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marcb15607831
Participant
December 31, 2018
Answered

How to number pages, altering between the left and right side?

  • December 31, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 3850 views

Hello,

I have this long document I am working on for my masters thesis. I have it layed out as single pages (not facing other page) because I want the document to be printed with full bleed images (as far as I know, thats the only way to do it with 8.5x11 pages correct?). I need to bind it with a plastic spiral afterwards, so itll be just like a normal book.

I was wondering if there was a way to make the page number automatically alternate between the left and right side of the page (so even number on the right, odd on the left for example)?

I am still very new to indesign, please explain in detail if possible.

Thank you

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer rob day

I want the document to be printed with full bleed images (as far as I know, thats the only way to do it with 8.5x11 pages correct?). I need to bind it with a plastic spiral afterwards, so itll be just like a normal book.

For most binding methods the inside bleed isn't used because the spine edge is folded and not trimmed. For your Wire-o book with full page bleeds you will need an inside bleed because the inside of the page will be trimmed and visible.

It may be too late, but another option for wire-o would be to turn off Facing Pages and create a master spread with two pages. You can then separate the spread and get access to the inside bleed using the Page Tool.

Something like this:

With facing pages turned off, set the master's Number of Pages to 2 and position your folios. Create a layer in the Layers panel for the page numbers and a layer below for the images:

Using the Page Tool, select the right hand page in the Pages panel and separate the pages via the Transform panel's X position. Here I've moved the page .75" to the right. You can also drag the page into position with the page tool.

Note that with facing pages turned on you can't change a spread's page position

In the Pages panel make sure Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle is unchecked, and add new spreads based on the master. The split masters will let you set your full bleed images with an inside bleed.

It is important to follow the rules of facing page documents. You should have a single page for the cover and back cover, and the total page count needs to be multiples of 4.

3 replies

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 1, 2019

I want the document to be printed with full bleed images (as far as I know, thats the only way to do it with 8.5x11 pages correct?). I need to bind it with a plastic spiral afterwards, so itll be just like a normal book.

For most binding methods the inside bleed isn't used because the spine edge is folded and not trimmed. For your Wire-o book with full page bleeds you will need an inside bleed because the inside of the page will be trimmed and visible.

It may be too late, but another option for wire-o would be to turn off Facing Pages and create a master spread with two pages. You can then separate the spread and get access to the inside bleed using the Page Tool.

Something like this:

With facing pages turned off, set the master's Number of Pages to 2 and position your folios. Create a layer in the Layers panel for the page numbers and a layer below for the images:

Using the Page Tool, select the right hand page in the Pages panel and separate the pages via the Transform panel's X position. Here I've moved the page .75" to the right. You can also drag the page into position with the page tool.

Note that with facing pages turned on you can't change a spread's page position

In the Pages panel make sure Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle is unchecked, and add new spreads based on the master. The split masters will let you set your full bleed images with an inside bleed.

It is important to follow the rules of facing page documents. You should have a single page for the cover and back cover, and the total page count needs to be multiples of 4.

winterm
winterm
Legend
December 31, 2018

marcb15607831  wrote

... I have it layed out as single pages (not facing other page) because I want the document to be printed with full bleed images (as far as I know, thats the only way to do it with 8.5x11 pages correct?)

Not exactly so, there are methods.

However, when setup is already done, a better choice is to follow Bill's instructions.

Just two comments:

1. You mentioned the document is long, so entering so many pages (dozens? hundreds?) in the Apply Master dialog manually could appear a tedious work. For that you can visit this thread and grab a script there. Install and run it. B-Master will be applied to every other page in a moment.

2. << so even number on the right, odd on the left for example >>

when you see two pages side by side (as a spread), even numbers must be on the left page, and odd numbers on the right. Check this with any book at hand and please don't do the opposite, despite InDesign technically allows this. It's a pro app, it's not a fool-proof. InDesign creators assume you know what you're doin'

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 31, 2018

You will need to create two Master Pages. One with an automatic page number inserted into a text frame (using Type>Insert Special Character>Current Page Number) on the right and one with it on the left. By default the A Master Page will already be applied to all pages in the document so you will need to "Apply Master to Pages" (Pages Panel pull-down menu) for the alternating pages. In the Apply Master dialog that appears enter all of the pages (in this case the even numbered ones) that you want the B-Master applied to. Note in the screen shot that every other page now has a B on it.

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