Become an Adobe Certified Professional in

Print & Digital Media Publication
Using Adobe InDesign

Validate your knowledge of Adobe InDesign, the industry-leading page design and layout app that lets you create, preflight, and publish beautiful documents for print and digital media.

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Indesign Exam Guide

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Exam guide

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The InDesign exam guide.

The exam objectives are outlined below alongside relevant resources. All key items are examples of exam topics and do not comprise a comprehensive list.

This guide is based on the 2025 version of Print & Digital Media Publication Using Adobe InDesign For 2018-2020 versions of the exam objectives, please visit Certiport.

1. Working in the Design Industry

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This objective covers critical concepts related to working with others as well as crucial legal, technical, and design-related

1.1 Identify terminology and interpret communication relating to the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing publications.

a. Determine whether content is relevant to the purpose, audience, audience needs, user experience, and has an appropriate design for target devices.
Key Terms: client goals, target audience, demographics, accessibility, etc.
b. Identify requirements based on how the design will be published.
Key Concepts: exporting to various document types (PDF, JPG, PNG)

c. Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for communicating about design plans with peers and clients.
Key Terms: sketches, specifications, design process, wireframes, prototypes, iterations, change orders, drafts, feedback loop, creative brief, etc.
d. Demonstrate knowledge of basic project management concepts.
Key Terms: project scope, scope creep, cloud collaboration, and file management

e. Demonstrate knowledge of accessibility standards and best practices for publications.
Key Concepts: alt text, hierarchy in paragraph styles, font selection, leading, kerning, tracking, proper color contrast, text size, and other assistive elements to meet regulatory requirements and improve user experience.
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Resources & Tutorials

How to succeed as a digital designer

Do's and Don'ts of Great Print Design

Creating accessible PDFs

Project Management Basics

Best Practices for Presenting Design Concepts to Stakeholders

1.2 Assess the type of copyright, permissions, and licensing required to use specific content.

a. Determine legal and ethical considerations for using third-party content.
Key Terms: Usage rights, copyright, intellectual property, derivative work, commercial use policies, attribution, AI-generated content, restricted fonts (convert text to outlines)
b. Determine when and how to obtain permission to use images, audio, or video.
Key Terms: rights, permissions, licensing, attribution, releases

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Resources & Tutorials

Intellectual Property

About CC Licenses

What’s a model release, and when do you need one?

Design Business & Ethics

1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of key terminology related to publications and knowledge of design principles and best practices.

a. Demonstrate knowledge of publication and graphic design terminology.
Key Terms: image resolution, image size, file types, linking and embedding, pixel, raster, bitmap, vector, path, object, type, resizing, units of measurement (picas, inches, pixels, centimeters), elements of design
b. Demonstrate knowledge of how color is used in publications.
Key Terms: color management, gamut, color spaces (CMYK, RGB, grayscale), color mode, printing process vs. spot colors

c. Understand and use key terms related to layouts.
Key Terms: title, header, body text, block quote, footer, caption, table of contents, index, page size, page orientation, facing pages, spread, bleed, trim, slug, parent page, alternate page layout, column, gutter, margin, frame
d. Communicate visually by using the elements and principles of design and common design techniques.
Key Terms: line, shape, form, color, texture, contrast, balance, white space, proportion, rhythm, pattern, unity, repetition, alignment, balance, scale, rule of thirds, tone

e. Identify and use common typographic adjustments to create contrast, hierarchy, and enhanced readability.
Key Terms: font, size, style, color, alignment, kerning, tracking, leading, horizontal and vertical scale, line length, serif vs. sans serif

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Resources & Tutorials

Managing Color

Applying Color Effects

Basic Design Principles

How to Create Custom Typography for Your Brand

Step Into the Future of Layout Design

2. Project Setup and Interface

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This objective covers the interface setup and programsettings, creating and configuring documents, and knowledge about importing digital assets.

2.1 Create a document.

a. Configure document settings for printed or digital publications.
Key Concepts: width, height, margins, columns, gutter, orientation, pages, bleed, Facing Pages, Primary Text Frame
b. Create and use document presets.

