Indesign → Photoshop?
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- sausages0
Just curious, do you web guys have issues with InDesign web layouts which have been set up using pixel measurements in an RGB colour space (i.e. correctly) or is the concensus that InDeign web layouts suck in general? If a file is numerically correct in terms of measurements and the colour space is all good, it shouldn't bother a developer what the source program is no?
- i dont do much web but i hate indesign webstuff. Could be not sure how to make it work easily. i dont see whats hard to develop in PS. if u know indd u should know psdeathboy
- build in PS. if u do print work u should be capable in PSdeathboy
- sure large text formatting sucks but shoulnt be an issuedeathboy
- Aligning, grids, pathfinder and text formatting is clearly easier in InDesign. Pretty big part of web design no?!biusness
- "Aligning, grids, pathfinder and text formatting" Fireworks does all this and pages. It also works in true pixels.animatedgif
- InDesign also works in true pixels, and it's tons easier than the alternatives for layout.monospaced
- monNom0
^ if everything is isolated and editable, and transfers to PS with no hitches, then it's probably fine.
however that's almost never the case and files not done in PS are (generally) a non-stop cluster-fuck of soft edges, flattened layers, and really small type... but only in some places (ie: no continuity).
I've rebuilt enough of them to know: it almost always ends badly....Which sucks, because inDesign makes a lot of sense for large sites with many pages needing design work. But I think you need a workflow, and devs who know how to work with those files. and designers who know how to prep the file for the devs.
A big issue (I think), is that many (non web), designers don't put emphasis on precision in their designs. In Illustrator or InDesign they drag the handles, reposition things at will, eyeball-it, and when it looks good they're done. However for web in those apps, even something like a stroke needs to be a full pixel value, and the stroked box must be offset by 1/2 the stroke value for it to rasterize sharp. (snap to pixel may help this, not really sure)
If your devs want a PSD. you should probably just make a PSD from the start.
- prophetone0
"...many (non web), designers don't put emphasis on precision in their designs."
so true. i've been called the "pixel police" by colleagues. trying to explain that a rasterized 1pt line is not really the same as a 1px line never ends well in my experience.
- and a 1px line needs to be lined up on a half pixel.Amicus
- pillhead0
This is why It does my head in why people use Indesign to design bloody websites, it just scream I know fuck all about website design, it's like given a printer a Flash file and asking him why can you not print this 500 page document. Really.
- goldieboy0
Just rebuild in PSD taking all your measurements from InD. And as a bonus the dev person won't kill you and you'll be able to edit until your hearts content
- animatedgif0
Use Fireworks FFS, InDesign wasn't designed for this.
- fadein110
web design in InDesign - just don't get it
- awebdeveloper0
Don't design for web in InDesign, Don't design for web in illustrator.
It will end badly and we will ignore your pixel measurements and just round to pixel multiples of 5 and make it in MS word fr you.
- awebdeveloper0
With the web about to donkey punch itself with more SVG sweetness I think we're going to be seeing a lot more Illustrator files. Not that FW or PS doesn't support the paths, it'll be easier for the developer to export SVG's from AI rather than trying to do it from other programs (natively).
- awebdeveloper0
With the web about to donkey punch itself with more SVG sweetness I think we're going to be seeing a lot more Illustrator files. Not that FW or PS doesn't support the paths, it'll be easier for the developer to export SVG's from AI rather than trying to do it from other programs (natively).
- FW does support vectors, you can even copy and paste from illustratoranimatedgif
- I meant exporting as SVG from Fireworksawebdeveloper
- monNom0
Adobe CS5 Web Premium does not include inDesign.
http://www.adobe.com/products/cr…case closed.
=P
- voiceof0
Damnit, Now I need to reinstall fireworks and tryit out again. Last time I even looked at FW it's only real purpose was to better optimize images.
- doesnotexist0
use whatever gets the job done.
then remember developers like PSDs.
- RIZ0
This is quite an interesting argument...
I work for a large branding agency, we design plenty of high end websites. I quite often design the front-end look and feel of the site in Illustrator OR Indesign. This makes sense, because as a designer, I use these programmes to create the best graphic layouts - be it for print or for online. What half decent graphic designer would ever use fucking Photoshop for a nice page layout?
I then hand those files over to the studio team - btw they are a PRINT studio team. They convert them to photoshop, make sure the pixels are all lined up properly etc. And boom, you have a great looking site - designed in Indesign or Illustrator. The photoshop part is merely part of the production process, and only there to make sure that it can be developed properly - it has nothing to do with the creative part of the process.
I see no problem with this method, can't understand why everyone is kicking up a stink about designing websites in Illustrator or Indesign...
- agreed 100%monospaced
- yup yup yes in the same boatdoesnotexist
- nice work, RIZ.doesnotexist
- wait, is that your work? blog?doesnotexist
- @doesnotexist thanks for the comment, your work is lovely by the way : )RIZ
- and yep, that's the agency I work for...RIZ
- This sounds like the most retarded process everanimatedgif
- I mean if the client makes a change do you do it in the ID docs then pass it off to the PS team again?animatedgif
- Riz, you are a moron. I am an AD at a large agency too.Frosty_spl
- qTime0
Photoshop is not fit for purpose!
Someone really needs to create a better program. You can't even make custom grids that are useful in PhotoShop without a plug in.
- animatedgif0
- Hmm, I still don't find this has the functionality of inDesignqTime
- OSFA0
PLEASE, stop using InDesign for web design. Please?
- qTime0
To me it feels like webpages were first build by non designers so they used Photoshop. Now we are finding out that its totally unsuited to designing webistes.
- If you are just designing templates PS is fine. If you are being asked to show the whole website (ie all content pages) it may get trickierfadein11
- gets trickierfadein11
- Exactly! I love how I can set type styles in indesign.qTime
- Spot on qTimeanimatedgif
- Fireworks allows you to set styles. It doesnt allow you to edit them, but they work well otherwiseJosev
- Ambushstudio0
We would give our developer AI fies, sometimes PSD sliced files, he has it down, he likes AI, is he crazy?
- monospaced0
The developers I work with don't give a damn. They usually take the design and make it much tighter and cleaner anyway, regardless if they receive PSD, InDesign or Illustrator files. I sometimes think they just print them out and use them as visual reference. It's awesome.