ASIAN IDOL - Evaluating Software

I will be analysing two different softwares, in this case, Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word for your company. By analysing these two softwares, i will be able to tell you which one would help you the best, in your specified job. I have used the specifications to design an Asian Idol Poster with Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign, and here is my analysis of Adobe InDesign:

Placing the background onto InDesign was a simple and quick task to complete. All you need to do, is drag your picture or file onto the InDesign page, and it shows up in a click of a second. Even though there are rulers along the side of the page, to help you with re-sizing, it is un-called for since InDesign automatically re-sizes your picture- or in my case, background- for you.

Getting the graphics into InDesign (such as the Asian Idol Logo and the Banner ‘Asian Idol’) were as simple as dragging the background into InDesign. By dragging and dropping the graphic onto InDesign you can manually re-size it to your specifications with the small squares in the corners and sides. You can also easily move the graphic without altering anything else on the page by clicking the graphic and deciding where you want to put it.

Positioning the graphics, as I have mentioned is simple, however, rotating the graphic makes you think a tiny bit more. You would need to look around the screen for a button which allows you to rotate the graphic. This could take you 2 seconds, or possibly 2 minutes.

[The rotation button] ---------------------------------------------->

Typing 'Are You The Next...' was basic. Click the 'T' on the left hand side of the page, will allow you to instantly start typing out a sentence, or paragraph. From there, you can highlight your text and edit the font, colour and size. If you need to change the font, you can access a range of different font designs on InDesign. There is also a preview of the font which helps towards creating your poster.

To create the two columns you must insert the text, and if the box is too small, make another one and click the red cross, to shift the text over.

The more you re size the box, the more you change the layout of the text. for example, if you make box number 1 smaller, then more text will move onto box number 2. This is how you make to equal columns. By resizing the boxes, you can distribute the text equally amongst the two boxes. A very quick and clever way of creating columns, which is vital to your poster.

The trickiest and confusing part of the specification for the poster, is creating the white background behind the text, and making the feathered edges.

as shown here, by right mouse clicking, you can navigate your way to the feathered edges without much hassle.

There is also a Transparency option as you can see and this will allow you to control the transparency. Two functions in one area - very useful.

To make the red box, make a rectangle, and colour it red. Then use the Text button to write text within the box. Then click the text and the rectangle, and rotate it exactly how you rotated the graphics. There were no problems with saving, just click save and your practically done.

That's it! Adobe InDesign was a helpful and fairly easy program to use, with many suitable effects such as feathering for boxes, and a good text variations as well as simple 'drag-and-drop' techniques; Adobe is definitely a favoured option for you to spend your money on.

Now, i will analyse Microsoft Word.

Placing the background onto Microsoft was a challenging task at first, because i tried opening a file, which then led the computer to saying that there was an error and it could not bring on the background image. Then i soon realised the i had to drag and drop the picture on. You cannot get the background on, unless you drag and drop.

Dragging and dropping the graphics onto word was easy, until i realised i could not put the graphics on top of the background. You have to make sure the picture is set as 'Behind The Text'. This can get confusing if it is your first time using Microsoft.

I created a text box for typing 'Are You The Next...' and typed the text in without a hitch. Microsoft Word loves using text, so if your poster consists of just text; Microsoft is best.

However, trying to keep the text on two justifies columns, equally was a lot trickier than expected.

Making a transparent rectangle box was fairly simple (by just making a rectangle, and right clicking to get 'transparency' to 50%) but feathering was impossible. There was no way that i could create a feathered edge! This is a huge let-down for Microsoft since that is vital for the decoration on the boxes.

Getting 2008 on a red box was similar to Adobe - make a rectangle, and type 2008 in. But i could not successfully rotate the numbers AND the box. Another let down. It is incredibly hard to rotate both the numbers and the box and it would take a lot of time to work it out (if it's even possible).

To save the file, you must save the complete poster with the embedded pictures at a large file size. You cannot export it as a PDF.

Now that i have analysed both software's, i have come to the conclusion that Adobe InDesign was the better software and would be the best to spend your money on.

Although Microsoft Word is a user-friendly software, and has many text options and creative choices; InDesign is a better option for your specified job. InDesign allows you to complete your specifications quickly and without trouble. I have never used InDesign until you offered me this task to complete, and i got through it faster than i did with Microsoft, which i have used all my life. InDesign is a great investment for your company with its simple format, quick creative options and it's effective designing.