Adobe CC Libraries: Paragraph and Character Styles

A few months ago I wrote a post giving an overview of Adobe CC Libraries. Since that time and after integrating them into my workflow, it’s clear that one of its most powerful features is the ability to store paragraph and character styles.

The ability to create a style once and share it not only with others but also with different Adobe apps is remarkable and an incredible time saver.

Establishing Standard, Baseline Styles

From the moment I started desktop publishing in the mid-1980’s, the standard content creation workflow always seems to start in a word processor. Over time Microsoft Word has become the de facto one, so as I formalized my content creation workflow, I decided to standardize my paragraph and character styles on the default ones from Microsoft Word. That way when I place a Word doc in InDesign the style formatting will be automatically applied.

To see all the styles in one place and to have a better understanding of the depth and breadth of the styles, I created a Word doc listing all the standard Word paragraph and character styles.

A Word doc listing all the standard Microsoft Word paragraph and character styles.

Recently I updated that to include a text example of the style.

A Word doc listing all the standard Microsoft Word paragraph and character styles with examples.

Which Adobe Apps Can Use Styles?

According to Adobe’s Help System these Creative Cloud desktop apps can use styles from CC Libraries:

Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe InDesign, and
Adobe Photoshop (character styles only).

As of this writing, CC Libraries don’t have very robust integration into the Creative Cloud mobile apps. Hopefully over time that will change, including making text styles available in the incredible Photoshop and forthcoming Illustrator apps for iPadOS.

Creating Styles

I decided to create my styles in InDesign (versus Illustrator or Photoshop) because InDesign has the most robust set of options when creating them, so it seemed important to create them with the most options defined as possible.

As a starting point, I created a source InDesign document using the Word doc I had made with all the styles listed and with text examples. That way if a style needed to be changed or a new one added, there was a single “source of truth” to update and then that “source of truth” could be easily used to import the styles into a CC Library.

An InDesign file listing all the standard Microsoft Word paragraph and character styles imported into and defined in InDesign with examples.

Organizing the Styles Library

When I initially established my CC Libraries for Brettro, I created one specifically for text styles, appropriately named “Brettro – Typography & Type Styles.” The styles were then organized by group:

Paragraph Styles – Front matter: styles for title, subtitle, date, etc.
Paragraph Styles – Body matter: styles for headings, body copy, photo captions and credits, etc.
Paragraph Styles – Back matter: styles for endnotes, bibliographies, etc.

This seemed like a perfect organization scheme until I realized that many of my styles were different depending on the type of print document I was making. For example, my marketing-focused materials use different titles and headings compared to my long-form documents.

Multiple Type Style Libraries

To minimize confusion, I now have two “source of truth” style documents for InDesign and two CC Libraries for text styles:

Brettro – Marketing Material Type Styles: for all type styles necessary to create marketing-style materials like one-to-two page handouts or fact sheets, and
Brettro – Presos, Proposals and Pub Type Styles: for all type styles necessary to create long-form documents.

These library names are aligned with how I store and name my documents using a document numbering standard I developed in late 2008.

Type Style Library Groups

I changed the group structure of these libraries to this:

Titles & Headings: contains the paragraph styles for the document title, subtitle and the headings
Body Copy – Basic: contains the paragraph styles for the body copy paragraph styles
Body Copy – Stylized: contains the paragraph styles for the different text elements in the body copy the may need styling, like quotes, captions and photo credits
Lists – Bullets and Numbers: contains the paragraph styles for the various levels of bulleted and numbered lists
Character Styles: contains the character styles for things like bold and italicized text and hyperlinks
Document Formatting: contains the paragraph styles for the document headers and footers

This makes it easier to more quickly find the styles I need when I’m working in specific parts of the document.

Wrapping it Up

So there it is: paragraph and character styles in Adobe CC Libraries. The value of this is incredible because now you don’t need to go hunting through InDesign documents to find a style you once created, you can keep them in a CC Library.

