Welcome to the realm of Adobe Certified Professional in InDesign! This certification delves into the dynamic domains that make InDesign a powerful tool for desktop publishing and design. From mastering layout techniques to understanding typography essentials, this certification journey explores the intricacies of document creation, ensuring proficiency in creating visually stunning and professionally polished publications. Whether you're a seasoned designer or a budding enthusiast, the Adobe Certified Professional in InDesign certificate opens doors to a world where precision meets creativity, empowering you to bring your visions to life seamlessly.

This objective covers critical concepts related to working with colleagues and clients as well as crucial legal, technical, and design-related knowledge.

1.1 Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing publications.

1.1.a Determine whether content is relevant to the purpose, audience, audience needs, user experience, and has an appropriate design for target devices.

1.1.b Identify requirements based on how the design will be used, including print, web, and mobile.

Things you'll need to know:

Client goals, target audience, demographics, accessibility, etc.

1.2 Communicate with colleagues and clients about design plans.

1.2.a Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for communicating about design plans with peers and clients. 

1.2.b Demonstrate knowledge of basic project management concepts.

Things you'll need to know:

Sketches, specifications, design process, wireframes, prototypes, iterations, change orders, drafts, feedback loop, creative brief, project scope, scope creep, cloud collaboration and file management.

1.3 Determine the type of copyright, permissions, and licensing required to use specific content.

1.3.a Identify legal and ethical considerations for using third-party content, such as copyright, permissions, and licensing.

1.3.b Identify when and how to obtain permission to use images of people and locations.

Things you'll need to know:

Creative Commons, public domain, intellectual property, derivative work, commercial use, attribution, work for hire, fair use, fair dealing, stock images and vector graphics,  model release, location release, permission to use a photo is separate from permission to use a person’s face or restricted location, etc.

1.4 Demonstrate an understanding of key terminology related to publications.

1.4.a Demonstrate knowledge of publication terminology.

1.4.b Demonstrate knowledge of how color is created in publications.

1.4.c Understand and use key terms related to page layouts.

Things you'll need to know:

Image resolution, image size, file types, linking and embedding, pixel, raster, bitmap, vector, path, object, type, resizing, units of measurement (picas, inches, pixels, centimeters), color management, gamut, CMYK vs. RGB vs. grayscale, title, header, body text, block quote, footer, caption, table of contents, index, page size, page orientation, facing pages, spread, bleed, trim, slug, master page, alternate page layout, column, gutter, margin, frame, etc.

1.5 Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the design industry.

1.5.a Define common graphic design and layout terms and principles.

1.5.b Communicate visually by using the elements and principles of design and common design techniques.

1.5.c Identify and use common typographic adjustments to create contrast, hierarchy, and enhanced readability.

Things you'll need to know:

Rule of thirds, foreground, background, tone, emphasis, movement, hierarchy, negative space, grids, focal point, gestalt principles (similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry & order), line, shape, form, color, texture, contrast, balance, white space, proportion, rhythm, pattern, unity, repetition, alignment, balance, scale, font, size, style, color, alignment, kerning, tracking, leading, horizontal and vertical scale, line length, serif vs. san serif, etc.

This objective covers the interface setup and program settings that assist in an efficient and effective workflow, as well as knowledge about importing digital assets for a project.

2.1 Create a document with the appropriate settings for web, print, and mobile.

2.1.a Set appropriate document settings for printed and onscreen publications.

2.1.b Create a document preset to reuse for specific project needs.

Things you'll need to know:

Width, height, margins, columns, orientation, pages, bleed, slug, Facing Pages, Primary Text Frame, column gutter, etc.

2.2 Navigate, organize, and customize the application workspace.

2.2.a Identify and manipulate elements of the InDesign interface.

2.2.b Organize and customize the workspace.

2.2.c Configure application preferences.

Things you'll need to know:

menus and panels (Control, Tools, etc.),tabbed documents; showing, hiding, nesting, and docking panels; saving and resetting workspaces, Display Performance, Interface, Grids, Guides & Pasteboard, Spelling, Story Editor Display, Units & Increments, etc.

2.3 Use non-printing design tools in the interface to aid in design or workflow.

2.3.a Navigate a document.

2.3.b Use rulers

2.3.c Use guides and grids.

2.3.d Use views and modes to work efficiently.

Things you'll need to know:

Panning and scrolling, zooming, rotating pages, pasteboard, showing and hiding rulers, changing the measurement unit on rulers, adding, removing, and locking/unlocking guides; setting color; hiding guides and grids, showing grids, Smart Guides; creating guide layouts, snapping, Document and Baseline Grids, changing screen mode; Normal, Preview, Bleed, Slug, and Presentation. 

2.4 Import assets into a project.

2.4.a Open and use templates.

2.4.b Place assets in an InDesign document.

Things you'll need to know:

Embedding, linking, relinking, Show Import Options, Replace Selected Item, disadvantages of copying and pasting images.

2.5 Manage colors, swatches, and gradients.

2.5.a Set the active fill and stroke color.

2.5.b Create and customize gradients.

2.5.c Create, manage, and edit swatches and swatch libraries.

Things you'll need to know:

Frame vs text, swatches, Color Picker, Eyedropper tool, color values, Gradient panel, editing color and transparency stops, radial and linear gradient, color and gradient swatches; identifying color swatch type, including Process and Spot; creating, managing, and loading swatch libraries (including commercial libraries like Pantone).

