Hardware & Software Requirements

Hardware

The Kit 2015 can be used with any computer running Windows (any version) or Mac (any version) that will support the required software.
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Software

QUICKTIME

The videos will play on the latest version QuickTime Player, which you should upgrade to here as a free download.
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ADOBE READER

The tutorials require the latest version of Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded free here.
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PHOTOSHOP

You can use any version of Photoshop necessary to work on your images.
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INDESIGN

The page layouts for the brochures, flyers, postcards, price menus and other handouts are created in Adobe InDesign, which is the industry standard page layout tool. The files are compatible with versions CS4 through the current InDesign CC.
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FONTS

Both John and Charmaine are students of design and typography. They have chosen the Myriad Pro font family for all The Kit 2015 pieces.
If you subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite you can use most of these fonts for free through TypeKit.
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How to get InDesign at a very reasonable cost.

InDesign comes as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, to which you can upgrade if you already have Photoshop. And John has created several video tutorials that show in step-by-step detail how to modify the files in The Kit 2015, even if you are new to the program.
You can get InDesign or the entire Adobe Creative Cloud Suite at great savings. InDesign is just $19.99 per month for a year's license, or you can get it month-to-month for just $29.99 per month.

But what if you do not want to learn another program right now?
Because InDesign is the industry standard, you can easily and inexpensively hire a graphic designer to make the changes to the files for you. As mentioned to the right the word changes for every flyer, brochure, and postcard in The Kit 2015 can be done in just a few minutes. Each piece comes in PDF format, so you can open and print them, making notes of the changes you want and then hand them along with The Kit 2015 InDesign files off to your designer. After they make the modifications to your satisfaction, they can save the finished files as PDFs for you to print in-house or to have commercially printed.
And if you want the ultimate in simplicity you can have Spectra Print, John's four-color printer, do everything for you. You just specify which changes you want, and their graphic department will make all the changes for you. They can print your pieces and even mail them for you right from their plant!

Why InDesign? Can't I do it in Photoshop?

You wouldn't take a pocket point & shoot camera to cover a wedding. (well, you could, but it's just the wrong tool). Many photographers use Photoshop to design simple postcards but for multi-page marketing pieces with large amounts of flowing text…

EPIC FAIL!

Photoshop is an image manipulation application with a very simple text editing tool, meant for adding simple headlines, phrases, etc. to photographs. It is NOT meant for large paragraphs of text. It does not support multi-page documents, mail merge, text and paragraph styles, or search and replace functions.
This is why Adobe InDesign was used to create the files in The Kit. InDesign makes it easy to modify the pieces. In Photoshop you would have to open each page of each file, select the proper text layer, scroll over each word you wanted to change and then type the new one. And if your words happened to add another line in the paragraph that spilled off the page you would have a tedious time fixing it.
But with InDesign, you can open every file in The Kit and make all your changes at once – universally! John has created the files with what he calls "dummy words" that you can substitute for your name, your studio, your street, your phone number, etc. For example, InDesign will find every instance of the dummy word YourStudio and change it to Jones Photography immediately – on every open document. Do the same for the other Dummy Words and in just a few minutes you have completely modified all your pieces. You could spend hours and hours doing this in Photoshop.
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With the Find/Change function, InDesign substitutes all the red "Dummy Words" for your own words – instantly, and all at once!
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Similarly, substituting the sample photographs in the documents for your own images is much easier in InDesign than Photoshop. And if you have to fine-tune any lines, paragraphs or columns to make your text fit and look balanced, InDesign has the proper tools to get the job done. Photoshop does not.

In marketing, just as in photography, using the proper tool can save you time and frustration. With The Kit 2015, InDesign will do both.

Note: clicking on this order button will take you offsite to the official
Kit 2015/John Hartman ordering page.