Power users keep their hands on the keyboard as much as possible. After all, moving a mouse or trackball (or, worse, trackpad) is nice, but not efficient. It’s easy to move from page to page in InDesign with keyboard shortcuts. But what about from object to object?

I am really pleased to announce a set of scripts for InDesign that let you navigate around your document, from object to object, or even with multiple objects (more on what that means in a minute). This set of scripts was written by Kris Coppieters of Rorohiko (also known as Lightning Brain), the makers of a whole slew of astonishingly great plug-ins (check their Downloads section). Please note that these scripts are (as far as I know) for InDesign CS3 only.

How the scripts work:

1. First, download the scripts by clicking on this link. (Note that you’ll need to be signed in to the MOGO site to download this file, but registration is free and easy!)

2. Unzip the folder of scripts. You’ll find a ReadMe file in there, which explains the system and how it works.

3. In InDesign, choose Window > Automation > Scripts. This opens the Scripts panel.

4. Right-click (or Control-click on a Mac with a one-button mouse) on the User folder inside the Scripts panel, and choose Open in Finder (or Open in Windows Explorer, if you’re using Windows). This opens the proper folder on your desktop, so you don’t have to go hunting around for it.

5. Drag the KeyboardNavigation folder into the folder called “Scripts Panel” and then return to InDesign; if you open the User folder in the Scripts panel (by clicking the little triangle next to it), you should see the folder you just added.

6. If you open that folder inside the Scripts panel, you can run any script by double-clicking on it. But that’s not efficient — we want to assign keyboard shortcuts to these. So choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.

7. If you have made a custom keyboard shortcut set already, then make sure it’s selected in the Set pop-up menu. Otherwise, click New Set and give your new set a name.

8. In the Product Area pop-up menu, choose Scripts, and scroll down the list until you see User: KeyboardNavigation:

9. Notice that each script navigates to a different object on your page. For example, GoDown.jsx selects the next object down on the page (”down” meaning toward the bottom of the page); GoFarLeft.jsx selects the left-most object on the page; and so on. For each script you expect to use, assign a shortcut to it.  The ReadMe file has suggestions for shortcuts you can use, such as Ctrl+Left Arrow for GoLeft and Ctrl+Right Arrow for GoRight. But you can choose any shortcuts you want. Don’t forget to click Assign after each shortcut.

10. When you’re done assigning shortcuts, click OK and try them out on your layout!

What Gets Selected:

One of the most amazing things about these scripts is that they actually look at where objects are on your page in relation with each other. For example, let’s look at this page layout with four text frames on it:

Currently frame 1 is selected. If we choose GoRight, frame 2 becomes selected, even though “technically” frame 3 is the next frame to the right. It does this because frame 2 is more “to the right of frame 1″ than frame 3 is.

If frame 1 is selected and we choose GoDown, then frame 3 becomes selected for the same reason (frame 3 is more “in line” with frame 1 than is frame 2). However, when frame 3 is selected and we choose GoUp, then frame 2 becomes selected! It’s hard to explain, but it’s very intuitive to use.

Here’s a few other things that need explaining, but are very powerful. First, if frame 1 is selected when you choose GoFarRight, frame 2 becomes selected. If you choose GoFarRight again, you’ll get frame 4. This is because frame 2 is far right of frame 1! (That is, “far” means of the current object, not necessarily the right-most object on the page.)

Next, if frame 4 is selected and you choose GoDown, it will select the top object on the next page. That is, you can navigate from objects on one page to the next!

Z Order:

Several of the scripts have to do with moving in “z-order” — that is, forward or backward in a stack of objects. For example, in this layout:

If frame 1 is selected and you choose GoForward, it takes you “toward the front” of the stack. In this case, even though frame 2 is technically above frame 1 on the layer, the script selects frame 3 because it’s the logical choice.

Grids of Objects:

These scripts also work when you have more than object selected on your page! For example, let’s say these three odd-numbered frames were selected on this page:

When you choose GoRight, then frames 2, 4, and 6 would become selected. This is a great way to navigate among objects that are laid out (more or less) in a grid!

