When the final layout is complete it’s time to output your document. There are a variety ways of doing this, one of the main methods being that of printing to PDF. We cover them all in our Adobe Indesign training courses.
To export to PDF there are a few methods, depending on the purpose of the document. First of all go to File > Adobe PDF Presets, or File Export > PDF. Either option will take you to the same dialog box. Note the top Preset drop down list – there are 6 preset group of settings for various outcomes. Nine times out of ten the top option, High Quality Print, is the one to choose. There are three presets labelled PDF/X which are used by magazines and newspapers. If sending ads or articles created in Indesign to a newspaper they may specifically ask for one of these settings in their FAQ sheet. These options are connected to the plate separation process for full colour offset printing using CMYK colour plates. Only use them if requested.
Press Quality is actually the best quality PDF possible, also used in the plate-separation process for high-end brochures. However, it will result in a rather large file, so High Quality Print is usually a better choice. Again, only use the Press Quality option if requested. Smallest File Size is suitable only for text-based documents like forms; images can appear low-resolution.
This dialog box also asks use to choose a destination for the PDF. Most of the settings are dealt with under the Presets, but in the General tab we usually tick Spreads for a multi-page print document and always tick View PDF after Exporting.
Next select Marks & Bleeds on the right column. If the job is being printed at a commercial printer we should tick All Printers’ Marks as well as Use Document Bleed Settings. Lastly click Export – this should take a few seconds and open up automatically in Adobe Acrobat (or Adobe Reader if the recipient does not have Acrobat). The file size is usually small enough to email to a colleague, client or upload to a website.
If your document is for online or on-screen viewing make sure you tick the Hyperlinks box if you have included any hyperlinks in the document.
More tips can be found at the Adobe User Group which meets regularly in the city, and is a free forum for designers to discuss topics and the latest Indesign features. See many examples of our own clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Indesign Blog Posts:

• Indesign images and text
  
• Indesign workflow
• Indesign templates
• Indesign page numbers
• Indesign add hyperlink