Join the CreativePro team for fun and insightful discussions about our favorite tools and technologies: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, PowerPoint, Acrobat, print, digital publishing, presentation design, accessibility, AI, and more!
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Print is alive and well, and it is more flexible, creative, and powerful than ever. In this conversation, Sabine Lenz and Chris Carls share their passion for print and explain why designers and marketing professionals should take a closer look at what it can do today. They explore how new technologies, digital embellishments, shorter print runs, and smarter production options have expanded what is…
Recorded live at CreativePro Week 2026, this episode features Theresa Jackson talking with document accessibility experts Dax Castro and Chad Chelius about practical ways designers can start creating more accessible documents. Dax and Chad begin by sharing their own journeys into accessibility and how they came to focus on helping others create more inclusive documents. From there, they explain…
No matter how long you've used your favorite creative tools, there's always one more shortcut, hidden feature, or unexpected workaround waiting to surprise you. In this episode, Theresa Jackson and Mike Rankin share a collection of practical tips and "wait, you can do that?" discoveries submitted by CreativePro Week speakers. You'll hear tips for favorite tools from Acrobat to PowerPoint,…
Some of the most useful new Illustrator features are easy to miss if you aren't actively exploring the latest updates and beta tools. In this episode, Theresa Jackson talks with illustrator and toy designer Thaddeus Coates and digital artist Luke Choice about the new Illustrator features they're genuinely excited to use. Thaddeus shares how Illustrator fits into his character design and toy-making…
Canva's mission is to empower the world to design, and by most measures, it's working. Millions of people create content in Canva every day, which means design is no longer something that belongs exclusively to designers. Now, with the acquisition of Affinity, Canva is making a move into professional territory. So what does that actually mean for those of us who make a living in this space? In…
Great design lessons outlive the tools, trends, and even the formats they were created in. In this episode, David Blatner and Mike Rankin revisit the work of John McWade and Before & After Magazine . It's a look at why foundational design thinking still matters and how McWade's work continues to shape how creatives see and communicate. You'll hear how Before & After began in 1990 and why it…
Lisa Carney and Jesús Ramirez join the CreativePro Podcast to explore the intersection of Photoshop craft and community in the age of AI. Drawing on years of Hollywood production experience (where every pixel counts) they compare notes on high-end retouching and compositing. The conversation bridges traditional techniques with the latest AI-powered tools. Lisa and Jesús share behind-the-scenes…
In this episode of the CreativePro Podcast, David Blatner and Theresa Jackson pull back the curtain on how the CreativePro Week 2026 agenda came together for this summer's event in Nashville. Recorded in conjunction with the agenda launch, the conversation offers a timely look at the decisions shaping the program. If you've ever attended CreativePro Week and felt like the content spoke directly to…
Theresa Jackson and Mike Rankin kick off the new year by reflecting on 2025 before looking ahead to 2026. They share their thoughts on design trends for 2026, framed less as visual styles and more as shifts in behavior and mindset. They also react to the Pantone Color of the Year, Cloud Dancer, and what it suggests about the current cultural mood. AI enters the discussion, as it has become part of…
Theresa Jackson kicks off this episode of the CreativePro Podcast by digging into one of the most common frustrations for creative teams: review and approval chaos. She's joined by Mike McHugh from PageProof. Listeners are invited to learn alongside Theresa as she asks the questions many teams wrestle with every day. Together, they unpack why creative reviews break down, why email and ad-hoc tools…
Mike Parkinson and Jody Wissing join the CreativePro Podcast for a candid conversation about their unexpected paths into presentation design. They explain that presentation design isn't what most people think it is. It's not about making pretty slides. It's about understanding and caring about the content well enough to turn it into a story. They walk through their favorite features for building…
David Blatner and Theresa Jackson return from Adobe MAX 2025 with stories, insights, and a few surprises. They recap the biggest announcements, their favorite new features, and the feeling of creative inspiration that had nothing to do with Adobe. From AI showing up in nearly every app to Firefly credits, new collaboration tools, and what it all means for creative professionals, they break down…
During Adobe MAX, Canva dropped a bombshell announcement: the entire Affinity suite—Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher—would be free forever . In this episode, David Blatner, Theresa Jackson, and Mike Rankin share their reactions to the news and unpack what it means for creative professionals. They discuss how Canva's move shakes up the design software landscape and whether Affinity can ever…
InDesign 2026 is here—and so are David and Anne-Marie! In this episode of The CreativePro Podcast , David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepción bring back InDesign Secrets and dig into the newest release of Adobe InDesign (v21). They explore what's fresh, and what's just plain weird. From the new Flex Layout feature to live text editing in the browser, they unpack the good, the bad, and the future…
In this episode, Amy Balliett and Mark Heaps sit down for an honest conversation about artificial intelligence and what it means for creative professionals. They share how AI is showing up in their work today, the opportunities it creates, and the worries it raises about originality, ethics, and the future of design. Along the way, you'll hear candid reflections on how creatives can keep their…
In this episode, Theresa Jackson and Mike Rankin go behind the scenes at CreativePro. They share how their similar career beginnings in prepress connected them at their first meeting many years ago, and how they now share overlapping roles at CreativePro. You'll hear from Mike about the CreativePro Magazine evolution from InDesign-only coverage to a broader creative focus, and other changes that…
InDesignSecrets is now the CreativePro podcast! Join David Blatner and Theresa Jackson and review the past 20 years of podcasting, as well as w hat to expect next! Links and Info: Our podcast started in late 2005 ! Trivia: Did you know our podcast intro music was created by Anne-Marie Concepcion's daughter, Nicole?! Have an idea for a future podcast? Leave us a note below!
