulty inserting photos and graphics.
If I put them outside a text box, the text doesn't wrap around it -- there must be some way to make that happen...
If I put it within the text, I don't have the flexibility to move it to a different column (within a linked article, but a new text box) or to stretch it beyond the textbox. There must be a way to do that, too, at least the moving up and down...
For some reason, I can't remember how to do either.

2. The minor issue: CS3 appears to be set up slightly differently than CS2, iirc. The dockers are driving me crazy. How can I choose which ones to dock or release, which to show or hide? I've tried everything I can think of...

3. How can I link the table of contents entries to the articles so that the page numbers will change automatically if I shift things around? I could just save the table of contents for last, but if there's a better way, I want to be in on it.

4. One article is a recipe. I need some bulleting help. Any pointers? I didn't have time to work on it much yet because I was getting kicked out of the building, but so far I haven't even found an option for bullets.
4.5 How do you do characters like 1/2? It's not one of the "special characters." (temporarily, I just changed it to read "2.5 cups flour" ;) )

OK, that's all for now, especially since I don't even have the file with me.
TIA!

(The good news: So far, it wasn't as daunting as it seemed at first. I'm on a roll and hopefully will finish tomorrow. All that remains is to see how beautiful -- I hope -- it looks in print!)

[garricks]

1. In the menu bar, choose Window > Text Wrap.

With the selection tool, click on the graphic/photo (outside the text, not inside as an inline graphic) and click the second (wrap around bounding box) or third (wrap around object) icon in the row. Below that are options to set the inset/outset of the type.

If you click the flyout button in that panel and choose show options, you get some fancier ways to style the text around the object.

2. Just grab the panel's top bar with the cursor hold for a second, and drag it out of the dock. Same for putting it in, just drag it.

3. TOC items are set from paragraph tags, and I'm a little fuzzy on them because I don't use them often. Someone else should be along shortly, I hope. (I do know I always go to Help to remember how to do them...documentation is pretty good for that)

4. Same for bullets and numbering...I don't use them. I just use Option-8 to get a bullet and then set the paragraph style as a hanging indent.

Fractions depend on the typeface you're using. OpenType fonts usually have bunches of them. Other fonts vary. To see what you have to work with, in the menu bar choose TYPE > GLYPHS to see them in order. Set your insertion point in the text where the fraction is to appear, go to the glyphs palette and double-click the fraction you want. It will transfer to the document.

I'm glad your situation isn't as dire as it first sounded. I still recommend the coffee, though! Good luck! :D

[Miss Perfect]

OK, I got the text to wrap. Thanks!
Now, how do I create a buffer zone around the graphic so the text doesn't kiss it?

[budafist]

You can set the text offset in the text wrap panel.

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/7830/picture1cc9.png

[PrintDriver]

creating a bulleted list in InD requires several steps. It isn't like Word where you click a list with hard returns and it automatically does it. You have to combine hanging indent with bullet characters. PITA.

[urstwile]

Actually, there's a bullets and numbering feature available in InDesign, in the flyout triangle in the paragraph palette.

[PrintDriver]

Erg. I should keep my mouth shut. I only have CS1 at home...

[Optimusdinkus]

U LOOOZZE DRIVER MUHAHAHHA..... kidding

[garricks]

Oooh, Optimus, not nice to taunt the mods! :eek:

Especially a grande format guy that knows lots of obscure stuff!

Frankly, I hate the bullets and numbering in Word so I haven't used it in Indy. I use the OPT-8 + hanging indent that PD spoke of...with a Nested Style to set the color and size of the bullet.

[urstwile]

I'm more used to that method (Opt-8 and hanging) then I am Indy's bullets and numbering method, but here's what's jazzy about it, IMHO: you can change the bullet character, the font that calls it, the size, and it's pretty easy to define the hanging indent, and preview it before it's applied. It's a pretty nifty little thing, way better than Word's, which I've only used on occasion.

It doesn't allow you to choose a baseline position, however. Maybe CS3's version does .