InDesign CS5 opens the door to a new world: with the addition of exciting animation tools and deeper multimedia support. It's now a viable interactive authoring tool. Designers want to create engaging interactive content, but may resist making the transition from page layout to timeline-based thinking. But now it's much easier: InDesign CS5's new interactive features are intuitive and easy to learn. And once they've mastered those tools in the familiar world of InDesign, they'll find that Flash isn't scary after all. Designers already know how to add text, graphics, and geometric shapes to a page in InDesign, it's a short walk to adding interactive features. Before they know it, they're creating Flash content.

This book doesn’t presume to teach you design principles. I’m a mechanic, not a designer. You’re the designer. All I can provide is insight into the inner workings of these tools. I’m counting on you to make it look good!

This is not a programming book. It’s devoted to helping you avoid writing code. But don’t let that scare you away from the more technical possibilities. Mere mortals can learn ActionScript and make Flash Professional sing. I’ve written JavaScript to enhance Adobe Acrobat forms, and I am definitely not a programmer. It may be that this book will whet your appetite and inspire you to dig deeper into what you used to think were foreign territories. That would make me proud.