In this tutorial I will teach you how to make a simple layout on InDesign CS5,I’ll be using the OSX version but the same process applies to Windows.

Assuming you have an idea of what you want to create open InDesign

1  Choose your dimensions
Lucky for us InDesign has preset dimensions for people who are not as adventurous.

Step 1: Open InDesign and click File-> New-> Documents

You should see this window.

Step 2: Choose a preset dimension from the page size tab or edit the width and height to your own accord, for the purpose of this guide I will choose “Letter” size

2  Familiarize your self with the InDesign tools

Step 1: You can now start experimenting with the tools the most important being the rectangle frame which can create anything from borders, frames, text and even manipulate pictures.

Step 2: Create boxes around the page as you see fit, you can be organized or extreme depending on your style, either way InDesign shows highlights as guidelines for perfect measure.

Step 3: Now you can either insert pictures by clicking on the box ->File -> Place or add color with the eye drop tool, there is no right or wrong way so it’s good to experiment.

3  Layering

“With great power comes great responsibility”, with that in mind be careful while experimenting with boxes because it can get messy without proper use of layers.

Step 1: Take a look to the right and click “Layers”, click on the drop down menu and view all of your boxes, layers control the priorities of the boxes versus each other so it’s very important they are positioned correctly in the drop down menu

Step 2: Arrange the layers to your liking, well thought out layers can make your work look aesthetically pleasing

example:
4  Effects

Now that you have learned layering you can experiment with effects. InDesign effects can vary from simple to amazing but it all depends on your vision and execution. 

Step 1: Click on the box you would like to add an effect to and click Object -> Effects , choose any effect you like and try to mix and match to make your work unique.

                     Basic Drop Shadow:

Step 2: Other than visual effects you can play around with borders for your boxes, this can be done by clicking on your box and editing it’s edge, note the edge thickness has to be increased in order for it to show up

5 Saving your work

InDesign offers popular formats such as JPG and PDF to save as and they can be accessed through the exports menu.

Step 1: Click File -> Exports -> Formats -> (jpg -or- adobe pdf) -> Save -> Export!

Step 2: Show off your work to the world, and share this guide to whoever is interested in inDesign!