Creating a social media announcement using Adobe InDesign

To Start:

I downloaded the template file provided by my instructor. This was really helpful for me as I did not know any layout aspects or even tools in Id to create an artboard. From there I pulled guides from the side of the rulers and positioned there to where I had more clarity on the artboard.

Color

I then used the rectangle tool and made a colored box. This took me literally 30 minutes to figure out how to do (putting in the color) and after much google and youtube I ended up just making a square and using the fill tool.

Image Placement

I then knew I wanted to place an image within my artboard and this also took a couple minutes to learn how to do. But once I figured out that I could use my frame tool to create an imageBox I would just then go to File➞ Place and simply search for my image to place. After I figured this out, I decided to scratch the image placement for now and work on adding elements instead.

Shapes & Elements

I used my pen tool and made a random shape outline. I love the minimalist abstract looking shape trend so I use this a lot within my brand.

After creating the shape I then filled in using a specific color I liked. I also opted to save this color within my pallet as a custom color so It would be easy to find next time.

Once the shapes were drawn and done, I was ready to add my images and my text.

Adobe Stock

I really wanted to incorporate my love for the vintage photo aesthetic so I hopped onto the adobe stock program and licensed a few old polaroid frames. For this I needed to take the JPG into photoshop and make a transparent PNG vector to carry over to InDesign.

I just cropped the photo and leveled it then simply went to Export ➞ selected PNG➞ and saved to my desktop.

Since I'm a wiz at PS this took all of about 5 minutes for me to do.

Image

I then super quickly placed my image but also learned if your image is big and you "resize" you need to mark a specific box to make the image scale properly and not look cropped.

The "fit framing" boxes are the tool needed to resize the image properly after resizing it.

Lock Feature

Since ID does not work off of layers (which is incredibly hard to transition from programs that do), placing objects and locking them into place is the next best bet. To do this you right click on any of the vectors and then simply click "lock".

Photos & text

Once I added all of my blank polaroid frame templates, I used the framing tool inside them to place an image to fit to the little squares. I also played around with adding text which is similar to other adobe programs where you can draw a textbox and type.

I also went around and grouped each polaroid with the photo then locked them into place (command G). Grouping these makes them become one object so if I were to resize, everything would resize not just the photo or the Polaroid template.

Text & Logo

The last couple of steps of adding text was simple in the fact that I knew how to do it but not simple in the fact that I played with fonts and sizing for about an hour - hour 1/2 to make sure everything was perfectly lined up and centered the way I wanted.

I added in my logo at the end which I originally wasn't planning on but remembered I now had a new version of it (See blog post #3 linked here) and it would fill the space nicely.

And Voilà!

After I was happy with the results, I exported as normal for PS or Ai and saved to the desktop! I am excited to use this post for my business as well as the ID knowledge I now have to create other things!