What is the Best Course to Learn InDesign?

InDesign is both a technical and creative skill and because it is often combined with other design tools to produce professional results, there are many different approaches to teaching InDesign skills. These days, there are practically InDesign courses popping out of the woodwork, with options varying widely in terms of style, format, and curriculum focus. While there isn’t necessarily one course that will work best for every student, there are several questions you can ask yourself to help identify a training course that will work well for you. This article will outline these questions individually providing comparisons of different class styles to help you make an educated decision. 

Are You Brand New to InDesign?

Before signing up for a class, assess your current knowledge level. If you’re a beginner, you’ll want to ensure that the class you select covers the basics before tossing you into the deep end unprepared. Experimenting with free resources at home or joining a short introduction course can be a great way to prepare for a more immersive program when you’re working with little to no InDesign experience. This strategy can also help you determine if you enjoy InDesign before you commit more time and money to a longer program. 

In contrast, if you already have a fair amount of experience under your belt (from prior classwork, experimenting at home, or using InDesign for a career), you can choose a class that skips past the basics to tackle intermediate to advanced skills only. 

In addition to assessing your knowledge of InDesign, it can also be valuable to gauge your knowledge of design in general, particularly if you’re interested in using InDesign to fuel a skill like graphic design or user experience (UX) design. If you want to learn more about design, consider signing up for a class that includes applied design theory and other design skills in its curriculum. 

How Much Are You Willing to Pay?

Choosing an InDesign class that fits your budget is an important consideration and will ultimately determine which options are available to you. Rather than simply asking how much you’re willing to pay overall, choosing a budget strategy according to your learning goals can be a better financial decision in the long run. In other words, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to attend a pricier InDesign bootcamp if you’re only interested in learning InDesign basics because short beginner classes can help you accomplish your goals for cheaper. There are also a wide variety of free InDesign learning resources available for casual learners who are looking to cut costs on InDesign training.

On the flip side, bootcamps and certificate-granting InDesign courses are the most cost-efficient option if you intend to pursue an InDesign career. While the price of certificate training is hefty upfront, learning InDesign at a professional level can boost your earning potential, outweighing the costs over time. In addition, certificate training is ultimately cheaper than taking multiple shorter classes to achieve the same results.

How Quickly Do You Want to Learn InDesign?

Are you someone who prefers to take things slowly, spreading classwork out over many months, or does your lifestyle demand a speedy mastery of InDesign for a career? The pace of your learning journey will be unique to your learning needs, lifestyle, and professional goals, and InDesign classes come in multiple schedule formats to accommodate this. You can master InDesign extremely quickly by participating in a full-time immersive InDesign certificate course. Alternatively, if you want to learn InDesign slowly or take breaks in the process, you can sign up for short InDesign classes as often as time permits or attend an InDesign certificate course part-time. By providing learning materials that you can study at home, on-demand classes also make it possible to learn InDesign at whatever pace you need. 

Do You Want to Become a Professional Designer?

Design is an incredibly rewarding hobby, but when it becomes a career, it typically demands more training. Consequently, knowing your goal (professional or casual) can help you identify what features you want in a class so that you can make the right decision. 

If you’re headed toward a career in design, InDesign may not be enough by itself to start a career, meaning that you’ll likely want to choose a design certificate that includes additional skills related to your chosen field. For instance, if you want to become a graphic designer, you should choose a graphic design bootcamp that also includes skills like Photoshop, InDesign, and design theory. In addition to offering hands-on skills training, career-oriented certificate programs often include benefits like job support, interview training, portfolio workshops, and mentorship. If you’re simply exploring InDesign as a hobby, you may not need to pay for these types of benefits and can get away with taking an InDesign-only bootcamp or a shorter InDesign course. 

Do You Need Additional Training?

As a versatile design software that’s used in many different fields, InDesign is often combined with other design skills to achieve better results. Consequently, there are many situations where you may want to add more training to your education even if you’re not planning to use InDesign professionally. For instance, the technical aspects of InDesign can be enhanced when you understand design concepts like composition and white space. Other soft skills that you can hone in a class include creativity, teamwork, communication, and the ability to implement feedback. 

Taking classes can also help you learn additional technical skills that combine well with InDesign, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. Likewise, learning how to use Figma can make it easier to design layouts that are user-friendly. If you want to qualify for advanced design jobs with high salaries, you may also want to consider learning project management in a formal class setting.

Do You Prefer In-Person or Online Training?

Thanks to the huge variety of learning options out there, you can choose between learning InDesign in-person or online, but before choosing one, be sure to weigh the pros and cons of each. In-person InDesign classes will give you the most social experience, with quick access to your instructor any time you need help. However, there are fewer in-person InDesign classes available, meaning that depending on your location, your options may be sparse. Additionally, you’ll need to carve out time to attend and commute to scheduled classes at a physical location. 

Online classes come in two formats, with live online classes bearing the most similarities to traditional in-person classes. These courses offer real-time instruction that enables you to interact with classmates and instructors as you receive scheduled InDesign training from the comfort of your home. On-demand courses, the second type of online training, offer flexible instruction by way of pre-recorded videos and other self-study materials, making it possible to learn InDesign at your own pace. Unlike in-person and live online classes, however, on-demand courses don’t generally include instructor support, meaning that you’ll be left to your own devices to get past tough challenges. 

Learn InDesign at Noble Desktop

Regardless of the type of training you’re looking for, Noble Desktop can set you up with an InDesign course that can meet your needs. You can participate in their diverse selection of InDesign classes in NYC or tune in live online for expert-led learning experiences designed to build your skills and your confidence in one. For the comprehensive guide to InDesign, sign up for the Adobe InDesign Bootcamp, which covers all the skills you need to know to use InDesign like a pro. The experiential learning projects in this course will familiarize you with every InDesign feature, enabling you to create stylized text, tables, posters, advertisements, magazine spreads, and more. 

If InDesign is just one of many skills you want to learn in preparation for a design career, you can learn a well-rounded skill set by attending one of Noble Desktop’s many professional development bootcamps. In the Graphic Design Certificate, for instance, you’ll sharpen your skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and applied design theory while practicing soft skills like team communication. With the support of an expert mentor, you’ll gain professional experience that can be applied to your career, build a strong creative portfolio, and ultimately graduate ready to score a job. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you may only want to learn InDesign to fuel your own creative hobbies, in which case, Noble Desktop’s InDesign in a Day class is just for you. Designed for casual learners who have no prior InDesign experience, this course will teach you core basics, from navigating the app interface to using graphics, text, and color to produce layouts. Like other Noble classes, this course takes a hands-on approach to training, giving you practice projects to work with rather than solely expecting you to remember material from lectures.