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Problem applying master pages

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peattie

Technical User
Mar 20, 2006
4
US
I'm a recent convert from Quark to InDesign and I love it, but one thing that's confusing me is the application of master pages. When I apply a new master page, the text doesn't flow automatically into a frame like the one on the new master page. Instead I have to select "override all master page items" in order to access the new text frame from the mater page and then manually link it. Surely it shouldn't have to be this manual. What am I doing wrong?
 
I have a hard time exactly understanding the question.

If you have a master page applied to a page and you then want to change to another master, ID will not automatically wipe the link to the first. However if you want to change all pages there are several ways. Search help for "apply master" to get an idea of the possibilities.

One reason for this is that ID masters are set up to be cascading, if desired, sort of like CSS in html. To see this, click on New Master from the pages window, or select a master and go to Master Options from the pages window. You'll see that the master is based on another or none. If based on another and that "another" is based on yet another, they cascade.

The pages widow goves you all sort of ways to drag around pages and Masters but you have to read up on it in help and play around with it. One of the good/bad things about ID is that it often gives you multiple ways to do teh same thing.





Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4
 
I've read pretty deeply on this but was worried I was missing the obvious. I love the concept of cascading master pages, but applying master pages is much slower in InD than Q if this manual process I'm following is the only way to go.

To further clarify my original posting (it is rather hard to explain/understanding) is that in Quark when I take a regular text page and apply another master page (say a chapter opener) the text flows automatically to different text boxes, placed differently on the page as specified by the chapter opener master page. In InDesign, it forces me to apply the page, unlock the master items on the page, reflow the text from the old text frame to the newly applied/unlocked one and delete the old text frame. Very tedious.
 
If we're both understanding "locking" as the same thing, you could consider not locking things.

Generally, if frames are linked beforehand, the text does flow automatically. You do have to link the boxes in the regular pages as opposed to masters. Masters only allow linking within one spread.

Also, i don't know if you've come across this yet, look at Master Text Frame when starting a new doc. Then everything flows through the pages.

I really haven't used Quark (4) much since ID3 came out so I'm losing my familiarity with it.

As I said in my earlier response, the good/bad thing about ID - and most Adobe apps - is that they give you 10,000 ways to do the same thing. That makes it kind of hard to answer questions about the same thing. My guess, in this case, is that we're both missing something about the solution. Maybe somone smarter than I will see this and give a better answer.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4
 
Hi peattie,

In Indesign as opposed to quark this only works when you use different colums.

let's say that you have a two colum setup on your A-master and your B-master has a three colum setup.

You applied a A-master on a specific page and you want to change it to a threecolum layout it goes in two steps.

First go to the meny Layout > layout adjustment and activate layout adjustment in the window you get. Now apply the B master on the page you want and your text boxes will rearrange on the three colum layout.

If you defined text boxes on your master pages instead of colums it works different.

Design a layout on your A-master and make sure you define that the boxes are for Text (menu Object> content > text.

Design a second layout for your B-master.

You fill the A-master layout in your document with the text you have, now you want to change to the B-master layout.

Apply the B-master to the specific page.

You have the text still sitting in the original a-master text boxes, but you will see the new text boxes also appear on you document page.

Go to the start of youtr text and click on the white square at the top of the text frame. The text is loaded in your cursor, With the alt-key pressed go over the new textbox where you want the text to start. you will see that your cursor changes in a text cursor with rounded brackets around it. Just click with the alt-key still pressed. If you want to continue placing the rest of the text keep the alt key still pressed and go to the next text frame to fill it with the rest of the text and so on.

You don't have to unlock the text boxes first, after they are filled with text they automatically are released from the master page.

Hope this explains it a bit

carlow
 
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