Hidden spreads, table of contents, and page numbers

Question

I have a document with a couple of hidden spreads. The page numbering seems to respect the hidden spreads in that it skips those pages in the numbering. This makes sense. But when I create a table of contents, it seems to insert the page numbers as if the hidden spreads were not hidden.

You will see in my attached images that the page numbers on the bottom left shows page 16 on spread 20-21. This makes sense given that spreads 16-19 are hidden. When I create the TOC it does not do this. It treats page 16 as 20. Is this normal functionality? I sent this to a client and it was wrong. I should have double checked, but still, not good.

Is this a bug or a feature?

Abhishek Rao · Accepted Answer

Hello @smashkirk,

Thanks for your patience.
I have received an update from the product team, who confirmed that this functionality is not yet implemented in InDesign.
Please rest assured that this request is on their radar, and I recommend keeping an eye on updates for future releases.
Moreover, please go through the suggestion dropped by @Eugene Tyson and other experts. Let me know if it helps.

If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out.

^
Abhishek

Eugene Tyson · Answer

Prior to this method when the feature wasn't in the program.

For 'hiding pages/spreads' I would drag them into the Parent Page Sections then delete the pages, so they are only in the Parent Page section.

If needed again I could drag them back to the layout and sort it out.

It was a good way of handling it for me.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.