2.6 Manage paragraph, character, and object styles.

2.6.a Load, create, apply, and modify styles.

This objective covers document structure, such as layers, and managing document structure for efficient workflows.

3.1 Use layers to manage design elements.

3.1.a Use the Layers panel to modify layers.

3.1.b Manage and work with multiple layers in a complex project.

Things you'll need to know:

Adding, deleting, hiding/showing, locking/unlocking, duplicating, and renaming layers; layer options; understanding that layers are spread-based, layer color, working with layers across spreads, hierarchy and stacking order, grouping, selecting, and targeting objects using the Layers panel, etc.

3.2 Manage and modify pages.3.2.a Create, edit, and arrange pages in a document. 

3.2.b Create and apply master pages.

Things you'll need to know:

adding/deleting pages, pages vs. spreads, selecting pages, rearranging pages, shuffling pages or spreads, page settings, alternate layouts, Page tool, Master options, naming, unlocking objects, overriding, etc.

This objective covers core tools and functionality of the application, as well as tools that affect the visual appearance of document elements.

4.1 Use core tools and features to lay out visual elements.

4.1.a Create frames using a variety of tools. 

4.1.b Manipulate graphics in frames.

Things you need to know:

Understanding frame types (graphic, text, unassigned); creating frames using frame tools, Type tool, Pen tool, placing graphics into documents or into existing frames, using frames to affect visibility of the content, Frame Fitting options, Content-Aware Fit, etc.

4.2 Add and manipulate text using appropriate typographic settings.

4.2.a Use type tools to add text.

4.2.b Use appropriate character settings in a design.

4.2.c Use appropriate paragraph settings in a design. 

4.2.d Convert text to outlines.

4.2.e Manage text flow across multiple text areas.

4.2.f Use tools to add special characters or content. 

Things you need to know:

Text frames, Type tool, and Type on a Path toolfont, size, character style, kerning, tracking, leading, baseline shift, horizontal and vertical scale, and color used to enhance readability and hierarchy, indentation, alignment, paragraph spacing, hyphenation, Drop Cap, numbered and bulleted lists, using and working effectively with paragraph styles, outlines benefits/disadvantages, managing overset text, threading text, text wrap, primary text flow, text columns, page numbers, table of contents, index markers and index, break characters, special characters, glyphs, etc.

4.3 Make, manage, and edit selections.

4.3.a Make selections using a variety of tools.

4.3.b Modify and refine selections using various methods.

Things you need to know:

Selection tool vs Direct Selection tool, page selection, selecting frames vs content, content grabber, keyboard modifiers, selecting multiple objects with selection tools or in the Layers panel, moving and grouping objects, etc.

4.4 Transform digital graphics and media within a publication.

4.4.a Modify frames and frame content.

4.4.b Rotate, flip, and transform individual frames or content.

Things you need to know:

Frames, content, redefining frame types, clipping paths, content collector, understanding the relationship between a frame and its content, replacing frame content, using frames to crop content or split text, manipulating anchor points, alignment, distribution, scaling, shearing, rotating, transform panel, registration point, etc.

4.5 Use basic reconstructing and editing techniques to manipulate document content.

4.5.a Use various tools to revise and refine project content.

4.5.b Evaluate or adjust the appearance of objects, frames, or layers using various tools.

4.5.c Use the Story Editor to edit text within a project.

Things you need to know:

Find/replace, custom dictionaries, dictionary language, spell check, fill and stroke, opacity, Pathfinder panel, Story Editor interface, editing with Story Editor, troubleshooting/proofreading in Story Editor. 

4.6 Modify the appearance of design elements by using effects and styles. 

4.6.a Use effects to modify images or frames. 

4.6.b Create, edit, apply, and save object styles. 

Things you need to know:

Applying premade object styles, drop shadows, feathers, glow, creating, deleting, redefining, and managing object styles, Break Link to Style, etc. 

4.7 Add interactive or dynamic content or media to a project. 

4.7.a Add interactive elements and behaviors.

4.7.b Demonstrate knowledge of how to embed rich-media objects.

Things you need to know:

Navigation, hyperlinks, cross references, buttons, bookmarks, events, page transitions, animation, video files, Media panel, etc.  

4.8 Create and edit tables. 

4.8.a Create a table to display data.

4.8.b Edit tables and cells.

Things you'll need to know:

Adding or importing tabular data; rows, columns, and cells; graphic vs text cells, fill, strokes/borders, merging/splitting cells, distributing cells, converting text and table data, table and cell options, etc. 

This objective covers saving and exporting entire documents in multiple formats, or specific assets within the project. 

5.1 Prepare documents for publishing to web, print, and other digital devices. 

5.1.a Check document for errors and project specifications.

Things you'll need to know:

Preflight panel and process, resolving preflight errors, color space, bleed, resolution, document size, define profiles and preflight options, etc. 

5.2 Export or save documents to various file formats. 

5.2.a Save in the native file format for InDesign (.indd).

5.2.b Save or export in appropriate formats for print, screen or online.

5.2.c Print proof copies before publishing.

5.2.d Package an InDesign project.

Things you'll need to know:

Saving for compatibility with earlier versions of the software (.idml), saving copies, PDF, EPUB, HTML, Publish Online, print settings, printing pages vs. spreads, printing thumbnails or tiles, font and image management, packaging projects, handling protected fonts (CJK).