[Macworld]

Post your comments for First Look: InDesign CS4 here

[fletc3her]

The activation problems I'm experiencing with InDesign CS3 have soured me on the software altogether. There is nothing more frustrating than relying on a piece of software like InDesign for my day to day work and then not being able to use it because of Adobe's restrictions. I won't upgrade until they stop punishing their paying customers. Instead, I am actively seeking alternative ways of putting together my PDF documents. Several hours on hold with customer support in India is several hours too many.

[JMStafford]

The one feature I really care about is the ability to set columns as a paragraph-level attribute (like FrameMaker had a decade ago).
Okay I would also like to create a master color swatch library for a project that I can use in InDesign and Illustrator and share with subcontractors.

[alansky]

The new Smart Spacing feature could be a huge time saver for designers who like to drag elements around on the page and eyeball everything instead of nailing down precise specs in advance of the layout process.

[jamesfritz]

In response to your two requests, they already do kind of exsist.

You can apply the number of columns to a style by using object styles.

You can also save and share swathes between the cs apps my use adobe swatch exchange files (ase) from the swatches panel.

[JMStafford]

jamesfritz said:

You can apply the number of columns to a style by using object styles.

But you can't have a headline style that spans multiple columns. So no, the object style doesn't address the need.

jamesfritz said:

You can also save and share swathes between the cs apps my use adobe swatch exchange files (ase) from the swatches panel.

Yes, you can share the swatches that way, but what you cannot do is dynamically update them. Imagine a project where chapter 1 uses Color A a reddish hue, chapter 2 used Color B a greenish hue, etc. Each chapter has 15 placed Illustrator graphics that are based on each chapter color. Now the client tells you that they hate red. You can just edit one swatch file and have 15 Illustrator and 1 InDesign files update automatically. You have to edit each file individually.

[jamesfritz]

I agree with both of your statements. It would be a killer feature to have a headline span multiple columns.

Also, have an extrnal swatches file that could update would be great too. To push it even further, I would love to have an external styles file, ala css, which could contain all of this information.

[Edac2]

I presume that files will be saved in CS4 format that can't be opened in InDesign CS3 without using the exchange format?

[Inkling]

A reviewer who works in layout and editing with InDesign wouldn't have opened this article with the claim that CS4, "is a nice update, but not an essential one." If you work regularly with InDesign and particularly if you bill clients for hours, the timesaving features will more than pay for this $200 upgrade.
What's great about it is that no particularly category of user is slighted. Those who deal with graphics rich documents get Smart Guides and an improved Links panel. Those (like me) who work with long and complex documents get cross-references and Smart Text Reflow. Those who do catalogs get conditional text and direct to PDF output. Those into multimedia get Flash output two ways. And while this reviewer may slight the addition of tabbed windows, those who've used ID with more windows than they have display space for will love it. Finally, almost everyone seems delighted by a surprise new feature, GREP styles, which is great for taking care of all the niggling little formatting chores inside a paragraph. All are features that save time and make the work go smoother.
It is true that Adobe might have done more. Someone has mentioned that ID still won't let a paragraph style define a heading spanning multiple columns. One Adobe programmer told me that required hard work, text in columns have to be organized to end all in a nice row before the heading. That may be true, but other products do it, including the two-decade old FrameMaker, and the alternative is a lot of clumsy fiddling with frames that get out of kilter in the text or formatting is changed. As it stands now, Smart Text Reflow and Conditional Text can't be used with multi-column plus heading text.
And in the timesaving department, linking frames is still the nuisance of nuisances. ID needs something called Named Frames, which would allow users to attach a name to all frames in the same sequence, something particularly useful for magazines and newspapers Add to that another feature called Smart Frames, which would automatically link all frames in a specific order--top to bottom, right to left, lower to higher page. Those who want something unusual could still do things the old way.
In short this is a solid and useful upgrade for almost anyone who uses ID more than occasionally. It'll save you time and let you produce more complex, better looking documents with less effort.
--Mike Perry, Inkling Books, Seattle

[CTMAN5ON]

I think the inDesign CS4 software is the most underwhelming of the bunch. I know I operate more in the realm of illustration than print, but weren't these features introduced when Quark Xpress 8 was revealed?

[shoaf]

While I do use ID daily, I'd say I'd be on the fence about upgrading this one app. But there's some new stuff in AI (blob brush!) and PS (rotating canvas view!)that will easily justify the price (for me) to upgrade the suite.
But regarding ID CS4 by itself, the variable text deal and the improvements to the loaded cursor (which I didn't see mentioned in this article) would sure make the ID-only upgrade tempting, though. Are those features worth $200 US over the next 18 months or so? I kinda think so...