Top 13 Best Online InDesign Courses & Classes For [Free Guide]
Are you keen to level up your graphic design skills to create stunning designs using Adobe InDesign? If so, you’ve come to the right place!
In this guide, I have gathered a list of the best online InDesign courses that will allow you to start creating posters, magazines, newspapers, ebooks, and more in no time!
Also, with many of these online courses, you will learn from expert industry professionals, execute hands-on exercises, and receive a certificate of completion to your collection. So, let’s dive right in!
Top 13 Best Online Adobe InDesign Courses & Classes 2024
1. Adobe InDesign CC – Essentials Training Course (Skillshare)
First on my list is a great introductory InDesign course to get you started with using InDesign by making the right set of choices around text, layout, and images. With over 20,000 students enrolled, this beginner-level course has close to 500 student projects already on display – and yours could be next!
Your instructor for this online class is Daniel Scott, a graphic designer and Adobe Certified Expert with more than 15 years of experience. Daniel is also a top-rated teacher on Skillshare with a following of more than 65,000 students, a true testament to the quality he delivers.
In 6 ¼ hours, Daniel teaches students a broad range of principles needed to design elegant publications, with topics including choosing personal and corporate colors, using professional fonts, manipulating images in multiple ways, coloring backgrounds, RGB, resizing, rotating, and tons more!
Hosted on the global online learning platform, Skillshare, this free online course is one of over 29,000 courses available on the platform, with access to a thriving student community that will allow you to solve all your queries, along with a free 1-month trial of Skillshare Premium!
- Beginner level
- 6 ¼ hours long
- Taught by Adobe Certified Expert
- Free 1-month trial of Skillshare Premium
- Access to hundreds of other courses
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
2. InDesign 2020 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
Adobe InDesign is undoubtedly one of the most in-demand publishing tools today. So if you are looking to get comfortable with the software to boost your career opportunities and get more eyes on your work, this LinkedIn Learning course is a great choice!
As for your instructor, you will be taught by David Blatner, an expert designer who co-founded InDesign Magazine and the Creative Pro Network, and is the co-author of Real World InDesign. David also specializes in ‘demystifying’ complex technical and scientific concepts for his audiences.
In this beginner-level 5-hour course, you will join 25,000+ other students in diving into the basics of making multi-page documents, learning about text frames, graphics, manipulating pages, importing text, changing color and transparency, managing layers, making tables, and much more.
On top of receiving a certificate of completion at the end of the course, you will also get free access to this course if you are a new LinkedIn user! Overall, a great online InDesign course for finding your feet in the professional world of InDesign.
- Beginner level
- 5 hours long
- Taught by the co-author of Real World InDesign
- Certificate of completion
- Free access for new LinkedIn users
3. Adobe InDesign CC: Your Complete Guide to InDesign (Udemy)
If you want to create professional documents using InDesign in a project-based learning environment, this beginner-level course is an excellent choice! You will also be joining 239,000 other students who have given this class an average rating of 4.6 stars.
As for your instructors, you will be guided by Phil Ebiner and Kurt Anderson who will be teaching you in this online course. Phil is a top-rated Udemy instructor who has taught close to 2 million students, and Kurt is a self-taught multimedia designer with over 8 years of experience in his field.
Through 6 hours of on-demand video lessons, students start learning Adobe InDesign from scratch and progress to advanced skills, covering topics including adding assets, making multi-page documents, working with tables, saving, exporting, and printing, completing a final project, and much more.
Students can get full lifetime access to this course on Udemy, which hosts over 150,000 on-demand online courses from beginner to advanced level, for a limited-time discount of 93%, along with a certificate of completion at the end! Take advantage of a great offer, great quality content and great teaching with this course.
- Beginner level
- 6 hours long
- Taught by experienced multi-media designers
- Full lifetime access
- Certificate of completion
- A limited-time discount of 93%
4. Book Design Basics: Styling Novel Interiors with InDesign (Skillshare)
Did you know that the page design of a book impacts your reading experience? So if you want to learn how to design elegant and print-ready interiors for novels using InDesign, this online Adobe InDesign course can’t be missed!
Neil Swaab, a freelance illustrator and book designer, will be your experienced tutor. Neil’s work has been recognized by societies like The Society of Illustrators and American Illustration, and he has provided his services to notable clients such as Google and Harper Collins.
For this intermediate-level 1 ½ hour-long class, students start designing their own novel interior in a sequential manner, starting with the design philosophy and vocabulary before moving on to key settings, style conventions, type choices, master pages, sections, exporting, and much more.
For a limited time, you can subscribe to Skillshare Premium for 1 month completely free of cost, and access over 29,000 other online courses of your choice alongside this one. Build up professional skills with this fantastic course!
- Intermediate level
- 1 ½ hours long
- Taught by world-renowned book designer
- Free 1-month trial of Skillshare Premium
- Access hundreds of other courses
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
5. InDesign CC 2020 MasterClass (Udemy)
If you’re looking to learn all of the key InDesign practices employed by creative professionals, this online course is for you!.
