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Cacadriil
Cacadriil
Participating Frequently
December 7, 2019
Answered

How to view spreads of book contiguously

  • December 7, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 841 views

I have a book with 25 parts, each beginning on an odd-numbered page and ending on an even-numbered page. Nearing the completion of the work, I want to view it like a reader will when the book has been printed. That is, I want to see the last page of one part next to the first page of the next part, just like any other spread.

 

I also want to leaf through the book without the disruption of having to leave presentation mode, select the next part in the book panel, reenter presentation mode - which invariably opens on the lasts page - and then turn the pages quickly back to the first page before I can try to imagine the readers experience of turning a leaf from the penultimate page of chapter N to the spread containing the last page and the first one of the chapter N+1. 

 

Is there a way to do this in InDesign?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Randy Hagan

I can only come up with one more suggestion, but it'll take more work ... if it works. But I suspect it will ...

 

Rather than create a single PDF from the combined book, create PDFs from the individual INDD files, then stitch them together in Adobe Acrobat.

 

Since you've identified Chapter 3 as an offending party, we can experiment by stitching the first four chapters together and seeing if it'll work:

 

  1. Create PDFs of the first 4 chapters from the INDD files.
  2. Open Chapter 1.pdf in Adobe Acrobat.
  3. Navigate to the last page in Chapter 1.pdf (optional, but faster to confirm this is working). Then select the Organize Pages tools, then the Insert>From File... ccommand in that section.
  4. Select the Chapter 2.pdf file. When the follow-on Insert Pages dialog box appears, select After in the Location: edit box and the Page radio button under the Page section, then click the OK button.
  5. This should place the first page of Chapter 2.pdf after the last page of Chapter 1. Navigate to the new last page, then lather-rinse-repeat with Chapters 3 and 4. This should get you the results you're looking for — no ifs, ands or buts.
  6. Save the PDF as Chapters 1-4.pdf and admire your handiwork.

 

Now before you go further, there may be an easier option. Close the Chapters 1-4.pdf file, and select the Combine Files option to create a combined PDF. Since this is quick, you can do them all and see if you get lucky. Navigate your way to the folder containing your 25 separate PDFs, then use your Shift and/or Command/Ctrl keys (depending on whether you're on a Mac or Windows system, respectively) and select the PDF files in numerical sequence. Just using the shift key to select them all can introduce some rude pagination surprises.

 

If you're lucky, the second workflow will get you what you're looking for in the resulting Binder 1 file which you can save and name anything you want. But if you're not, the first process I outlined should work every time.

 

Good luck,

 

Randy

2 replies

Randy Hagan
Community Expert
Randy HaganCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
December 8, 2019

I can only come up with one more suggestion, but it'll take more work ... if it works. But I suspect it will ...

 

Rather than create a single PDF from the combined book, create PDFs from the individual INDD files, then stitch them together in Adobe Acrobat.

 

Since you've identified Chapter 3 as an offending party, we can experiment by stitching the first four chapters together and seeing if it'll work:

 

  1. Create PDFs of the first 4 chapters from the INDD files.
  2. Open Chapter 1.pdf in Adobe Acrobat.
  3. Navigate to the last page in Chapter 1.pdf (optional, but faster to confirm this is working). Then select the Organize Pages tools, then the Insert>From File... ccommand in that section.
  4. Select the Chapter 2.pdf file. When the follow-on Insert Pages dialog box appears, select After in the Location: edit box and the Page radio button under the Page section, then click the OK button.
  5. This should place the first page of Chapter 2.pdf after the last page of Chapter 1. Navigate to the new last page, then lather-rinse-repeat with Chapters 3 and 4. This should get you the results you're looking for — no ifs, ands or buts.
  6. Save the PDF as Chapters 1-4.pdf and admire your handiwork.

 

Now before you go further, there may be an easier option. Close the Chapters 1-4.pdf file, and select the Combine Files option to create a combined PDF. Since this is quick, you can do them all and see if you get lucky. Navigate your way to the folder containing your 25 separate PDFs, then use your Shift and/or Command/Ctrl keys (depending on whether you're on a Mac or Windows system, respectively) and select the PDF files in numerical sequence. Just using the shift key to select them all can introduce some rude pagination surprises.

 

If you're lucky, the second workflow will get you what you're looking for in the resulting Binder 1 file which you can save and name anything you want. But if you're not, the first process I outlined should work every time.

 

Good luck,

 

Randy

    Randy Hagan
    Community Expert
    Randy HaganCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 7, 2019

    The fastest would be to produce a PDF of the entire book, then view the resulting PDF in Adobe Acrobat and/or Reader.

     

    I know of no way to do this directly within InDesign.

     

    Randy

      Cacadriil
      CacadriilAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 8, 2019

      Thanks! Exporting to PDF seems like a good option in my case.

       

      Now I did that, and I turned on "layout - two-up continuous (front page).

      The result is funny: Acrobat shows two two-page spreads (in all four pages) side by side.

      The first page comes alone in the first row.

      Then come two rows of each four pages.

      The first chapter has 10 pages, that is, 1 + 4 + 4 +1.

      The last page of the first chapter comes joined to the first page of the second chapter, in a spread. This spread is alone centered on its own row.

      The second chapter has 6 pages, that is, 1 + 4 + 1.

      The transition from chapter two to chapter three is similar, one page from each combined in a spread on a row of its own. So far, very nice.

       

      But then chapter three ends with three pages in a row, first a two-page spread and then a single page.

      Chapter four begins on the next row also with three pages, first a single page and then a two-page spread.

      Those single pages should have been a spread!

       

      I wonder why some chapter transitions are different. The best answer I can see is, it seems to depend on the number of pages in the last row of a chapter. If at the end of a row, there is one page left of the same chapter, that page is joined to the next chapter in a spread. But, if there are three pages left of the chapter, those three pages are set in a row and the next chapter begins the next row with tree pages.

       

      Could this be a bug in InDesign?

      Is there another way to get the spreads across chapter boundaries?

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