The best InDesign books
Continuing with our series of the best Graphic Design books, like the best Adobe Illustrator books, today I bring you the best InDesign books. I am sure they will be very useful for many graphic designers, and especially for editorial designers.
Among the best books for learning InDesign, you will find some that cover the entire learning process, some that simply get you started, and some that focus on improving your skills and workflow in specific aspects of the program.
If you are new to Adobe InDesign, or simply want to take your skills to the next level, these books will guide you through all the knowledge you need to acquire to use one of the best Graphic Design programs out there.
The Best InDesign Books in 2024
1. Adobe InDesign Classroom in a Book
- Author: Kelly Anton, Tina DeJarld
- Paperback: 448 pages
- Language: English
Last price update on 2023-05-16. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
The best book on InDesign
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced designer, there is no better book to learn Adobe InDesign than Adobe Press’ own book: Adobe InDesign Classroom in a Book (2024 release).
The book stands out as the most accurate and up-to-date book on InDesign, as it is updated with each new edition of the program and explains how to take advantage of the latest developments.
As in previous editions of Adobe InDesign Classroom in a Book, the 2024 edition also includes access to online videos, lessons, and quizzes that extend, enrich and facilitate the learning experience.
This edition is written by Kelly Anton, InDesign expert, and Tina DeJarld, Senior Production Artist at Prodigious Worldwide. Both authors have decided to structure the book in 15 lessons specifically designed to improve your knowledge, agility and productivity with Adobe InDesign.
For this, the book helps you step by step and with a lot of visual support, to understand the logic of the program, its new features and how your workflow in your day-to-day work with InDesign.
2. How do I do that in InDesign?
- Author: Dave Clayton
- Paperback: 272 pages
- Language: English
Last price update on 2023-05-11. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
The best book of tricks and shortcuts for InDesign
If you’ve used InDesign before, you may be wondering if there’s a faster, more efficient way to get things done. And there is.
“How do I do that in InDesign?” shows you everything you may not know about InDesign that can greatly improve your working speed and what you are able to do.
Its author is Dave Clayton, a graphic designer with over 30 years of experience who teaches Graphic Design, InDesign and Photoshop at Adobe Max and Photoshop World.
With Dave, you will learn the program’s features and also how to optimize the program’s settings and workspace. In addition, you will discover all kinds of shortcuts, tricks and techniques that will streamline your day-to-day workflow.
The whole book is explained in a very practical and readable way, without technicalities, which makes it very easy to read. It is a good book to find answers on how to use a certain function or tool more effectively.
3. Adobe InDesign CC: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features
- Author: Stephen Laske
- Paperback: 360 pages
- Language: English
Last price update on 2023-05-11. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
The most complete book on InDesign
Adobe InDesign CC: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features is ideal for those looking for a complete InDesign course in book format that also teaches them how to use the program effectively.
Its author, Stephen Laske, is an Adobe Certified Instructor and Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign and many other Adobe programs. In addition to owning his own Adobe Authorised Training Centre, Stephen is a specialist in workflow improvement, so in this book you will find several tricks and shortcuts to improve your productivity with InDesign.
The book is divided into two parts, the course and the compendium, like the other books in this collection Adobe Photoshop: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features and Adobe Illustrator CC A Complete Course and Compendium of Features.
In the first part, the course, you will establish a solid knowledge base to understand how InDesign works and the elements that compose it. Thus, you will learn all about preferences, settings, layout elements, navigation and objects, text styles, tables, object styles, document preparation and export, etc.
The second part, the compendium, focuses on the application of what you have learned and how to effectively use each tool and function. To do this, the author delves into the more advanced options and at the same time helps you find effective workflows to solve the task at hand.
The explanations in the book are supported by images and tips to facilitate understanding. You will find numerous screenshots, graphics and detailed step-by-step explanations to facilitate your learning.