Entering Text in Frames:

You may notice that there are two scripts in the folder that are not for object navigation: GoTextEnd and GoTextStart. These actually place the text cursor inside the currently-selected frame. If a frame (any kind of frame, even graphic or unassigned frame) is empty, the script converts it to a text frame and places the cursor in it.

Again, it’s all about keeping your hands on the keyboard. You can navigate to a frame, place the text cursor in it, edit, then return to object navigation mode by pressing Esc. (Esc is not part of the scripts; that’s just a normal InDesign shortcut for switching back to the Selection tool.)

The more I use these scripts, the more I find them useful. After all, who doesn’t want to get more efficient?!

Let Kris know what you think of the scripts in the comments below.

An important message to Macintosh users who are considering purchasing Acrobat 9: I am writing to let you Mac users know that the current marketing for Acrobat Pro is very confusing. On the page for Acrobat Pro, is a very enticing sidebar that says “Consider Upgrading to Acrobat 9 Pro Extended” It outlines all the cool things that Extended can do. I had seen some publicity for Extended and so I immediately clicked that button to find out more about this version. It is a very compelling product that has a presentation application, 3D capabilities, and the form creation product Live Cycle Designer. I was very excited about this product, when I was lucky to have checked the System Requirements for this product. And was amazed to find that this product is Windows only! It is one thing to shove the Mac market off to the side as Acrobat has in the past. For instance, in the past, Acrobat products have provided features for Windows that were missing on the Mac. But the current advertising borders on misleading advertising. Rather than just hide the Windows-only features under the same name as the Macintosh product, Adobe has come out with a Windows-only product that doesn’t clearly state it is Windows only! To publicize a product on a page that is cross platform and then make it very hard to find out that the product is Windows only is terrible. And I guarantee that this will lead to many people ordering something they can not use. And will be very angry about! I have written to several people I know at Adobe to complain about this. I would suggest that others use the Adobe feedback page to tell Adobe how this makes you feel. Meanwhile, I’m glad that I won’t have to shell out the extra money for this Windows-only product.

The Getting Started with Dreamweaver and CSS Web Publishing Workshop seminar tour began with a sold-out event in Los Angeles this past week. The workshop is a one-day event and is a collaborative effort from MOGO Media and Adobe Systems Incorporated.Attendees were greeted at the fabulous the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Ray with a sumptuous breakfast, thanks to Adobe. Over 300 attendees jammed the ballroom to then see Steve Forde of GridIron Software give a great demo of their recently-announced Flow software. After Steve answered a few questions, Brian Wood took the stage and kicked off the all-day event focused on publishing websites using Dreamweaver CS3 and CSS.Brian started at the beginning and spoke about laying the groundwork for websites using familiar software applications, like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks. Brian then spent some time discussing just what exactly CSS and how it works. What was really great about this part was how easy it was to understand. Brian made constant comparisons to traditional print design terms (for example, how CSS ID tags compare to Layers in Illustrator or InDesign), making the session easy to follow, and seeming less technical.During lunch break, tens of attendees lined up to speak personally with Brian, asking questions on specific items from the class, and asking for advice on how to implement their own personal projects. In fact, Brian had little time to grab lunch for himself, as the afternoon sessions got underway quickly.  Brian then took the attentive audience into a deep dive, covering Dreamweaver CS3. Putting everything together into a site, Brian showed how to integrate design elements from Photoshop and even covered how to import content directly from InDesign CS3. At the end of the day, one lucky attendee walked away with a full copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium!With a great start in Los Angeles, the next stop on the tour is New York city, this week, on June 4th at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The event is already sold-out with over 400 attendees and it promises to be another exciting day of learning and fun.With dates coming up in Washington DC, Chicago, and Boston, there’s still time to sign up and benefit from this great event. Check out www.mogoseminars.com for dates and registration information. Hope to see you there! 

Coming to The Creative Suite Conference in Nashville, TN? As you know, this city is internationally renowned for its music and culture, and you should definitely plan on getting out while you’re in town. Here are a few things that are going on around town.

Note that we’re at the Sheraton, downtown. Here’s some information on this location.

Airport

If you’re flying in to Nashville International, take a look around. They have a number of arts exhibits up. You can find out more about them here. If you want to look into ground transportation before you show up, check out this page.

