Two minor aspects of the nearly
500-page typesetting project left me stumped. Asking Google and the
program's “help” feature had brought me no closer to a solution.
For several weeks I avoided the
problem, typesetting all the text sections, which gave me no
problems. But this weekend I finished that aspect. Now I had to gain
access to the page headers and borders, which remained stubbornly
locked.
I had excuses: I was using someone
else's layout from a previous edition. Plus, I'd done most of my
typesetting with another program. I'd never had training in Adobe
InDesign.
But those excuses wouldn't wash. I'd
agreed to undertake the project, and now I was on deadline.
So I took the step I should have taken
weeks ago: I invited a friend to lunch.
Not just any friend, but a guy I knew
from a local ministry who for years had earned his living using
InDesign.
Yes, he was willing to meet me for
lunch at a first-rate barbecue place near his office. Based on my
email description of the problem, he thought he already knew the
answer.
Mike did indeed. He quickly pointed me
to an aspect of the program I hadn't discovered on my own. He pointed
out how the feature worked, then gave me multiple opportunities to
practice it.
Then for good measure, he pointed to
two more big time-savers.
For years we've both been part of a
professional training and support organization. This far into my
career, I'm usually the one offering instruction to rookies.
But sometimes I'm the one who needs to
learn. How much better when instruction comes with a plate of pulled
pork and fried okra.
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