Tip of the Week: Using the Book Panel to Preflight Multiple Documents
This InDesign tip on how to use the Book panel to preflight multiple documents was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on September 29, 2016.
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Naturally, the most common uses for the Book panel in InDesign involve numbering, synchronizing, and outputting a group of files that make up a long document. But you can also use the Book panel for other things, like preflighting a bunch of documents that may not all be from the same project. For example, you could quickly find out which documents have missing images, or contain spelling errors, or use spot colors.
To use the Book panel this way, just create a new book, then go to the Book panel menu and turn off Automatically Update Page & Section Numbers.
That way the numbering in your documents won’t get accidentally changed. Then add documents to your book. Deselect all documents in the panel. Then choose Preflight Book from the panel menu.
In the dialog box, choose which preflight profile to use. You can also select Generate Report to create a PDF or plain text document summarizing all the details of the preflight results. Then click the button to start the preflight.
You’ll see which documents passed and which failed in the panel by the green and red icons.
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