InDesign: Typography Part 1

Explore the typography options, type-related features, and type-specific preferences of Adobe InDesign.

InDesign Typography explores the numerous type options, type-related features, and type-specific preferences of Adobe InDesign. Using practical, real-world examples, instructor and designer Nigel French explains the purpose of each feature and describes the conventions for how and when to use it. Part 1 focuses on "micro typography" or the appearance of individual letterforms. Nigel dissects the anatomy of a typeface and defines the terminology used to describe type in graphic design. He moves into choosing a typeface, scaling type, and adjusting spacing via InDesign's leading and kerning controls. The course closes with a look at glyphs, special characters, and OpenType features, including ligatures and fractions.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Exercise files
• Creating a typographic workspace

1. Choosing and Combining Typefaces

• Type anatomy and terminology
• An overview of type classifications
• Type naming conventions
• Using Typekit
• Choosing typefaces

2. Character Formatting

• Sizing and scaling type
• Casing
• Small caps
• Underline and strikethru type
• Superscript and subscript
• Baseline shift
• Italic and oblique type
• Condensed and extended type

3. Leading (Line Spacing)

• Definition
• Considerations for leading
• Auto-leading: When to avoid it, when to use it
• Auto-leading and inline graphics
• Leading shortcuts and preferences

4. Letter Spacing, Tracking, and Kerning

• Defining
• Letter spacing
• Tracking
• Adjusting word spacing
• Kerning
• Metrics kerning and optical kerning

5. Small and Important Details

• Using the Glyphs panel
• Quotes, apostrophes, and primes
• Em dashes and en dashes
• Spacing characters
• Ellipsis
• Optical sizing

6. OpenType features

• Ligatures
• Fractions
• Numerals
• Contextual alternates

Conclusion

• Goodbye