Arts and Museums
Nashville is home to some wonderful museums and galleries. For example:

• Frist Museum (currently showing Monet to Dali, and a collection of Tiffany glass works).
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Tennesee State Museum (including a current Renoir exhibit)

Music and Events

You can’t walk down the street in Nashville without being slapped upside the head with 15 different kinds of music! There’s also theatre and other fun events going on while we’re here.

• List of live music playing around Nashville.
• Grand Ol Opry (Tuesday night performances)
• Assassins (Stephen Sondheim’s oddest musical; in fact, one of the strangest topics for a musical ever)
• The Kids in the Hall (remember their HBO comedy show?)

Restaurants

There are a lot of restaurants in Nashville. I’m looking forward to some excellent eatin’! (I had the best-ever Reuben sandwich in this town.) Here’s google’s take on a few restaurants near the Sheraton hotel.

More Stuff

If you want even more information, check out the Nashville Visitor’s Bureau, or Citysearch!

There’s no shortage of chatter on the ‘net these days about Apple’s iPhone and its lack of support for Adobe Flash. And with today’s announcement from Apple about the release of an SDK so that developers can begin to create their own applications for the iPhone, the lack of any mention of Flash is still causing many to scratch their heads. I don’t claim to be particularly technical, nor do I have any “inside” information from either Adobe or Apple in this regard. But I do have an opinion that I think is worth taking a closer look at.

I should start off by clearly stating that as a company, I love both Adobe and Apple. I totally “get” both companies and I used to work at Adobe. And I’m friendly with folks from both companies. I use (and rely) on their products every day. So I intend no bias towards any of these companies. I’m not taking sides or stating who is right or wrong, simply because I don’t think it has anything to do with that at all. It has to do with vision and what each company values and sees as its future.

The title of this article pretty much sums up where I think the “battle” lies.

Apple is a firm believer in the web browser. After all, they have their own, called Safari, which is pretty darn good (I am using it right this moment, actually). Apple developed a “mobile” version of Safari which runs on the iPhone. It’s wonderful because it offers the same experience that users expect on their desktop now. In fact, Apple’s stance has always been “you don’t NEED to develop anything for iPhone — just use Web 2.0 standards in your normal web applications and it will run on iPhone just as it runs on a desktop”. The idea is noble, although for a variety of reasons, I don’t buy it. I’ll explain shortly.

Adobe is a firm believer in content. After all, Adobe doesn’t own a “browser”, but they do own the industry standard design tools, and a rather capable developer framework. Adobe obviously wants a developer to be able to create best-in-class content that works and looks great — EVERYWHERE. And that’s the key point here. Adobe believes that content exists outside the browser experience. That’s the premise of Rich Internet Applications (what Adobe refers to as RIA’s). The point is, your content may live on the ‘net, but you should be able to access that content from anywhere, even outside a web browser. We’re kind of trained to think that we need to “go to the web” because that’s just the way it’s always been. And mainly because there was no other good way to access the content consistently. In reality, content should come to us — wherever we are. That’s what AIR is all about — it’s an environment that allows you to run RIA’s which aren’t in your browser (I love how AIR reads as RIA in reverse). They’re on your desktop, or elsewhere.

Here’s an analogy I’ve come up with that I think describes the difference. Say you want to travel from one place to another. We can climb into our car and drive to our destination. The car is a vehicle that transports us. It’s a machine that we’re familiar with. We use it because it allows us to get to our destination. Compared to the ‘net, think of the destination as your website and the car as your web browser. The car takes you to your website. Without the car, you can’t get there. But say we’re living in the future and we have the ability to teleport, or beam ourselves to any destination. If we wanted to visit a destination, we don’t need a vehicle — we just press a button and we are instantly transported there. So the experience is very different — the car isn’t necessary. It’s just you and the content.

With Adobe’s recent announcement about Flex 3 and AIR and with the positioning of Flash Lite 3, I think Adobe has made it clear that they see the future of “web apps” as having nothing at all to do with a browser at all. And if that’s the way Adobe and Flash are heading, then Apple’s vision of a browser based user experience puts both companies on a conceptual point of view that is moving in two very different directions.

