How to Number Pages of a Spread With a Range
Editor’s Note: this post was excerpted from Jeff’s handout from CreativePro Week 2018. There’s still time to register for CreativePro Week 2019, or sign up for a Virtual Pass so you don’t miss out!
There’s a reason I love answering questions on the Adobe Forum. Sometimes the best answers to difficult questions involve using features in ways that they were not originally intended. As you really get to know all the features of an application , you can start using these features in unexpected ways to accomplish tasks that may seem impossible.
An example of this is a question from an internet friend from Portugal. He asked, “Is there a way to automatically number pages of a spread using a range of numbers such as ‘Pages 4–5’?”
After a bit of thought, I came up with a simple, yet outside-the-box answer. Use Current Page Number, Previous Page Number, and the Next Page Number Marker (Type menu > Insert Special Character > Markers).
Current Page Number is usually inserted on Master Pages to number pages throughout a document automatically. Next Page Number is inserted to automatically insert the page number of where a story continues on another page in a newspaper, magazine or newsletter. Previous Page Number is used where a story is continued to let the reader know where the story is continued from.
To solve my friend’s problem, I suggested the following:
1. Set up a Master Page spread with a text frame on each page to contain the page numbering.
2. Link these two frames together by clicking on the outport of the frame on the left-hand page then clicking on the frame on the right-hand page.
3. In the first frame, type the word Pages and a space, then insert the Current Page Number marker, next an en dash (as a range separator) and then insert the Next Page Number marker.
4. In the second frame, type the word Pages and a space, then insert the Previous Page Number marker, followed by an en dash and the Current Page Number marker.
The results on a document spread should look like this:
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Jeff you rock.
Thanks so much Lukas. How are you doing?
What about the spacing for single and double digit numbers? Placing a text box large enough for two digits with look to far apart when a single digit is in there. Don’t want multiple masters.
Hi Melissa,
Just make the Text Fame wide enough to accommodate multiple digits.
No need for multiple Masters.
Best,
Jeff
Thanks. I misunderstood, thinking each marker needed a separate text box. I get it now, one text frame with marker, hyphen, marker in it which adjusts to characters.
What I meant by multiple masters was one with a single character and one with a two characters wide box.
Not sure why you wouldn’t want multiple masters. I have some documents that use many, many masters, and some of those for only one or two pages. If it’s because you don’t want to do the work to set them up, I suggest creating the first one, selecting and grouping everything, then using Content Grabber to paste onto a new master. Then, make the minor size tweak you need, and be happy! Most documents would need what, at most three masters for this purpose? After the first one is created, you should be able to replicate/tweak the other two in less than five minutes.
Hope this helps!
Interesting. As an aside, another, rather elegant I believe, solution to a similar situation – that of having both the verso and the recto folio numbers only on, say, the recto page of a double-page spread, is to create a text box on the left-hand page and to draw it right across the Master Page spread to a position on the right-hand page that, as I use it, ends just before a glyph-created verticle line that will separate the eventual two page numbers. On the right of the verticle line one simply creates a text box, then filling both text boxes with ”Current Page”, the one extending over the gutter from the left-hand page, one simply aligns right. Imagining the verticle line here extending above and below the numbers, the result on the right-hand page looks something like: 56 I 57
But then, I may simply have missed the fact that everyone knows this one already, so forgive my intrusion should that be the case.
Here’s a video that explains the problem and the solution: https://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/04/solving-an-impossible-page-numbering-problem/
hi there ., is ther any way to number multi number in one sheet … for example .. i have an a4 paper devided to six parts (approx.) i need to put a number on the first part to start from 1-10.. the second part must continue start from 11-20., and the third continue start from 21-30 and so on.. till i get the last part numbering 50-60… is that possible with indesign.. i’ll appreciate this help.. it is anoying me to much., i do not want to use other program to solve like this issue.., (like corel of excel.. etc) i love indesign, i’ve used indesign since 1993(s) … until now… thanks a lot … yours……… dahan
Not that I know of. But you could create that layout with multiple pages in a spread and it should work.
hi ther … i’m very glad for your quick response.. sorry for this misunderstood!! i’ll send you a picture showing the idea… from the picture each part must end for it’s next 10th page…
here is a link..
https://www.sendspace.com/file/2qc0u8
thanks a lot
yours
dahan
Hi Dahan,
From looking at your mockup, what I described above should work.
Create each page as multiple pages in a single spread (10 across) in a Master Page. Then using Previous and Current Page Number you can do a range on pages numbers on the page furthest to the right in your spread of 10 pages.
Watch the video to make this clearer: https://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/04/solving-an-impossible-page-numbering-problem/
Best,
Jeff
hi , again..
may be this case not clear enough for you.. this is another mockup make it clear enough to you…. . from the illustraion (this only example) i’ll take each part (sixth) put one over each to get continuos numbered(receipt), as i said it only example, sir this is my job i need your help to solve it., basically i’ll use hundered receipts that mean the number must continued between (1- 5000) my be more, the number some times will start from different beginning.. and so on… your way (using Previous and Current Page Number) will not work in his case, so i think there is another way to solve it., thank you very much for your interest , best regard
dahan
here is a link for a picture
https://www.sendspace.com/file/0jg0fi
This would work with a 10 page spread. On the first page (to the left) in the spread, use Current Page Number and the last page in the spread (to the right) ALSO use Current Page Number. There’s really no trick to this. It’s just normal page numbering.
Hope this helps!
Jeff is a master of his craft and this article is fun to read. i do love to see our creative way of pushing the program outside of what it was design to do. And it all comes from a client asking for something strange sometimes. Those strange request spark creativity.
love reading Jeff’s articles.
Thanks so much Jonathan!
hi there i’m very happy for this interest… just for jonathan.. at 1992 i’ve adviced (aldus free hand) to make a lot of changes because of my questions… at 1994-1996… i’ve made a lot of work with (adobe photoshop) … and now it is indesign..
regard my question… for (jeff) your answer is right for the first row… so what about the second row and the third …. till …sixth .. if i used a current page number i’ll get same number sequence for each row … but the idea is i need to make each row to got it’s own page number sequence.. follow the row above it..
finally i think it’s now really clear enough to you to solve this issue
best regard … your’s dahan