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Resources & Tutorials

Creating Documents

Adjust Layouts

Create Documents

2.2 Configure the application workspace.

a. Identify and manipulate elements of the InDesign interface.
Key Concepts: menus and panels (Properties, Control, Tools, Layers, Styles, Links, Swatches, Align, Pages, Stroke, Text Wrap, Hyperlinks)
b. Organize and customize the workspace.
Key Concepts: tabbed documents; showing, hiding, grouping and docking panels; saving and resetting workspaces

c. Configure application preferences.
Key Concepts: Display Performance, Units & Increments

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Resources & Tutorials

Workspace Basics

InDesign Tools

Setting Preferences

2.3 Use non-printing design tools in the interface to aid in design or workflow.

a. Navigate a document.
Key Concepts: panning, scrolling, zooming, pasteboard, fit page
b. Use rulers.
Key Concepts: showing and hiding rulers, changing the measurement unit on rulers

c. Use guides and grids.
Key Concepts: adding, removing, and locking/unlocking guides; hiding guides and grids; showing grids; Smart Guides; creating guide layouts; snapping; document grid
d. Use views and modes to work efficiently.
Key Concepts: changing screen mode; Normal, Preview, Bleed, and Presentation Modes; show and hide Hidden Characters

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Resources & Tutorials

Zoom In and Out

Using Grids

Using Rulers

2.4 Import assets into a project.

a. Add assets to an InDesign document.
Key Concepts: embedding, linking, relinking, Show Import Options, pasting and placing assets
b. Place text from an existing document.
Key Concepts: .docx, .rtf, .txt

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Resources & Tutorials

Linked Content

2.5 Manage colors, swatches, and gradients.

a. Apply fill and stroke color.
Key Concepts: frame and text, swatches, Color Picker, Eyedropper tool
b. Create and customize gradients.
Key Concepts: Gradient panel, editing color and transparency stops, radial and linear gradient

c. Create, manage, and edit swatches and swatch libraries.
Key Concepts: color values; color swatches; tints; identifying color swatch type, including Process and Spot; creating, managing, and loading swatch libraries (including commercial libraries)

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Resources & Tutorials

Gradients

Swatches

3. Organizing Documents

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This objective covers document structure, such as layers and pages including parent pages.

3.1 Use layers to manage design elements.

a. Use the Layers panel to modify layers.
Key Concepts: adding, deleting, hiding/showing, locking/unlocking, duplicating, and renaming layers; layer options; recognizing that layers are document wide and controlled per page or spread
b. Manage and work with multiple layers in a project.
Key Concepts: layer color; working with layers across spreads; hierarchy and stacking order; grouping, selecting, and targeting objects using the Layers panel; moving an object from one layer to another

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Resources & Tutorials

Layers

Grouping, Locking, and Duplicating Objects

Organize content with layers

3.2 Manage and modify pages.

a. Create, edit, and arrange pages in a document.
Key Concepts: adding, deleting, and shuffling pages and spreads; selecting and rearranging pages; Page tool
b. Create and apply parent pages.
Key Concepts: Pages Panel, naming, releasing objects, overriding, page numbering, numbering and section options

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Resources & Tutorials

Multipage Documents

Master Pages

Pages and Spreads

Page Layout Course

4. Creating and Modifying Text and Tables

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This objective covers text, paragraph and character styles, text wrap and flow, and tables.