4. GREP in InDesign: An InDesign Secrets Guide
Last price update on 2023-05-11. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
The best book on GREP in InDesign
Aimed at advanced InDesign users, GREP in InDesign: An InDesign Secrets Guide helps you simplify and streamline your workflow with GREP (Global Regular Expression Parser).
GREP commands are expressions that tell InDesign how to set up a text. They look for and identify patterns within the text and allow you to manipulate them all at once, automatically.
The book’s author, Peter Kahrel, is a programmer who specializes in scripting InDesign with JavaScript and has several books and tutorials on the subject. “GREP in InDesign: An InDesignSecrets Guide” is considered the reference book on GREP in the editorial design industry.
I don’t know anyone who teaches GREP in InDesign who doesn’t use Peter Kahrel’s book, it’s the “bible” on the subject.
David Blatner, co-founder of InDesign Magazine
The book covers the basics of finding and changing dialogues, then moves on to character classes, locations, character sequences, references and formatting, to more advanced GREP expressions, query strings, applying styles and much more.
While it is true that GREP may seem very complex, the truth is that the essential aspects are quite simple and this book provides you with a progressive and very well-structured learning process that makes it much easier to understand even the most complex expressions.
It is also worth noting that the book includes a code dictionary and a troubleshooting section, very handy when things get complicated with GREP expressions.
5. Learn Adobe InDesign CC for Print and Digital Media Publication
- Author: Jonathan Gordon, Rob Schwartz, Conrad Chavez
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Language: English
Last price update on 2023-05-11. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
The best book to prepare for the Adobe Certified Associate in InDesign exam.
Although it is not based on the most current version of InDesign, much of the theoretical and practical knowledge in Learn Adobe InDesign CC for Print and Digital Media Publication is still valid. Possibly because it is written by three great InDesign experts, Jonathan Gordon, Rob Schwartz and Conrad Chavez.
Jonathan Gordon has been an instructor of Illustrator and Adobe programs in general for over 20 years. Conrad Chavez is a photographer and InDesign expert, in fact, he collaborated in the writing of the program’s User’s Guide. Rob Schwartz is an Adobe Certified Associate and Adobe Certified Instructor, winner of the Adobe Impact Award and the first Worldwide Adobe Certified Associate Championship.
If there is one thing that makes this book stand out, it is that it is specifically designed to prepare you for the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) exam by providing you with a solid foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge.
In addition, it includes online content that you will access when you purchase the book: 11 hours of practical videos, quizzes and several projects that will help you acquire and consolidate the essential Illustrator fundamentals. You will also learn several shortcuts and tricks to speed up your workflow and your creation process instantly.
All in all, the book is very well structured and clearly explained and supports the explanations with practical examples that you can find in your everyday life. In fact, by the end of the book you will be able to create everything from advertising posters to covers and interiors of printed magazines, recipe books, comics, interactive forms or digital publications with videos, animations and other types of multimedia elements.
Top 5 best-selling InDesign books in 2024
Last price update on 2023-05-16. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
How to choose the best InDesign books
InDesign is the standard for editorial design and one of the best graphic design programs in the market. So if you have to choose a program to learn, this is probably the most recommended.
If you fix better the information through reading than through videos, no doubt these books to learn InDesign will be of great help. In any case, some of these books include videos and complementary online material to expand and enrich your knowledge about InDesign.
Please note the version of InDesign to which each book refers.
In physical and digital bookshops, it is easy to find InDesign books that refer to versions of the program that are more than 5 or 10 years old.
While there are no major differences between year-to-year versions of InDesign, in 5 years the program has changed and incorporated many new features that these books may not reflect. That’s why in this guide we focus on the most recent InDesign books.
Practice what you learn about InDesign as you read, not at the end.
In Adobe InDesign it is important to fix what has been learned through practice, as there are many functions, tools and actions available.
I guarantee that if you wait to finish the books to do the exercises, you will be unable to put into practice most of the things you read, and you will have to re-read the books.
Remember that even if you feel that stopping to practice hinders your reading, your goal is not to finish the book, but to learn InDesign.
