Lesson B: Master Pages & Sections

• Open the downloaded document called 6 Document Structure.indd. Go to pages 4 and 5 and fit that spread in the window (⌘-option-0/Ctrl-Alt-0).

I am going to expose you to a few mysterious puzzles, then we’ll unravel them together. Let’s start with that text frame above page 4.

Sections

• With the Selection tool, select the frame that appears to have the word “Section” in it. Drag it down onto the page. Surprised?
• Double-click it to activate the text cursor in that frame. Try to select just part of the phrase.

Section Markers

You can’t select just part of the phrase because there isn’t a phrase there; it’s just a very special character called a Section Marker, a kind of wild card that gets substituted with text provided elsewhere.

• Highlight that text (a triple-click will do it), then delete it so I can show you how to insert a Section Marker.
• With your cursor blinking, right-click in the frame and choose Insert Special Character > Markers > Section Marker. That same phrase reappears. Where does it come from?

Look at the Pages panel and note the small inverted triangle above page 4. This denotes the beginning of a section in the document. There is always a triangle above the first page of a document, too.

• Double-click the small triangle above the page 4 icon. The Numbering & Section Options dialog opens.

At the top of the dialog is a checkbox that allows the start of a section on this page. Lower in the box is a field that supplies the text that appears when one inserts a Section Marker as you have.

• Change the text in the Section Marker field then click OK.

To begin another section elsewhere, right-click on a page icon in the Pages panel and choose Numbering & Section Options. The dialog will open with the Start Section checkbox checked.

Learn more about sections and how they can affect page numbering by reading “Sections & Numbering” (page 287).

Page Numbers

Another special wild card character that almost every document requires is the Current Page Number marker.

• Get your cursor blinking to the right of the section marker in that frame. Use the shortcut shift-Tab to insert a Right-Indent Tab character. The text cursor now blinks at the right side of the frame.
• To insert the next character, right-click in the frame and choose Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. Please notice to the right of that item is a shortcut.

Most roll their eyes when they see it, assuming they’ll never memorize it. But did I mention that almost every document will need these characters? In time, you’ll appreciate the fact that you can save time by holding down all three of the main modifier keys (⌘-option-shift on a Mac, or Ctrl-Alt-Shift on Windows) and tapping N.

The frame should look something like this (with hidden characters showing):

As you can anticipate, this would be tedious to do for every page individually. So this frame won’t stay here, but we’ll move it to a master spread.

“Templates” for Pages and Spreads

Master pages serve as a kind of template for the pages in a document. In the previous project, you used masters to “template” text and image frame options and locations. Here, we’ll see a few more features. To see all the masters in a document, you may have to drag the bar that separates master pages from the document pages downward.

The document you’re editing has two masters: one called reg-ular pages and another called d-viant pages. These are not the names that InDesign would supply. The default master is called A-Master, which is both boring and uninformative. I give my masters names that indicate what kind of pages they represent, and that amuse me.

• To see what role they can play, select the frame you’ve been editing then Cut it (as in the command Edit > Cut or the shortcut ⌘-X/Ctrl-X, not delete).
• Double-click on the name of the master reg-ular pages to view it, then use Edit > Paste in Place. The frame will be in the same location on this master spread as it was on the other spread. If that’s not where you’d like it, move it! I’d suggest the top margin.

The page number will read “reg.” That is, after all, what page you’re on. Note this in the bottom corners of the spread as well. Those text frames contain only the current page number marker.

• In the Pages panel, double-click the page numbers of different spreads.

In each case, our special frame and those I included on the master show up. Well, on page 2, the section marker is blank. That is because I never supplied any text in the appropriate field in the Numbering & Section Options dialog for the first section. Let’s make up for that neglect.

• Double-click on the triangle above page 1 to open the Numbering & Section Options dialog. Type something in the Section Marker field, then click OK.

Now every even-numbered page has a message. In fact, this is a fairly decent running header.

Ensure Consistency

Master pages give us consistency of placement and repetitive content, like that running header. Longer documents may have several masters for different kinds of pages. For example, the printed version of this book uses a different master for the first spread of a chapter than it does for pages like this one.

Let’s apply a master to a single page, a spread, and then a range of pages.