4.1 Add and manipulate text.

a. Use type tools to add text.
Key Tools: text frames, text frame options, Type tool, Type on a Path tool
b. Use appropriate character settings.
Key Settings: font, size, font style, kerning, tracking, leading, baseline shift, changing case, color used to enhance readability and hierarchy

c. Use appropriate paragraph settings.
Key Settings: indentation, alignment, paragraph spacing, hyphenation, Drop Cap, numbered and bulleted lists
d. Manage text wrap and flow.
Key Concepts: text flow, threading text, managing overset text, text wrap and contour options, columns

e. Use tools to add special characters or content.
Key Terms: page numbers, break characters, special characters, glyphs

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Resources & Tutorials

Kerning and Tracking

Threading Text

4.2 Create, modify, and apply paragraph and character styles.

a. Distinguish between paragraph and character styles and how to use them.
Key Concepts: applying a paragraph and/or a character style, modifying a style, identifying when overrides are present, clearing overrides

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Resources & Tutorials

Paragraph and Character Styles

Work with styles

Paragraph and Character Settings

4.3 Use editing techniques to manipulate document content.

a. Use various tools to revise and refine project content.
Key Tools: find/change, spell check, add custom words to dictionary, change language, table of contents

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Resources & Tutorials

Find and replace

Editing Text

4.4 Create and edit tables.

a. Create and edit tables
Key Concepts: adding or importing tabular data; rows, columns, and cells; fill; strokes and borders; merging and splitting cells; converting text and table data; table options; cell options; converting rows to headers or footers

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Resources & Tutorials

Creating Tables

Selecting and Editing Tables

Tables, Strokes and Fills

Tables, Strokes, and Fills

5. Adding and Modifying Visual Elements

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This objective covers tools that affect the visual appearance of elements.

5.1 Use core tools and features to lay out visual elements.

a. Create, select, and modify frames.
Key Tools: Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, selecting frames or content, content grabber, copy and paste, frame tools, shape tools (Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Line tools)
Key Concepts: frames (graphic, text, unassigned); keyboard modifiers; selecting multiple objects with selection tools or in the Layers panel; moving, grouping, and arranging objects
b. Place and/or manipulate graphics.
Key Concepts: placing graphics freely into documents or into existing frames, Frame Fitting options, Content- Aware Fit

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Resources & Tutorials

Creating Text Frames

Placing Graphics

Frame Fitting

Selecting Objects

Creating Text Frames

5.2 Transform graphics within a publication.

a. Modify frames and frame content.
Key Concepts: understanding the relationship between a frame and its content, replacing frame content, using frames to crop content, manipulating anchor points
b. Transform individual frames or content.
Key Concepts: alignment; distribution; scale; rotating, flipping, and transforming; reference point

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Resources & Tutorials

Editing Paths

Work with frames and objects

Transforming Objects

Compound Paths

5.3 Modify the appearance of elements.

a. Use effects to modify images or frames.
Key Concepts: drop shadow, feather, glow, transparency, Effects Panel
b. Create, edit, apply, and save object styles.
Key Concepts: creating, deleting, redefining, and managing object styles

c. Adjust the appearance of objects, frames, or layers.
Key Concepts: fill and stroke, opacity, Pathfinder panel, Properties panel

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Resources & Tutorials

Object Styles

Adding Effects

5.4 Add interactivity.

a. Add interactive elements and behaviors.
Key Concepts: hyperlinks and QR codes

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Resources & Tutorials

Hyperlinks

5.5 Use InDesign’s artificial intelligence (AI) features to generate and modify graphics.

a. Create graphics using text to image
Key Concepts: contextual and prompting
b. Modify graphics using Generative Expand
Key Concepts: contextual and with optional prompting

6. Publishing Documents

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This objective covers publishing and packaging.

6.1 Prepare documents for publishing.

a. Check document for errors and project specifications.
Key Concepts: Preflight panel, defining preflight profile, resolving preflight errors, color space, bleed, resolution, document size

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Resources & Tutorials

Preflighting Files

Printer's Marks and Bleeds

6.2 Export or save documents.

a. Save in the native file format for InDesign (.indd).
Key Concepts: saving for compatibility with earlier versions of the software (.idml), saving copies
b. Export using appropriate formats and settings
Key Concepts: resolution, marks and bleeds, crop marks, compression, accessibility options, include hyperlinks, page range

c. Print proof copies before publishing.
Key Concepts: print settings, printing pages or spreads, printing thumbnails
d. Package an InDesign project.
Key Concepts: font and asset management

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Resources & Tutorials