Any great IDCS2 Plug Ins?

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Any really cool/great plug ins for InDesign CS2 you recommend?
For free or cost.
Thanks.

[peterpica]

Probably most cost-effective is Q2ID from Marksware for opening up to 6.5 Quack docs at about $200; they might still have a sale on, not sure.

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Looking more for InDesign CS2 focused.
Thanks though.

[terrapindesign@carolina.rr.com]

<http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/indesign/>

<http://www.pluginsworld.com/>

[Bob Levine]

[url]www.teacupsoftware.com[/url]

Bob

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Eric and Bob.
Anymore?

[Buko@adobeforums.com]

You could always google InDesign plugins.

[Richard_Sohanchyk@adobeforums.com]

You could always google InDesign plugins.




Then what would we talk about here?

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

I did Google it and not much came up.
That is why I am here!

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

This seems like the best list:
<http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/indesign/>

Thanks again Eric Otto.

[Sandee_Cohen@adobeforums.com]

You really should look at Adobe Studio Exchange at the many scripts that have been written for InDesign.

These are usually free and can help you automate many processes in the program.

[Brad_Walrod@adobeforums.com]

I was hoping folks would list the plug-ins they were using and that I might hear of a few I wasn't aware of. Here's my list, with each plug-in preceded by its maker and followed by a very brief description of what I mostly use it for.

(I put a "b " in front of the developer names in the hope that I understood the formatting instrux. First message posted, although I've been lurking for a while.)

Lightning Brain (Rorohiko) StoryParker (temporarily move boxes to pasteboard)
TextExporter (export all stories from file)

Teacup Software TeacupTypeFitter (tweak paragraph spacing to gain/lose lines)

65bit Software EasyFlow CS2 (automatically add pages as needed)
MultiDoCS2 (lists performed actions that can be undone)

Flux Consulting EDTextTool (adds keyboard shortcut for copying para/char styling)

InDesign Secrets InDesignSecrets CS2 (tips for using InDesign)

i.t.i.p. GmbH InMath (creating high-level math equations with styles)

Virginia Systems Sonar Bookends InSeq (generating running heads)

Em Software Xtags (importing XPress-Tagged text into InDesign layouts)

Brad

[Steve_Werner@adobeforums.com]

I don't use many extra plug-ins. Two I use are Teacup Software's TableStyles Pro and Q2ID for converting Quark files. I think this is because InDesign includes much more functionality in the appliation than XPress, which simply REQUIRES using more plug-ins.

But for information on about existing and new plug-ins, I'll "plug" InDesign Magazine. It has reviews of plug-ins in every issue.

<http://www.indesignmag.com/idm/index.html>

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Sandee, Brad and Steve.
Really appreciate it.
Andrew

[Eric Otto]

I agree with Sandee and Steve-- between what's already in InD and a handful of very useful scripts, I haven't found much need to go the 3rd party plug-in route. I fiddled and diddled with InEffects for a while, and it was fun for a couple of weeks. But now that it's part of the Quark stable and has an uncertain future for InD, I don't use it all that much. Maybe Adobe will incorporate something like it in the next release, but I'd just as soon not see it. Better to handle that stuff with AI, and I'd rather see Adobe bring AI into the current century than turn InD into bloatware.

Just my 2¢.

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Yeah, I myself don't have the need for any,
but the company I am working for asked me to suggest some.

[Buko@adobeforums.com]

Something you might mention is, a document created with a third party plugin will be impossible to open if the printshop or service bureau that does not have said plugin.

Unlike Quark which has limited functionality without thousands of dollars of extra plugins InDesign functions quite well doing most of the things you would pay extra for in Quark.

[Peter_Truskier@adobeforums.com]

Something you might mention is, a document created with a third party
plugin will be impossible to open if the printshop or service bureau that
does not have said plugin.




That's a good point, but may or may not be true. It depends entirely on the plugin.

[Brad_Walrod@adobeforums.com]

As Peter points out, it's entirely dependent on which plug-in you choose as to whether or not its presence is required when re-opening a doc. None of the ones I mentioned are required, and anyone can open my files without worrying about reflow.

InMath does pop up a warning message if you don't have it installed: You can't properly edit its equations if it's not present. But I made sure my client was aware of that before they agreed to pay the $600 it cost so that I could use it on their job.

Lastly, it's one thing to say that you generally don't need plug-ins, but it seems wise to be aware of what's available. I agree that scripts are great (and I write a few myself), but having MultiDo around to allow me to (by scrolling down the list of changes) undo the ten or more steps performed each time I use the wonderful CornerEffects script can be a lot more handy than hitting Cmd-Z over and over until (no doubt) I've gone too far. ;-)

Other plug-ins are very much meant for vertical markets: Unless you're doing books requiring dynamically changing running heads (or one of the other specialized tasks it performs), you probably don't need InSeq. I only mentioned it because it's something I need all the time.

Brad

[Andrew_Kavanagh@adobeforums.com]

Thanks everyone.
Any suggestions for a plug in that would be good if you do a lot of flyers,
brochures, and direct mail type of design?
Thanks.