Page design begins with the basics: starting a new document, setting up pages, and positioning margins and columns or changing grid settings.
When creating a document you can select from two workflows, either Layout Grid or Margins and Columns.
note: Whichever workflow you select, the file type of the document will be exactly the same. You can view a layout grid created in the document using Margins and Columns, or hide a document layout grid created using the Layout Grid option by switching between views.
The workflow based on typesetting composition using Layout Grid is only available in Asian language versions. When you select Layout Grid, a grid of squares will be displayed in the document. You can set the number of individual squares (number of rows or characters) from the page size settings. Page margins will also be determined by this. By using a layout grid you can position an object accurately on a page using grid cell units.
The Margins and Columns workflow option is the same as in Western workflows. Western workflows are configured from Margins and Columns, and objects are arranged on pages without layout grids. You can set the writing direction to horizontal or vertical using either the Margins and Columns or Layout Grid workflow.
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Specify document setup options. (See New Document options.)
To specify the dimensions of the bleed and slug areas, click More Options. The bleed and slug areas extend out from the edges of the defined Page Size. To make the bleed or slug areas extend evenly on all sides, click the Make All Settings The Same icon
.
Note:
To set default layout settings for all new documents, choose File > Document Setup or Layout > Margins And Columns, and set options when no documents are open.
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Click Layout Grid Dialog, and then specify the layout grid settings. (See Layout Grid options.)
The layout grid is for layout purposes only. To add text to your document, add frame grids or text frames.
When creating a document with Western style workflow, use Margins and Columns. If the general layout settings such as margins and number of columns in a document are already known, use the Margins and Columns dialog box as the simplest method.
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Click Margins and Columns and select your options using the New Margins and Columns dialog box. The options are the same as in the Margins and Columns dialog box. (See Change document setup, margins, and columns.)
Even when a document has been created using Margins and Columns, you can view its layout grid by choosing View > Grids & Guides > Show Layout Grid, and you can modify the layout grid settings by choosing Layout > Layout Grid.
Note:
To set the default settings for all new documents, choose File > Document Setup, Layout > Margins and Columns, or Layout > Layout Grid Settings, and set options when no documents are open.
Intent
If you are creating a document to be output to PDF or SWF for the web, choosing the Web option changes several options in the dialog box, such as turning off Facing Pages, changing the orientation from portrait to landscape, and using a page size based on monitor resolution. You can edit any of these settings, but you cannot change the Intent setting after the document is created.
CS6: Digital publishing intent has been added for publications aimed for the Digital Publishing Suite.
Start Page #
Specify which number the document starts on. If you specify an even number (such as 2) with Facing Pages selected, the first spread in the document begins with a two-page spread. See Start a document with a two-page spread.
Facing Pages
Select this option to make left and right pages face each other in a double-page spread, such as for books and magazines. Deselect this option to let each page stand alone, such as when you’re printing flyers or posters or when you want objects to bleed in the binding.
After you’ve created a document, you can use the Pages panel to create spreads with more than two pages or force the first two pages to open as a spread. (See Control spread pagination.)
Master Text Frame
CS5.5 and earlier: Select this option to create a text frame the size of the area within the margin guides, matching the column settings you specified. The master text frame is added to the A‑Master. (See Using text frames on master pages.)
The Master Text Frame option is available only when you’ve chosen File > New > Document.
Primary Text Frame
CS6 only: select this option to add a primary text frame on the master page. When you apply a new master page, the story in the primary text frame automatically flows into the primary text frame of the new master page.
Page Size
Choose a page size from the menu, or type values for Width and Height. Page size represents the final size you want after bleeds or other marks outside the page are trimmed.
Orientation
Click Portrait 
(tall)
or Landscape 
(wide).
These icons interact dynamically with the dimensions you enter in
Page Size. When Height is the larger value, the portrait icon is
selected. When Width is the larger value, the landscape icon is
selected. Clicking the deselected icon switches the Height and Width
values.
Tip: To specify the dimensions of the bleed
and slug areas, click More Options in the New
Document dialog box. To make the bleed or slug areas extend evenly
on all sides, click the Make All Settings The Same icon .
Bleed
The Bleed area allows you to print objects that are arranged at the outer edge of the defined page size. For a page of the required dimensions, if an object is positioned at its edge, some white may appear at the edge of the printed area due to slight misalignment during printing or trimming. For this reason, you should position an object that is at the edge of the page of the required dimensions a little beyond the edge, and trim after printing. Bleed area is shown by a red line on the document. You can set bleed area settings from Bleed in the Print dialog box.
Slug
The slug area is discarded when the document is trimmed to its final page size. The slug area holds printing information, customized color bar information, or displays other instructions and descriptions for other information in the document. Objects (including text frames) positioned in the slug area are printed but will disappear when the document is trimmed to its final page size.
Objects outside the bleed or slug area (whichever extends farther) do not print.
Note:
You can also click the Save Document Preset icon to save document settings for future use.
Each page or spread in your document has its own pasteboard and guides, which are visible in Normal View mode. (To switch to Normal View, choose View > Screen Mode > Normal.) The pasteboard is replaced with a gray background when the document is viewed using one of the Preview modes. (See Preview documents.) You can change the color of this preview background and guides in Guides & Pasteboard preferences.
A. Spread (black lines) B. Page (black lines) C. Margin guides (magenta lines) D. Column guides (violet lines) E. Bleed area (red lines) F. Slug area (blue lines)
Lines of other colors are ruler guides which, when present, appear in the layer color when selected. See Layers.
Column guides appear in front of margin guides. When a column guide is exactly in front of a margin guide, it hides the margin guide.
The New Doc Sizes.txt file that lets you create custom page sizes in previous version of InDesign is not available in InDesign CS5 or later.
You can save document settings for page size, columns, margins, and bleed and slug areas in a preset to save time and ensure consistency when creating similar documents.
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Specify a name for the preset and select basic layout options in the New Document Preset dialog box. (See New Document options for a description of each option.)
Note:
You can save a document preset to a separate file and distribute it to other users. To save and load document preset files, use the Save and Load buttons in the Document Presets dialog box.
Note:
To skip the New Document dialog box, press the Shift key as you select a preset from the Document Preset menu.
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