Don't quite understand the Book function

[Andrew_Ballem@adobeforums.com]

Hi there,

I'm trying to break up an annual report into chapters and put all the documents together in a book. Have done that, but having a problem where they join.

I split the document after page 14, so it finishes on a left-hand page. The rest of the document starts on a right hand page. When I put them together in a Book and make a PDF though, those two pages show up as two single pages instead of the spread they're supposed to be.

Naturally I can't split the document at page 15 as it won't let me begin a file with a left-hand page.

So, how do I get a document that is broken up into chapters and linked together with a Book file to print proper spreads?

[Peter_Truskier@adobeforums.com]

Have a look at "Book Page Numbering Options..." in the flyout menu of the Book Palette.

Also, this:

as it won't let me begin a file with a left-hand page.




is not really true. There are several ways to make an InDesign document start on a left-hand page. By default, if the first page of a document has an even page number, InDesign will make it a left-hand page. Also, if you turn off "Allow pages to shuffle" in the Pages Palette flyout menu, you can delete the first right-hand page, the following page (now the first page in the document) will remain a left-hand page. You can also use the "Keeps Spreads Together" option in the same flyout menu to accomplish a similar thing.

[Andrew_Ballem@adobeforums.com]

Brilliant: thank you. The online help just doesn't go into that much detail. I've come out of 4 years working on packaging (still in InDesign though!) so annual reports are really doing my head in at the moment. I've always shied away from facing pages as they seemed so stubbornly inflexible, but the "allow pages to shuffle" setting seems to be the key. Also the point about specifying the numbering to start on an even number is useful as well: I have in the past driven myself mad trying to give a right-hand page an even number (it had to be that way for some reason) before giving up and manually numbering each page.

Once again, many thanks!