Adobe InDesign Manufacturing Reviews & Insights

Score8.9 out of 10

773 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Adobe InDesign are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Layering Feature: Users have appreciated the layering feature in Adobe InDesign for its ease of use in toggling specific elements on and off with a simple click, allowing for quick visual comparisons.

Master Pages Utilization: Users value the ability to utilize Master Pages in Adobe InDesign, finding it beneficial for extending styling options across different pages and effortlessly applying multiple styles like page numbers and company information selectively.

Cloud Libraries Collaboration: The Cloud Libraries feature in Adobe InDesign is praised by users for facilitating team collaboration efficiently, enabling access to shared elements such as images, fonts, and brand colors without requiring an online browser.

Adobe InDesign Reviews

11 Reviews

ManufacturingAutomotive1Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering1Packaging & Containers1Printing1Consumer Goods3Aviation & Aerospace2Medical Device1Biotechnology1

Love my InDesign

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 23, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use InDesign on the daily when working on catalogs, decks, sale sheets. It's a great tool when you have to lay out multiple pages including spreads when submitting artwork over to our printer. Easy to work with and love the overall layout when you have to manage pages, assets, and a plus when adding hyperlinks to objects.

Pros

Layout
Spread
Fast
Easy to setup

Cons

There are times when fonts and linked images go missing or need to be relinked even if root files were not moved.
There can be glitches at times.
Speed over quality. Would love the software to work faster with multiple files open.

Likelihood to Recommend

When working on booklets, multiple-page files, I highly recommend using InDesign. Illustrator is capable but there are limitations that InDesign makes it much easier to use. Especially when having to layout and export in a spreadsheet style. Overall file handling is very easy with InDesign when handing files over. The interface is clean and you can even block off all objects off the canvas so it doesn't clutter the overall space

amir tehrani

Creative Director in Marketing at CBDfx (Consumer Goods, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

Adobe InDesign: the industry-leading page layout software

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 25, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It addresses effectiveness, ease of use and support. InDesign has a well-designed interface and integrates smoothly with the rest of the Creative Cloud programs which provides seamless integration. It can be easy to learn the very basics of InDesign, but it also has complex features for advanced users. I used InDesign at this company in the production department where I prepared graphics for printing or designed layouts from scratch for paid clients.

Pros

Page layout software
Great at integrating with other Adobe Creative Suite applications
Digital Interactive capability such as fillable PDFs
Can data merge using Microsoft Excel which is great for mailings.

Cons

Ease of use
Not user friendly for a beginner; likely need training
Complex features that even advanced users may need training
More tutorials on new features and old would be great

Likelihood to Recommend

Adobe InDesign is the premiere and industry-leading page layout program for a reason. It has the ability to handle both print layout and digital interactive documents which should fill any need whether you're a casual user or a professional designer. I use InDesign for all page layouts, conference materials or anything that would go to a print vendor. I really like the added digital interactive features with fillable PDFs, or animated features. It is not appropriate for photo editing or illustrations. I would suggest other applications in the Adobe Suite for that.

Verified User

Professional in Customer Service (Printing company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

InDesign: the "go-to" page layout software

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 24, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

InDesign is used in our Art Department, consisting of 8 Pre Press / Graphic Design personnel. It's primarily used to set up text and images to be exported as high-resolution pdf files. InDesign is used in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Pros

Magazine layout. InDesign is extremely stable; you can link text from page to page in any order. You can have a story start on page 3, continue on page 8, and continue again on page 27. If you make edits to the text, it will reflow throughout the magazine/book.
It's perfect for creating comic books with various sizes and shapes of picture boxes, word bubbles, and so on.

Cons

Problems can occur when adding drop shadows to text. Sometimes the shadow can produce an undesirable effect on graphic elements below. The solution is to use Adobe Illustrator for drop shadows.
InDesign has a number of special effects that can be better done using Adobe Illustrator and importing into InDesign. Though if you do not have Illustrator, there is a lot you can do in InDesign.

