You’ve probably heard of Photoshop, right? Well, did you know that Adobe has tons of programs in addition to Photoshop? It’s true! My personal favorite is InDesign. So, what is InDesign, and why should you (a blogger) care?
What is InDesign?
At its most basic, InDesign is a design software. As the name implies.
It’s especially useful for creating things like flyers, worksheets, books, and checklists. When you hear InDesign, think things that combine text, shapes, illustrations, and photos.
I’ve been using InDesign for more than 10 years now, and I’ve created so many things with it. I’ve made physical books, ebooks, worksheets, workbooks, style guides, logos, social media graphics, and more, all using InDesign!
It really is an awesome tool for people of all backgrounds. So, why should bloggers care about InDesign?
Why should bloggers care about InDesign?
There are so many ways bloggers can use InDesign. Whether you want to grow your email list, publish an ebook, or speed up your processes, InDesign is the tool for you!
Here are some of my favorite reasons bloggers need to utilize InDesign.
1 | InDesign is super easy to learn.
Adobe programs are super intimidating. I’ve been using Photoshop for years and I’m still learning new things about it.
InDesign, though, is actually really simple! It’s almost entirely based on drawing shapes in your document: rectangles, circles, squares, you name it. You can color them in, add text to them, or insert a photo inside of them.
Easy enough, right? Just draw a ton of shapes, add text or photos where you want, and you’re golden.
Sure, there are some more advanced tools that you can use, but those aren’t too intimidating, either. There are so many tutorials you can find online (check out my tutorials here!) so you can start mastering them in no time.
You don’t need to be a designer to use InDesign. Sure, it helps to have an eye for design, but you can look around Pinterest for inspiration and still create something amazing!
Interested in learning how to use all of those fancy advanced tools and get super comfortable with InDesign as a whole? Sign up for the InDesign Adventure Guide and I’ll make you an InDesign pro!
Sign up for the InDesign Adventure Guide!
2 | InDesign enables you to create interactive elements.
One of my absolute favorite parts of InDesign is the ability to create interactive elements.
Have you ever read an ebook and wished you could click right from the Table of Contents to the chapter you want to go to? You can!
InDesign allows you to link to external webpages, pages within the document, and even other files.
Plus, you can create checkboxes and fillable forms, which are awesome for content upgrades. You’re able to really go above and beyond for your audience because they no longer need to print out your content upgrades in order to work on them. They simply click in the box under the question and type in their answer.
Awesome, right?
What is InDesign, and why should you care? Find out from @caitlinhonard!Click To Tweet3 | InDesign is great for multi-page documents.
In some programs, you can’t have more than one page per document, so you need to create a separate file for each page. No thanks!
InDesign was built for multi-page documents, so it’s an awesome tool for bloggers to create workbooks and ebooks for your audience.
Plus, you can link your text boxes together, so if you add some text to one page, the text moves down on every single page. Tis means the rest of the document doesn’t get messed up!
Ready to create a ebook for your blog? That’s one of the projects you create while you’re taking the InDesign Adventure Guide! (That’s right—you’re creating real-life projects you’ll be able to use as soon as you’re done with the class. No learning how to draw shapes and having to figure out real-world application on your own!)
Sign up for the InDesign Adventure Guide!
4 | InDesign allows you to grow your email list and create passive income.
As we’ve already discussed, InDesign is an awesome tool for creating ebooks and content upgrades.
This is super important to bloggers for two reasons.
First of all, content upgrades are essential to growing your email list. You’ve (hopefully) got goals for your blog. An email list is an awesome way to accomplish them, and content upgrades are how you can get people onto that list.
Secondly, most bloggers want to make income from their blog. I mean, why wouldn’t you? An awesome way to make passive income is through ebooks.
Often the most intimidating part of creating an ebook isn’t the writing (I mean, we’re bloggers after all). It’s the design. But with InDesign, you can do the designing part on your own! Cost effective AND time efficient.
5 | It could be a better tool for your project than Photoshop.
gasp
Don’t get me wrong, Photoshop is an awesome tool. And it works great for photos!
But here’s the thing: I’ve found that people are using Photoshop way too often. And I’m not talking body morphing here (though that’s a real problem).
You see, as the name implies, Photoshop should be used for photos. It’s really only supposed to be used for photo-based design. It’s not a program to create worksheets, ebooks, or checklists. That’s what InDesign is for!
If you’re going to be doing anything with a lot of text (a paragraph or more), Photoshop isn’t the program for you.
By all means, edit your photos in Photoshop. But then place them in InDesign to create the rest of your project.
6 | It can help you create a cohesive brand.
Branding is a super important part of any blog. It’s critical that you actively create a brand and work to incorporate it into every piece of content that you put out.
This includes design pieces like content upgrades and ebooks.
One of my favorite pieces I’ve created in InDesign is my blog’s style guide. It’s got all of my colors, fonts, and vector logos in one document that I can access whenever I need it.
Utilizing my style guide, I’ve created a template for any content upgrades I create. That way, they all look on-brand!
I simply created a fake content upgrade with dummy text, designed it how I wanted it, and saved it to a folder called “Content Upgrade Template.” Then, whenever I’m about to create a content upgrade, I simply copy that file to a new folder and edit the copied version. All of the design elements stay the same, and I’ve still got the original file to be copied again later!
PS Want to create your own style guide in InDesign? It’s the first project we cover in the InDesign Adventure Guide!
7 | InDesign can really speed up your blog processes.
Speaking of templates, InDesign has really sped up my blogging process.
Normally, creating the design elements of a content upgrade would take about 10 minutes. But by doing that once (on the template file), I’ve removed that 10 minutes from every instance when I want to create a content upgrade.
Say I create a content upgrade once a month. That’s two hours per year I’ve saved myself by creating that template file!
Plus, because the time burden is smaller, I’m able to create more content upgrades than I was before. It’s not as intimidating when all I have to do is add the text!
InDesign is an amazing tool for bloggers to utilize. You can grow your income, streamline your processes, and create a cohesive brand, all from one simple design program.
If you’re interested in learning how to really utilize all that InDesign has to offer, I recommend you check out my course the InDesign Adventure Guide! We’ll work on three projects: a brand style guide, a worksheet, and an ebook. Once you finish the course, you’ll have three actual products that you can use to grow your blog and business.
