Turn Off Auto Pagination for InDesign Books
I love using a Book palette (File > New > Book) to keep track of multiple InDesign documents — even if those documents are not really chapters in a book. For example, let’s say you’re making five ads for the same client, but each one is a different size. Simply make five InDesign documents and add them all to a book palette. (Don’t forget you can drag and drop InDesign documents from the desktop into the palette while InDesign is the frontmost application.)
Unfortunately, when you add documents to the book palette, InDesign assumes they are chapters in a book and immediately starts to update each file’s page numbering. The good news is that you can stop InDesign from wasting its time and energy: Before you start adding documents, select Book Page Numbering Options from the book palette’s flyout menu. Then turn off the Automatic Repagination checkbox. Ahhh… much better!
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Suppose at some point I want to merge my “chapters” or related documents into one long .indd document. Does the Book palette provide a way to do this? All I see is an Export to PDF option.
Hi Matthew, good question. But as far as I know the answer is “no.” Nor, for that matter, does the palette let you split a document into chapters. It has lots of features that have little to do with books, actually, as David mentions. But book features do appear inside it of course, and when docs are included in a book, the Book options become enabled in the TOC and Index dialog boxes elsewhere in ID.
When automatic page numbering is turned on, is there a way to have it skip a “blank” page?
I don’t think there’s any way for the page number to skip a blank page (such as 1, 2, then skip a page, 3, 4). You can, of course, simply not put an automatic page number on that blank page, but then you’d get 1, 2, 4, 5.
Just as a persnickity FYI, you can leave the back of a page blank, but always count it. I a document is mixed front and back/front only printing, the backs always get counted…you just never put numbers on them. If you are printing one as front only, just number straight on through.
This is one of those odd little rules that I have been known to rave and stomp to enforce. Yes, I do have my quirks (but never quarks if I can help it!).
Question: I use page numbers which are formatted in my documents this way [Page 1 of 15] (15 depends on how many actual pages are in the document), how do I have ID2 automatically update the total number of pages once the document is complete (total number of pages is now 18)?
Unfortunately, InDesign CS2 has no way to make “1 of 15” type page numbers. But if you’re using a single document, this is pretty easy to update, no? Just put the total number of pages on a master page and then whenever the total number changes, you can change it there (just one place).
Of course, trying to do this across a whole book would be much more tiresome. Are you working with a book palette full of docs?
Thanks for the response! Yes, working with many documents in a book is one of the problems. I also create many single doucments with many sets of master pages. I was hoping there would be a script that someone knew about that could count the total number of pages in a document, once finished.
There was a discussion that resurfaced on this on the Adobe U2U forum a few days back. It includes a script for a single document. See: https://adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?128@@.3bc1f61f
I was thinking about how this might be extended to a book, but I wonder about such things as front and back matter. And that caused me to wonder if I’d ever seen such numbering in a book. I don’t think I have (although, if you make a PDF of a book, Acrobat Reader will show you precisely this kind of page numbering).
Extending the script to work with the absolute number of pages in a book wouldn’t be that hard, but if you start getting fussy about front matter (as Brenda did in that topic), the complexity of the script would increase. Some kind of interface would be needed to tell the script what to do about front and back matter.
Is there a way to number paragraphs on the left side for college literature selections? The numbers need to be anchored to the specific paragraph, because constant editorial changes can cause that text to frequently shift in the document.
Pat, InDesign CS2 has an auto paragraph numbering feature. Will that work?
I am new to InDesign. I have cut and added pages in the book feature. Now, when I select “repaginate”, some spreads have duplicate page numbers. At the same time, some page numbers are not listed.
I am working on a long document and I have labeled the first part of it using roman numerals. I added some pages, but when i went back to change the page numbering under section and page numbering options – I can’t select that option and I cannot select it under the page pallete. Any ideas?
I am not sure if his is possible. How would I go about have headings similar to my Word files.
example.
1. Scope
Paragraph of text
1.1 Introduction
Paragraph of text
1.1.1 Introduction
etc
2. PREPARATION
2.1 etc..etc..
Mark: My guess is that you have Section starts in your document. The Book feature’s autopagination relies on you not adding your own Section & Numbering starts. You can see a section start in the Pages palette by looking for a black triangle above a page. (You can’t get rid of the first page’s triangle, but you can set it to auto-paginate instead of “start at page…”)
Andre: The only thing I can think of is that you need to select the page in the Pages palette before choosing Numbering and Secction Options. It should be available.
