If you’re used to the way Text Wraps work in InDesign, you may find Illustrator Wraps totally confusing. That’s because Wraps in Illustrator are entirely different than in InDesign and work more like Quark’s Runarounds.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates the ins and outs of Illustrator Wraps.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

You drew a cartoon by hand on paper. After scanning the drawing into Photoshop, how do you turn it into vector to add color to the cartoon in Adobe Illustrator? Or what about turning a photographic image into a beautiful posterized piece of vector art?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will discuss the new Image Trace feature. This new lightning fast, more accurate tracing feature, in CS6, replaces the old Live Trace feature from earlier versions of Illustrator.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Anyone who has tried to manually create a Table of Contents (TOC) for a document, knows what a headache it can be. Not so in InDesign, which can automatically collect all of the information to be included and generate the finished TOC exactly the way you want in an instant.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will go through the simple steps involved in generating an automatic Table of Contents for a document.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Most InDesign users do not realize that the measurement fields in various panels and dialog windows are actually calculators that can add, subtract, multiply and divide. In CS6, InDesign can now perform more complex calculations within these fields, for example, 1.25in/2 + 10pts.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will demonstrate the use of this time-saving InDesign feature to resize, reshape, and reposition objects on a page without doing any math on scape paper or by using a calculator.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

If you just add a Stroke to type in Adobe Illustrator, the Stroke will be in front of the letterforms, which makes an ugly mess of the type and drives typographers crazy.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reveals some secret backdoors to adding typographically-correct Strokes to your type.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

There’s a whole group of little features that have been added in CS6 that will make a big difference in the speed of your workflow. Adobe simple labels these features as Productivity Enhancements in the Help menu.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will discuss a range of CS6 enhancements including: Split Layout View; Recently Used Fonts; Align to Key Object; Backsaving out of CS6 all the way back to CS4; and Exporting a Grayscale Acrobat directly out of your color InDesign layout.

You’ve been working on a branding project and have already helped your client to pick a color for their logo. Is there a fast way to experiment with other colors that will go with your main corporate color?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will demonstrate how to use the Color Guide panel in Adobe Illustrator to help in the process of selecting a variety of possible color combinations to go with a selected corporate color.

You want to find the perfect color to simulate metal in an Illustration. Is there a way to find the exact colors you’re looking for in seconds, and add them as Swatches?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates how to use Color Groups and Gradients, in an unexpected way, to find just the right metal colors for the job.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Illustrator has an amazing collection of Gradient Libraries, but is there a way to use these beautiful Swatches in InDesign? Well, you can’t export them out of Illustrator, because only regular Color Swatches are supported. So, are you out of luck and have to recreate these Gradients in InDesign?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reveals a secret backdoor that allows users to bring these beautiful Illustrator Gradients into InDesign instantly.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

When most InDesign artists hear the word “Scripting,” they will run the other way, because they are non-Scripters.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates the power of some of the timesaving Scripts that actually come with InDesign along with other Scripts you can download for free.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

How do you create interlocking rings in Adobe Illustrator? Years ago, this used to be a true test of any Illustrator user’s knowledge of the application.

Recently, a student from a local art college emailed me with a question about interlocking rings, because her class was given this age-old problem as an assignment.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates the old traditional way of solving this “stacking order” problem along with three better ways to solve the problem that didn’t exist until the more recent versions of Illustrator.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Drawing a perfect curly, swirly Stroke with varying widths used to be a tedious task requiring a steady hand and a tremendous amount of ability using the the Pen tool.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates using the Width tool to shape swirly Strokes and other unusual Strokes in seconds.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

When some print artists hear about the new features of InDesign CS6, they ask, “Why should I upgrade?”

While many of the new features in InDesign CS6 have been developed to improve a Digital Publishing workflow, some of these features are also great timesavers for print designers.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates the use of Liquid Layout and Alternate Layout to rescale a magazine ad.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Imagine being able to set up an interactive Acrobat Form entirely in your InDesign layout.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates using the new Forms Authoring Tools in InDesign CS6.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

How can you print a layout that is automatically paginated to be folded and stapled into a finished brochure?

In this sample lesson from his new InDesign CS6 training DVD, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates the use of the Print Booklet feature.