Brettro Product Numbering, File Naming and File Structure Standards

For years I wrestled with how to name my creative documents and where to consistently and logically save them.

Then, in 2006 I came across Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler. The book is a comprehensive guide to brand development and maintenance and is an incredible resource for learning how to do it. I have purchased every new edition that has been published since 2006, with the most recent published in 2017.

The one page in the entire book I found the most useful, though, was the page containing a proposed outline for a branding manual. The suggested sections organized creative material in a comprehensive, logical and meaningful way and—for me—really seemed to lend itself to a solid, future proof file structure.

Establishing the File Structure

Screen shot of the directory structure using the product categores.

The file structure is divided into 20 folders that align with the primary product categories defined in Designing Brand Identity. They are:

001 – Brand Identity Elements
002 – Nomenclature
003 – Color
004 – Signatures
005 – Typography
006 – U.S. Business Papers
007 – International Business Papers
008 – Digital Media
009 – Forms
010 – Marketing Materials
011 – Advertising
012 – Presos, Proposals and Pubs
013 – Exhibits
014 – Signage
015 – Vehicle Identification
016 – Packaging
017 – Uniforms
018 – Ephemera
019 – Image Library
020 – Reproduction Files

Files are saved in their own folder within each of these folders using the file naming standard I developed.

Establishing the Product Numbering Standard

I use my product numbering standard for all my visually branded documents, videos and other creative materials. This standard creates a unique identifier for each product allowing it to be easily identified and located.

The number is a quartet combining four groupings to create a unique number:

Calendar year: including the calendar year as part of the product number provides instant recognition for the year the product was created, context for discussions on how the product has aged and can serve as a guidepost for referencing invoices for material production;
Product category: the product category is a reference to the file structure outlined above; this number makes it significantly easier to find a file in the file structure by narrowing the search to a single folder;
Unique ID: this number is the only truly unique identifier for a product in the standard. This four-digit number can only be used once and is the thing used to identify a product in its product category folder. See “Creating the Unique ID” to learn how this number is created.
Version number: this number indicates the version of the product.

Breaking down the product number quartet.

Creating the Unique ID

Figuring out how to create a unique number and maintain a list of those numbers was the most challenging part of establishing this standard. I finally settled on an Excel file that creates a unique ID based on the row number in the spreadsheet.

This column uses a function to add 1 to the current row ID to create the product's unique ID. — This column uses a function to add 1 to the current row ID to create the product’s unique ID.

This means, however, that you cannot delete a row once an entry has been created, otherwise it will ruin the whole unique ID scheme. That is a pretty big flaw, but since I am the only person who uses this system on Brettro material, it is functional.

Framework for Determining Version Numbering

Determining when and how to assign a new version number versus a new product number versus not assigning anything new can be difficult. That decision requires a framework to make the determination and that framework is based around the product’s lifecycle. Every product has a usable life: there is a defined beginning and a defined ending, but the tricky part is defining how a product changes between its beginning and ending

The decision framework has four basic questions:

Is this a new product? A new product is an item that has not yet been created or the product’s design or content is completely changed. A new product requires an entirely new product number that resets the version back to one.
Is this a revision or an edit? A revision is a modification to an existing product’s design or content that changes or clarifies the design’s or content’s original intent, message, or theme. An edit is a minor modification to an existing product’s design or content that does not change the design’s or the content’s intent, message, or theme. An edit typically corrects grammar, spelling, or style.
1. Revision: requires a new version number.
2. Edit: does not require a new version number.
Is this a periodical or a serial? A periodical and a serial are products created and published multiple times annually with a similar topic or theme. These are special cases in versioning where each new issue results in the creation of a new version number, not a new product number. A new product number, however, is created at the beginning of every calendar year.

Examples of periodicals are catalogs and newsletters. And examples of serials are brochures, quarterly reports and semi-annual reports.
Is this a build? A build is a unique draft created in the design phase of a product. Many designers create multiple builds of a product as part of their creative process. Once a build is determined to be the final design, the other builds should be deleted or placed in a folder named “builds.” A build does not requires a new version number. When saving a build file add a lowercase letter after the version number to indicate a unique build. For example, in this filename, 2010-002-0001-02a.indd, the lowercase letter a indicates a unique build.