Your instructor will be Martin Perhiniak, a graphic designer and Adobe Certified Expert whose CV boasts the likes of Pixar and BBC. Martin has also published 22 courses and taught more than 150,000 students on Udemy, including teaching over 13,000 students in this beginner-level course with an average rating of 4.6 stars!
In 10 ½ hours, Martin first makes his students comfortable with the interface before teaching them a number of features and techniques including pages, image and text frames, fonts, layouts, drawings, blend modes, grids, compositional techniques, and much more.
Overall, this is one of the most comprehensive introductory InDesign courses available on Udemy, which hosts over 150,000 on-demand online courses from beginner to advanced level. You will also have exercise files and study guides to enhance your learning, and will receive a certificate of completion at the end of this course to share with your network!
- Beginner level
- 10 ½ hours long
- Taught by Adobe Certified Expert
- Certificate of completion
- Full lifetime access
6. InDesign CC 2019 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
Next up on my list is a beginner-level online course that aims to teach you all of the features and principles of Adobe InDesign you need to know to start working professionally.
David Blatner, the cohost of InDesignSecrets.com and CreativeProWeek.com, will be your teacher for this class. David has co-authored up to 15 books on related topics including Real World InDesign, a complete resource for design professionals who want to learn InDesign CC.
In this 5 ½ hours long course, already taken by more than 67,000 students, you will learn a wide range of key InDesign concepts and skills including working with text frames, bringing in graphics, manipulating pages, setting up master pages, formatting text, working with tables, exporting InDesign projects, and much more!
With LinkedIn Learning, you can access this course for free if you are a new user, and earn a certificate of completion at the end! Overall, this is a highly recommended course to get started with InDesign.
- Beginner level
- 5 ½ hours long
- Taught by expert InDesign professional
- Certificate of completion
- Free access for new users
7. Time-Saving Tips Using InDesign (LinkedIn Learning)
In need of time-saving tips to improve your graphic design workflow? This online InDesign course will teach you all of the shortcuts and methods you need to bring the focus back to your creativity!
In this online InDesign course, you will be taught by Chad Chelius, an Adobe Certified Instructor who has more than 20 years of experience working with Adobe products. Chad runs his own consultancy through which he has helped numerous clients implement software like InDesign into their workflows and reap the benefits of doing so.
Throughout this intermediate-level 2 ½ hour-class, Chad shows students a number of tips to cut down the time spent doing repetitive tasks in InDesign, including various keyboard and tool shortcuts, Option key, stroke and fill, using Gridify, frame fitting options, quick apply, and much more.
You will get the chance to work on a project to implement what you learn, and earn a certificate of completion at the end to share your new skills with your network! All in all, a fantastic specialist course to really hone your graphic design practice.
- Intermediate level
- 2 ½ hours long
- Taught by Adobe Certified Instructor
- Certificate of completion
- Free access for new users
8. Intro to Adobe InDesign (Udemy)
If you want to build a strong graphic design foundation for long-term career prospects, this online InDesign course is an excellent choice.
As for your instructor, Joseph Caserto, a design professional with 25+ years of experience, will be your tutor for this class. Joseph holds a BFA in graphic design from the Pratt Institute and is a member of the Graphic Artists Guild. He has published 12 courses on Udemy and taught close to 6,000 students, with over 2,000 students taking this particular 4.3-star rated online InDesign course.
Through 6 hours of on-demand video in this online course, students learn how to build a strong foundation of working in InDesign by first customizing the Preferences and Settings to their needs, and then learning how to draw and transform objects, format text, create templates, use swatches, and much more.
Not only will you be doing hands-on exercises in this course to reinforce your learning, but you also get a certificate of completion at the end! Overall, one of the best InDesign courses on this list!
- Beginner level
- 6 hours long
- Taught by the designer with 25+ years of experience
- Full lifetime access
- Certificate of completion
9. Adobe InDesign CC – Advanced Training (Skillshare)
If you’re familiar with the basics of InDesign and want to learn more advanced skills to improve your workflow and productivity, this intermediate-level course could be the one for you! You will join 6,500 other currently-enrolled students in levelling up your InDesign skills.
You will be taught in this course by your instructor Daniel Scott, an Adobe Certified Trainer and founder of BringYourOwnLaptop (BYOL) international, a platform Daniel uses to train students worldwide in the essentials of graphic designing and various Adobe products like InDesign.
Throughout 71 video lessons totalling 7 ¾ hours, these online classes cover a wide range of advanced-level concepts like master styles, advanced fonts, interactive documents, scripts, advanced CC features, exporting, prepress, and printing tricks, workflow tactics, and much more to help you master InDesign.
As with others on my list, this online course is also hosted on Skillshare. By signing up now, you will get a free 1-month trial of Skillshare Premium which will allow you to access hundreds of courses alongside this one! To really hone your InDesign skills, this online course is one you’ll want to check out!
