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Adobe has long offered users the option of automating InDesign workflows through scripting. Although scripts may be writing in AppleScript (Macintosh only) or VBScript (Windows only), the most satisfactory scripting language is the cross-platform, and very widely used, JavaScript. One of the simplest and yet most useful operations that can be accomplished using scripting is the automation of Find/Change. InDesign’s Find/Change feature is one of the program’s most powerful features and it is one of those features which can be fully automated by scripting. In fact, you can achieve a lot more through scripting than you can by manually performing a Find/Change operation.

There are three commands in the InDesign scripting framework for performing Find/Change operations: findText(), findGrep() and findGlyph(). A good deal can be accomplished using the straightforward findText() command. However, if you need to make fairly complex changes, and if you have the time and patience to find the right regular expression, you can use the findGrep() command which is designed for performing searches for regular expressions.

Before performing a Find/Change operation, you need to set up the preferences that will be used. Firstly, you set the properties of the findChangeTextOptions object: parameters include caseSensitive, wholeWord, ignoreHiddenLayers and ignoreMasterPages. Next, you set up your findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences parameters, the most important of which are findWhat and changeTo, respectively. It is also usually a good idea to clear out any preferences that may still be in play from a previous search. This is done by setting both the findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences objects to nothing, using the commands: app.findTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing and app.changeTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing.

As well as this, the findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences objects offer all of the formatting parameters normally available with text objects.

A popular exercise that we give to students attending our InDesign scripting courses is to create a script which searches for the name of a company within a document, changes the format of the text to look like a regular web hyperlink (blue, bold, underlined) and then makes it a hyperlink. To change the format of the text, we simply use the appropriate properties of the changeTextPreferences object, such as fillColor, fontStyle and underline.

You can find out more about InDesign training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, an independent computer training company offering InDesign Classes in London and throughout the UK.

Technorati Tags: computer software, computers and the internet, desktop publishing, dtp, graphic design, InDesign training, page layout

Adobe Dreamweaver has brought the business of web development within the reach of everybody. However, it is still a sophisticated piece of software with numerous floating palettes which can be a little off-putting for the new user. So, in this article, we aim to show you how to find your way through the maze of features and create a basic Dreamweaver web site.

It is very important that you design and sketch out how you want the site to work and what information will be available for users to navigate their way through. It is also a good idea to keep your first project simple. Once you have completed a basic version of your site, you can look to expand your knowledge and expertise and then add enhancements to the site.

Next, create a folder somewhere on your hard disk or desktop which will contain all of the files which will make up your site. Dreamweaver refers to this folder as the “local root folder”. It should contain nothing but the files pertaining to your web site and will become a mirror image of your actual site when the site goes live.

You should also add an images folder inside the “local root folder”. It can have any name you like but later, when you set up the Dreamweaver site, it will be designated as the default images folder and will help to ensure that your visitors don’t see any blank image icons on your pages.

Having created the site folders, you are ready to complete the Dreamweaver site definition. Launch Dreamweaver and click on New in the Site menu. When the New Site dialogue appears, click on the Advanced tab. This will allow you to complete the two essential categories required for a basic site: Local Info (relating to your version of the site) and Remote Info (the live version of the site.

The first element required in the “Local Info” section is a name for the new site. This goes in the top box. Next, use the folder icons to browse and locate the “Local Root Folder” and “Default Images Folder” respectively.

Now activate the Remote Info section on the left. If your website will be an intranet, choose Local/Network from the Access Method drop-down menu. Click on the Browse icon then locate the server and sub-directory where your intranet resides. For a public web-site, choose FTP. Enter the appropriate information in each of the boxes. These details are available from your web hosting company and will have been emailed to you when you signed up.

Before actually putting any content in your pages, you should ensure that all the pages you mapped out in your original plan have been created and saved. So, instead of creating and completing a page at a time, you create and save every single page. This will prevent the creation of links that don’t work properly because, when you come to create a link, the page you are linking to will already exist; you point to it and ask Dreamweaver to create the link.

There’s still one more step that you should do before you are ready to actually start work on the page content; you should create at least one template. Templates allow you to maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the site. It consists of fixed elements, such as logo and navigation links and what Dreamweaver calls “Editable Regions”. These are the areas of the page which can be altered each time you use the template.

Having finished your template or templates, you are ready to build the web pages that will constitute your site. Simply open each page, choose Modify – Templates – Apply Template to Page and then add the text, images etc. that make up the page.

The author of this article has been teaching Adobe Dreamweaver training courses for many years. He is a trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent IT training company based in London.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Dreamweaver, computer software, computers and the internet, dream weaver, internet, web design, web page design, web site development

Adobe Dreamweaver is a widely-used web development tool aimed at inexperienced and experienced users alike. It allows developers to work visually and behind the scenes, it uses standard web technologies such as HTML CSS and JavaScript. Web pages can be introduced into a Dreamweaver site at any time without the danger of the program modifying your code. In the same way, pages that you create in Dreamweaver can be taken out of the Dreamweaver environment and used elsewhere.

The program does not rely on its own custom solutions which will only work in the Dreamweaver environment. Although Dreamweaver is not necessarily the best software tool for creating all types of website, it is not an environment which one easily outgrows. It is suitable for creating both static content consisting of client-side pages as well as more sophisticated dynamic content including server side pages. In other words, it is suitable for developing the type of content found on the majority of websites. So, let us examine this content in more detail.

Most of our web sites are hosted on web servers run by specialist hosting companies. A large website will need to be hosted on a dedicated server or even servers, whereas most typical websites will be sharing space on a server with other sites. People visiting a website are sometimes called clients.

Clients gain access to the content on web servers using a variety of different operating systems and different browsers. They normally find this content either by clicking on links from search engines and other locations or by simply typing a URL into the address bar of their browser.

The content that clients access on people’s sites can be divided into two main categories: client-side and server-side. The term client-side refers to content which is compatible with the user’s browser, stuff which the browser software can actually open, display or execute (in the case of scripts).

The main component of client-side content is HTML, or as it’s known in its current incarnation, XHTML; a stricter and more consistent version of the original HTML specification. HTML is a simple markup language which is used to describe the content of web pages for the benefit of the client’s browser. Then we also have CSS and JavaScript.

CSS pages contain information describing the layout and presentation of web content. JavaScript is a simple scripting language which can be used to add interactivity to web pages. For example, when you are filling out a form on a website and information entered into a field is inappropriate, JavaScript can be used to notify you that the content must be changed.

All modern web browsers are fully capable of understanding HTML, CSS and JavaScript. With the addition of extra software utilities known as plug-ins, other technologies can be added to web pages. Two of the most popular plug-in technologies are Flash and Adobe Acrobat PDF files. All of this content then is totally compatible with the client’s browser; hence the term client-side content.

The The writer of this article is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent computer training company offering Adobe Dreamweaver Classes in London and throughout the UK.

Technorati Tags: Cascading Style Sheets, computer software, computers and the internet, CSS, Dreamweaver training, training videos, web design, web development

A web page has two main areas: the head element and the body element. The body element contains all of the visible content which will be displayed in the browser window. The head element, by contrast, is designed to contain information about the web page; meta information as it is sometimes called. In this article, we will look at the different ways in which Dreamweaver allows users to modify elements within the head of a web page. Let’s start with the title.

The title element is meant to contain a broad description of the content of the page. It is extremely important that each page should have a title element and that the title be pertinent to that page. Dreamweaver automatically adds a title element to every new page with the default text “Untitled Document”. Perhaps the easiest way of modifying this default title is simply to enter a new title in the Document Title box of the Document toolbar which is normally displayed at the top of the page. An alternative method is the choose Modify – Page Properties and then click on the Title/Encoding category on the left of the screen.

The title element is the only element which is syntactically required to be placed within the head element. In addition a number of optional meta elements may be placed in the head element to provide further information about the current page. One such meta element is created automatically by Dreamweaver along with the title: the content-type. This declares the character encoding to the browser and is particularly important if you have a site with an international audience. To specify the character encoding, choose Modify – Page Properties, click on the Title/Encoding category on the left of the screen and then choose an option from the Encoding drop-down menu.

The meta description element is also very important since, along with the page title, it is often displayed when your page shows up in the search engine results. The description should consist of one or two sentences summarising the content of the page. To set the description in Dreamweaver, choose Insert – HTML – Head Tags – Description then enter a brief description in the dialogue box which appears.

Let’s just mention one final meta element: keywords. The keywords meta element should contain a list of the important words and phrases to be found on the current page. Only text that actually appears on the page should be listed. To create the meta keywords element in Dreamweaver, choose Insert – HTML – Head Tags – Keywords.

The The writer of this article is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions, a UK IT training company offering Adobe Dreamweaver training courses in London and throughout the UK.

Technorati Tags: Cascading Style Sheets, computer software, computers and the internet, CSS, Dreamweaver training, HTML, meta tags, web design, web development

Learning is something that a lot of people do throughout the course of their lives. It is a never ending process for many especially with computers being such a high priority these days. Becoming proficient at using programs on them is imperative, no matter what type of program it is. This is one reason why adobe photoshop training has been seen to be so high in demand.

There are a lot of ways that people can learn the skills to run the programs that they need. One option is to look for tutoriaols that are offered on the internet. Many of these are free for people to use. Take a bit of time to see what kind of tutorials are available and you will surely find something that will fulfill your needs.

Other people find that using a book has been a big help for them when it comes to adobe photoshop training. There are a lot of books on this subject that can help you develop the skills that you need. Many of these books have tutorials that can be followed that allow you to use hands on techniques when applying the changes to a certain project

The school atmosphere is a way a lot of people find that they learn the most from. Looking into what schools offer this particular course is the first place to start looking. You will see that there are no longer just young people that are learning these things as there are more and more people returning to school to enrich their skills for employability.

If a classroom is not for you, consider the option of using a tutor to help you with your adobe photoshop training. You can find many tutors by searching online, or looking at resources that are in the area that you live. This can be a way for you to get one on one training.

Knowing exactly what you want to learn is the first thing you need to know bef9ore seeking adobe photoshop training. Everybody has different needs and this has been proven time and time again with the many different ways that people learn.

The author is a trainer and developer with a UK IT training company offering Adobe Photoshop classes as well as Adobe Acrobat training in London and throughout the UK.

Technorati Tags: adobe creative suite, computer software, computers and the internet, desktop publishing, Photography, photoshop training, web design

Adobe Photoshop training can make all the difference between spending hours fiddling with images and becoming frustrated and you being able to produce professional and creative images for your website and all your other graphic design needs.

The Adobe Photoshop software program is a very useful tool that allows you to manipulate images and create amazing results that will help your website to stand apart from all the others online. The downside to the program is that unless you have Adobe Photoshop training you will not get the best out of it.

There are many online Adobe Photoshop training sites that can teach you how to use the program from the basics to advanced tips and tricks. Photoshop is a complex piece of software and without the proper training you will not be able to utilize all the tools to their full extent.

With Adobe Photoshop training you can learn to digitally touch up images and create your very own graphics. Beginner’s skills included in a training program might include learning how to work with layers to manipulate images and produce different effects, how to change a person’s hair color or eye color and blending tools.

Once you have the basics down pat, intermediate and advanced training can teach you how to enhance digital photography, advanced layer techniques, creating links with an image, compositing and typographic design.

When you know your way around the software and have completed some Adobe Photoshop training then you can begin to enhance your websites to give them a truly creative, unique and professional appearance. You may also be able to freelance your skills and pick up lucrative side projects. There are many people who successfully do Photoshop work for others from the comfort of their own homes.

By doing your own Adobe Photoshop training you can get yourself an extra income; shave time off how long it takes you to complete projects; get the most out of the program by using the program efficiently and utilizing all its tools and impress people with your professional images.

The writer’s company runs Adobe Photoshop training classes as well as Adobe Acrobat training in London and throughout the UK.

Technorati Tags: computer software, computers and the internet, desktop publishing, dtp, graphic design, page layout, photoshop training

Adobe InDesign has long offered users the option of automating their workflows through scripting. Although scripts may be writing in AppleScript (Macintosh only) or VBScript (Windows only), the most satisfactory scripting language is the cross-platform, and very widely used, JavaScript. One of the simplest and yet most useful operations that can be accomplished using scripting is the automation of Find/Change. InDesign’s Find/Change feature is one of the program’s most powerful features and it is one of those features which can be fully automated by scripting. In fact, you can achieve a lot more through scripting than you can by manually performing a Find/Change operation.

There are three commands in the InDesign scripting framework for performing Find/Change operations: findText(), findGrep() and findGlyph(). A good deal can be accomplished using the straightforward findText() command. However, if you need to make fairly complex changes, and if you have the time and patience to find the right regular expression, you can use the findGrep() command which is designed for performing searches for regular expressions.

Before your actually perform a Find/Change operation, you need to set up the preferences that will be used. Firstly, you set the properties of the findChangeTextOptions object: parameters include caseSensitive, wholeWord, ignoreHiddenLayers and ignoreMasterPages. Next, you set up your findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences parameters, the most important of which are findWhat and changeTo, respectively. It is also usually a good idea to clear out any preferences that may still be in play from a previous search. This is done by setting both the findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences objects to nothing, using the commands: app.findTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing and app.changeTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing.

Just as when performing Find/Change manually, the findTextPreferences and changeTextPreferences objects offer all of the formatting parameters normally available with text objects.

A popular exercise that we give to students attending our InDesign scripting courses is to create a script which searches for the name of a company within a document, changes the format of the text to look like a regular web hyperlink (blue, bold, underlined) and then makes it a hyperlink. To change the format of the text, we simply use the appropriate properties of the changeTextPreferences object, such as fillColor, fontStyle and underline.

If you would like to learn more about InDesign training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering InDesign training courses in London and throughout the UK.

categories: InDesign training,graphic design,page layout,desktop publishing,dtp,computers and the internet,computer software

Technorati Tags: computer software, computers and the internet, desktop publishing, dtp, graphic design, InDesign training, page layout