InDesign for eReader, Mobile and Tablet Publishing

Your User Group Comes to the Valley

Continuing the policy of holding meetings in various locations throughout the southland, this meeting will be held in Van Nuys. With a 7 p.m. start time, and renown expert Kelly McCathran, who runs the Adobe Creative Suite Lovers User Group San Francisco, making a trip to Los Angeles especially to meet with us, we are expecting an exceptional turnout.

This Month’s Topic: InDesign for eReader, Mobile and Tablet Publishing

InDesign has added many tools over the years to deliver your files to more than just the print medium. In this session we will cover creating ePub files from InDesign CS5.5 (and earlier). You will see how to control the display of content for eReading devices by relinking your InDesign styles to CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). In addition we will review the differences in adding dynamic content for delivery as Flash (swf) and PDF.

What you will learn:

• File Types for Different eReaders
• Exporting to ePub
• Creating CSS (in Dreamweaver)
• Re-Linking InDesign Styles to CSS
• Understanding if Dynamic PDF is an Option
• When Can you Use Flash (swf)
• How Do you Test on Different Devices
• Power User Tips and Tricks

Agenda

7:00 p.m. - Meet and greet
7:30 p.m. - Welcome and announcements
7:45 p.m. - Presentation (with mid-presentation break)
9:45 p.m. - Raffles
10:00 p.m. - Goodbyes

Parking

Parking is plentiful and free. Enter the College on Campus Drive and go all the way until you hit a metal barrier. Park in any space, go around the side of that building (Monarch Hall/Campus Center) and take the elevator to the second floor, room CC206.

Raffles

• SOFTWARE: Adobe CS5.5 product (InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver or Flash Catalyst) Value to $699
• HARDWARE: Acer 23” wide-screen LCD monitor, model G235H. Value $409
• SOFTWARE: Markzware product (Q2ID plugin, Corrupt InDesign File Recovery Service, Quark to InDesign File Conversion Service, PageZephyr, FlightCheck or PUB2ID) Value to $399
• TRAINING COURSE: Creating eBooks with Adobe InDesign CS4 and CS5, an InDesign online course from video2brain.com. Value $50
• PUBLICATION: InDesign Magazine. Value $69
• BOOK: “You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story!” by Richard Schickel. Value $29.98
• TRAINING COURSE: Getting Started Making eBooks with InDesign, an InDesign online course from video2brain.com. Value $25
• and more!

Sponsors

Adobe InDesign Magazine
O’Reilly Press
Peachpit Press
Markzware
video2brain.com

Shouts

Special thanks to Dan Watanabe, Director of the Entertainment Industry Training Collaborative, for making it possible to meet at Los Angeles Valley College. Also shouts to Casey Bernay of the Art Director’s Guild who referred us to Dan and to Terri Stone of InDesign Magazine who referred us to Kelly.

Meeting Notes

By Alvin Takamori

The Los Angeles InDesign User Group held its July meeting at Los Angeles Valley College — the first time the group assembled in the San Fernando Valley.

Kelly McCathran, founder of onlineinstruct.com, hired a babysitter and put up with Southwest Airlines to travel form the Bay Area to present to us. Her topic was ePub files, including file types for different eReaders, exporting to ePub, creating CSS in Dreamweaver, re-linking InDesign styles to CSS, understanding if dynamic PDF is an option, when you can use Flash, and how you can test on different devices. In addition, she gave the group a robust number of “power user” tips and tricks.

Kelly has been teaching Adobe applications since 1992 and computer classes since 1989. She is an Adobe Community Expert on Acrobat X, an Adobe Service Provider Evangelist, a video instructor at video2brain.com, has done Adobe Press Videos on Photoshop CS5 & Flash CS5 & CS5.5, is a Tech Editor at Peachpit Press.

The big prize of the evening was won by Cathy Cassells, who chose Dreamweaver CS5.5. Greg Overton walked off with a 23" Acer LCD monitor. Suzanne Edmondson won a Markzware utility and chose Quark to InDesign. Debi Aquino won a training course, “Creating eBooks with Adobe InDesign CS4 and CS5.” Jeanie Lytle also won a training course, “Getting Started Making eBooks with InDesign.” Mariko Gueringer snagged a one-hour one-on-one training session with the evening’s presenter. Michael Diaz won the book, “You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story!” by Richard Schickel. The top two prize winners, Cathy Cassells and Greg Overton, also won subscriptions to “InDesign Magazine.” And finally, Jeffrey Schimsky, who actually won the top Adobe prize but declined it since he already had all the programs, was awarded a copy of InDesign magazine as a consolation prize. Interestingly enough, he seemed more excited when he received the subscription than when his name was called for the top prize! Congratulations to all.

Thank You

Here’s a shout out to the meeting’s facilitators: Adobe, Markzware, InDesign Magazine, O’Reilly Press, Peachpit Press, Kelly McCathran and especially Ken Watanabe, Director of the Entertainment Industry Training Collaborative for making it possible for us to meet at Valley College. Not only did Ken make the room available, but provided some refreshments as well. Way to go!

Job Opportunities

We are looking for people who want to get involved with the administration of the group. Maybe you have web skills, newsletter skills, an eye for photos, want to conduct the raffles. Whatever. Let’s talk.

Next Meeting

Don’t know what a pica is? Intimidated by all that InDesign has to offer but still fascinated by it? Embarrassed to ask questions in front of God and everybody? Then the September meeting is for you. Called “InDesign for Beginners, Novices, Amateurs and Students,” this meeting will begin with a short presentation, followed by a robust question and answer session. Experienced users who attend and answer at least five questions posed by the beginners will receive a free T-shirt. Everyone who attends will receive a packet of resource information. Ringleader for the meeting will be Michael Diaz, a certified Adobe Expert in InDesign and the Content Services Manager at Source Interlink Media. This meeting will be held Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 7 p.m. at Los Angeles City College, 855 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029.

About the Presenter

Kelly McCathran

Kelly McCathran is an Adobe Community Professional and Adobe Certified Instructor as well as author of many Adobe Press Learn by Video courses on Photoshop and InDesign. She teaches hands-on Adobe Creative Cloud classes for two local San Francisco training companies. Kelly also specializes in eLearning, and teaches live, full day classes using Adobe Connect. In the past, Kelly worked as the Acrobat Community Expert and Service Provider Evangelist, for Adobe. In her "free time" she volunteers as an Adobe User Group manager for Creative Cloud Lovers.