- Intermediate level
- 7 ¾ hours long
- Taught by Adobe Certified Trainer
- Free 1-month trial of Skillshare Premium
- Access to hundreds of courses
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
10. Basic InDesign: Layouts, Type, and Images (Skillshare)
Next up on my list is an online course that introduces you to the basics of InDesign by examining the critical design principles utilizing the core features of InDesign: layouts, types, and images.
You will join over 9,700 other current students in being guided by your instructor, Anne Ditmeyer, a designer who has published 5 courses on Skillshare and has more than 12,000 followers. Anne has been running her own business since 2011 and provided services to big names like Louis Vuitton, Airbnb, and Parsons Paris.
Through 12 lessons spanning 2 hours in total students will learn the fundamentals of working with layouts, types, and images in InDesign, going through topics like the basic setup of a document, inserting images, using various types, setting up master pages, using paragraph and character styles, and much more.
As this online course is hosted on Skillshare, new users can take advantage of the 1-month Skillshare Premium free trial (cancel anytime), which includes all class projects, on-demand video lessons, and access to 29,000+ other classes!
- Beginner level
- 2 hours long
- Taught by expert graphic designer
- Free trial of Skillshare Premium for 1 months
- Weekly reviews of student projects by the instructor
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
11. InDesign CC Fundamentals (Pluralsight)
If you’re just starting out in the world of InDesign, check out this great beginner-level course to learn the fundamentals!
As for your instructor, you will be led by Matthew Pizzi, an Adobe Certified Trainer. Matthew has 15+ years’ experience as a designer and has authored 39 courses on Pluralsight, earning a high average rating of 4.8 stars The course has an average rating of 5 stars, which is a testament to the level of quality Matthew delivers.
In 4 ¼ hours, Matthew will first introduce his students to the InDesign workspace and interface, before teaching you how to work with documents using features such as ruler guides and page tools, how to format text such that it looks elegant, how to work with graphics and lay it out properly in the document, and much more.
At the end of this online InDesign course, you will receive a certificate of completion at the end of this course, along with the option to start a free 10-day trial of Pluralsight during which you can access hundreds of other courses as well! New designers will want to get stuck into this online course to build up their skills!
- Beginner level
- 4 ¼ hours long
- Taught by the designer with 15+ years of experience
- A free 10-day trial of Pluralsight
- Certificate of completion
12. Adobe InDesign CC for Beginners (CreativeLive)
Targeted towards creative professionals, this beginner-level online class on CreativeLive teaches you the fundamentals of InDesign CC to get your graphic design career off the ground! The course has been taken by over 10,000 students who have been left satisfied by the quality of teaching.
Erica Gamet, a graphics professional with over 30 years of experience, will guide you through this course. Erica is an expert in InDesign and features regularly in top InDesign conferences. She has published numerous articles for InDesignSecrets.com, the world’s top resource for InDesign material.
Throughout 34 video lessons spanning 5 ½ hours, students learn tips and tricks to navigate the InDesign workspace, manipulate text, images, and color to suit their requirements, make layouts that contain text, graphics, and images, make top-level magazines, newspapers, and flyers, and so much more.
Although you can buy this single course, you also have the option of getting the ‘Creator Pass’ on CreativeLive for a 50% discount that will give you access to hundreds of other courses! For expert-level instruction suitable for beginners, this course is not to be missed!
- Beginner level
- 5 ½ hours long
- Taught by graphics professional with 30+ years of experience
- Creator Pass available with 50% discount
- Offline sync with iPhone and iPad app
13. Adobe CC Masterclass: Photoshop, Illustrator, XD & InDesign (Udemy)
Rounding out my list of the best online InDesign courses is a complete package masterclass that will very quickly make an expert designer out of you! You will join over 13,000 students who have rated the course an average of 4.5 stars.
Lindsay Marsh and Jeremy Deighan will be your instructors. Lindsay is a graphic designer with 15+ years of experience teaching over 117,000 students on Udemy, while Jeremy is a designer and Adobe user for over two decades having taught more than 200,000 students on Udemy.
In this beginner-level course lasting 13 hours, you will go from complete beginner to skilled expert in using the core Adobe CC products including Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, and particularly InDesign. Of course, you can skip the other products if you only want to learn about InDesign and focus on completing projects related to it.
Global learning platform Udemy is where you will find this online class. Currently, Udemy is offering a limited-time discount of 93% to get full lifetime access to this course, along with a certificate of completion at the end which you can share with your network! Overall, a fantastic comprehensive course to take advantage of in order to level up your InDesign skills! To learn more, you can also learn more about Lightroom, Dreamweaver, and Adobe Premiere.
- Beginner-to-advanced
- Learn Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, and InDesign
- 13 hours long
- Taught by pair of experienced graphic designers
- Certificate of completion
- Full lifetime access