Learn more at InfiniteSkills.com.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates using the Shape Builder tool, in Adobe Illustrator, as a simple way to create puzzle pieces for use in a Photoshop puzzle project.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use the hidden options of the Pages panel to help you work more efficiently?

In this sample lesson from his new InDesign CS6 training DVD, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel takes the Pages panel beyond the basics with tips, tricks, and options that are sure to speed up your workflow.

Learn more at InfiniteSkills.com.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could Place your graphics in an InDesign layout in the most efficient ways possible?

In this sample lesson from his new InDesign CS6 training DVD, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses all of the ins and outs of Placing graphics, including some tips and tricks to speed up your workflow.

Learn more at InfiniteSkills.com.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could speed up editing of text to complete your projects faster?

In this sample lesson from his new InDesign CS6 training DVD, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses all of the basics of text editing as well as some little-known tips, tricks and secrets to help speed up your workflow.

Learn more at InfiniteSkills.com.

PLEASE NOTE: Changing your Preferences for Drag and Drop Text Editing (Command-K or Control-K > Type), with or without documents closed, changes the Preference for ALL documents.

Imagine you’re working on a 100 page catalog containing hundreds of product shots each of which has a Stroke applied to its Graphic Frame. At some point in your project, you realize that the Weight of these Strokes is inconsistent. Is there a quick way to find and automatically change the Stroke Weights so that they’re all the same?

In this sample lesson from his new InDesign CS6 training DVD, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses the ins and outs of the Find/Change Objects feature.

Learn more at InfiniteSkills.com.

As similar as the Align panels in Illustrator and InDesign have been over the years, there was one option that gave Illustrator’s panel a huge advantage. Until now!

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses a whole new way to Align objects in InDesign CS6 that could be a Key to faster layouts.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

There’s one option in the Layers panel options that seems to be a mystery to many users: Suppress Text Wrap When Layer Is Hidden.

In this “quick tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses this and other options in the Layers panel.

No, not by copying and pasting from one InDesign layout to another. No, not using the Book feature. By actually moving pages from one layout directly into another.

In this “quick tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses a simple way to accomplish this using a little known, old secret.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Create Impossible Dot-Dash Strokes. from Jeff Witchel on Vimeo.

Is there a way to create a Dot-Dash-Dot Stroke in InDesign? Before we go there, is there a way to even create your own custom Dotted Strokes?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel, demonstrates the secret to creating some very unusual custom Strokes in InDesign.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Finding Potential Printing Problems Automatically. from Jeff Witchel on Vimeo.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically check out your InDesign layouts for potential printing problems before sending the files to your printer?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses setting up your own custom Preflight Profiles.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Like other Illustrator users, I was excited to hear that, in CS6, you could finally apply Gradients to Strokes. But when I started to play with this feature, I was blown away with all that it offers.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates all the ins and outs of Gradients on Strokes, including how to quickly create neon lettering.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Designing a beautiful Pattern in Adobe Illustrator had never been easy, until now.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel, takes a look at the amazing new Pattern creation and editing feature in Illustrator CS6.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Is there an easy way to set up crop and fold marks for both sides of a folding layout in a matter of minutes?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses using an existing InDesign Script and a few basic commands that make it simple to tackle this tough task perfectly.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

PLEASE NOTE: In CS5 or later, the Scripts panel is found under the Window menu>Utilities>Scripts.

Wouldn’t it be great if your placed images automatically fit better within the Frames in your InDesign layout?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses the Frame Fitting Options for Graphic Frames, including some tips and tricks to help speed up your workflow.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

PLEASE NOTE: In CS5 or later, the Scripts panel is found under the Window menu>Utilities>Scripts.

Is there a way to apply Corner Options, in InDesign, without wasting time in a dialog window?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel, demonstrates the trick to using the mysterious yellow box to apply the exact Corners you want fast.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

In this video, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses Animation in InDesign CS5 including some tips and tricks to take your results way beyond the expected.

This is a sample lesson from an InDesign training DVD from Infinite Skills.

Learn more at Infinite Skills.

