Udemy
Udemy "Adobe InDesign CC – Essentials Training" Review — Daniel Walter Scott, 40 Opinions Analysed
Daniel Walter Scott's Adobe InDesign CC – Essentials Training is the beginner InDesign course we would point a total newcomer to first. Across 40 analysed opinions — a 4.7 verified rating from 25,000-plus Udemy students, named CourseDuck reviews, the twin "InDesign Fundamentals" at 4.9 on CreativeLive, and Class Central's best-InDesign-courses pick — the consensus is unusually consistent: the instruction is clear and patient, the pacing is relaxed, and the five real publication projects (flyer, newsletter, brochure, annual report, name badges) make the skills stick. The honest caveats are that InDesign is a niche, print-leaning tool whose value depends on your career goals, that experienced users will find large parts too basic, and that the recordings predate the current Creative Cloud interface in places. As a foundation course it fully earns its reputation; just go in clear on whether InDesign is the right tool for the work you want to do.
Final score
from 40 analysed opinions
Published AI-researched, editor-audited
Distribution of opinions
Per-criterion scores
Around 7 hours and ~78 lessons take a complete beginner from the InDesign interface through type, colour, master pages, frames, automatic tables of contents, data merge and professional print/PDF export. Reviewers call it well-paced and "straight-to-the-point" with no padding. Capped because it is essentials-only and the recordings predate the current CC interface in places.
Daniel Walter Scott is an Adobe Certified Instructor and Adobe Certified Expert, a multi-award winner and speaker at Adobe Max with 15+ years teaching. He is the single most-cited reason to take the course — students across Udemy, CourseDuck and CreativeLive consistently call him clear, patient, enthusiastic and never boring. The course's clearest strength.
Effective Udemy sale price of roughly $15-19 (full list ~$100+ is rarely paid) buys ~7 hours, five real publication projects, downloadable exercise files, lifetime access and free updates. One reviewer said it is "worth so much more than you pay on Udemy." The same content also lives on Skillshare and as InDesign Fundamentals on CreativeLive at different price models.
Project-driven throughout: learners build a flyer, a newsletter/brochure, a long annual-report-style document and conference name badges, leaving with five portfolio pieces. Outputs are competent beginner publications rather than client-grade deliverables, which is right for an essentials course. Real artwork-to-print workflow rather than isolated feature demos.
Teaches the genuine desktop-publishing workflow — master pages, styles, data merge, packaging and print/PDF export — that a junior designer or production artist actually uses. Skills transfer directly to print and layout work. Ceiling is that InDesign itself is a niche, print-leaning tool, so applicability depends heavily on the kind of design work you want.
What learners said
What people loved
6- Daniel Walter Scott is repeatedly named as the reason to enrol — clear, patient, enthusiastic, and a genuine Adobe Certified Instructor and Max speaker×23
- Relaxed, well-paced and "straight-to-the-point" structure that makes a tool beginners fear feel approachable from the first lesson×15
- Project-driven throughout — five real publications (flyer, newsletter, brochure, annual report, name badges) you finish as portfolio pieces×13
- Genuinely beginner-friendly — many reviewers arrived with zero InDesign or publishing experience and finished confident producing professional documents×12
- Strong Udemy sale value (~$15-19 effective) for ~7 hours, downloadable exercise files, lifetime access and free updates×8
- Acts as an on-ramp to Scott's Advanced InDesign course and wider Adobe catalogue — reviewers describe Essentials-then-Advanced as the natural path×6
What frustrated learners
4- InDesign is a niche, print-leaning tool — its real-world value depends heavily on whether your design path involves layout and publishing work×7
- Built for true beginners, so anyone with existing InDesign knowledge will find large sections too simple and should jump to the Advanced course×6
- Recordings predate the current Creative Cloud interface in places — some panels and menu paths have moved since filming×5
- Essentials scope only — no advanced GREP styles, complex long-document or interactive-PDF depth; that lives in the separate Advanced course×3
Real quotes from real users
“This course definitely exceeded my expectations. I've stayed far away from InDesign because I THOUGHT it was difficult. Daniel explains things in a way that it's not frustrating and boring. This was the most straight-to-the-point course and it wasn't boring. This course is worth so much more than you pay on Udemy.”
“So thankful for this! it's my first time learning this program, but I can confidentially say that Daniel is a great choice as an instructor. What I really love is that you guys are really teaching each and everything that new comers like me need to learn to become a pro.”
“The Adobe InDesign Essentials Course is super helpful to learn you how to use the software and create some real project. On the other hand the Advanced course really blows your mind!”
“A good course for picking up more knowledge of the tools in InDesign. It picks up from the end of the Dan's Essentials course pretty well, so I do recommend having prior experience with InDesign or take Dan's Essentials course first.”
“Excellent course, instructor is great well spoken, clear and a great teacher.”
“I think Dan is very good at explaining and breaking down complex content. I like the way there are lots of small sessions which is good for keeping focus.”
“Many organisations do best with a two-tier model: Canva for quick graphics and InDesign for formal publications. When it comes to creating printed materials like books, magazines, and brochures, Adobe InDesign is unrivaled.”
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How we evaluated this
This review synthesizes 40 opinions collected across the public web. Final score = Bayesian average penalising small samples, then weighted by the positivity ratio. No paid placements, no hidden agenda.
- 20 from Forums
- 14 from Official course platform
- 6 from Blogs