Developing the Folder and File Naming Standard

The folder and file naming standard is based on both the product categories established in the file structure section and product numbering standard section.

The folder naming convention is XXXX-XXX-XXXX – type – three word slug.

The file naming convention is XXXX-XXX-XXXX-XX – type – three word slug.

Product Type

The product type is a secondary categorization that more granularly describes the type of product being created. I developed the initial list of product types referencing Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity, but over time have added others.

Product types should describe a product in general terms and should follow the “one-to-many” principle whereby the product type (the one) generally describes multiple types of products (the many) in one or two words. New product types can be added, but should be done so rarely.

The source list of product types is kept in the Excel file used for creating unique IDs.

Screen shot of the product type list in my file naming spreadsheet.

Three Word Slug

The three word slug should describe the purpose and/or content of the product. I do my best to limit myself to three words, but sometimes I end up using four or five.

Product Tracker Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet I use to track and create unique IDs functions as more than just that. Its primary function is a product tracker to capture not only a product’s unique ID but also to capture its product category, product type and slug.

Thirteen Years and Counting

I have been consistently using this standard for 13 years both at Brettro and Uncle Sam, Inc. It has held up very well in both places with no significant changes in that time.

My Creative Toolbox

Some time in early 2014 I ran across Tom McFarlin’s post My WordPress Development Toolbox and thought, “how clever and what a great idea!” I immediately sat down and started documenting my own toolbox but didn’t finish it and publish it…until today.

‘Creative’ vs. ‘Development’ Toolbox

While the structure of this post is heavily influenced by Tom’s, I realized as I started to dig into my own toolbox that it has more than just web development tools. I decided to document all of them. (So Tom, if you’re reading this, thank you for the idea and the great outline!) I’ve sectioned my toolbox like this:

Hardware
Software for Document Production
Software for General Productivity
Software for Video
Software for Images and Graphics
Software for Web Design
Software for Web Development
Software for Writing

Because of that, I chose to call it my “Creative Toolbox.”

Hardware

16” MacBook Pro

I picked this up a few weeks ago after having a 15” MacBook Pro for about a year (and an iMac before that, and a MacBook Pro before that…). I absolutely love this machine. The screen is gorgeous and the extra bit of screen real estate is remarkable. The keyboard has returned to its old, more enjoyable (to me) mechanism and the battery life is great.

11” iPad Pro with Pencil

I’ve always loved the iPad. I use it for reading, emailing, task management, note taking, word processing and working in spreadsheets. I have always been anxious for the day when it can be used for more than just the information consumption and light productivity work I do. With iPadOS, I believe that it will become more of a creation and development powerhouse. With Microsoft’s bevy of Office 365 iPadOS apps and Adobe releasing Photoshop for iPad and working on Illustrator for iPad, the powerhouse tablet is not too far away.

Originally I bought the 12.9” iPad Pro, but it was just that much too big to hold and read or keep with me on the sofa to pick up and poke around on while watching TV. For now, the 11” is perfect for me.

iPhone 11 Pro

I actually debated getting the Max version of the phone this year, but decided to stay with the regular size. I don’t actually use my phone for that much besides listening to music, taking pictures, tracking health stuff, replying to emails and starting notes, so the regular size works best for me.

Software

Brettro had four main capabilities when it was in business: website design and development, visual identity creation and management, print product design and videography and post-production. While most of the software I use is exclusive to a particular practice, you will find some repetition too.

Software for Document Production

Document production: I’ve been using Adobe InDesign since it was first released in late 1999. It replaced PageMaker, which I also used. It is an incredibly powerful document production application. It also exports pretty clean HTML, which I do from time to time, and has impressive looking ebook capabilities, though I’ve never used them (but have always wanted to try).
Document creation and editing: I use Microsoft Word to create my source documents for review and edit prior to importing the final version into InDesign.

