Which InDesign Bootcamp is Best?

Bootcamp training makes it significantly easier to gain comprehensive knowledge of InDesign, but with so many classes on offer, it can feel overwhelming to choose one. Part-time and full-time options make it possible to match your class to your schedule, while classes available in-person, live online, and hybrid cater to different learning styles and accessibility needs. While some bootcamps focus exclusively on InDesign mastery, others cover InDesign alongside other skills and include career training. To effortlessly find and compare local InDesign classes, visit Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool. 

What are the Most Important Criteria to Evaluate in InDesign Bootcamps?

Topics Covered

Ensuring that your bootcamp’s curriculum covers all the skills you want to learn is vital to meeting your goals. If you only want to learn InDesign and nothing else, there are plenty of bootcamps that offer comprehensive InDesign training without wasting time on other software tools or career training. These bootcamps are a great option if you’re a hobbyist who wants advanced training, but they can also be advantageous if you’re a professional who needs to prepare for an InDesign certification exam without covering other topics. 

In contrast, you may be preparing for a new career, in which case, you’ll want to learn InDesign along with other industry-specific skills. To help you meet this goal, there are a variety of design certificates and bootcamps curated toward careers like graphic design, UI design, UX design, and web design. In these bootcamps, you’ll learn InDesign as a companion tool to skills like Photoshop, Figma, and WordPress. Career-oriented bootcamps also offer added professional development perks that aren’t usually offered by InDesign-only bootcamps. 

Hands-on Experience

Bootcamps are more immersive and interactive than other types of InDesign classes and are structured around practical training. Rather than simply providing an overview, these classes give you prolonged experience working with InDesign. In career-specific programs, you’ll also receive the same experience with other design software and industry skills. While performing hands-on tasks, you’ll learn how to apply design theory and have the chance to experiment with your own creative style. 

While practicing InDesign at home is generally not considered adequate job preparation, you can confidently reference bootcamp experience in a job application. Additionally, the projects you complete in a design bootcamp will furnish you with material for a professional portfolio.

Delivery Formats

Each bootcamp provides training through different methods, leading to endless variations in terms of length and meeting format. The two most common scheduling options are full-time and part-time study. Full-time bootcamps provide accelerated training and can range in length between a few days and three months depending on your chosen subject. Alternatively, part-time bootcamps stretch training out over three months to a year for more flexibility and practice time. 

InDesign training also comes in a variety of formats, with some opting to meet in-person, others broadcasting meetings online, and still others hybridizing the two. In general, bootcamp graduates agree that in-person and live online training is the most effective way to learn design. In contrast, asynchronous online classes offer less instructor support, fewer perks, and little professional experience in exchange for greater flexibility. 

Professional Development Benefits

To help get your career on the rails, bootcamps may provide professional development services. While most live online and in-person bootcamps enable you to network with like-minded peers, some programs offer further opportunities to connect with seasoned professionals who can do more for your career. To help you perform better in interviews, some bootcamps offer mock interview sessions along with interview strategies. Other bootcamps provide portfolio and resume workshops, giving you the chance to perfect your job application. Finally, bootcamps that offer job support can help with job placement and act as a direct funnel into internships. 

Because career benefits do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to helping you start or pivot to a new career, it’s worth choosing a bootcamp that offers services aligned with your needs.

Financing Options

With your budget in mind, be sure to look at what financing options are available for each bootcamp you consider. Even though some bootcamps cost significantly more than others, many offer a variety of funding options that can reduce your financial burden. Many programs provide flexible payment plans that enable you to pay for your education in smaller sums over a longer period. Other programs provide group discounts or lower rates when you bundle multiple classes. If you’re learning InDesign to further an existing career, your employer may even be able to sponsor your training. 

Whatever your budget constraints are, fronting the money to pay for career training will ultimately pay off in the long run. With marketable skills in your resume, a stunning portfolio, and the experience to back your talents up, you’ll find it easier to score higher-earning jobs. With hard work, you’ll eventually earn back the money you put into your education. 

Additional Benefits

More than any other style of InDesign class, bootcamps are built to help you succeed, and one of the ways they ensure your success is by providing you with as many resources as possible. Simple perks such as free workbooks, set-up assistance, and pre-class learning materials can make it easier to get started. 

