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Course description

This course will dive into the countless possibilities of layout documents. It is meant to teach you how to create attractive and functional layouts, such as thesis books, posters, resumés, presentations, figures, and more. You will be introduced to the program's workspace, and with the help of tailor-made exercises, you will discover how to layout and edit your thesis, posters, etc. At the end of the course, you will be equipped with the necessary knowledge to combine photos, illustrations, tables, and text with striking ease. No previous knowledge of the program is needed.

Learning objectives

In this course, we aim to teach you the main functionality and power of Adobe InDesign. You will start navigating through the different tools and functions to build a reliable workflow. You will learn how to format text, images/objects, and tables. You will understand the use of master pages (templates), paragraph & character styles, and you will discover how to use them to create complex layouts such as PhD dissertations. Finally, you will hear about the differences between print (CMYK) and screen colors (RGB) and exporting different sorts of files (e.g., jpeg, png, tiff, pdf) for your various needs.

For those who have being using Adobe Illustrator to layout their scientific artwork, InDesign will become the simpler and more obvious alternative. Remember that Adobe Illustrator is used to drawing illustrations and vector graphics, while Adobe InDesign is made to layout any file from a figure to a thesis book. If you want to learn to drawing illustrations, we advise you to follow the other course provided (Scientific Artwork - Data Visualisation and Infographics with Adobe Illustrator).

Instructional method

The course is split into four sessions. The first two sessions' focus is on a thesis book's layout and any multiple page documents. We will focus on different files such as a figure, a poster, a cv, or a brochure during the last two. There will be a theoretical part in all four sessions, followed by exercises done with the trainer's supervision and help. The exercises are given beforehand, but you can always bring your designing challenge to practice. The exercises are designed to train you in using the program's tools. You will realize the importance of print and screen colors, so you will never have to deal with unexpected results. 

Important

To follow the course you need a laptop, having Adobe InDesign installed in the English language. As an employee of UU or UMC Utrecht you can download the program internally or buy an Adobe license via . You will receive a printed manual which is also written in English, so it makes it easier to follow the theory and practicals. Also, remember to have a mouse or a graphic tablet to work during the sessions since the mousepad of the laptop will make your work difficult. Since the course is online and the sessions are interactive, a mictophone and a camera are obligatory in the course's participation. It is advisable to work with two screens.

Trainer

Iliana Boshoven-Gkini (1981) has completed two masters in Landscape architecture, Floriculture, and garden design, in the Agricultural ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Athens and Wageningen ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in the Netherlands. After completing her studies, she started working independently (2012) (AgileColor design studio | AgileColor.com) and focused, among others, on helping PhD students with their thesis books and scientific artwork. From 2015 she started teaching Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign and Infographics courses in Wageningen and Utrecht Universities and gave guest lectures/training to numerous other occasions in the Netherlands and Switzerland. From 2019 she is a certified teacher in the Netherlands (CRKBO, Centraal Register Kort Beroepsonderwijs). She lives in Koedijk Alkmaar with her husband and three children.

Group size

8 to 15 participants

Number of credits

0.6 EC

Course programme

After each session, you receive assignments to practice the techniques you learned. During the next session, you have the opportunity to ask questions about the assignments.

Course certificate

You will receive a course certificate after attending the training sessions and completing all the course requirements (i.e., assignments).

Course fee

Internal PhD candidates: â‚¬0
UU/UMC academic staff: â‚¬240
External participants (space permitting): â‚¬395
 

• Internal PhD candidates are PhD candidates who are registered with the Graduate School of Life Sciences via MyPhD. 
• UU/UMC academic staff are PhD candidates of Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ who are not registered to the Graduate School of Life Sciences via MyPhD, postdocs employed by Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ or UMC Utrecht and other academic staff employed at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ or UMC Utrecht.
• External participants are all other participants.

Our no-show policy

We are happy to offer courses and workshops for free to all GSLS PhDs. However: free of charge does not mean free of responsibility. Our activities tend to be fully booked well in advance. For every late cancellation or no-show we have had to disappoint others who would have liked to attend. 

This is how we work: 

• Once you have signed up for a course, we expect you to attend;
• If you need to cancel your registration, do so at the earliest possible moment, at least four weeks before the start of the course;
• If you really have to and you have a valid reason, you are allowed to miss up to one course session. You always have to attend the first session.
• Not meeting the attendance requirements or cancelling within four weeks before the course starts means you will be charged no-show fee (€120 for this course);
• We are unable to make any exceptions.

Full of valuable tips that saves you days of work of figuring them out yourselves!

The course gave me confidence that I could manage the layout of my PhD thesis book and that it also can be fun instead of only stressful.

I really liked the broad introduction to Adobe Indesign, very useful!