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By Jamie Cloak, Marketing Director at Omega High Impact Print Solutions
Taking your project into a published digital landscape may seem overwhelming, but there are plenty of tools out there to achieve this. In this tutorial, we will explain the easiest way to publish your document online, via InDesign, as long as you have an Adobe subscription. This step-by-step tutorial is so simple, you won’t believe you didn’t know about this awesome feature sooner!
Ok, let’s do it!
The first step is to finalize your InDesign document. Ensure spelling, grammar, imagery, etc. are set as this process is simple and moves so fast – you won’t believe you’ve completed it!
Select File > Publish Online
On the pop-up window, you will view 3 tabs: General, Advanced, and Analytics. In this tutorial, we will explore all fields to ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the available features.
General:
For this exercise, we selected the radio button for Publish New Document as this file was just created. However, a great feature Adobe offers is the option to update an existing document.
Title: Enter the name of the finalized document. Keep in mind, this will be displayed as the browser title of the published document.
Description: Input the description of the online document. This description will be visible on any social media forums so ensure it’s a solid representation of your content.
Pages and Export As: Select to export All or a Range of pages from your finalized document and determine if you want single files or spreads. For this exercise, we selected “single”.
Allow viewers to download the document as a PDF (Print): Only select this option if you are offering viewers the ability to download your file.
Hide the Share and Embed options in the published document: Select this if you’re looking to hide the Share and Embed options on your published file.
Allow viewers to Search and Copy text in the published document: Starting with InDesign 18.4 and later, this is a neat default feature where viewers have the ability to search and copy text from your published file. Something to keep in mind – while the search function is available on any device, viewers are only able to copy your text from the publish file on a laptop or desktop.
Advanced:
Cover Thumbnail: On the Advanced page, you’re able to determine the Cover Thumbnail image for social media posts by selecting a page in your document or uploading an image from your computer.
Image Settings: for this exercise, we left the default settings as they are appropriate for our project, but you have the ability to adjust:
· Format
· Resolution
· JPEG Image Quality
· GIF Options Palette
Download PDF Settings
· Select your desired PDF Preset
Analytics:
Link Google Analytics: Starting with InDesign 19.0, you’re now able to link Google Analytics with your published file. To do this, you need to generate a Measurement ID in your Google Analytics account and attach it to the published document. Please note, Adobe will not receive any information from your GA Account, this is only to track the behaviors of your viewers.
Cookie Banner: InDesign offers the option of enabling a cookie banner on your document. This text can be customized (limited to 100 words) but should mirror your cookie notice requirements. If this is enabled, and accepted by your viewers, analytics will display in GA and will only reflect information from your viewers who accepted the cookie banner notice from your published document. Keep in mind, notice requirements may vary based on your location.
Once you have finalized all your settings, simply click Publish and you’re DONE! So simple – you almost can’t believe it, right?
From the success message pop-up, you can view your document online or copy the URL for additional use, share to social channels and view your Published Online Dashboard. When clicking on “Published Online Dashboard”, you will find all of your published documents, along with analytics for both.
Success Message:
Publish Online Dashboard View:
This feature is so easy to use, we hope you’re able to utilize this new skill in your work and personal lives. Have fun, create new content and share it with the world to see!