In addition to providing you with plenty of learning materials and opportunities to learn in class, many bootcamps provide resources to support your learning outside of class. For instance, bootcamps like the ones available at Noble Desktop offer one-on-one mentorship sessions that allow you to get help with challenging material and even seek career advice outside of class time. Other bootcamps offer similar support in the form of career coaching or tutoring sessions. 

To allow you to review material or catch up when you miss a class, live online bootcamps often record classes. In a similar fashion, some classes will allow you to retake a class for free if you decide you need to relearn concepts or simply get too caught up in the chaos of life to finish the class. When you graduate, many bootcamps also provide you with a certificate of completion that can be inserted into your LinkedIn profile or resume as proof that you completed the course.

What are the Top InDesign Bootcamps?

There are dozens upon dozens of InDesign bootcamps to choose from, making it hard to decipher which schools are best. However, InDesign veterans generally agree that Noble Desktop’s popular InDesign bootcamps are among the best training programs for beginners who want to become professionals in a short time. Noble Desktop’s immersive career programs are offered both in-person at their NYC campus and as live online courses. 

After teaching beginner skills, the Adobe InDesign Bootcamp will teach you how to work with advanced InDesign features, including Master Pages, Anchored Objects, Libraries, and Tables. By means of hands-on projects, you’ll develop the skills needed to produce professional-grade advertisements, magazines, book spreads, flyers, posters, and more. In addition to learning how to create and print physical designs, you’ll also gain the skills to develop and publish digital media such as PDFs and ebooks. Outside of class, you’ll work with a one-on-one mentor who can answer questions and help you tackle challenging projects.

If you’re looking for something a bit more career-minded, Noble Desktop has numerous design certificates that provide comprehensive training along with mentored experience. In the Graphic Design Certificate, you’ll learn to combine InDesign with Photoshop and Illustrator as you create stunning multimedia projects for your portfolio. As you create designs for a variety of purposes, you’ll also learn how to implement situationally aware design principles for greater impact. Working on a studio design time will also give you the chance to develop important other soft skills, such as teamwork, communication, and organization. For a smooth career launch, you can take advantage of certificate benefits like one-on-one instructor sessions, job support, and portfolio feedback.

Through NYIM Training, you can participate in an immersive Digital Design Certificate by attending in NYC or signing up for live online training. In this program, you’ll explore professional skills in visual and web design along with skills from graphic and print design. In Addition to Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, you’ll work with Figma to create interactive digital interfaces that are both beautiful and functional. This bootcamp includes a dedicated unit just for building and workshopping the perfect portfolio and provides plenty of hands-on experience to go with it. In addition, you’ll have the chance to work with a mentor outside of class to prepare for your career launch. Upon graduation, you’ll retain access to a full team of career support specialists who can aid you along the way to success

Need to prepare for a design career in Spanish? Centro de Estudios de Innovación (CEI)’s Graphic Design Course helps Spanish speakers prepare for careers both online and at several Spanish locations. As one of Europe’s only centers for Adobe Certified Professional certification, CEI enables students to take proctored certification exams as part of their course. This course features brand identity and editorial design projects designed to teach Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. With these skills, graduates can pursue careers in graphic design, creative management, print and publishing design, advertising, and photo retouching. As an added benefit, CEI’s course comes with a job guarantee, extra workshops, free Google Drive storage, and a complimentary website domain. 

Enrolling in an InDesign Bootcamp Part-Time or Full-Time

Choosing the right class schedule is an important decision that can have a major impact on your everyday life as well as how effectively you learn. Because each training format has unique advantages, neither part-time nor full-time training is invariably better than the other. As a result, you’ll want to weigh those advantages against your unique goals, preferences, and needs to find a program that will work for you. 

First, consider how quickly you’d like to learn InDesign. If you want to launch a career as quickly as possible, full-time InDesign training is your fastest option, but it will also demand a greater weekly time commitment from you. If you work a full-time job or other responsibilities that make full-time training impossible, part-time training is an equally advantageous workaround. While full-time bootcamps can furnish you with accelerated training and greater daily exposure to design, the flexibility of part-time training can make it easier to juggle life’s responsibilities and even allow you more time to practice InDesign outside of class. 

