How to design a multi-page PDF?

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InTheCube

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Hey guys.

I'm kinda new to the graphic design game, and would like to know what software, whether free, open-source, or commercial, I should use to design a multi-page PDF document for a client.

I am designing a product catalogue for them, and have been using Adobe Illustrator CS3. The idea is to design the catalogue using SVG graphics and high-quality raster product images. This would then be saved into a multi-page PDF to be sent to the printers, once the client has approved. Now the multi-page support in Illustrator CS3 is pretty crappy. It is possible to achieve it, but not very nice.

For e.g., it is impossible (AFAIK) to add an automated Table of Contents with page numbering, or a consistent header/footer for each page (like in MS Word). It seems that I have to do this manually for each page - which makes it a PITA to get the formatting on each page to look exactly the same. There will be between 50-100 pages, and I simply CANNOT be doing the same thing multiple times on each page.

However, I can't use MS Word (yes I've tried!) either (with a PDF convertor of course), as there are lots of SVG graphical elements that need to remain in SVG format, and MS Word simply doesn't support SVG graphics. That's why I chose to use Illustrator.

Surely there is a better solution to this problem????

Please help!
 
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You need InDesign - it's the page-layout software from Adobe. Usually one creates / edits raster graphics (like photos) in Photoshop, Vector graphics in Illustrator and bring them all together with text in InDesign. It is really quite powerful and has very impressive text tools - stuff you'll realise you can't do in Photoshop nor Illustrator. However, it is also quite tricky to learn.

Also has much more control over what happens in a PDF file - does table of contents, footers, headers etc. It is essentially the professional version of MS Publisher.

Adobe sells a Creative Design (I think) package that has Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat full editions together. Cost us about R15,000 for CS3 version.
 
Thanks ebendl. Sounds exactly like what I need. Hopefully there is a trial version I can test out in the meantime...

About MS Publisher - will this be able to do what I need it to do, as explained in my OP? I've got Publisher already, but didn't even think it would be of any use.
 
QuarkXpress, or the aforementioned inDesign, will do what you want. My preference is for Quark but then I've been using it for longer than I can recall. They do offer a 30 day trial iirc (which should just be long enough for you to get a handle on either app :o).
 
If you are looking something free you could try scribus
 
xumwun said:
If you are looking something free you could try scribus
Click to expand...

Thanks.. but I'm not looking for a free tool. I believe that you get what you pay for. And I prefer Adobe products - they've never (really) let me down. Plus I've already got expericence with Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator CS3, so getting used to Indesign CS3 shouldn't be too hard.

I don't think CS4 or CS5 will run on my current hardware, and it will also cost a packet.
 
I find CorelDRAW's layout and typography tools pretty powerful... I might be biased though, seeing as I've been using Corel products for a good number of years now. :D
 
Surely LaTeX is the best tool for this job?
 
FarligOpptreden said:
I find CorelDRAW's layout and typography tools pretty powerful... I might be biased though, seeing as I've been using Corel products for a good number of years now. :D
Click to expand...

I'm not a Corel fan. I'm biased towards Adobe products. Been using them since the days of pirated school copies.

J25 said:
Surely LaTeX is the best tool for this job?
Click to expand...

You're being sarcastic, right? Just thinking of LaTeX makes me wanna scream and run.

Thanks everyone for the advice and help. I'm checking out Adobe Indesign CS3, and so far it looks to be everything that I need, and is easy to learn if you already use other Adobe products. The free online video tutorials from Adobe's website are also a huge help.
 
I don't know. Look into Scribus if it can do what you need. Have not followed the project for awhile now though.
 
+1 indesign i have just finished a catalogue myself in it
it has the auto page numbering plus master pages which i suggest you look into for a catalogue
Plus PS and AI tie up very nicely with indd
Indd can also help aviod some common artwork mistakes with litho and offset printing

illustrator pages only got proper multi paging on cs4, I remember how painful it could be:sick:

Best of luck with the design
 
Murdoc said:
+1 indesign i have just finished a catalogue myself in it
it has the auto page numbering plus master pages which i suggest you look into for a catalogue
Plus PS and AI tie up very nicely with indd
Indd can also help aviod some common artwork mistakes with litho and offset printing

illustrator pages only got proper multi paging on cs4, I remember how painful it could be:sick:

Best of luck with the design
Click to expand...

Thanks murdoc. Will check into using master pages...
 
ToxicWazte said:
Thanks to piracy, I now support Adobe, and you support Corel. Piracy FTW!
Click to expand...

Only difference is I now have a legitimate version of Corel Graphics Suite... :p

Re: multiple pages: Does InDesign now have different layers per page? I remember that being a bit of a concern a while ago. Think it might've been with CS2 (possibly 3) still...
 
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