Newbie, InDesign for building Yellow Pages?

[DirtDirectory]

I am getting ready to build an annual niche market, 4 color, Yellow Pages. Is InDesign the right program for this? I have seen help books for the program and none of them show how to setup a long lasting and changing book. The books typically show only how to setup articles and graphics.

I want to have standard ads like business name, address and an aligned right formatted phone number. Do I have to reformat the data each time new is added or is there a way to setup text boxes down a two column page page with proper formatting and distances from each other?

And if formatting like this can be done, can imported graphic ads move with the standard text ads, as new data is entered?

I can't even figure out how to insert a line under a section heading for the yellow pages, even after searching for the answer in the Help engine.

Your help will be greatly appreciated

 

[lvixen]

I wish I could help you more but I would have to see what you are trying to acheive. I'm a visual person. But I CAN help witht the underline. Once the type is selected, you can obtain the line one of two ways. It depends if you prefer key commands or menu. The menu way is to go to the Character window, use the arrow at the top to get the subset listing and it's right in there near the bottom. Or
the key command is shift-command-u. I do know if your text boxes are linked it will move when additional information is added. You could set up masters and if there was something you wanted to move on a specific page all you have to do is use the shift-command to select the item and it will unlock it from the master on that page alone. If you didn't want to use Masters, you could also set up all the different versions of the pages and put them in a library. Good Luck!

 

[lvixen]

I'm back. Yes, you can place a graphic inside with the text and have it move with the changes. When putting text in, place the cursor and use the command - d to place the graphic. As you return, it will move with the rest of the copy. If your formatting is simple, say a left justified column, without anything being selected, choose your font, size, leading, paragraph prefs and so on. When you start importing the text, it will keep these parameters. If you want something fancier, what I do is a copy and paste from Textedit. It keeps the preferences of my preset block of type.