How Much is an InDesign Course?

Depending on your unique budget and learning goals, the costs of attending an InDesign class can weigh differently against the benefits of attendance. For instance, attending a professional development course may be the best way to boost your earning potential in the long run, but if you can’t afford the cost of these programs, you may not be able to take advantage of those benefits. 

InDesign-related training costs typically vary according to their length and comprehensiveness, incurring additional costs for more program benefits such as career support and tutoring. Generally speaking, the longest and most immersive training programs are the most expensive, with examples including college design degrees. In contrast, the cheapest options typically include the least amount of instructor support and often require additional follow-up training. 

College Design Programs (The Most Expensive Choice)

College design degrees, such as MFA programs, are generally considered the most comprehensive career training for designers, but they are also incredibly expensive and time-consuming, often demanding multiple years and taking tens of thousands of dollars. If time and money aren’t a barrier for you, however, college design degrees offer multiple years of design experience (including unique internship opportunities), incredibly thorough portfolio workshopping, and one-on-one mentorship. In addition to teaching technical skills like InDesign, college design and art degrees also include extensive coverage of design history and applied design theory. 

Immersive Professional Training Programs (The Most Efficient Route to Career Success)

If you need professional design training but aren’t prepared to commit to a college degree program, consider enrolling in a certificate-granting class such as the ones available at Noble Desktop. Significantly cheaper than college attendance, these skills-focused career training programs can range in price from several hundred dollars to $20,000. However, they tend to average around $2,000-4,000. 

InDesign certificate courses are usually structured around experience-building projects that are designed to help you gain professional skills at an accelerated pace. Notably shorter and more compressed than college programs, these immersive training programs focus on practical knowledge over theoretical grounding and are ideal for anyone looking to start a design career without going into debt. In addition to teaching technical skills like InDesign, many design certificates offer benefits like portfolio review, mock interviews, and job support, which may only be useful if you’re a career-oriented student.

Short Live Classes (Great for Beginners and Undecided Learners)

Not knowing what career is right for you is 100% normal (even if you’ve been in your career for decades), and if you’re in this situation, joining a lengthy professional training program may not be the right first move. Instead, joining a short introductory InDesign class is the perfect way to test the waters of InDesign before you spend even more money on a longer class. In a short live class, you’ll be able to explore the basics in a low-pressure environment, and if you decide you love InDesign, you’ll be even more prepared to take on a harder class later. Typically, these classes take less than a week to complete (some even just a few hours) and usually cost under $500, with some options costing as little as $50. 

Short On-Demand Classes (Supplementary Training for Cheaper Prices)

Through platforms like Masterclass, SkillShare, Coursera, and Udemy, you can purchase self-study learning materials such as pre-recorded video lectures, reading assignments, and tutorials. These relatively cheap study materials provide a convenient way to add supplementary training to your regimen. Rather than in-depth studies appropriate for full career preparation, these courses typically explore beginner or niche topics, making them a useful tool for solving problems related to specific projects. An on-demand class may work well for you if you’re a hobbyist who’s exploring InDesign casually or a veteran designer who’s stumped on a unique project. Because of the wide range of pricing strategies used by different on-demand platforms, however, the cost of on-demand InDesign classes can vary broadly. 

Free Resources: Are They Worth It?

If you’re working with a restrictive budget (hats off to you), you may be wondering whether it’s possible to learn InDesign for free, and the answer is yes, but with a few caveats. There is a wide range of free InDesign training resources available, and the best ones tend to come from relevant design companies like Adobe or respected education platforms like Noble Desktop and Coursera. While you can glean a great deal of knowledge from free resources, they aren’t likely to take you past beginner to intermediate proficiency, so it’s best to treat them as a starting point. Free tools are incredibly useful for giving you a head start in classes you may take in the future (enabling you to avoid falling behind at the start of a class) and can help you resolve issues you encounter while working on InDesign projects and don’t have immediate access to an instructor. Additionally, many free resources offer overviews of topics like art history and design theory, which you can use to supplement your other training, making you a better designer in the long run. 

Learn InDesign Skills with Noble Desktop

Whatever your budget constraints, there’s likely an option in Noble Desktop’s diverse range of expert-guided InDesign courses that will speak to you. You can get the full low-down on InDesign’s features by attending the comprehensive Adobe InDesign Bootcamp, available both live online and in NYC (along with all other Noble Desktop classes). Rather than sitting through boring lecture-style tutorials, you’ll build skills by completing hands-on projects that will build your knowledge of all of InDesign’s features. By the course’s finalé, you’ll be able to use InDesign to make posters with stylized text, magazine spreads with tables of contents, and so much more. 

If you want to prepare for a career by learning InDesign in combination with other skills, Noble Desktop also offers a variety of professional development courses, such as the Graphic Design Certificate, which offers training in Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. As you complete experiential learning assignments under the tutelage of an expert, you’ll also hone skills in applied design theory and team communication. Your mentor can also prepare you to get a job by helping you polish your portfolio, offering advice, and guiding you through career planning. 

Alternatively, if InDesign is simply a hobby for you, you may enjoy a cheaper short course such as InDesign in a Day. Created for hobbyists and beginners, his course will walk you through fundamental app skills such as navigating InDesign before teaching you how to create a layout using text, color, and graphics.