Are you trying to design a professional looking digital magazine layout or cover and you don’t know where to start? Do you want to design a poster, interactive document for your work, coupon, ticket or even generating a QR code for your business, and you don’t know how to do that in an easy, convenient and professional manner? If the answer is yes then I’d like to introduce you to Adobe InDesign; the world leader in creating digital prints. Adobe InDesign can help you do all of the previous and even more in a very efficient, easy and professional manner.

Why would you be interested in learning Adobe InDesign? Well, if you’re a web designer or just a designer who’s involved in a lot of digital print designs (book covers, magazine layout, magazine covers, posters, etc.) then learning InDesign would boost your productivity and thus your revenues. If you’re a business owner and you want to create coupons, tickets, QR codes and brochures to promote your business, then learning Adobe InDesign will help you do that without relying on a designer. If you’re an employee who wants to present his/her work in an interactive document then Adobe InDesign will help you do that in a very easy and convenient way.

This article is a road map for anyone who’s willing to learn Adobe InDesign online for free, the post will present and compare between the best online outlets where beginners can start learning Adobe InDesign for free, so you won’t find a link to a single video or a reply on a forum.

If you just want the bottom line (the road map to learn Adobe InDesign) and you don’t wish to read the entire article then go to the “Bottom Line” section at the end of the article.

Start Learning Adobe InDesign from Scratch 

Adobe TV

Adobe TV is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning Adobe InDesign through video tutorials. You don’t have to register in order to have access to the video tutorials.

Structure: The course is divided into three sections, each section is divided into a group video tutorial, and each video tutorial covers a certain topic in InDesign. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners to start from and follow along.

Interface: The interface is very simple as seen below, just click on the video tutorial you’re interested in and it’ll start directly.

Now, to the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The course is well-structured and organized for beginners.

Cons

1. The tutorials are available as video only, and that might be a problem for those who prefer text tutorials.

Verdict: This is the go to place for any Adobe InDesign beginner.

Udemy

Udemy is the second free online outlet where anyone can start learning Adobe InDesign through video tutorials. You can learn literally anything on Udemy for free or for a fee (depending on the course provider). To join Udemy just register using your email. Go to the search bar and type what you want to learn (Adobe InDesign in our case); of course you should choose the free courses and at the time of writing this post the following were present:

Structure: The course is divided into two sections, each section is divided into lessons (the first section is divided into 10 lessons and the second section is divided into 14 lessons).

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and the video will start.

Now, to the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The course is well-organized for beginners.

Cons

1. The course doesn’t cover every topic an Adobe InDesign beginner should be familiarized with.

Verdict: The course is suitable for those who’re interested in having a general idea about Adobe InDesign.

Terry White YouTube Channel

Terry White YouTube channel is the third free online outlet where beginners can start learning Adobe InDesign through video tutorials. Terry White is a well know Adobe suite professional and his videos are usually featured on Adobe TV.

Structure: The tutorial is divided into 34 videos; each video covers certain topics in Adobe InDesign.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The tutorial is well-structured and organized for beginners.

Cons

1. Part of the tutorial covers an old version of Adobe InDesign (CS5, CS5.5).

Verdict: The tutorial is isn’t consistent as many versions of Adobe InDesign are used throughout it.

Training Tutorials 101

Training Tutorials 101 is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Adobe InDesign through video tutorials. The tutorial is basically the free available lessons available on Lynda.com. You don’t have to register in order to have access to the video tutorial.

Structure: The tutorial is divided into 13 videos, each video tutorial covers certain topics in Adobe InDesign.

Interface: the interface is very simple, just click on the video tutorial you’re interested in and you’re ready to go.

Now, to the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.

Cons

1. The tutorials cover a very old version of Adobe InDesign (CS5).
2. The tutorials is a collection of the free InDesign videos available on Lynda.com

Verdict: There are better outlets for beginners to start from.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning Adobe InDesign for free

1. Adobe TV is the best place to start from.
2. If you just want to get an idea about InDesign then Udemy is the place to go.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in Adobe InDesign.