Software for General Productivity

“General productivity” to me is email, task management, note taking and general life organization.

Email: I’m old school, I use Apple Mail. I honestly keep a pretty disorganized inbox and a slapdash folder structure. If there’s something actionable in an email, I either flag it to remember later, add it to a to do list or complete it right away.
Task Management: I love lists and get a great deal of satisfaction out of crossing something off a list or checking a box when it’s done, but I have yet to settle on a single task management solution.
- Reminders: I use Apple Reminders for personal stuff like my grocery list, errands and chores. (Being able to say “Hey Siri, add soap to my grocery list” is really nice.)
- OmniFocus: at one point when I was working my full-time job, going to school full-time and running Brettro part-time, I used OmniFocus religiously with the Getting Things Done (GTD) framework. It was magical. Nowadays I’m less committed to GTD and don’t use OmniFocus that much, but it is an incredible piece of software worthy of a mention.
- Microsoft To-Do and Planner: as much as I hate to compliment Microsoft, their commitment to Office 365 and rapid deployment of its tools is impressive. Both To-Do and Planner are worthy apps, the former for individual task management and the latter for group task management. As I’m ramping up my writing for this blog, I’m leaning towards using To-Do and Planner for managing tasks related to it. (Stay tuned for a separate entry on Office 365.)
Note Taking: since the iPad was released I dreamed of a day that I would be able to use it to take handwritten notes. Every few years I would buy a third-party stylus and try it, but it never felt quite right. Enter the Apple Pencil in 2015 and I never looked back.
- Nebo: this note taking app is remarkable. It recognizes your handwriting as you write and learns the quirks of your handwriting over time. You can also correct a recognized word by tapping on it and choosing from a list of suggested words. It has iCloud synchronization, though I don’t use it because I keep all my notes in Microsoft OneNote. My only complaint about Nebo is the export-to-OneNote function. While I’m glad something exists, I wish it was a little more native.
- OneNote: I went all-in on Microsoft OneNote in 2014 and never looked back. I had been using Evernote for awhile, but they kept redesigning the interface and trying out different paid tier models. The constant interface redesigns created an irritating learning curve, plus I was already in the Office 365 ecosystem, so it seemed logical to adopt. Plus the apps were (and still are) available for Mac, iOS and iPadOS and are really quite good. The only thing I don’t like about OneNote is that text recognition for handwritten notes is only available on Windows.
Password Management: a client of mine suggested 1Password to me in 2009, I bought it and have never looked back. This is an incredible product that is easy to use, syncs across devices and is available on macOS, iOS, iPadOS and as a web-based app. It also integrates into the browser on macOS and functions as an extension on iOS and iPadOS.

Software for Video

Camera: while I don’t shoot much video right now, when I do, I use my iPhone.
Post-Production: years ago I used (and preferred) Apple Final Cut Pro, but abandoned it when they rewrote the app in 2011. So I picked up Adobe Premiere Pro. It’s available on for both Mac and PC, which I needed because my full-time job requires me to use a Windows PC (which is a real bummer, let me tell you). I also use Adobe After Effects for motion graphics. And use Adobe Media Encoder to render videos for posting.

Software for Images and Graphics

Camera: I am not a photographer. I can take a snapshot, but I cannot shoot a photograph. There is a distinction and I wish I had the skill, but the camera I use when I do take pictures is my iPhone. It’s the one that’s always with me.
Image Management: for my personal photos, I use Apple Photos. For large scale projects for clients or friends, I use Adobe Lightroom.
Image Editing: like just about everybody else, I use Adobe Photoshop. And probably only use about 1 percent of its total feature set.
Graphics Creation and Editing: between Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, I can create just about any graphic I need to. I’ve been using Illustrator since it was released in 1987 (no, really). Next to MacPaint, it was the app that drew me into the world of design. It has a special place in my heart.
Slideshow Creation: on multiple occasions I’ve created slideshows for events. I use Boinx FotoMagico to do so. The software is great and very capable.

Software for Web Design

UI Prototyping: most recently, I’ve used Photoshop to create my user interfaces, but as I tackle creating a new UI for brettro.com, I’m excited to dive into Adobe XD.
Browsers: now that Internet Explorer is dead, give me all the standards-based web browsers: Safari, Chrome and Edge.

Software for Web Development

Web Server and Database: MAMP Pro was recommended to me eons ago. I like it and I’ve never tried anything else.
IDE: I’ve used Panic Coda since pretty much the moment they released it in 2007. I’ve always loved the app, from the opening screen containing all your sites and projects to the coding environment that just gets out of the way. the original Coda had a built-in reference library, which I found very useful. Coda 2 made an already great app even better. Recently Panic announced Coda’s replacement, Nova, which I’m very excited to get my hands on and use.
FTP: before Coda there was Panic Transmit. I never thought I’d be so excited about an FTP app, but this FTP app is really good. It’s fast. It’s feature complete. And, like Coda, it gets out of the way and lets you do what you need to do.
Database: I’m not sure when I first discovered Sequel Pro, but it is such a simple and elegant way to manage, view, edit and create MySQL databases I can’t imagine using anything else.
Helpers: I’m not sure how I came across CodeKit, but it does exactly what it says it’s going to do and it’s amazing. Plus it works very hard to work well with other development apps like MAMP. I essentially use it for SASS compiling and JavaScript minification, though I’m sure it does much more.
Diff Tool: honestly, I chose Kaleidoscope because I liked the icon. Fortunately for me, the app behind the icon is incredibly good and useful. It integrates with Tower, the source control app I use. for the rare times when I need a diff tool, Kaleidoscope makes it easy to do a compare and solve an issue.
Source Control: I was a hardcore Subversion fan for source control, but in either 2013 or 2014 a friend of mine convinced me to switch to Git. And at some point after that I ran across Git Tower for managing my repos. It’s great. I love it. And between their book on using Git and the app itself, it makes using Git incredibly easy.
Marking Up HTML Text: while I do my development work in Coda, when I need to mark up a long or complex piece of text, I use Adobe Dreamweaver. The environment feels more tuned to that with menu commands to insert a table (rather than code it yourself) to menu commands to insert special characters. Plus Dreamweaver has a special place in my heart. In the late 90’s when the web was new and I was a fledgling designer/developer, Dreamweaver was the most amazing IDE ever. But it was $300, which priced it out of reach for me for awhile. once I was finally able to afford it, I felt like I’d arrived.

Software for Writing

Brainstorming, Outlining and Mind Mapping: like I said above , I use OneNote for capturing notes and ideas.
Writing: I’ve tried other word processors and text editors over the years, but I always come back to Microsoft Word. It’s definitely more than I need for blogging, but it’s familiar and ubiquitous.

As Things Change…

This is my toolbox on the day I posted this. As things change I’ll keep it updated.

Brettro Re-Launches brettrospective.com

About nine months after starting this redesign in earnest, I am thrilled to announce the new brettrospective.com!

But nine months?!??

Yep. While it did not take an actual nine months to develop the design, write the code and move the content into WordPress, the Brettro website always took a back seat to both my client work and my full-time job.

The good news is, that in that time period, I really focused on developing better coding practices and on developing a solid codebase from which I can tweak and grow. I have integrated the 960 grid system and the HTML5 Boilerplate frameworks into a very solid HTML5 codebase. For customers, this means fast-loading, search-engine-optimized code. For me, it means quicker development times.

What’s Next?

While I have a solid code foundation and a great look-and-feel, this site is not yet complete. I still have a ton of content left to add. Brettro is not just a web design company, it also does identity, print and video work, plenty of which I have left to add to the Portfolio section. Stay tuned every week for updates.

Looking Back

Truly one of the most fun things about moving forward in any design is taking a look back at what was. So, of course, we’ll do that here. The images below are of the three previous Brettrospective website design. Laugh, smile and enjoy!