Cathy: Autonumbering like this is possible in CS3. You would have to set up three different paragraph styles, each with its own numbering level.
Could somebody please give me the numbering code for outline numbering
1.
1.1
1.1.1
2.
2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2 etc..
In the “paragraph style option” menu under “bullets and numbering” under “numbering”… what is the code in each heading (1, 2, 3, etc) that you should put in there?
I believe Heading 1 is ^#.^t… but what are the others?? HELP
How can I convert CS3 .indb to a CS2 .indb? or can I?
Mok, I don’t think there’s any way to downsave a indb Book file. At least not that I can think of.
What does it mean when it says:
“Document has been modified outside of book.” and puts the little hazard signs up in the book pallet? Because I open all my docs through the pallet and save and close them before I save the book pallet. Usually repaginate clears those hazards away but this time I got a message about missing fonts when I don’t appear to have any fonts missing?? And I don’t use any font manager that activates or deactivates fonts.
Does anyone know how to make the book pallette go back to where I put it when I close and reopen the programme? All the other pallettes stay put, but not this one. I’ve even tried saving and reloading a workspace to no avail.
(CS3 on 10.5, if that matters)
Benj, the book palette looks like a palette, but it’s actually a file (just like a normal document). You cannot save those, just as you can’t save which documents were open. I hope this changes in the future, as I agree it’d be helpful.
Hi, I’m having problems with my page numbers, too.
I have the document set up with page numbers on the footer, they show on master pages and on the screen. When I pdf the document to print they disappear. Do you know how I can fix this?
By the way, I’m using In Design CS2.
Is there away for me to do pagination with classifieds, and make them flow
Tiffany, I’m not sure what you’re asking for. You probably already know how to flow text in InDesign. Do you want something more? There are plug-ins available for making classified ads in InDesign, but I would have to track them down.
I am working on a long catalog document that consists of more than 80 individual pages. The individual documents were not set up as facing pages.
Now that the individual documents are compiled and I am applying page numbers, I need the page numbers to alternate from one side of the page to the other (front of page vs. back).
Because we will add new documents to the catalog periodically, the page number placement may need to change along the way.
Currently, I have used the ‘current page number’ option and the built-in Table of Contents feature.
What are my options in solving this dilema–short of creating a new catalog and having to copy/paste/and re-format the entire catalog all over again?
For my catalog, I don’t want my auto page numbering to start at 1, instead I want it to start at 3 (because the first page is the cover and the second page is the table of contents).
So, how do I start auto page numbering from a value other than 1?
@Derrill: Select the page you want to be the beginning of the new section (in this case, perhaps it’s page 1) in the Pages panel, then choose Section & Numbering Options from the pages panel menu.
I am new to CS3 (former PageMaker user). Why can’t I paginate my spreads so that I can print a draft for my boss. You know in PM you would have page 4 on the left half and page 207 on the right half. I don’t want to torture my print shop with my ineptness.
Janet, I am in the same boat as you. I’m just switching from PageMaker to InDesign3.0.1 and can’t figure out how to create a book. It was so easy in PM to use the option “build booklet” and it would automatically do the job.
If you find anything out, I’d sure appreciate hearing from you. (I’ve e-mailed several others too in hopes of getting some info).
I too, have the same InDesign spread pagination question and would greatly appreciate any information on the this subject.
Someone must know the “secret”?
@Janet, Millie, and Mariah: That’s what File > Print Booklet is for. You cannot, however, impose the pages like that in the InDesign file itself. Normally, you do not need to do that, except for printing proofs for clients/bosses. Printers shouldn’t require it.
I was wondering if there is any way in a book list to have the master pages reassigned to a verso or recto.
Here is the scenario, the book chapters can start on a recto or a verso. So if a page is deleted in a chapter and it forces the rest of the chapters to change position is there anyway to have the master pages shuffle as well so you don’t have to reapply every master page throughout the entire book. Horrible scenario I know but it does happen.
I am just beginning to use the book feature in InDesign. I am having trouble paginating multiple documents. I have watched your video 5 times and have purchased InDesign How-tos by John Cruise/Kelly Anton. When I first set up a book, the document sequence worked. Now, I can’t get it to sequence whatever I do. The actual pages in the document have the correct numbers, but the numbers in the Page and Book pallets all start with 1, even though the actual pages continue from the previous document. Obviously, there is something I am overlooking. Can you help? Thank you.