Topics: Big news about podcast name Our favorite obscure features Fun obscure feature "spelling bee" game Obscure Feature: Positional Form Friendly Alien: Episode 300 Tip of the Week Barbell: 20 Obscure Features Episode 35 List of All Our Obscure Features (so far) Positional Form: Exploring OpenType Pro Fonts, Part 2
Just for fun: Bad Advice (and Good Lessons) Interview with Marcus Radich from PageProof Obscure feature: Show Transparency Grid Links: Bad Advice The "Bad Advice" thread on Facebook Sara Rosinsky's Em Dash shirt Interview with PageProof: New Proofing Add-in for Microsoft Office Centralizing the Proofing Process with PageProof News: Adobe engineers did an Ask Us Anything 24-hour marathon on the…
Topics: Great lessons from the archives (that you may have missed) First look at InDesign 20.3 Obscure Feature: Delete All Guides on Spread Sponsor: PageProof is a simple-to-use but powerful online proofing platform that makes giving feedback on creative work effortless See David's latest conversation with PageProof founder, Marcus Radich Links: Old InDesign Magazine articles that are definitely…
* DOIE: Dept. of InDesign Efficiency * Obscure Feature: Clear Rotation * News Links: Dept. of InDesign Efficiency 10 Essential Tips for Using Quick Apply in InDesign Activate Last Used Field Shortcut Apply Leading to Entire Paragraphs: What Causes Inconsistent Leading and How to Fix It How to Start Using InDesign Scripts How-to Create a Custom Workspace The weird "Place Gun Frame" trick: Applying…
Topics: The INDDC format: good and bad Interview with Venngage CEO Eugene Woo Obscure Feature: Reset Preferences on Quit Links: Cloud Docs: Collaborating Using Adobe Cloud Documents Creative Cloud Storage: Where Does It Go? Working with Adobe Cloud Documents Anne-Marie's Cloud Docs video "for Design Geeks" on LinkedIn Learning The endgame… collaborative editing, like the current Photoshop beta…
Includes: Favorite font tricks Interview with Theresa Jackson InDesign 20.1 Obscure feature: Match Pasteboard to Theme Color News: 20.1 is in release rollout multi-find/change is now free Old (but still relevant!) InDesign Magazine articles, now on site: Designing Photo Albums in InDesign by Khara Plicanic Getting Started with GREP Styles in InDesign by Steve Caplin Working in Microsoft Word by…
Topics: Anchored Objects Interview with Marcus Radich, PageProof Obscure Feature: Standard Carriage Return Links: Marcus Radich, from PageProof.com Anchored Objects: Working with Anchored Objects in InDesign How to Anchor a Graphic to Text (Video Tutorial) Anchoring Graphics Between Paragraphs Wrapping Text Around an Anchored Object Drag and Drop Anchored Objects Coming in 2025: CreativePro Week…
Table Scripts: Switching Rows and Columns in an InDesign Table Sort tables Setting Table Column Widths Easier Table Formatting Sizing Columns and Rows with a Script Calculations in InDesign Active Tables plug-in from DTP Tools Fixed Issues in InDesign 20.0.1 CreativePro Events: The Design + AI Summit, CreativePro Week, and more Obscure Feature: Cell Division
What's New in InDesign 2025: Adobe's update page How to Avoid Print Problems with MathML in InDesign New Accessibility Features in InDesign 2025 James Wamser's New Features Guide Creative Cloud Storage: Where Does Your Work Go? New "wow" products at MAX Project Neo Substance 3D Viewer Amazing ProjectTurntable from Sneaks Interview with: Karen Brewer, Adobe Obscure Feature: "Show Subset" Five Ways…
News: CreativePro Week 2025 in Phoenix: registration is open CreativePro online summits The Design + Accessibility Summit The Design + Marketing Summit The Design + AI Summit CreativePro Magazine Sept. 2025 issue: Accessibility Tools Sponsors of this episode: Adobe MAX : The Creativity Conference PageProof : All your proofing in one place. Online. Embedding Graphics: To Embed or Not to Embed…
News More CreativePro events coming up Update on InDesign 19.5 *beta* feature CreativePro Magazine 25 Years of Tips and Tricks! Catch Anne-Marie Sept 19 at the L.A. InDesign User Group (online) Sponsored by PageProof The Benefits of Online Proofing for the Creative Workflow PageProof review PageProof's website Update note on InDesign 19.5 Remember that GenAI stuff in 19.5 is beta ! Three…
