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Participant
January 26, 2021
Answered

Indesign Headers & Footers

  • January 26, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 11031 views

Hi, I have selected an Indesign template for an eBook. It has headers & footers in the template that I want to edit, but cannot find how to select the text. I have looked at a few tutorials but all they talk about is the master pages, as each header is different according to chapters, it's not a master page.

 

Please help!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer John Mensinger

Possible reasons for your inability to select the text:

  • It is on a master page. Your conclusion that it's not because it varies chapter to chapter could just be a case of a separate master page dedicated to each chapter.
  • The text frame is locked.
  • The text frame is on a locked layer.
  • The text is a text variable. Variables, even if they are comprised of multiple words, behave as a single character. You can't edit it like live text.

4 replies

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 21, 2021

@Gianluca-73-Italy :

 

InDesign documents use master pages to hold the running head content. You will need to navigate to the master pages in the Pages panel to edit the left- and right-page running heads. 

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 26, 2021

Which template are you using? A lot of them use Alternate Layouts to accomodate various paper sizes, which is confusing for a user who hasn't used them before. I wrote this up for one of my students who was struggling, which may be clarifiying for you.

https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-cant-edit-adobe-stock-cv-template/

 

But if you give us the exact number we can be very specific about what you need to do.

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Participant
September 21, 2021

Hi, I also need to change the text at the top right, different for even pages and odd pages. It is a template. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me, and I apologize because I've only been trying to learn InDesign for a few days. Gianluca

John Mensinger
Community Expert
John MensingerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 26, 2021

Possible reasons for your inability to select the text:

  • It is on a master page. Your conclusion that it's not because it varies chapter to chapter could just be a case of a separate master page dedicated to each chapter.
  • The text frame is locked.
  • The text frame is on a locked layer.
  • The text is a text variable. Variables, even if they are comprised of multiple words, behave as a single character. You can't edit it like live text.
Participant
September 21, 2021

Hi, I also need to change the text at the top right, different for even pages and odd pages. It is a model. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me, and I apologize because I've only been trying to learn InDesign for a few days. Gianluca

Participant
September 21, 2021

I did it: I had to work on the master pages ... sorry, and see you next time!

Anna Lander
Inspiring
January 26, 2021

You can use variable headers on the master page. To sugges the best way for your project we need to see what you have and what you want to get.