Hi, again. I had a friend (who is also a graphic designer) check my files for me today. She said that the auto page numbering works fine on her machine. We decided that it could be a problem with the InDesign file so I uninstalled and reinstalled the software. No luck. Is there a Preferences set up that could over-ride the auto page numbering? Also, I have downloaded your files from your tutorial and they open with the correct sequence. But, when I click on any of the second or third documents in the book, and look at the Page numbering window and then click out of it without making any changes, the sequence goes out of whack (1-3, 1-7, 1-5 , etc. – these are not the actual numbers but for example only). It’s picking up something from my computer or software. Please help!
@Linda, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what could be happening there. Weird. I would try building a new Book file (the you have may be corrupted somehow). Or rebuilding your InDesign preferences. Definitely a mystery.
Linda, try to export as .inx and reopen you file(s).
And what’s with your Allow pages to shuffle setting?
Thanks for your replies. I decided to go ahead and load CS4 yesterday. After I did that, I made up a new book with two documents in it. I decided to leave Master Text Frames unchecked for the new files. Allow Pages to Shuffle was checked previously and I did not change that. For some strange reason, the new book works in CS4, so it’s a moot point right now. I may go back and look at the previous test books I did and see what’s different. Right now, I haven’t got a clue! If I figure it out, I’ll let you know. Thank you again!
on my table of contenets, the numbers of the pages are located in the left side where I am need it to be in the right side and the text in the left side. What to do in this case??
@Amin: There is a control in the Layout > Table of Contents feature that lets you set whether you want the numbers before or after the entry. If you don’t see the “Page Number” pop-up menu, click the More Options button.
I am trying to re-paginate a document, as I have added/changed pages in previous sections. When I choose the “numbering & section options” tab, I select where I want the pagination to start and click ok and the pagination works in the side tab that shows the masters – but it will not update the page numbering in my actual document?
Could someone please shed some light on this?
Thanks
@David Blatner
Re: December 23rd, 2008 ? 5:55 am ? Link, reply to Derill
Thank you so much!
I have been banging my head off my monitor trying to figure out how to adjust the auto page numbering to start from TOC, without taking into account the front cover and inside front cover.
My mistake was to create a book which contained:
Front Cover
TOC
Chapter 1
and getting frustrated for not being able to switch off auto option in cover document.
After reading your post, the apparent answer was to incorporate cover and TOC into one three page document, then adjust numbering options as recommended.
Cheers!
@David @LindaM – For a couple days I struggled wih the exact same problem as LindaM. Finally after finding this thread, I followed the link in David’s reply and read Anne-Marie’s article. After which, I rebuilt my preferences and the problem was solved. The book that was created during the issue never functioned properly, but books built by others and those created after rebuilding worked perfectly.
Thanks!
this question seems to be better put in a more recent convo so I moved it!
I am new to Indesign and facing this strange problem. Whenever I type a new paragraph, numbered bullets automatically come up before the text. Every time I have to remove the numbers from the Type menu. Where have I gone wrong?
Thx in advance
RK: That’s a common problem, as is posting non-relevant questions into unrelated threads.
Why not ask in the Forum?
I have a 48-page program and need page 1 to appear on the third page. How do I start my numbering, three pages in? I can’t figure this one out. Thanks!
Robert, look up “Section” in the online Help. Hit #1, can’t miss.
I noticed a couple of questions about creating outline numbered headings in an InDesign book. I didn’t see them answered anywhere. Is it possible to do this? That is,
1. Heading
1.1 Heading
1.1.1 Heading
1.1.1.1 Heading
2. Heading
2.2 Heading
2.2.2 Heading
2.2.2.2 Heading
etc.
Of course, I’d want to see that numbering in the TOC as well.
Thanks
When exporting a book to pdf, I would like all the pages to be facing. However, if the first document ends on page 4, the exported document does not create a spread with pages 4 and 5. Rather, each page stands alone. Since the inside and outside margins are different, printing the spreads is important. Is there a way to correct this?
Lisa Marie
My question is about saving individual pages (or ranges) of auto numbered pages in an InDesign book. The scenario is a few pages that have corrections after first round of printer proofs. (Saving as PDF would be simple, but for this workflow, I need to provide pages that have changes as .indd). To retain correct page numbers, it seems I’ll need to enter them manually–otherwise when saved as individual pages, they will re number. Or is there another trick?
@Deb: InDesign does not have any clever way to save off a range of pages for someone to edit. You might take a look at LayoutZone from automatication.com, though it’s really designed for standalone pages in a document, not pages from a book.
How or what are the steps to take to turn off the InDesign Pagination?