News InDesign 19.5 released 2024 CreativePro Week available on-demand More CreativePro events coming up CreativePro Magazine latest issue Sponsored by PageProof The Benefits of Online Proofing for the Creative Workflow PageProof review PageProof's website Unboxing InDesign 19.5 InDesign 19.5 Adds Generative Expand, History Panel, and Find/Change Text Case Adobe's What's New in 19.5 page Change…
News InDesign beta to test opening PDFs to edit in InDesign CreativePro Week July 8–12 in DC! (and livestreamed) Use code CPSECRETS for $100 off any multi-day pass The InDesign + Accessibility Summit , Oct. 8–11 (online) CreativePro Magazine latest issue Interview with Sabine Lenz, "The Paper Queen" PaperSpecs site Sabine's bio and sessions at CreativePro Week Must-Have Scripts How to Start Using…
News InDesign 19.4 released CreativePro Font Collection Vol 4 Online Events and CreativePro Week CreativePro Magazine latest issue Marcus Radich interview PageProof site Watch Marcus demo PageProof Exploring InDesign 19.4 New features in this release New EPUB Accessibility features Obscure Feature of the Week: Adjust Dashes and Gaps Setting a Dash Stroke with Exact Gap and Dash Values in InDesign…
News InDesign 19.4 new features Note: 19.4 wasn't fully released when we recorded this podcast! You can learn more about the new features here . Online Events and CreativePro Week CreativePro Magazine latest issue Kara Plicanic interview Khara's web site Interview with Khara Khara's CreativePro articles and videos Secrets of the Live Preflight Panel Finding Overset Text With Preflight Customizing…
News Fixed issues in 19.3 Earn an InDesign Certificate on LinkedIn Learning Online Events and CreativePro Week Hot Threads: How to create a grid of images (or images and captions) so they'll autoflow and are easy to rearrange? Swapping Images script Auto-Reflowing Images in a Grid Loic's Inline Merge script to create a grid Video on using Data Merge scripts Using Kelly's TOC trick Client wants the…
News InDesign 19.2 fixes some issues Discontinuation of Creative Cloud Synced files The InDesign + Long Documents Summit (use discount code CPSECRETS for $100 off!) CreativePro Week (use CPSECRETS for $100 off any multi-day pass) Julie Shaffer Shaffer Creative Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) program, from SMPS: https://www.smps.org/certification/ Interview with Julie Shaffer,…
In the news InDesign 19.1 (second attempt) released! Fingers crossed Upcoming online-only events: The Presentation Design Conference, March 6-8 The InDesign + Long Documents Summit , April 5 CreativePro Week 2024 , July 8–12, Washington, DC and online CreativePro Magazine February 2024 lead story: Presentation Design January 2024 lead story: AI in AI ;-) Interview with Nolan Haims , presentation…
In the news InDesign 19.1 here and gone Upcoming CreativePro Online Events CreativePro Magazine December 2023: Charts and Graphs In honor of podcast 3.14, all about Pi fonts! Obscure Feature of the Week: Ruler on Spine Links mentioned in this podcast Don't use ID 2024 (19.0) with Hebrew, Arabic, or RTL text ( bug reports on facebook ) and ( bug reports in uservoice ) InDesign on Sonoma (Mac) has…
In the news InDesign 2024 updated to 19.01 Register for the Design + AI Summit! CreativePro Magazine November 2023: Multilingual Design, Glyph panel in depth Secrets of the Align Panel and its weirdo cousin, the Gap tool Obscure Feature of the Week: Auto Update URL Status Links mentioned in this podcast Great article about Glyphs panel: https://creativepro.com/digging-into-the-glyphs-panel/ Align…
In the news Register for our Online Summits: Design + Accessibility, and Design + AI! CreativePro Magazine October 2023: Accessibility for Newbies All about Adobe InDesign 2024 (v19.0) Adobe MAX 2023 review and ID Tips from Attendees Obscure Feature of the Week: Show Structure Sponsor for this episode >> Priint:Suite is an enterprise platform that reduces the time to create marketing publications…
In the news Two more online Summits coming up, check them out! CreativePro Magazine September 2023 all about Editorial Workflows Our own InDesign Sneaks Obscure Feature of the Week: Text Rotation Sponsor for this episode >> Adobe MAX 2023 Creativity Conference is happening October 8–12 in Los Angeles, California. Learn from experts and innovators, top creatives in design, photography,…
