Adobe InDesign is one of the best and most popular programs for graphic design and formatting. If you are comparing InDesign training courses, it can be important for you to know what to compare. This may be difficult if you are a beginning user who is not at all familiar with the program or its features. Knowing where to look for training courses as well as what you need to know about the courses themselves will help you pick the level of instruction that is best for you.
The first thing to consider is which version of the program the course teaches. The most current version of InDesign is CS4. There are a number of new features which make it different than its predecessors and so learning on the most up to date version is important, especially if you will be working in the design industry itself.
If you are choosing where to take your course, you should think about your own design experience level. Is it about the same as the others who will be taking the course with you? Is the course designed for someone at your experience level? Many courses will anticipate that you have at least some design background to build on and that you know certain design principals and terminology.
The second thing to consider is what your learning styles and preferences are. Do you need one on one instruction from a live teacher? Online courses, while excellent, may not be for you then. You want to make sure that if you are dealing with an unfamiliar computer program you can speak with an instructor before any major problems or misunderstandings arise. This may be solved if you are taking an electronic class format that allows you to contact the instructor if needed. Where a live course is being held and who is teaching it are also important things to look at. You may want to make sure that you take a course from a school with a design or art department. They will have instructors who are more likely to be experienced with the program on more than a casual basis.
Depending on what level you take the course, it may or may not include some information about design basics. It can be very helpful if you have previous design experience so that you can complete assignments quickly and easily. A course should familiarize you with the different features of the program. If you have the option of taking different levels of instruction, pick the one that best suits your experience. Do you know what creating a PDF is? Or what preflights are? These are terms you may hear used in your course and it can be helpful to have knowledge before you begin. If you are a designer who is learning to use this program over other design programs you should take a class that is geared more specifically towards that.
As mentioned earlier, you want to make sure that the course is teaching the version of InDesign that you want. It may seem like everyone would want to use the latest version of the program but if that is not what you will be using for work, you may find that learning about the new features may not be necessary. The newest version of InDesign has a number of unique features that previous versions did not. However, some companies may still be using an older version of the program, so you may want to find a course that covers those programs.
There are so many features to the new version of InDesign that taking a course can be a great way to maintain a high level of productivity. Whether you opt to take it at a community college or through a website, you should definitely look into this versatile and user friendly program.
Do you need to learn Adobe InDesign CS4? We offer Adobe InDesign CS4 courses in London and all over the UK.
