I've been creating moderately long books using Microsoft Word, and I'm
getting sick of it. It's just not the right tool for the job. I've been
thinking of jumping to InDesign CS. I downloaded the trial, but now I'm
wondering if I might be jumping too far. I don't have my sea legs yet
when it comes to page layout software. I'm now worried if I have what it
takes to get there.

If anyone can kindly take a few minutes to help me with some basics, I
would be most appreciative.

First, some background info. My last book was 388 pages and about
147,000 words. It's heavy on graphics: screen shots, figures, margin
icons, and so on. It has a TOC and index. There are nine chapters,
several appendices, and a preface. I mingle the copy with sidebars,
tables, callouts.

Now, here's what I'm unsure of:

* Is it a good idea to create a single 400 page document? If not,
how much of a chore is it to create separate documents for each
chapter and string them together using the Book feature? Is it
a common problem for each "sub" document's styles to "stray"?
How do you maintain uniformity across multiple, separate files?

* Is it easy to write long stories? My impression is that 90% or
more of ID users are doing short, small, "artsy" stuff. I could
be way off too. (I'm stupid that way.)

* Does it handle automatic numbered lists well? I've had problems
with Word getting terrible confused and screwing up numbers.
Makes it a pain proofing!

* Can I create conditional headers and footers? For example, can
it automatically create an "odd first page footer" different from
an even first page footer? (Which again would be different from
the normal odd/even footers.

* Can you define keystrokes to apply styles? I'm addicted to
hitting Ctrl+1 for Heading 1, Ctrl+2 for Heading 2, etc.

* Are tables easy to make?

* I do almost all my graphics with Paint Shop Pro. Will I be happier
in the long-run moving to an "all Adobe" approach? Is there a
distinct advantage to inserting a graphic as a PhotoShop file vs.
just a bitmap or whatever? How about line-art?

Sorry for the long post and idiotic questions. I've tried searching for
some of this on my own already, but haven't had much luck finding
specifics.

--cd