In the news: Design & Data Summit , Sept 21–22, online only More online Summits coming up, check them out! CreativePro magazine September 2023 all about Editorial Workflows Adobe InDesign 18.5 released New free scripts we like Deep Dive into the Scripts panel Obscure Feature of the Week: Verbose Sponsor for this episode >> Santa Cruz Software is the maker of LinkerUI , a best-in-class extension…
In the news: Design & Marketing Summit , July 27–28, online only More online Summits coming up, check them out! Adobe MAX 2023 , David and Anne-Marie are doing live sessions, many more InDesign pros presenting live and online only CreativePro magazine July 2023 all about Artificial Intelligence Podcasts we like (and please review ours)! David's story about recovering from Can't Save/Save As…
In the news: CreativePro rebrand!! Design & Marketing Summit , July 27–28, online only Adobe MAX 2023 , David and Anne-Marie are doing live sessions InDesign 18.4 is slowly being rolled out CreativePro Week was phenomenal! Grab an On Demand Pass to watch all the sessions, including IGNITE! and download the handouts Next year in Washington DC! More info to come. CreativePro Magazine June 2023,…
In the news: Article Hunt contest winners Adobe MAX 2023 , David and Anne-Marie are doing live sessions InDesign 18.3 is slowly being rolled out CreativePro Week , June 5-9 in Phoenix (and online) IGNITE CreativePro is back! Movie Night Design + Marketing Summit , July 27-28, online event CreativePro Magazine May 2023, issue 19 : Virtual Photography, and lots of InDesign content Fonts in InDesign:…
InDesign Public Beta for Cloud Docs Events: CreativePro Week 2023 June 5–9, Phoenix, Arizona (and online!) Design + Marketing Summit (online, July 27–28) Design + Data Summit (online, September 21–22) Creative Pro Magazine issue 19 includes articles about virtual photography, InDesign layers, and a review of IndexMatic 3 Interviews with Nicte Cuevas and Bart Van de Wiele Obscure InDesign Feature:…
InDesign 18.21 release CreativePro Week 2023 June 4–9, Phoenix, Arizona (and online!) NEW Design + Marketing Summit (online, July 27–28) Awesome lineup, including Jesus Ramirez, Von Glitschka, Amy Balliet, and new speakers incluing the amazing Jim Krause, Brodi-Rose Newsome, Kyle Hamrick Creative Pro Magazine issue 18 feature story is about motion and video in Photoshop! All about Measurements:…
In This Episode: News Design & Powerpoint Summit now available on-demand CreativePro Week 2023 coming up in June! David's Adobe Live session A few InDesign features that just don't work right (it's not you — it's the software) Obscure InDesign Feature: Footnote Number Sponsors for this episode >> PageProof is the top online proofing workflow platform for your creative process: InDesign, Photoshop,…
News: InDesign 18.1 release Design & Powerpoint Summit coming up Feb 16–17, 2023 CreativePro Week 2023 agenda posted CreativePro Magazine January 2023 : PowerPoint Tips; Overcoming Creative Burnout. CreativePro Magazine February 2023: Making Forms with InDesign and Acrobat Monitoring the InDesign Dashboard ChatGPT and Generative AI Obscure InDesign Feature: Adjust spacing automatically when…
In this episode… News CreativePro Week 2023 registration includes InDesign and more Recordings available for the Design & Accessibility Summit Go to our Events page to see 4 new online summits for 2023 CreativePro Magazine December 2022 issue dives deep into fonts and the Pantone color aggravation Good Grief: Goodbye to Type 1 Fonts and bundled Pantone spot colors Interview with Marcus Radich,…
In this episode: News CreativePro Week 2023 registration opens October 6, 2022 Design & Accessibility Summit (online) Nov. 29–Dec. 2, 2022 CreativePro Magazine covering tips, insights, and more What's New in InDesign 2023 Interview with Mark Hilton and Gabe Harbs from Santa Cruz Software Obscure InDesign Feature: Vertical Scale Sponsor for this episode: >> Santa Cruz Software is the creator of…
In this landmark 300th episode… News Anne-Marie and David will be live at Adobe MAX in October CreativePro Week 2023 registration opens October 6, 2022 Design & Accessibility Summit (online) Nov. 29–Dec. 2, 2022 Whoa! 300 episodes! A look back at 17 years of the InDesign Secrets podcast Snippets from the first episode, Nov. 29, 2005 Audio snippets from friends and colleagues with limericks,…