Likelihood to Recommend

I use InDesign to create comic books and instructional books with lots of graphics and diagrams (not at my present place of employment). If you are creating projects with large amounts of pages, InDesign is the tool to use. One of its main strengths is stability. If you have a file that is 500 pages with linked text and graphics, it will not bog down.

Paul Hughes

Graphic Artist/Pre Press in Manufacturing at Stanpac Inc. (Packaging & Containers, 501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

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Adobe InDesign is a great solution for your layout design needs!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 13, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Adobe InDesign is used by the R&D, Design, and Marketing departments in designing new layouts for User Manuals, leaflets, flyers, banners, and any multi-page book or document which demands some graphic design development. We often make use of outsourcing for the bulk of new layout development and then make adjustments with inside resources. I find it an excellent software for this use, and the way it integrates with Illustrator and sometimes Photoshop makes it so easy to jump from and to software to deal with different demands.

Pros

Layout design - integrating graphics and texts.
Multi-page books and long format design pieces.

Cons

Not enough tools for vector design - Need to use Illustrator for complex designs.
Interface is not intuitive since it has a lot of tools and resources; it ends up being confusing for new users, although a similar layout to other Adobe Suite Apps makes it easier if you already use different software from the brand.

Likelihood to Recommend

I recommend the Adobe InDesign app for layout designing; it has lots of tools and offers resources for different needs; it's the interface. It is very similar to other Adobe software, and it's easy to use if you already have familiarity with it. If not, at first, the lots of tools can seem overwhelming, but it probably won't take much until you dominate everything. It's great to design instruction books, catalogs, and other long-format books that demand graphic design inside, integrating well between images, graphics, and text. If you end up needing a more complex graphic design, then jump to Illustrator for a vector drawing, with more tools at hand, and when it's finished, export back to Adobe InDesign.

Stéfano Bellote

Engenheiro de desenvolvimento de produtos Jr in Engineering at Electrolux (Consumer Goods, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

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Where InDesign is needed and where it’s not needed

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 13, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Adobe InDesign is being used by our organization by the marketing staff to design product packaging and related materials.

Pros

Many powerful features for creating marketing materials.
Designed to handle photoshop and illustrator graphics and put them together.

Cons

Adobe InDesign is not required for single-page documents or marketing materials. Illustrator can handle many of the tasks Adobe InDesign can do.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is well suited for large, multiple page documents or marketing brochures. If smaller, single page marketing materials are required, other software can handle the job.

Verified User

Employee (Automotive company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

The go-to software package for layout and design of multi-page printed material

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 8, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Adobe InDesign is our go-to software application for designing and creating the layout of our printed product brochures and information booklets. It is used exclusively in the marketing department, but we also create printed material for our R&D department. There is no other software application available that allows this kind of speed and ease of use when it comes to layout tasks.

Pros

Creating multi-page printed documents, like brochures
Creating print-ready PDF of EPS files in the format that the printer requires

Cons

The InDesign files of newer versions are rarely compatible with older versions, which makes sharing work difficult. There is an option to export to a universal file, but this is an avoidable hassle.
Menu items and workspace layouts are sometimes changed with newer versions, which causes confusion and requires a learning period before you can work at full speed again.

Likelihood to Recommend

Designing printed brochures, flyers and information booklets is where Adobe InDesign shines. It's not a tool to edit images, although you have some options that help you avoid having to open up Photoshop. The two applications work hand-in-hand, and I can't use InDesign without going to Photoshop every once in a while.

Lourie Holl

Digital Marketing Manager in Marketing at Xavant Technology (Biotechnology, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

InDesign offers power, but you need to be careful about how you use it

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 7, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use InDesign to develop printed marketing materials ranging from business cards to brochures. The ease of usability, especially when it comes to updating graphics on a regular basis, makes InDesign my go-to for developing our frequently used printed materials. I also use it to create PDF files that are easy to search and browse, making for a more immersive experience on a computer or mobile device.

Pros

Incorporates graphics from Illustrator and Photoshop.
Makes searchable PDFs more intelligent.

Cons

It is a bit of a resource hog. For best results, double the suggested RAM and scratch disk space.
Sometimes the library items don't update as fast as other Adobe products.