Do you know your way around the Artboards panel in Adobe Illustrator?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel takes you through all the ins and outs of this amazing panel with tips to help you work with multiple Artboards more efficiently.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Get a sneak peak into the amazing new capabilities of Gradients in Illustrator CS6. So many of my past Illustrator tips and tricks involved workarounds for Gradients. In CS6, most of these Gradient backdoor secrets will become totally obsolete. I’m blown away! The new Gradient features are that terrific.

Watch Brenda Sutherland, Illustrator product manager, as she demonstrates using Gradients in ways that you’ve always dreamed about.

See more videos at Adobe TV.

Wouldn’t it be great to make Type-on-a-Path do exactly what you want?

In this Illustrator tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses the ins and outs of making type follow a path, uncovering many tips, tricks, and secrets along the way.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Creating patterns in Adobe Illustrator has always been difficult, even for a highly skilled user.

Watch Brenda Sutherland, Illustrator product manager, as she shares an exciting new way to create seamless, repeating vector patterns in Illustrator CS6.

See more videos at Adobe TV.

Is there a way to automatically place both page numbers from a spread on only one of the pages, i.e., Pages 2–3? In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel, demonstrates a simple solution to this seemingly impossible page-numbering problem.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

In this video, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses a key to unlocking the backdoors to lots of type options in InDesign. Jeff also reveals a secret to finding your own tips, tricks and secrets.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Do you know how to add a stitched pillow-embossed look to type in InDesign?

In this “quick tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses how to create this unusual type effect in minutes.

This video is an “oldie but goodie” that has stood the test of time. It was created using InDesign CS4 over three years ago for Layers Magazine, but it still works the same way in CS5 and CS5.5.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Do you know the secret to creating Dotted Dashes in Adobe Illustrator? Or Dashes that look like Rounded Rectangles? Or how about a Dashed Stroke inside of a Solid Stroke?

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reveals little-known ways to create these and other unusual Dashed Strokes.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Do you know the secret to automatically generating captions in your InDesign layouts? Anyone who has struggled trying to find the names of people in a client photo for a newsletter will love this feature.

In this “quick tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel will discuss using the captions feature to automatically add captions in a newsletter and file names under each image in a contact sheet.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Do you know the secret to applying a Gradient Fill to Editable Type? Most artists would say it’s impossible without first Outlining the Type. But they don’t know this little-known technique.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates a simple, backdoor trick that allows you to accomplish this and other impossible feats with editable type.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Do you know the secret to turning off Ligatures for just one particular client?

One of my clients hates these beautiful combination characters that help adjust the spacing between certain characters. So how can I make sure they never show up in any of his layouts?

In this “quick tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses the simple secret.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

If you needed to find the closest Spot Color equivalents to a group of CMYK Colors, could you complete this task faster than is humanly possible?
In this short “Quick Tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel demonstrates a simple way to have Illustrator do all the work for you in minutes.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

How much do you know about the Drawing tools in Adobe Illustrator? In this video, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reviews the basics of the most used tools as well as lots of tips, tricks and secrets (everything from simple to wild and wacky).

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

In this video, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses all the basics of Animation in InDesign CS5. Plus he adds some tips, tricks and even secrets to take your animation way beyond the expected.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Wouldn’t it be great to create an Animation directly out of Illustrator? That’s exactly what Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses in this short tutorial.

You may also want to take a look at a related Illustrator tutorial titled Blend Tips at http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2011/11/blend-tips.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Using Bridge with InDesign has never been easy. Dragging and dropping images into a layout from Bridge is like a juggling act between the applications. All of this changed with the introduction of Mini Bridge as a panel in InDesign. It’s a backdoor to the power of Bridge right in your layout application.

In this tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel discusses Mini Bridge tips, tricks, and even some secrets to speed up your workflow.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

In this “Quick Tips” tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reveals lots of “drag and drop” tips, tricks, and secrets for Adobe InDesign.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.

Imagine being able to set up an entire page of labels or business cards with crop marks in a couple of minutes. In this Illustrator tutorial, Adobe Certified Instructor Jeff Witchel reveals the secret to having Illustrator do most of the work for you.

Please keep in mind, this video was created using Illustrator CS4. The Rulers have FINALLY been fixed in CS5, so they now start at the upper left corner of the Artboard. So, to move objects down Y axis, enter a POSITIVE number, not a negative number.

See more videos at LayersMagazine.com.