Each schedule also comes with downsides that are worth considering. While full-time training can get you up to speed quickly, the fast pace of training ultimately provides less time to master each skill and can leave you feeling whiplashed. Additionally, full-time bootcamps are often more expensive than part-time options. In contrast, the prolonged timeline of part-time training can hold up your entrance to the workforce and isn’t ideal for anyone who needs design experience on a deadline. All that aside, choosing a bootcamp is an incredibly personal decision and as long as you select a program that aligns with your needs, availability, and budget, you’ll receive a fulfilling experience. 

Enrolling in an InDesign Bootcamp In-Person or Online

If you’re uncertain whether an online or in-person bootcamp would work best for you, it can help to understand the major distinctions between these class formats. From there, you can more clearly identify the pros and cons. When it comes to weighing advantages and disadvantages, choosing which pros and cons are most important to you can help you narrow your choice further.

In-Person vs. Online: What’s the Difference?

Traditional in every sense of the word, in-person courses meet at a physical location where you can interact face-to-face with peers and teachers. While there are two main types of online courses, it’s widely agreed that live online bootcamps offer more effective training. These classes mimic the interactive style of in-person courses by utilizing video conferencing platforms to deliver instruction in real-time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Live Online Bootcamps

Live online bootcamps are more flexible than in-person bootcamps because they don’t require any travel. This makes them accommodating to people who live a busy or rural life, along with those limited by disabilities or access to childcare. Live online training can also be a cheaper option thanks in part to the lack of commute and in part to lower tuition. Because live online classes attract students from across the globe, building a robust and diverse network is much more feasible. 

While live online bootcamps have hardly any downsides, there are a few to be aware of. Some students may find it slightly more challenging to connect with peers in a digital classroom where people don’t linger to chat after class. Additionally, students who are easily distracted at home may find it difficult to remain attentive during class. Those with a poor internet connection or a high incidence of inclement weather may also encounter more technical difficulties, such as slow loading times. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of In-Person Bootcamps

Face-to-face instruction offers a highly interactive experience where making friends feels natural. Networking opportunities in these classes are generally limited to local areas, however. For many, staying focused is easier in a physical classroom, and some programs even provide free access to equipment through their campus. 

Unfortunately, commuting isn’t easy for everyone and can create stress or even add to the financial burden of education. Additionally, in-person courses require a scheduled time commitment with added time for travel and parking.

Do You Want to Start a New Career Using Your InDesign Training?

Because every design emphasizes varying degrees of knowledge, you want to be sure you’re selecting a bootcamp that aligns with your long-term goals. In general, bootcamps are built with professional development in mind, but some only include some of the skills you may need. For instance, some InDesign bootcamps only cover InDesign, while you may also need to learn Photoshop, Illustrator, and applied design before you can start a graphic design career. If you already know these other skills, however, and InDesign is the last skill on your list, an InDesign-only bootcamp may be the perfect choice. 

If you plan to emphasize a specific design niche throughout your career, you’ll also benefit from choosing a bootcamp that offers niche experience. For example, bootcamps that are geared toward Graphic Designers who plan to work in marketing often incorporate projects focused on advertising and brand identity. Other bootcamps focus specifically on topics like digital publishing or print design. In some cases, bootcamps may even enable you to work directly with real companies who need niche designs. 

As you compare programs, also pay close attention to the career support services offered. Your needs are unique, and whether you need interview training, one-on-one coaching, portfolio workshopping, job support, or help with assignments, there’s a program out there that can help. 

On the flip side, if you’re not looking for career training and simply want a beginner-friendly class that teaches InDesign for hobbyists, there are plenty of shorter InDesign courses on the market. 

Which InDesign Bootcamp is Best For Me?

In many ways, finding the right bootcamp is as much a matter of self-awareness as it is of having the right resources. When comparing InDesign bootcamps and certificates, there are a few basic things you need to know about yourself first:

• What’s your learning style? In addition to determining whether you’re a visual, audio, or hands-on learner, consider factors like distractibility and disability. What’s your preferred way to receive feedback? Are you a social learner who likes to participate in group activities? 
• Are you willing or able to travel? Knowing whether you can commute to campus for class can help you narrow down your list of options. 
• What skills do you want to learn? The options are endless, from InDesign-only bootcamps to career courses covering graphic design and other design professions.
• How much time do you have to commit to learning? Knowing how much time you have available each week can help you determine whether you want to attend a part-time or full-time training program. 
• Which career benefits are your must-haves and which are simply nice to have? Looking at perks like one-on-one counseling and mock interview training, make a list of which professional development perks are crucial to achieving your long-term goals