From a pure mobile development standpoint, I also think that Apple’s idea of just extending the desktop experience to the mobile platform is somewhat missing the point of just what mobile actually is. More often than not, the mobile experience isn’t the same as the desktop experience. When I’m on the go, I may require certain information, or require certain services. Cameron Moll actually has some fantastic ideas about this. A good mobile application will not simply be a repurposed desktop app, but rather one that has been designed and developed specifically for the mobile experience itself.

So will Flash ever run on the iPhone? Only time will tell. But if what they say is true (content being king and all), we as users will certainly have lots to look forward too.

Adobe has taken what it deems as the Next Big Step. With the official release today of Flex 3 and Adobe AIR, developers will be able to begin a process of what many see as the decline of the Web browser, as we know it. These days, people want to be able to access and use their data no matter where they are — be it at their desk, on a laptop, or while on the road on their mobile device. With hosted services and data that lives on the internet, that’s certainly possible. But Web browser support (the main way of accessing the internet) is iffy at best on many devices. And even where such access is possible, the experience itself isn’t consistent.Adobe is hoping that AIR changes all that, by allowing developers to access the internet through their applications directly. Think of it as accessing all the data the internet provides, but without the Web browser. And the Flex 3 framework gives developers the ability to assure a consistent experience across multiple platforms. The beauty of all of this is that the result for end users will be that very little change will be evident — you’ll still use the same desktop applications you always have. The difference will be on how those very applications that live on the desktop can now access hosted services seamlessly.The question is, there are several companies (including Google and Microsoft) who are vying for space in this arena as well. So AIR doesn’t sit alone in this regard. Will developers choose Adobe’s solution over those from other companies? While there’s no answer to that at this early point in the game, one thing is for sure: the desktop experience for end users will change for the better. And that will start happening really soon. 

It looks like the InDesign Conference and the Vector Conference will start off with a bang in Miami next week. Word has it that Adobe is planning on showing some kind of a technology preview at their keynote address – something to do with InDesign and Flash. Michael Ninness and Tim Cole are scheduled to deliver the keynote — both of them showmen in their own right. So it should be interesting. Can’t wait!

As I live in the northern part of the USA, and it’s February, I have to admit that I’m really looking forward to the four conferences in Miami at the end of the month (plus GOA). But the conferences aren’t the only things happening in Miami that week! There’s all kinds of cool stuff going on around town. Here’s a quick rundown of some events, things to watch out for, and places to eat around town to get you started.

Art

If you’re flying in, check out this art at the Miami International Airport.

Then, look at the Miami Art Guide for everything else happening around town

Near the conference center, you’ll find a very wide spectrum of museums, including:

• Jewish Museum of Florida which has a number of exhibits, including the one I’m looking forward to: Zap Pow Bam - Super Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics 1938-1950
• The Wolfsonian
• World Erotic Art Museum
• Art Center
  

Music and Events

1. If you’re coming in a little early, you might (or might not) be interested in a Barry Manilow concert on Sunday. Or, here’s a list of what’s happening Monday night (or any other night that week).
2. Manheim Steamroller is playing at the Jackie Gleason (next door to the convention center) while we’re there.
3. In case you’re not spending enough time inside in the dark, the Miami International Film Festival is happening that week, too.
4. New World Symphony has some wonderful Bach and Baroque coming up at the end of the week.
5. Need a more quiet form of “wildlife”? The International Orchid Festival is going on in town, too.

Restaurants

Top Twenty Miami Beach Restaurants

If you’re a vegetarian, check out the restaurant ideas at Meatless Miami ; we’ve heard very good things about this kosher vegetarian restaurant, called Gourmet Carrot

And, if you’re interested in Kosher, here’s one of Mordy’s favorites: Tea for Two: Italian food… and sushi!

And More…

You can find even more at the Miami Visitor’s Bureau, of course.

Do you know any cool things going on in town that week? Any recommendations? Let us know below!

Question: Is there any way to automatically put a special bullet character at the end of every story in InDesign?

Check out the AskMOGO.com video podcast answer here.

Question: I’ve been a life-long, 17-year user of FreeHand and this is just killing me. In FreeHand I could “Cmd-C” an object to move it then “Cmd-D” would repeat that to create simple patterns. How do I do that in Illustrator? I tried “Cmd D” but it just moves the same shape. It doesn’t create new ones?

Check out the AskMOGO.com video podcast answer here.