• In the Pages panel, drag the name of the d-viant master onto the page 5 icon. The change should be noticeable. “Garish” is a better word for its appearance. If you’re not currently viewing that spread, double-click the spread 4–5 page numbers.
• To apply the other master, drag the name of the reg-ular pages master to the page 5 icon.
• Now drag the d-viant master’s name below the page 4 and 5 icons and to the left or right side of the page numbers. You’ll know you’re in the right spot when both page icons are outlined. It’s a little touchy, so be patient.
• When you succeed, undo (⌘-Z/Ctrl-Z).
• To apply a master more reliably, right-click somewhere in the Pages panel and choose Apply Master to Pages…. In the dialog box that appears, choose the d-viant master from the Apply Master menu. To show that you can supply a range and/or a list of discontiguous pages, type “4-6, 9” into the To Pages field, then click OK. Four pages now have that lovely master applied to them.

• When you succeed, undo (⌘-Z/Ctrl-Z).

Overriding Master Page Items

We don’t always want the perfect consistency that master page items give us. Occasionally, we will want to move, delete, or otherwise alter one instance of that object as it appears on a page. We did this in the previous project when we overrode master objects. Let’s examine a more general case, then we’ll look at a very special one.

• Go to the reg-ular pages master by double-clicking its name or choosing it from the Page menu at the bottom left of the application window.
• Choose the Ellipse tool (you can tap the L key to get to it). Draw a large ellipse on the right-hand page. Look at the page icons throughout the Pages panel. That ellipse appears on every right-hand page.
• Return to pages 4 and 5. Use the Selection tool and try to select the ellipse you see there on the right. You cannot, so don’t try too hard.
• Now, while holding down the modifier keys ⌘-shift/Ctrl-Shift, click on the ellipse on page 5. Success!

It’s now an override. But just like the text frames in the handout project, much about this ellipse can still be controlled by the master—unless you change those attributes here on the override.

In the Compendium chapter “Pages & Spreads,” please read about master page “Overrides” (page 284).

• Experiment by changing an attribute of the ellipse on page 5 (like its fill color), then changing some attributes on the master (like position and fill color).
• When you’re done experimenting, you may delete the ellipse from the master and page 5 if you’d like.

Primary Text Frames vs. Master Text Frames

Any object can reside on a master page and be seen on the document pages, including text frames. However, there is a very special master text frame, called a primary text frame, that is automatically an override on document pages. And, if there are multiple master text frames, the primary ones will control where long text stories go when flowing from page to page.

In the document you’re examining, the beige text frames are primary text frames. You likely noticed one on the reg-ular pages master. Let’s carefully see how this document’s primary text flow works.

• Unlock the Notes layer in the Layers panel. Also, double-click this layer’s name and change the color to a green, perhaps, or at least something that contrasts with beige.
• Use the Selection tool to select a beige note frame on a document page like page 4. Try not to move or resize it, please.
• You should see that this frame is threaded to the frames like it on other pages.
• On the reg-ular pages master, select the beige frame. On both the master and document pages, you’ll see a small icon in the upper-left corner of the frame that indicates that it’s a primary text frame.
• With the Selection tool, move the frame to a different location on the spread.

You should see the change in the page icons of the Pages panel. Changing the color, shape, or Text Frame Options of that frame would also be apparent on the document pages.

For a little more insight, let’s briefly open another document:

• Open the downloaded document called PrimaryFramePlay.indd. It has only one page with an overset primary text frame occupying it.

This document’s header paragraph style has the Keep Option enabled to begin paragraphs with this style in a next frame. So if we supply more frames, each header will be in its own. Since there’s a primary text frame, that’s easy to do.

• Go to the Type Preferences. Use ⌘-K/Ctrl-K to get to the preferences, then choose Type on the left.
• Enable Smart Text Reflow and ensure that Delete Empty Pages is also checked. Click OK.
• After a few seconds, more pages should appear. If they don’t, it’s not your fault: there’s a bug that sometimes demands that you reapply the master to the first page. Drag the master’s name onto the page 1 icon, wait a few seconds, and then you should see some new pages.
• Go to one of the new pages and highlight and delete all of its text. The page count should diminish by one.

We will leverage this primary frame feature in the upcoming brochure project.