Likelihood to Recommend

I like to tell people that if they are designing anything that is more than one page/artboard, that they should use InDesign. For documents that are one artboard (and not just artistic in nature) Adobe Illustrator is typically a better tool. Having native support for PDF Files built-in makes it an incredibly powerful tool for documents that will be printed offsite or by a 3rd party.

Nathan Morimitsu

Social Media and Marketing Adminstrator in Marketing at H2 Manufacturing Solutions (Aviation & Aerospace, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

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InDesign review

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 17, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use InDesign to put together proposal documents for my company. This enables us to change information and styles efficiently and seamlessly throughout, all while maintaining a professional yet graphic look.

Pros

Paragraph styles are a great way to only have to change something once, and have it change throughout the document.
Sharing files is also extremely easy. It's easy to use the package tool to bundle all of the images, fonts, and context to provide to another user.

Cons

Having InDesign auto save would be very useful. There is no control over when the program decides to crash.
If you don't have the most recent version through CC, it makes it difficult to work with older versions.

Likelihood to Recommend

This program is well-suited for any company who creates lengthy documents that can be time-consuming to edit. It makes it easy to create a layout that is consistent throughout and to make changes that create a domino effect where applicable. It's great that it also works well with other CC design programs such as Illustrator. I am able to create more eye-catching graphics in Illustrator and place those files within my InDesign document.

Verified User

Employee in Marketing (Aviation & Aerospace company, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

Peanut Butter is to Jelly as Printing is to InDesign

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 16, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Adobe InDesign is primarily used by our branding and marketing functional areas including social impact. It allows us to create print ready publications for things like brochures, flyers, posters, magazines, and more.

Pros

Powerful capabilities for many print media formats
Team workflow via Creative Cloud
Handling large file sizes with high resolution photos

Cons

Steep learning curve
Occasional slow load time when opening

Likelihood to Recommend

InDesign is ideal for when you need complete control of all aspects for printing including color, bleeds, slugs, I don’t, and margins for example. If you’re not worried about these types of things the product will still do the job but may be overkill.

Chad Gabriel

Sherpa of Purpose - Wake the World in Corporate at Tuthill Corporation (Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

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The designers friend!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

October 14, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I would say it is being used throughout the organization but is dependent on job responsibility. If your title/role requires design then the software is enabled on the machine. It isn't an automatic install. The problem InDesign addresses are the design and layout elements for so many roles at Cook. Our marketing and communication departments use InDesign extensively.

Pros

InDesign is my go-to for layout and design. InDesign is second to none when it comes to solid layout features.
I always enjoy the integration with other Creative Suite tools like Photoshop and Illustrator. It's so easy to work across each of those tools.
InDesign makes creativity with a layout so easy. It just makes sense to me. I feel sorry for people who use Word as a design tool. I get frustrated so easily with it as it isn't intended to solve the design element.
Quick keys are my absolute favorite!

Cons

The features and benefits of InDesign are endless but there are SO MANY options. It can be daunting to figure out what each of the buttons does.
The help feature was much better in the past. I remember being able to get help online much easier than I do today.
As an end-user, I would love to have a list of quick keys (other versions had this in place that was easy to find).

Likelihood to Recommend

InDesign is perfect for newsletters, posters, books, agendas, etc. The flexibility it offers is world-class. Clicking and dragging objects around and being able to see the end result is fantastic. I would recommend it to anyone with a creative role or function. There is also lots of help online (even though the forums and search features aren't my favorite). If you can imagine it, InDesign can probably do it!

Marsha Junkins

Global Training Program Manager in Customer Service at Cook Medical (Medical Devices, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

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Adobe InDesign is a great solution for your layout design needs!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 13, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Layout design - integrating graphics and texts.
Multi-page books and long format design pieces.

Cons

Not enough tools for vector design - Need to use Illustrator for complex designs.
Interface is not intuitive since it has a lot of tools and resources; it ends up being confusing for new users, although a similar layout to other Adobe Suite Apps makes it easier if you already use different software from the brand.

Likelihood to Recommend

Stéfano Bellote

Engenheiro de desenvolvimento de produtos Jr in Engineering at Electrolux (Consumer Goods, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile