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March 27, 2020
Question

adding column rule to master text frame doesn't update in doc

  • March 27, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 289 views

INDD 2020. I've got a book in one indd document. The pages are in two columns with text in the Master Text frame from the master pages. I made sure of this because I often have trouble with it flowing into new text boxes rather that the master frame I set up. 

 

I decided that I wanted to add a verticle column rule. I have added the rule to the master frames on the master page but it doesn't update and show up on the document pages. I saved and closed and reopened the document, and quit and restarted Indd, but it still doesn't show up. I moved the text box just to see it it's hidden, but nope.

 

Any ideas? I suppose I could try to reflow the entire document... but I'd rather not. 

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2 replies

Community Expert
March 27, 2020

Hi Sue,

did not yet test something with book files and synching masters, but to add to Migintosh's observation:

If I do a custom object style where I define column rules and then do an IDML roundtrip, export the document to IDML and open as document, the column rules are missing in the object style of the converted document.

 

So yes, seems this feature is not "complete"…

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

March 27, 2020

Something else weird. I inserted an odd number of pages for frontmatter and then the master pages of the book updated with the column rule. But an even number of inserted pages made the rule go away again. (I need an even number.) So somehow when the pages move from left to right the pages update, but put back in there original position they are back to the state before I added the column rule. Gads! 

Brainiac
March 27, 2020

We have several versions of ID where I work, but we are not using 2020 in production for reasons that I don't have to get into, so I have only poked around in 2020, myself. That said, I tried to replicate what you describe, and I got the same thing. It looks like if you add column rules to master text frames, they will update on the document pages, but not if you have added text to the frames on the document page. I thought maybe the frames were overridden on the document page, but they still respond to things like changing the geometry of the master frame on the master page, so it's not that. If I apply the masters to the document pages again, the column rules show up, but the type is removed. I don't think this was what Adobe wanted.