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markeeeee
Inspiring
December 6, 2021
Answered

Break text flow, but keep subsequent text in text frame

  • December 6, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 8271 views

I have a very long report, with several chapters. All of the text is in one long text flow. Obviously if I make a change on page 1 (like adding a photo) this will reflow the text all the way to page 200. I don't want to have to check every single subsequent page for reflow issues.

 

Is there a way, at the end of a chapter/section, to break the text thread, AND keep the subsequent text on the subsequent pages? So if I make a change at the start of the report it is not reflowing the content at the end.

Correct answer Laubender

markeeeee said: "I only want to break one text thread. So the built in script won't work for me."

 

Hi markeeeee,

Ariel's script BreakTextThread.jsx can be found in the Scripts panel under folder Community.

Window > Utilities > Scripts

 

This script is able to break a story of several text frames at one single point between two threaded text frames.

 

Also see:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/scripting.html

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

3 replies

L
Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
December 7, 2021

markeeeee said: "I only want to break one text thread. So the built in script won't work for me."

 

Hi markeeeee,

Ariel's script BreakTextThread.jsx can be found in the Scripts panel under folder Community.

Window > Utilities > Scripts

 

This script is able to break a story of several text frames at one single point between two threaded text frames.

 

Also see:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/scripting.html

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

    MARTYNB
    MARTYNB
    Participating Frequently
    May 29, 2024

    Thanks Uwe. This was just what I was looking for.  Had a large report inserted in its entirety from a Word doc.  After clean up and formatting I wanted to break the links between the sections so the whole doc wasn't auto-flowing. BreakTextThread.jsx worked a treat.

      Frans v.d. Geest
      Community Expert
      Frans v.d. GeestCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 6, 2021

      The best solution is to use the free scripts, simple to use:

      Actually, you already have a script inside InDesign’s Scripts panel called SplitStory it splits all the frames. That is, each frame is unlinked from all the others and all the text stays where it is.

       

      You may also look at this one:

      https://www.id-extras.com/break-text-thread/

      https://yourscriptdoctor.com/breaking-text-frames/

       

       

        M
        markeeeeeAuthor
        Inspiring
        December 7, 2021

        I only want to break one text thread. So the built in script won't work for me. I'll check out the other scripts. Thank you

        TᴀW
        TᴀW
        Legend
        December 7, 2021

        With all the script (including mine at id-extras), if you have a table that continues over several pages, or a long footnote, at the point where you want to break the thread, the layout will change (because the script will not split a single table into 2 tables nor a footnote into 2 footnotes).

        Ariel

        Visit www.id-extras.com for powerful InDesign scripts that save hours of work — automation, batch tools, and workflow boosters for serious designers.
          Randy Hagan
          Community Expert
          Randy HaganCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          December 6, 2021

          I can offer a qualified option that may work for you some — but not all — of the time.

           

          By using InDesign's Break Character functions, Type>Insert Break Character menu command, you can define a spot where you can say at the end of a chapter/section anything following will start on a brand new page.

           

          This can incorporate small changes, say adding a line or two to your chapter text, without forcing rethreading through your entire document using the page break function. There are caveats, though:

           

          • There has to be room left on the last page to incorporate the extra space needed. So if you add three lines in the section, but if there are only two lines of space left, you're going to lose.
          • You have to have a return break at the end of the chapter. If you used four extra returns to move the next chapter's text to the next page and use the page break, the break character will put those four extra lines at the top of the next one.
          • You may have to adjust your text frame at the end of the section to make everything copacetic.

           

          Please understand that these are crude patches to get you by, which will not work universally. What will work universally is to break up your long InDesign document into separate InDesign files for each chapter/section, then stitch them together using InDesign's Book functions so that each section can be fixed without affecting the rest, then using InDesign's Book panel to repaginate as necessary to incorporate your running changes. You can learn more about book functions through this link. Be sure to read the additional links at the end of this help page and the half-hour you spend reading and learning how InDesign's book functions work will pay you handsome dividends from here on out.

           

          Hope this helps,

           

          Randy

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